Toshiba Even More Officially Gives Up the War, Will Launch Blu-Ray Player

Toshiba, the former leader of Blu-Ray's enemy HD-DVD camp, is admitting defeat in the most final way they can: By launching a Blu-Ray player.

The company's first Blu-Ray/DVD deck should arrive (in Japan first, probably) before Christmas this year, and "sources" say it'll be called the BD-18 (we think. The Google translation is sort of sketchy). We don't know anything else about the alleged player, but we imagine some Toshiba exec is sitting in a bathroom stall, crying quietly and cursing Sony. [Yomiuri via Engadget]