Please do not expect wonders with HDMI 1.3 In fact for picture and sound quality there is NO difference between HDMI 1.2 and HDMI 1.3 while using DVD, HD-DVD or blue ray.  There is a very good article on this subject.

Obviously, one can make a case for- or against anything. HDMI is just a form of transmission.

The comment- most decoding is now taking place in the players- is just not true now- all the latest offerings due out soon from the major brands will not have in built decoding. This is to save money and reduce the price of BR so establishing a larger market.

There is no mention about profile 1.1 which if the BR brigade have their way will render previous machines useless with new BR titles.

In vision, lip sync and deep colour probably are not worth the wait but in audio its different.

The new audio codecs MA need 1.3 or above and both connected items need to be 1.3 compliant. This is now being engineered into new products- so without it the later codecs are not available- This is quite significant in a high quality AV set up

So whilst the article states that hdmi will be reverse compatable with the new hdmi varients- you wont get the new codecs