Archives
July 2006
LG to Stick with Blu-Ray
Korean manufacturer has
abandoned plans
for a hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD high-def player, according to CE Pro. Instead,
it will stick to Blu-ray.
Meanwhile, Toshiba has
denied rumors
that it will introduce a second-generation HD DVD player this year.
July 31st, 2006
Toshiba's Recorder on Sale
Digital World Tokyo reports - with photos - that
Toshiba's HD DVD recorder has gone on sale in Tokyo " for the
wallet-kicking sum of ¥398,000, or about US$3,400."
July 27th, 2006
Unwinnable
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes the Blu-ray/HD DVD war is
unwinnable. He has called on the movie studios to start issuing discs in
both formats. Earlier comments from Netflix executives had been seen as
favoring Blu-ray.
July 27th, 2006
News Flash
- Blue laser products will
represent a $28 billion worldwide market by 2010, according to a new
report.
- High-definition DVD
could be the spark that at last ignites European interest in HDTV.
- A reader writes
to the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
I read your Blu-ray/HD-DVD article and was staggered at some of your
comments. You do not seem to understand digital media at all.
July 26th, 2006
You Pays Your Money...
If, like me, you think opinion polls are largely meaningless, your views
will be reinforced by the
latest survey
on high-definition DVD:
Ipsos Vantis, a market research firm which predicts consumer trends,
released the results of a survey last week which forecast that consumers
will overwhelmingly choose HD-DVD as the format of choice in the
next-generation DVD wars. The survey reported that, if all studios supported
both formats, consumers were more than seven times more likely to buy an
HD-DVD player than a competing Blu-ray player.
The survey was commissioned by Toshiba. Meanwhile...
...another survey commissioned by the Blu-ray Disc Association found that
58 percent of the 1,200 consumers they questioned preferred Blu-ray versus
the 16 percent who preferred HD-DVD.
July 22nd, 2006
Boycott 'Em Both
The headline in PC Magazine says it all:
HD-DVD,
Blu-Ray, and Why to Boycott 'Em Both
July 20th, 2006
Blu-Ray Issues
Microsoft
talks down Blu-ray:
Microsoft Vice President of the Consumer Media Technology Group Amir
Majidimehr goes on to state Microsoft's case for HD DVD and some of the
downfalls with the Blu-ray disc standard. According to Majidimehr, Blu-ray
media by nature have some issues with disc surface protection. On top of
that, Sony’s solution to problem leads to lower yields.
Intel
seems to agree.
July 19th, 2006
Good News for Blu-Ray
Disney is to produce original content - a series of short films - for
high-definition DVD.
July 18th, 2006
Newsbriefs
- Seven companies, including Toshiba and Microsoft, are to form the
North American HD DVD Promotional Group, and will launch a $150 million
campaign to promote the format.
-
Component shortages are behind delays in bring more Blu-ray players to
market.
- HD Beat columnist Matt Burns explains why
HD DVD is the best bet.
- "One
will live. One will die. You make the choice." Fortune magazine
thinks Blu-ray has an edge.
July 12th, 2006
High-Def DVD Lags in Europe
Blu-ray players
may not reach Europe until early 2007, months behind schedule, says
vnunet.com. Meanwhile, Toshiba could be launching its HD DVD players on the
continent in September. No word on when we'll get to see them down here in
Australia.
July 11th, 2006
Ricoh Develops Dual-Format Reader
Japan's premier business newspaper, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, is
reporting that
Ricoh has developed a device that can read both Blu-ray and HD DVD
formats. However, commercialization must wait until the end of 2007.
July 8th, 2006
"I Am Dubious It Will Take Off Anytime Soon"
The Los Angeles Times examines the new
Samsung Blu-ray player, under the headline, "Glory of Blu-ray Is Seen
Only on Big Screens." And it describes a Blu-ray disc as "like a DVD on
steroids."
But the conclusion?
After hours spent watching demonstrations of Blu-ray, I am dubious it
will take off anytime soon, if ever. I felt the same about its rival disc
format, HD DVD, which came out in April.
July 7th, 2006
Dual-Format Players to Arrive This Year -
Forecast
A little more detail has been published from that iSuppli Japan report
(below) on
high-definition DVD:
iSuppli forecasts that combined shipments of HD DVD and Blu-ray players
will expand to 65 million units in 2010, up from an estimated 1.6 million
units in 2006.
It is not clear which of HD DVD and Blu-ray discs will turn out to be the
prevailing format, the research firm said.
iSuppli predicts players compatible with both formats will arrive on the
market within 2006.
July 6th, 2006
Toshiba - Losing Heaps, Says Market Research
Firm
Toshiba has been denying reports that it is
losing money on its new HD DVD players. But a Japanese market research
firm, iSuppli Japan, thinks otherwise, according to the Mainichi Daily
News:
In an analysis report, iSuppli estimated the manufacturing cost of
Toshiba's HD-A1 player, sold for 499 dollars in the United States, at 700
dollars or higher. The research firm figured out the cost by dismantling the
player to find out what components are used and adding up the prices of the
components.
Toshiba's aggressive pricing for the player, put on the market in March,
probably reflects the company's effort to expand sales before Sony Corp. and
other firms promoting the Blu-ray Disc format launch their players.
July 4th, 2006
Toshiba - We're Not Losing Money
Australian technology website iTWire carries a
detailed report
on Toshiba's high-definition DVD thrust. It's worth reading in full. The
company denies that it is losing money on its new HD-AI player.
So how will Toshiba compete with PS3 players equipped with Blu-ray
players which sell below cost but are able to recoup losses on games sales?
“I imagine that we would stitch up relationships with most of the motion
picture movie companies and package it up that way,” says [Australian
executive Mark] Whittard. “Also there will be a lot of third party companies
that will rebadge HD DVD and bring it to market. That’s how we made money on
DVD which we invented. We still make a royalty on every DVD player in the
market today.”
July 1st, 2006
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