14 DAY TRIAL // Blu-ray players have been developed before, but Toshiba definitely went beyond the confines of the blueprints when it built the Regza Blu-ray DBR-M190.
In trying to keep ahead of solid state drives and maintain their spot on the mainstream, hard disk drives have been boosting platter capacities almost frantically.
At present, one usually considers 4 TB to be a huge amount of storage space, more than any PC actually needs.
Indeed, even the most avid of gamers and professionals will have a hard time actually filling up all those available sectors.
That said, Toshiba's Regza Blu-ray DBR-M190 will probably not take it easy on users' nerves, what with it actually have a full 5 TB instead of 'just' four (4 TB + 1 TB, apparently).
The company demonstrated the invention at the CEATEC trade show in Japan and made a point on mentioning the multi-tuner capability.
In other words, one can have the Blu-ray player/personal video recorder actually record up to six digital broadcasts at the same time for up to 15 days.
Unfortunately, global availability for this creature is not planned, with only Japan set to get it in December ($1,600 / 1 971 Euro). European sales were cited as a possibility but not a very near one.
“It's a bit hard to imagine this Regza server as being sold globally,” said Mr Masaaki Osumi, head of Toshiba's Digital Products Division.
“But on a regional basis, there is a natural need for TVs that have server functionality. So in Europe or some parts of China, we want to create TVs that can act as servers.”
The item can be used as the central piece of an AV home installation and should have no trouble linking to the AT700 Regza tablet or other devices that boast DLNA compatibility. WiFi is also part of its spec sheet, among other things.