Tokyo - Japanese electronics firm Sharp on Thursday introduced a $1,260 Blu-ray recorder in Japan that utilizes the existing tuner on Sharp televisions to record high-definition TV programs, eliminating the cost of adding separate tuner on the device.

The Sharp BD-HP1 has a "hybrid recording" function that works with the iLink (IEEE 1394) connections on Sharp Aquos LCD TVs and Aquos HD Recorders.

PC World.com noted that Sharp hasn't checked whether the Blu-ray recorder will work with other television models with an IEEE 1394 connection, adding that one drawback of omitting a tuner is that the device cannot record one channel while watching another.

Sharp plans to introduce a similar model overseas later this year.

Related Links:

http://sharp-world.com/corporate/news/070214_2.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070215/tc_pcworld/129061 (PC World)