The first Ultra HD Blu-Ray player to go on sale is the Samsung UBD-K8500, which is now available at various retailers.
Samsung offered official pricing details for its UBD-K8500 Blu-ray player back at CES 2016, and immediately started taking preorders for the device. At that time, it seemed that the player would ship sometime in late February or early March, but it now looks like it's made an early debut.
USA Today reports that Video & Audio Center in Santa Monica is already gearing up to start selling Samsung's Ultra HD Blu-ray player. Moreover, the store's Facebook page suggests that it also has 4K Blu-ray movies available, such as "The Martian."
"You are cordially invited to join us and industry executives as Video & Audio Center introduces Samsung's new, highly-anticipated 4K Ultra Blu-ray player to the public today at 5pm at our showroom on Wilshire and 15th Street in the City of Santa Monica," the retailer announced on Facebook.
"Be one of the first to view and purchase the next generation of DVD players as we also premiere the stunning, new 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray disks-featuring native 4K HDR of major motion pictures including 20th Century Fox's Oscar-nominated film, 'The Martian,'" Video & Audio Center adds.
The retailer further notes that it will have limited quantities of Samsung UBD-K8500 players available for purchase on-hand in all of its locations. It's not surprising to see limited availability at first, with only a few stores having it in stock, and it's still great to see it on sale earlier than expected.
Samsung's own website, meanwhile, still lists the UHD Blu-ray player as available for preorder, not in stock, but it has an option to "find online or locally." Clicking that option leads you to a page that lists the retailers offering the device. On that page, Sears appears to be the only one with the UBD-K8500 in stock, whereas others such as Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy and more only show preorder options.
Alternately, AVS Forum users reported that Samsung's 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player is also in stock at Fry's Electronics stores in San Diego.
More Ultra HD Blu-ray options should become available soon, and we'll keep you up to date as soon as we learn more.
