DVD-R/+R DL Recorders: Are their any in the works?

[Cyrax9]

All right, I know DVD-R DL just came out for PC's, and I know only Pioneer and a few others are offering DVD-R9 drives right now, (Aww Sony, going back to your +R format war?) but I have to ask about this.

With DVD+R DL Disc's having been out for a little under a year now and DVD-R DL Disc's & Drives just starting to surface, one has to beg the question... Has anybody started working on a Set-Top writer that will handle these new formats? What about a Multi-Format -- or even better, an All-Format Recorder?

I ask because I had a friend who recently visited Japan. First stop: Tokyo's electronic district. Here he found that all DVD Recorders (He owns a Panny E50) record DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, AND DVD+R DL -- basically all formats. (Goes to show you who gets the good stuff first.)

I know the rule of "What Japan has we'll have in a year at the very least" applies, but are their any chances of DL formats for Set-Top Recorders soon? What about All-Format recorders? I'm guessing the first two companies to go into this type of R&D project would be Panasonic and Pioneer as they seem to have Recorder-opoly on the market moreso than any other brand. I'd guess Sony would be the second in only due to their current state of playing "catch up" to offer more varied recorders, (and the Panasonic/Sony Rivalry being a reason for Panasonic to be the first.) but I honestly haven't seen plans from the three companies I'd expect to have Multi-Format and Dual-Layer recorders.

Any and all information is appreciated, as well as whether or not this is in the works at all.

[Synergy]

Read the following links for more info:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=252413&highlight=

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=492958

Both Sony and LG have announced standalone recorders supporting DVD+R DL recording feature, but the essential question is still the price of the DL media. Not many users could afford wasting $7-$10 on each coaster.

I also question that there is any standalone recorder in Japan capable of all 5 formats plus DL recording, but LG/Hitachi have been offering all 5 formats PC DVD burners for a while. LG and Hitachi were the only ones announcing all 5 formats recording on their standalone models at this year's CES, but still no DL recording for Hitachi models. The fact is that +R/RW format has a relatively low market share in Japan compared to the rest of the world, all format recorders are designed mainly for the North American and European markets. Philips, the inventor of +R/RW format, has non-existent market share of standalone DVD recorders in Japan.

[JohnnyCNote]

It would be nice to get 8 hours on a disk instead of 4, or even 6 of decent quality (or at least acceptable for me), but they disks will have to get a cheap as the single layer ones, or comparably priced anyway....