At IFA 2007, Sharp announced the BD-HP20S which will be the first Blu-ray offering from Sharp to launch outside the Japanese market.

An initial glance through the specs would suggest that it's been worth the wait though as we'll get a full Blu-ray Java support.

The BD-HP20S will provide 1080p resolution for both BD discs and ordinary DVDs as well as a 24p progressive scan process which as we all know by now is the same frequency in which the films were recorded.

To counter complaints of next-gen player's slowness, this model offers "Quick Start" which promises playback "within seconds".

A slimline 6.8cm and boasting glossy black and glass finish, this has got to be one of the nicer-looking Blu-ray players around.

Sharp are unsurprisingly touting the player's suitability to its range of AQUOS LCD TVs, but there is some substance to this claim as the player will work with AQUOS LINK CEC technology.

Other features of note are the support for HD sound formats with 5.1 output, HDMI 1.3 and playback of DVD-R, CD-R, DVD-RW and CD-RW discs.

No info on pricing and availability was announced other than the rather dubious sounding: "The BD-HP20S will probably be available on the German market during the fourth quarter of 2007".