Hitachi is taking a page out of the Apple rumor book, launching a series of widescreen HDTVs with built-in DVRs, cutting out the pesky Tivo middleman. The idea itself is nothing new, having a DVR and HD tuner built-in to the TV set makes sense. What makes these Hitachi’s notable, however, is that the DVR’s discs are removable. Granted, the discs are in Hitachi’s own iVDR format, but it plans of releasing a series of non-TV products to interface with the drives, like USB computer devices. We like it. And the line of HDTVs is called the “Wooo”, also awesome.

What’s even more interesting is that Hitachi has partnered with Warner Home Video, who will be launching several titles from its library in HD on iVDR cartridges. If this catches on, then it will definately shake-up the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars. We’re going to make some popcorn, sit back, and watch the fight.

Hitachi Wooo series HD TV’s with iVDR hard disk [New Launches]