It is rumored that Sony and Pioneer have delayed the release dates for their upcoming Blu-Ray players. The manufacturers haven't revealed the cause of such a decision.

Consequently, Sony's BDP-S1 will be launched on the retail market starting 15 August, four months later, and will be purchased at an estimated price of $1000. Sony's BDP-S1 disc player has an output feature that will let those who own first-generation HD TV sets play Blu-ray video content. In addition, according to Sony, the BDP-S1 will be backwards-compatible with standard DVDs and existing receivers.

Moreover, Pioneer's player will be shipped after Sony's product, in late September, with an estimated cost of $1500, $300 less than the previous announcement.

Sony Electronics launched last month its first Blu-ray Disc products in the U.S., along with details on suggested pricing and availability for some of the new offerings which mark a concerted push by the Japanese electronics giant to put next-generation video into the hands of consumers and avoid challenge from Toshiba's competing HD DVD format.

Headlining Sony's new product debuts, these are the BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc player, priced at $1,000 and the VAIO RC desktop computer.

The home players, VAIO desktop and notebook computers, will sell for $2,300 when available this summer. Vaio RC users will be able to edit high-definition video footage, then archive it and share it on Blu-Ray discs. The Vaio RC will also come with software that gives users the option to convert video to standard DVD formats.

Sony plans to ship its 25-GB BD media for about $20 to $25 for each disc. The 50-GB versions of the media will be dual-layer discs to be sold for around $50, according to company representatives.

Later this year, Sony will also release the internal BWU-100A drive, which will be able to handle both 25-GB and 50-GB discs, burning a full 25 GB disc in about 30 minutes. Retail pricing for the BWU-100A drive will be available later this year.