Photos: Samsung thinks Santa in summertime

Though it's only July, Samsung decked out the Clift Hotel in downtown San Francisco Wednesday with its holiday lineup of gadget gifts.

LG is no longer alone. Samsung announced it is making a dual-format high-definition DVD player, known as the Duo HD Player. Like the LG player, the Samsung device can play both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. However, the Duo HD Player will be able to play both formats' interactive menus, a shortcoming of LG's SuperMulti Blue. The player begins shipping for $1,049 at the end of October. FYI, it's still cheaper to buy one HD DVD player and one Blu-ray player and glue them together.