VUDU announced it will expand its streaming services this year to select HDTVs and Blu-ray players from LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung, SANYO, Sharp, Toshiba and VIZIO. LG was the first to offer VUDU on HDTVs last year, and this year 32 models from the company will be VUDU ready. Full Story
As expected, Toshiba has finally announced a Blu-ray Disc player. The once arch-enemy of Toshiba, Sony’s Blu-ray format will now be part of the Toshiba family of electronics. The BDX2000 Blu-ray player supports BD-Live (Profile 2.0), Bonus View and 1080p resolution at 24 frames-per-second. Full Story
Responses flew out over the web yesterday after the Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Toshiba would produce a Blu-ray Disc player and possibly Blu-ray recorder by year’s end. But is this any surprise? I’m only surprised it took so long. Full Story
Amazon announced a 2-day sale on select HDTVs, including Sony Bravia, Panasonic VIERA, Samsung, and Toshiba models. Highlights of the sale include a list of HDTVs for under $499, some of them with free shipping. The sale also includes a selection of HDTVs around $1,000, most of them discounted way under that amount. Full Story
Amazon has sent out an email to purchasers of HD DVD players offering $50 credit towards most products. However the catch is that it doesn’t include purchases from third-party merchants, according to the email. Full Story
Toshiba announced yesterday they would start sample shipping of the SpursEngine, a high-performance processor that evolved from the Sony/Toshiba Cell Broadband Engine.
Well, the camera head at least seems to be the smallest. Toshiba announced today it will be showing the IK-HD1 3CCD HDTV Camera at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in Las Vegas this month. The tiny hi def camera head only weighs 2.3 oz. and measures 1.6 inches. Full Story
Reuters has just confirmed that Circuit City will take back your HD DVD player if it was purchased within 90 days in exchange for a Blu-ray Player. Just remember that most Blu-ray players will be more expensive than the HD DVD player you bought, so plan on spending more than you originally anticipated for a hi def player. Full Story
Toshiba Corp. Chief Executive Atsutoshi Nishida sat down with the Wall Street Journal to discuss the death of HD DVD.
Chief Executive of Toshiba, Atsutoshi Nishida, said that HD DVD “was one of 45 strategic business units that we have.” He seemed to shrug of the potential of owning the next gen disc format saying, “This just means we now have 44.”
Microsoft announced Saturday it would stop making the HD DVD add-on player for its xBox 360 gaming console. The company said Toshiba’s discontinuation of its HD DVD players, and poor market saturation, lead to the decision. Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida estimated the HD DVD add-on player only sold 300,000 units. Full Story
Just a day after Toshiba threw in the towel and conceded the next generation disc to Sony, both parties are making a deal involving the production of advanced “Cell” microprocessors. According to the Associated Press, the joint venture will be owned 60 percent by Toshiba, and 40 percent split by Sony and its game unit Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Full Story
Most people have already declared Blu-ray to be the format war’s victory and our recent talks with Toshiba and Universal seem to suggest that the HD DVD camp might be ready to pull up stakes. The crazy part is this: Just a few weeks ago, it might’ve gone the other way entirely.
There is at least one great thing that has happened during the format war. It’s that the competition drove down the price of high definition hardware and media. The recent aggressive pricing moves by Toshiba have got to have Sony boiling, but for the consumer, it’s a good thing.
Don’t we all want what’s best for the consumer? About a year ago a YouTube video has reporter Wayde Robson questioning Sony’s potential rule over disc formats.
“Let me get this straight. The company that makes the movie, also wants to create the disc format, it also builds the hardware, writes an extra digital rights management incription. Why don’t you just buy a house in a Sony gated community?”
“…there is an important principal at stake here. The trouble is when one company controls the media, controls the content, controls the hardware, whose interests are being served? Why should they bother to innovate?”
Here is a link to the full video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GhSsV55ZZ4&feature=related
Not many people realize that the current format war was not the first “high-definition” war between Toshiba and Sony. The battle for high-definition audio supremacy has actually been going on for some time now, long before we ever caught word of these new-fangled HD video formats.
read more | digg story
Toshiba on Monday said it would release in Japan this week the first notebook with a rewritable HD DVD optical
I went to check out those “Secret in-Store” sales items that Walmart promoted on their site for today. They advertised a Sanyo 50″ plasma for $998, a Toshiba HD-A2 for $98, and HD DVD movies for $14.96.
First of all, they didn’t even have the Toshiba HD DVD player. They didn’t have ANY hi-def players. I asked if they were going to get some in for the sale. They didn’t know, and the manager was hard to find.
The Sanyo 50″ plasma, while normally priced at $1297, was not such a bad deal at $998. Is this the best plasma out there? Hell No! But for someone who wants big, and has a budget, this non-1080p flat screen might not be too bad. Problem is, they only had 2 in boxes, and one floor model. Huh?
Now let me tell you I got excited about the HD DVDs. $15 bucks for a hi-def disc is about as cheap as you can get them. But their selection was grim. They had a total of 3 titles. They had a module that was scheduled to be set up, but wasn’t up yet. Was there a library of HD DVD titles just sitting in the back room?
I think Walmart forgot to tell their store managers about this secret Friday sale. Maybe if they did they would have had the products in-stock and visible.
The funniest part about checking out HDTVs at Walmart was that they were not displaying hi-def images. I peeked under some fake snow decoration that was hiding the video source to find that a row of HDTVs were being fed by one standard-definition cheapo DVD player. Now that’s how you sell hi-def Walmart! Good for you!
According to a recent announcement at the DVD Forum, the 51 GB HD DVD disc may NOT work on existing HD DVD players. This could be a potential disaster for Toshiba, who, along with Sony are doing everything they can to get their respective players into consumers homes.
It’s bad enough that both parties are challenged with getting expensive high-def players into homes. If Toshiba doesn’t get this disc to work on their existing models they could face alienation of current and potential users. A firmware upgrade via internet connection would be a welcome solution to consumers, many of them understanding technology’s rapid evolution.
The reality is that most movies don’t need 51 GB of space to deliver a high-def movie. The current 15 GB double-sided combo discs seem to work just fine. It will be the longer than normal titles that will be trouble.
Current solutions include splitting the movie into two 15 GB discs, or
printing 15 GB double-sided discs. Both of these options will the only viable solutions. Asking consumers to buy a newer HD DVD player that can read 51 GB discs is not.
Microsoft announced last week the use of a new HDi logo on all Toshiba HD DVD players. The new logo will also be used on Universal Studios and Paramount packaging for upcoming HD DVD movie titles. Movies such as “300,” “Blood Diamond,” “Heroes: Season 1,” and “Transformers” make use of the HDi technology by allowing downloads, ring tone purchases, and shared bookmarked scenes in a communal atmosphere.
Microsoft HDi technology powers the interactive capabilities of every HD DVD player on the market as well the Xbox external HD DVD drive. The use of the logo will begin this quarter.
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