Toshiba told us it was coming, and now the world can finally mark it down: the company famous for supporting HD DVD while everyone else sided with Blu-ray has finally decided to product its very own BD deck. Some might view this as the real death of HD DVD, as for the longest time, Toshiba would have nothing to do with the rival format that...Read more...
At long last, the inevitable has occurred. Nearly 1.5 years after the curtain fell and HD DVD was deemed dead, Toshiba--HD DVD's biggest fan, backer and producer of players--has agreed to join those on the other side. After years of fighting, the Blu-ray format won out over the other HD disc format, HD DVD, though Toshiba never once showed...Read more...
It's a tough time for Blu-ray to be really hitting its stride. Many consumers are still wary due to the battle with HD-DVD, and frankly, many are still content with DVD. In too many cases, upscaled DVD looks "good enough" for consumers, and only those with oodles of disposable income are willing to fork out for Blu-ray. Blu-ray player prices...Read more...
$986 million to be more precise. Why so much? It's the last one. That's the projection for the cost to Toshiba to close up shop and retool its production line to make something else. It's the final chapter for Toshiba's ill-fated attempt to offer its HD DVD alternative to Sony's Blu-ray high-definition disk player. Toshiba still turned a profit...Read more...
Things seemed settled. Blu-ray, the high definition format favored by Sony, finally overcame the competition offered by rival Toshiba, HD DVD, and the next-generation format wars were over. Not so fast, says New Medium Enterprises, who are touting an alternative to Blu-ray they call the versatile multilayer disc. VMD has the one attribute...Read more...
Get your tin foil hats on, this is one of those kinds of rumors. As always we remind you to take all rumors with a grain of salt.We reported in the past that Sony was going to offload their Cell production and that Toshiba was a rumored buyer, but the deal seemed to be in limbo for several weeks. Then major retailers and studios...Read more...
As the saying goes, it's all over but the shouting and we're sure there are more than a few heated words that are still yet to be exchanged. Reports are continuing to flow in quickly since Friday, on the news that Walmart was stepping back from the sale of HD DVD players moving forward, offering only Blu-Ray format players by June...Read more...
When Warner announced that they were going to go Blu-ray exclusive starting in June, it seemed that the outlook for HD DVD seemed bleak at best. But it appears that a new strategy is forming, and the immediate goal would appear to be putting more HD DVD capable devices into consumer hands.“One part of HD DVD’s new strategy is on lower...Read more...
Toshiba, backer of the HD DVD standard for next-generation high-definition disc players, is reacting to the move of many Hollywood studios to exclusively offer their entertainment on rival Sony's Blu-ray format. By "reacting," I mean "slashing their prices to the bone."Toshiba's third generation 1080i-capable HD-A3 is selling for a mere $139.98...Read more...
Well the winner of the "Who wants to be listed in Wikipedia next to the Betamax format" sweepstakes appears to be HD-DVD. Paramount has decided to follow Warner Brother's recent decision to support Blu-ray and is going to drop its support of the HD-DVD format. Warner's decision last week to throw its weight behind Blu-ray saw it...Read more...
The fight for supremacy between the two high-definition formats for entertainment has been fought to a stalemate, at least according to Sony's CEO Howard Stringer. Sony backs the Blu-ray standard, while Toshiba touts the HD DVD format. When the numbers are in for Christmas, we'll likely see that one or the other format has a wide lead over...Read more...
Addonics Announces Optical Solution that Bridges Blu Ray and HD DVD Formats -- Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player Plays Both Formats and Burns DVD±R/RW and CDRW Media -- SAN JOSE, CA (December 13, 2007) – Addonics Technologies today announced its Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player an optical storage solution that allows your PC to play Blu-ray...Read more...
If you aren't wearing your tin-foil hat, you might want to go get it before reading any further.Now that you have your tin-foil hat, we'll issue a not-too subtle warning that this as a wild rumor/allegation and it could easily fall under the heading of 'crackpot' theories despite having a big Hollywood name attached to it. Microsoft...Read more...
Remember when George Lucas digitally remastered the original Star Wars trilogy? He said it was to "finish the film the way it was meant to be." Most of the changes were cosmetic, enhancing the films with special effects that were not available when the films were first made. In a sense, we now have a similar version of Star Trek: The Original...Read more...
The continuing battle between Blu-Ray and HD DVD might eventually boil down to who can get their player into more consumer hands. A large part of that equation is price. How does less than $200 sound?If you're worried that $200 will buy you a cut rate player, think again. We're talking about a HD DVD player that was going...Read more...
On Monday Toshiba made good on a promise it made earlier this year to add HD-DVD drives to its more popular systems, by adding HD-DVD drives to a Satellite laptop. Previously only the Qosmio AV notebook had an HD-DVD drive. The Satellite A205 equipped with HD DVD carries with it a retail price of $1,149.99 USD, approximately 30 percent...Read more...
A report from Forrester Research paints a bleak picture for sales of next generation DVD players. They estimate that at least another eighteen months will roll by before many consumers make up their minds to buy one; and until then the two formats will fight it out in low-level trench warfare until one or the other is embraced by consumers....Read more...
It appears the approval was given on August 31st, but for some reason the news is just leaking out now. In any case, there hadn't been any official announcements by Toshiba or the DVD Forum prior to the leaked information.The 51 GB derivative enables three layers to be bonded together within the same 0.6 mm substrate limitations as standard...Read more...
According to Ken Lowe of Sigma Designs, a company that develops performance integrated SoC semiconductors and markets them to the DVD industry (among many other industries), HD DVD has only a few months to live. Although the format wars commenced not too long ago, HD DVD is expected to rest in peace by fall of 2007. Just how reliable is this...Read more...
The HD DVD Promotional Group made a proud announcement today that over half of all next-generation video players sold use HD DVD format, which means that they have a slight advantage over their BD contenders. “About 60 percent of all movie players use HD DVD, and are selling far more titles than before as well. Over 75,000 of the discs sold...Read more...
Apparently, a new licensing agreement is being finalized that could make it legal for consumers who have already purchased a HD DVD or Blu-Ray disc to make a bakcup copy... "Under a licensing agreement in its final stages, consumers may get the right to make several legal copies of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies they’ve purchased, a concession...Read more...
News outlets are always anxious to offer breaking news to their readers. But how fast is too fast? Our friends at Engadget reported that Wal*Mart had made a blockbuster purchase of HD-DVD players. Big enough to have an effect on the viability of the format. "Get ready to get your cheap HD on kids. Wal-Mart just threw down some serious...Read more...