Pioneer announced Tuesday that they plan to have a Blu-ray recorder out by the end of the year in Japan. They plan to accomplish this with help from Sharp, Pioneer’s top shareholder. This comes as no surprise since the demand for Blu-ray recorders is likely jump since the format war is over, although like the players themselves, sales will almost certainly be below expectations.

At this time there is no information on pricing or specs, but I’m sure they’re working to keep things competitive. It’s surprising they didn’t try to put these out before now — perhaps the costs were prohibitive and would reflect poorly on the Blu-Ray brand?