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Post by dkennedy on Sept 8, 2005 7:06:15 GMT -5
Samsung touts combo Blu-ray/HD-DVD player
September 8, 2005
Ken Young, vnunet.com
South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has announced that it will make a dual-standard next-generation DVD player.
The move comes after the failure of attempts to create a unified format combining Sony's Blu-Ray and the rival Toshiba-backed HD-DVD.
Over the past three years both vendors have been highlighting the manufacturers and movie studios supporting their system in a bid to secure the prize of becoming the de facto next-generation DVD format.
Samsung's move appears to be driven by pragmatism. Choi Gee-sung, the company's head of consumer electronics, told the Financial Times: "We would welcome a unified standard, but if this doesn't come, which looks likely, we'll bring a unified solution to market."
The dual-format player is expected sometime next year, and it remains unclear whether it will be a single- or dual-drive machine. A single drive would need both a blue and red laser read head.
"It won't be simple but you'll see our solution in the coming year. Consumers will be too confused otherwise," said Gee-sung.
Pundits pointed out that Samsung could achieve a price point far below the cost of buying two machines of different formats. Single format machines are predicted to average at around $1,000 in the US.
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Post by dkennedy on Sept 14, 2005 6:46:13 GMT -5
Sony Predicts Demise of HD-DVD
September 14, 2005
Digital Gaming - techsmec.com
Despite the ongoing war of words between Sony and Toshiba over the next-generation optical storage format, the argument has, up until now, focussed on the merits of the two competing standards, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
Noticeably, neither camp has made any predictions as to the outcome of a head-to-head fight in the marketplace, save only to agree that it would not be best for consumers. That's all changed with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president, Benjamin Feingold, confidently predicting a victory for Blu-Ray over HD-DVD within 12 months of hitting the shops.
"I think in 12 months it's going to be clear," he said. "The combination of Blu-Ray and PlayStation 3 machines is going to overwhelm any HD-DVD presence and all studios will have to support Blu-Ray."
For what it's worth, TechSmec.com has to agree. Only Microsoft stepping into the fight and adding HD-DVD to the Xbox 360 can save the lower-capacity format now.
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Post by dkennedy on Sept 27, 2005 5:03:16 GMT -5
Microsoft, Intel Back Toshiba's HD DVD, Shun Blu-Ray
September 27, 2005
Bloomberg News Release
Microsoft Corp., the largest software company, and Intel Corp., the biggest chipmaker, will support Toshiba Corp.'s format for high-definition DVDs, a setback for Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray standard.
Microsoft will make software that is "friendly'' to Toshiba's HD DVD format, while Intel will make chips for players of the system, the companies said in a joint statement today. Both technologies offer better picture quality, greater recording capacity and improved copyright protection.
Sony, which last week forecast its first annual loss in 11 years, lost a similar battle two decades ago, when its Betamax format was scrapped in favor of VHS as the video standard. Toshiba has also won the backing of Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. and Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures for its standard, while Sony can count on its own music and film library for content.
"It is a plus for Toshiba, but much more important are the moves by content makers, like movie studios and music companies,'' said Takeo Miyamoto, a Tokyo-based analyst with CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, who has an "outperform'' rating on Toshiba. Shares of Toshiba fell 0.6 percent to 484 yen in Tokyo today, and Sony's stock gained 1.3 percent to 3,870 yen.
Talks between Toshiba and Sony to unify the DVD standards broke down in May.
"We at Sony don't believe that a unified standard is possible,'' Sony President Ryoji Chubachi told reporters today in Tokyo. "We will continue to push and persuade HD DVD supporters that Blu-ray is better. Ultimately the winner will be decided by the consumer.''
`Best Features'
Toshiba said today it will start selling notebook PCs with an HD DVD drive in Japan by early next year. HD DVD recorder sales will begin at the end of this year in Japan, the company said this month.
"To benefit from mass production you need to have a single format and we are pushing for HD DVD,'' Bill Kircos, an Intel spokesman, said in an interview today. "We've been in discussions for almost two years, but HD DVD appears to have the best consumer features.''
Blu-ray recorders made by Sony, Matsunutsa and Sharp Corp. are already on sale in Japan for about 300,000 yen ($2,660), or as much as 10 times more than the standard models.
"HD DVD is the better solution and we are making our operating system friendly to that system,'' Adam Anderson, a spokesman for Redmond Washington-based Microsoft, said in an interview. "But it's not going to preclude us from having software that plays Blu-ray on our system.''
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., whose films include "Fahrenheit 9/11'' and "Monster's Ball,'' and Vivendi Universal SA's Universal Music Group, the world's biggest record company, last month joined the 140-member Blu-ray Disc Association.
"We have ample support for our standard and plan to get even more, especially from content makers,'' Taro Takamine, a Sony spokesman, said in Tokyo today.
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Post by dkennedy on Sept 28, 2005 10:46:52 GMT -5
Toshiba postpones new HD DVD players
September 28, 2005 Reuters News Release
TOKYO Toshiba said Wednesday that it would postpone introducing its high-definition DVD players in the U.S. market until around February or March. Toshiba and Sony, as leaders of rival camps, have waged a three-year battle to have their differing standards adopted for next-generation DVD technology, which promises much greater capacity for high-definition movies. Toshiba, along with NEC and Sanyo Electric, has been promoting the high-definition DVD format, known as HD-DVD, while Sony and Matsunutsa Electric have been developing a technology known as Blu-ray. "We have been discussing with content holders the most effective way to launch in the U.S. market, and it will probably be in February or March," said Yoshihide Fujii, a corporate senior vice president at Toshiba. Toshiba said it believed it would be best to start sales of high-definition DVD players in the United States on a wide scale rather than gradually. The company said content providers like film studios agreed with the approach. Toshiba said it would take several months to build up inventories after starting mass production in mid-December. Toshiba originally said it planned to introduce high-definition DVD players in the fourth quarter of this year in both Japan and the United States, while Sony plans to put a Blu-ray disc drive in its new PlayStation game console to go on sale next year. Toshiba said it still planned to introduce high-definition DVD players in the Japanese market by the end of the year. Toshiba won powerful support on Monday when Microsoft and Intel announced that their products would support the HD-DVD format. The two companies said the format would make it easier for consumers to copy high-definition movies to computer hard drives. The two sides in the format battle tried but failed to reach agreement on a common format this year, in hope of avoiding confusion and inconvenience to consumers like that which resulted from the VHS-Betamax battle over videocassette formats two decades ago. "We will make all possible efforts to unify the format for consumers' sake," Fujii of Toshiba said. He added that the two sides were no longer holding talks. Among Hollywood film studios, whose support is critical for the success of any DVD format, Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures endorse high-definition DVD, while Blu-ray supporters include Sony Pictures, Walt Disney and Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News
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Post by dkennedy on Oct 3, 2005 11:35:20 GMT -5
In DVD Format Split, Paramount Goes 2 Ways
October 3, 2005
By Ken Belson, New York Times
Recognizing that a split over the format of the next generation of digital video discs is deepening, Paramount Pictures said yesterday that it will make DVD movies in the Blu-ray format as well as in the HD DVD standard.
Paramount is the first major studio to say publicly that it will produce DVD's in each of the two formats, which both promise high-definition pictures, enhanced audio and five or more times the storage space on a disc. Until now, the big Hollywood studios have supported one format or the other.
However, the chance for an agreement to use one format dimmed earlier this year when negotiations stalled between Toshiba, which makes the HD DVD standard, and Sony, Panasonic and others in the Blu-ray group. Since then, companies on both sides have promised to start selling DVD players that use their respective formats as early as this winter.
The studios, retailers and others had hoped to avoid a showdown between the competing formats because it is costly to make and sell two sets of discs.
Other studios may follow in Paramount's path. In addition to Paramount, Warner Brothers and Universal have backed the HD DVD format, while Sony Pictures, Disney, 20th Century Fox and Lion's Gate have come out in favor of Blu-ray.
The plans to produce two types of machines and movies for both formats suggests that there may not be a clear resolution to the battle anytime soon, according to industry executives.
The president of Paramount Pictures, Thomas Lesinski, said in a statement that Sony's inclusion of Blu-ray technology in its PlayStation 3 videogame console when it is released next spring was an important factor in his studio's decision. With that technology inside, the game machine will effectively double as a Blu-ray DVD player.
Mr. Lesinski called this a "key advantage" for the Blu-ray group.
He added that the studio made its decision to produce Blu-ray DVDs based on "new data on cost, manufacturability and copy protection solutions." Paramount, Warner and Universal, as well as Microsoft, Intel and disc manufacturers, have said that the HD DVD discs can be produced more cheaply and more reliably than Blu-ray discs. Disc manufacturers have also said privately that the HD DVD format discs are far closer to being ready for mass production than Blu-ray discs.
In response to Paramount's announcement, Toshiba said it remained committed to bringing HD DVD to market.
In a statement, the company said that the Blu-ray group "still needs to answer the tough questions about how they plan to deliver on their promises." This includes whether it will allow all manufacturers to make Blu-ray players and whether the Blu-ray group will set a date for delivering their high-capacity discs.
Paramount did not say how many movies it initially plans to release in the Blu-ray format, or which titles.
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Post by dkennedy on Oct 5, 2005 4:41:56 GMT -5
Next-Generation DVD War Heats Up In Tokyo
October 5, 2005
Associated Press News Release
TOKYO -- The war over the next-generation DVD standard is playing out full force at a sprawling electronics exhibition opening near Tokyo Tuesday with Japanese electronics companies on both sides expressing confidence for victory.
The CEATEC 2005 exhibition in Chiba, Japan, is opening as the battle escalated a notch after Paramount Pictures, which had previously supported the HD DVD backed by Toshiba Corp., became the first major movie studio to support both rival formats.
And Matsunutsa Electric Industrial Co., which backs Blu-ray Disc, the other technology, was openly gloating.
"The format war is coming to a close," said Matsunutsa Executive Officer Kazuhiro Tsuga, adding that he was hopeful other Hollywood studios will follow suit. "That's our current scenario."
Until Paramount's decision, the six major studios had been evenly split between HD DVD and Blu-ray, also backed by Sony Corp.
Both formats deliver dazzling imagery in high-definition video and can store more data than DVDs today, allowing for interactive features such as playing an interview with director discussing a movie scene while you watch the footage.
At CEATEC, Matsunutsa, which makes Panasonic brand products, is demonstrating how it has been able to lower production costs for Blu-ray, a key past weakness of the format. HD DVDs are cheaper to produce because they are more similar to current DVDs.
Although hopes have been high for a compromise to agree on a single format, officials from both sides have made comments recently that hint at a stalemate.
As long as the formats remain incompatible, consumers may end up the losers. One format may eventually win in the market in the same way that Matsunutsa's VHS defeated Sony's Betamax in home video in the 1980s.
Analysts say it's way too early to say which side has the advantage in the format wars.
"There is no decisive lead for either side," said Koya Tabata, consumer electronics analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo.
Not everyone is going to rush out to buy next-generation DVD products, and the situation is changing everyday, although Paramount's decision seems to be putting Blu-ray slightly ahead, at least for the moment, Tabata said.
Complicating the issue is that the consortium backing HD DVD includes chip maker Intel Corp. and software giant Microsoft Corp., but PC makers such as Apple Computer Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. are backing Blu-ray.
Those who support HD DVD say their format has a timing advantage. HD DVD players are set to arrive at stores later this year in Japan and early next year in the United States.
Sony's Blu-ray recorder models are already on sale in Japan, and the Sony PlayStation 3 video-game console, which supports Blu-ray, is set to go on sale in spring next year. But when Blu-ray players and other models will be available isn't clear so far.
"What will determine the success of the product is consumers. And when consumes have that much lead opportunity to enjoy HD DVD, I think that will be the real decision-maker," Mark Knox, a Toshiba official overseeing HD DVD promotion, told APTV.
Knox played down Paramount's decision, noting that none of the film studios have said their backing is exclusive, leaving room for them to jump ship if that begins to look like a better choice.
The Walt Disney Co., Sony's Columbia Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, which support Blu-ray, have not said whether they will also release films in HD DVD. Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. remain in the HD DVD camp.
"They decided to go both ways," Knox said of Paramount. "While it wasn't the happiest news I've ever heard, it's not really going to make change on how HD DVD goes to market."
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Post by dkennedy on Oct 18, 2005 5:17:58 GMT -5
Gates brands Blu-ray 'anti-consumer'
October 18, 2005
By Steve Malone, PC Pro Magazine
Bill Gates has branded the Sony Blu-Ray next generation DVD format 'anti-consumer'. He claimed that the protection scheme built into Blu-Ray favours the movie industry too much at the expense of the customer.
Recently Microsoft and Intel backed the rival HD-DVD format proposed by Toshiba. The announcement dealt a fierce blow to the Sony camp
Gates made his remarks in an interview with the Daily Princetonian, a US college newspaper.
When asked about the recent decision to back Toshiba the Microsoft Chief Software Architect said 'the key issue here is that the protection scheme under Blu-ray is very anti-consumer and there's not much visibility of that. The inconvenience is that the [movie] studios got too much protection at the expense of consumers and it won't work well on PCs. You won't be able to play movies and do software in a flexible way.'
As the owner of a movie studio itself Sony has a vested interest in copy protection schemes. It is very likely that the studio bosses at Sony had a very big say in how tightly controlled the DRM should be in the Blu-ray specification.
Microsoft has already defended its decision to back HD-DVD saying that Blu-ray had failed to match up to the six criteria that the software giant had for its support. However, Gates' remarks clearly show that the copy protection is the major stumbling block. 'It's not the physical format that we have the issue with, it's that the protection scheme on Blu is very anti-consumer,' he said. 'If [the Blu-ray group] would fix that one thing, you know, that'd be fine.'
Interestingly, Gates also threw doubt onto the long term future of DVD as a physical format. In his remarks to the paper he said: 'Understand that this is the last physical format there will ever be. Everything's going to be streamed directly or on a hard disk. So, in this way, it's even unclear how much this one counts.'
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Post by dkennedy on Oct 20, 2005 9:11:47 GMT -5
Toshiba crosses border in battle over next DVD standard
October 20, 2005
By Martin Fackler and Ken Belson, The New York Times
TOKYO In the battle with Sony over whose format will power the next-generation of DVD players, Toshiba has adopted a potentially perilous strategy: encouraging low-cost Chinese competitors to crank out machines using its standard known as HD-DVD. The tactic of courting Chinese makers has been largely taboo in Japan, where manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic have long tried to delay their technology from turning into cheap commodities. But Toshiba's decision could have significant ramifications in the race for the billions of dollars that will very likely flow from the next generation of DVD technology that promises sharper pictures, enhanced audio and more disc storage. China, for its part, is developing its own high-definition DVD format. Xinhua, the state-run press agency, reported this month. Citing Lu Da, deputy director of the National Disc Engineering Center, it said that the format was scheduled to be put on the market before 2008. Xinhua reported that Lu said the format would be based on the prevailing HD-DVD format but would be incompatible with other HD-DVD systems
Toshiba and Sony have been fighting an increasingly bitter war over which technology will become the industry standard. It is a battle that carries particular significance for Sony, which once championed the higher-quality Betamax but still lost the battle over the standard for videocassettes. In the latest brawl, negotiations to merge their formats failed, so the two sides have been lobbying Hollywood studios, disc manufacturers, computer companies like Dell and software makers like Microsoft, as well as retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Sony and others developing the Blu-ray technology have recently won big victories by persuading more studios to agree to put movies into their format. Sony also plans to put the technology in the PlayStation 3 when the game console is released in the spring, effectively turning them into Blu-ray DVD players. Seeking to thwart Sony, Toshiba has reached a Faustian bargain with Chinese manufacturers. By making its technology available to them, Toshiba hopes to get cheaper HD-DVD players in the stores months ahead of Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and other Blu-ray companies. This would help Toshiba outmaneuver Sony. Toshiba, analysts say, also knows that DVDs became a mass market item in the United States after low-priced models arrived from China and filled big-box retailers like Wal-Mart. But inviting the Chinese to drive down prices is risky. Toshiba, after all, also makes DVD players, so it could undercut its own machines in stores. By ceding potential sales for its machines to other, cheaper brands, Toshiba may have a harder time recouping the hundreds of millions of dollars it has spent developing its format. Sony and the Blu-ray group are licensing their technology more selectively. Analysts call this an effort to prevent low-cost manufacturers, including those from China, from quickly driving down the price of Blu-ray machines when they reach stores next year. Many manufacturers are also wary of licensing their technology to the Chinese because of their record of not paying licensing and royalty fees. "Toshiba can't back out of this format war for face-saving reasons," said Richard Doherty, research director at Envisioneering Group, a market research group in Seaford, New York. "But pushing ahead means dealing with the Chinese sooner rather than later. They'll risk dealing with the Chinese if it means getting the format out quicker." The contrasting strategies underscore the increasingly uncomfortable choices that Japanese electronics makers must make as China's manufacturing might grows, whether it be in DVDs, televisions, cameras or other products. Japanese companies are either hoarding their technology from the Chinese and hoping that they catch up slowly, or licensing technology to the Chinese and making money off the royalties. "Japanese companies basically follow one of two models: They're open or they're closed," said Koya Tabata, an electronics industry analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston. "Japanese makers didn't have to make these sorts of decisions when they used to have unquestioned market dominance." Though most big Japanese companies have factories in China, their attempts to shield their products from low-cost competitors frequently prompt Chinese companies and government officials to accuse the Japanese of technological miserliness. It is often a delicate dance. Sharp assembles its flat-panel televisions at factories in China, the United States and Spain. But the liquid-crystal screens at the heart of their products are produced at only two factories in Japan. Toshiba and Canon have taken a similar tack, vowing to keep at home production of flat screens using a promising new technology called surface-conduction electron-emitter displays. Matsunutsa Electric, which owns Panasonic, makes key components like the lasers in its DVD recorders and the lens and chipboards for digital cameras only in Japan. Japan's wariness toward China, of course, is not unwarranted. Many Japanese manufacturers have waged costly legal battles against Asian rivals to recoup unpaid royalties and settle patent infringements allegations. Toshiba, though, bucked Japanese convention when, in the mid-1990s, it licensed technology for making its powerful new flash memory chips to a rising South Korean rival, Samsung. The bid to win acceptance for the fledgling chips by ensuring cheap, plentiful supply worked: Toshiba-made chips now sit at the heart of digital music players like the iPod. Yet in the process Toshiba gave up a big chunk of the global market to Samsung. Toshiba says it is following a similar strategy with HD-DVD. "When a technology is established, it's wise to keep technology that will help you stand out" from competitors, said Keisuke Ohmori, a Toshiba spokesman. "When you want to establish a new market, you need a different approach to gain sales volume." Last month, two of the largest made-to-order DVD makers in China, Amoi and JiangKui, said they would start using Toshiba's HD-DVD format to produce high-definition disc players for other companies as early as next year. The companies cited Toshiba's greater willingness to share its technology. "Compared to the Blu-ray standard, the DVD Forum has been more friendly and open to the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers," JiangKui, located in eastern city of Zhenjiang, said. The DVD Forum is the industry body that has backed Toshiba's HD-DVD format. Appealing to the Chinese this early in a product's life cycle could backfire, of course. But with Sony and its powerful allies gaining momentum in the standards battle, Toshiba may be desperate to fight back, industry analysts said. In other areas, China prefers to pursue its own formats for technology standards, like Wi-Fi and 3G mobile telephony, to avoid having to pay licensing fees to foreign companies. A Sony spokesman, Taro Takamine, said his company could produce cheap machines without China's help. Sony, he said, plans to sell Blu-ray disc players for under $1,000 next year. Toshiba said this year that it would charge less than $1,000 for its first HD-DVD players. JiangKui, which will start selling HD-DVD players in the United States and Europe next year, has not yet said what it will charge, though most analysts say it will be far less than Toshiba's brand-name machines. Whatever the price, China's entry into the next-generation DVD market is likely to put pressure on the Blu-ray companies to slash prices or risk failing to catch on with price-conscious American consumers. "There's no ignoring the Chinese," said Doherty, the research director at Envisioneering Group. "You can't be competitive on consumer scales if you don't take advantage of Chinese manufacturing." Martin Fackler reported from Tokyo and Ken Belson from New York.
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Post by dkennedy on Oct 21, 2005 5:34:25 GMT -5
Sony wins major DVD studio ally
Rival DVD format stands
October 21, 2005
BBC News Release
The two DVD formats are battling for supremacy Sony's Blu-ray DVD technology has won over another heavyweight supporter in the battle to be Hollywood's format of choice for the next generation of DVDs.
Film studio Warner Bros has said it will release DVDs in the Blu-ray as well as Toshiba-backed HD DVD formats.
For months, Toshiba and Sony have been leading the charge to woo hi-tech firms and studios to support rival formats.
But the film and technology industries want to avoid a war akin to the 1980s Betamax and VHS video format battle.
Last month, computer giants Intel and Microsoft opted to back HD DVD technology. Other computing giants, such as Dell and Apple, support the Blu-ray format.
Some technology firms and studios have remained open to both formats because there has so far been no compromise made in a unified technology.
Warner Bros' move follows Paramount Home Entertainment's decision this month to support both formats.
Hollywood concerns
The next generation of DVDs will be able to store much more high-quality data, especially important for high-definition video. For Hollywood, dependable DVD technology that has fast and cheap production times is key.
But the film and technology industries both want to make sure people buying the next generation of high-definition DVDs are not confused about what discs work in which types of players.
Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a backer of Blu-ray, said the move by Warner Bros showed the strength of the Sony-led technology.
"The continued dramatic momentum towards Blu-ray makes us more optimistic than ever that a format war can be avoided," he said.
Mike Dunn, president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, which also supports Blu-ray, added: "The real winner in all of this will be the consumer as a single format comes to market with the dominant support of both the hardware and software industries."
Analysts Forrester Research this week also predicted that the Blu-ray format would come out top in the format war because of growing support for the technology.
The next generation of DVDs will be very important for studios, technology manufacturers, and the games industry. Sony has already said its PlayStation 3 games console will support Blu-ray.
Microsoft has not announced specific plans about support for HD DVD playback in the Xbox 360.
Films in the high-definition format are expected to be released for DVD later this year.
Winning arguments
The two groups, the HD DVD Promotion Group and the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) have spent some time arguing why their technology is better than the other.
At one point, there was hope that the two would collaborate on a hybrid solution, but there has been no agreement so far.
Although the computing and entertainment industries are keen to avoid two formats, the computing industry has overcome such problems in the past by offering drives that can read different formats.
Earlier this week, Hewlett-Packard said it had asked the BDA to ensure Blu-ray included specific technological compatibilities which are important to PC makers. HD DVD already carries the required specifications.
Backers of Blu-ray technology argue it is a more sophisticated technology with a greater storage capacity.
HD DVD supporters say their preferred technology will be available sooner and will be cheaper.
Toshiba's first laptop with a next-generation HD DVD drive will be launched early next year in Japan.
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Post by dkennedy on Oct 26, 2005 4:53:22 GMT -5
DVD format war starts to get ugly October 26, 2005
By Sue Zeidler, Reuters Hollywood is gearing up for an ugly war over rival DVD formats, but the real battle may be in keeping customers hooked on physical discs at all.
"The irony of this format war is that it comes at the tail end of the century-long era of physical media," said Ted Schadler, analyst with Forrester Research.
"While a high-definition video format does bring benefits over today's standard-definition discs, in movies as in music, consumers are moving beyond shiny discs."
Providers of online video and video-on-demand on television are tapping into this trend, while Apple Computer has raised the stakes with its new portable iPod video player that downloads content from the computer.
But two camps, led by Toshiba and Sony, are still firmly placing their bets on physical discs and players that offer sharper pictures and more interactive features. An all-out disc format war is brewing after efforts to settle on a unified standard have failed.
"Consumers are getting more comfortable with alternative ways of accessing content and there's a sense of urgency to get the content out [on high-definition DVDs] as soon as possible for that reason," said Mark Knox, spokesman for HD DVD, the new format that Toshiba expects to launch around February.
But in the latest twist, Warner Bros, a long-time supporter of HD DVD among Hollywood studios, threw its weight behind Sony's rival Blu-ray format, following a similar move by Paramount.
One format will ultimately triumph, industry members say, as in the high-stakes home video battle between VHS and Betamax in the 1980s. But this time, the real casualty could be physical DVDs.
"Every month this battle wages, more people are getting used to getting video in other ways. That's the real enemy of this indecision," said Richard Doherty, analyst with Envisioneering.
If the six largest movie studios release films on both formats, consumers rather than studio bosses may get to decide which they prefer. But the longer the battle drags on, the greater are the chances of digital content providers winning over buyers with video-on-demand services, internet video and portable devices like iPods and cell phones.
One in six cable subscribers either watches or is interested in watching video-on-demand, says Forrester Research. This number should grow as cable operators like Comcast and Time Warner Cable expand their video-on-demand libraries and adopt an ad-supported business model.
Moreover, internet video is spreading rapidly with 46 per cent of online consumers watching it and 9 per cent saying they would pay to watch it, says Forrester.
Strong growth is likely to come with advances in video search and as broadband penetrates more households. Broadband is expected to be available in 62 per cent of US households by 2010, up from 29 per cent today.
While only 8.8 per cent of US households have a home network, this will expand to 40 per cent of households by 2010, Schadler says. One in five such consumers streams audio from the personal computer to a stereo and they are likely to want to stream video from PC to TV as well.
Apple's recent launch of the video iPod also has Hollywood studios thinking about how to make money by providing their content on these devices, executives say.
Schadler said about 27 per cent of online consumers aged 12 to 21 said the device they could not live without was a PC, while only 17 per cent said they could not live without their TV.
Internet-delivered video would continue to make that true.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates backs HD DVD and has called Sony's Blue-ray format "anti-consumer" due to a protection scheme.
"The inconvenience is that the [movie] studios got too much protection at the expense of consumers and it won't work well on PCs." Still, Gates said he regarded the debate over the formats almost as an afterthought.
"Understand that this is the last physical format there will ever be. Everything's going to be streamed directly or on a hard disk," he said. "So, in this way, it's even unclear how much this one counts."
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Post by dkennedy on Oct 27, 2005 10:48:45 GMT -5
Hi-Def Arms Race
October 27, 2005
Broadcasting & Cable Magazine
Much of the intrigue and infighting that has marked the high-def DVD battle can be traced to the decision (or perhaps non-decision) by the studios to focus on the attributes of the eventual format, rather than its role in the evolution of the business.
By fixating on features (Which format has the most capacity? Which has the best interactive layer? Which has the most copy protection?), the studios helped turn the contest into an arms race. The hardware camps responded by adding features and bulking up capacities, which only served to reinforce the perception that more is better.
But the real strategic issue facing the movie companies isn't a question of features, it's a question of margin. How do you extend the life of the high-margin packaged media business into the high-def era before it's overtaken by newer, but lower-margin, distribution platforms? From that perspective, some of the claims made for particular features seem less compelling.
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Post by dkennedy on Nov 30, 2005 9:15:32 GMT -5
Blu-ray expects to reveal launch details in Jan 2006 CES Show
November 30, 2005
By Sue Zeidler, Leading The Charge News
LOS ANGELES - The Blu-ray DVD group said on Tuesday it still planned to roll out a high-definition disc format in spring 2006, though members of the consortium led by Sony Corp. said they would unveil specific launch plans at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.
"We‘re sticking with the spring time frame," said Andy Parsons, a spokesman for Blu-ray, at a demonstration of the new high-capacity DVD format.
Blu-Ray is vying with a competing format known as HD DVD, championed by a group led by Toshiba Corp. .
"At CES, you‘re likely to hear some announcements from a number of companies as to when you‘ll see our products on the market," Parsons told a group of analysts, industry members and reporters gathered at the product demonstration at News Corp.‘s 20th Century Fox lot. The show is in Las Vegas.
Sony‘s Blu-ray disc technology appears to be the front-runner in the multibillion dollar race to develop the next-generation DVDs, which movie studios and consumer electronics manufacturers hope will ignite sales for the home video sector, which has shown signs of a slowdown recently.
Both formats provide high-definition versions of movies as well as interactive features.
Members of the Blu-ray camp, including executives from Disney Corp. , Fox, Sony, Pioneer and Panasonic, attended the press briefing on Tuesday to show off Blu-ray‘s interactive features, which enable consumers to play games, connect to the Internet and select from various functions, such as subtitles and text, while still watching a movie.
Blu-ray has more major movie studios on its side, although some industry watchers have said the format will be more expensive to make. While HD DVD discs can be made with only minor tweaks to the standard DVD manufacturing process, Blu-ray discs require completely different equipment.
Members of the Blu-ray Disc Association consortium have said in the past that costs will come down quickly and be almost immediately competitive with those of HD DVD.
The consortium consists of various Hollywood studios, computer makers and consumer electronics manufacturers in the United States and abroad.
Executives said on Tuesday the format‘s flexibility gave them added revenue potential by eventually enabling consumers to order films or merchandise using the discs.
"We do intend to be able to have that as an element in the next Blu-ray specification in terms of its being able to be used as a portal to make transactions," said Bob Chapek, president of Disney‘s Buena Vista Entertainment.
Richard Doherty, analyst with Envisioneering, cited a potential scenario in which a studio may one day pre-package a feature film disc with an additional movie or trailer that has not yet been released to the home viewing market and could be restricted or "locked" until the studio enables consumers to see it.
"There are lots of opportunities to merchandise between TV shows and movies. They could release movies on command ascribing to pay-per-view limits. The same disc enables many consumer experiences and profit possibilities," he said.
Members from HD DVD and Blu-ray tried earlier this year to find a unified front but failed, paving the way for a protracted format war and reminding many industry members of the battle between VHS and Sony‘s Betamax in the mid-1970s, which led to confusion among consumers and losses for the studios.
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Post by dkennedy on Dec 13, 2005 9:07:17 GMT -5
Toshiba to delay HD DVD player launch into 2006
December 13, 2005
Reuters News Release
TOKYO - Japan's Toshiba Corp. said on Tuesday it will delay the year-end Japan launch of its next-generation HD DVD players to address copy protection issues, potentially undermining its advantage as the first supplier to put such machines on the market.
The Japanese company had said in September the domestic launch might be postponed until after December. A spokesman for Toshiba said it would continue to push for a U.S. launch in the first quarter of 2006, most likely some time between February and March.
Toshiba said in a statement it would not launch the products until the last details on copy protection management systems, called AACS, or advanced access content system, were finalised.
"I cannot say when the AACS issues will be resolved," the spokeswoman said. "But it's hard to think the launch in Japan will come after the U.S. launch."
Toshiba and Sony Corp., leading rival camps, have waged a three-year battle to have their different standards adopted for the new DVDs, which promise much greater capacity for high-definition movies. Toshiba, along with NEC Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co., has been promoting HD DVD, while Sony and Matsunutsa Electric Industrial Co., the maker of Panasonic brand products, have been developing a technology known as Blu-ray.
The Blu-ray DVD group said in November it planned to roll out a high-definition disc format in spring 2006, and that members of the consortium led by Sony would unveil specific launch plans at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.
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Post by dkennedy on Dec 17, 2005 8:27:47 GMT -5
HP drops support for Sony HD video format
December 17, 2005
By Kevin Allison, Financial Times
Hewlett-Packard, the second-biggest US computer maker, said on Friday it would abandon its exclusive support for Sony's Blu-Ray next-generation format for digital video discs and move to embrace Toshiba's competing HD-DVD format as well.
The decision is the latest sign of a looming "format war" between the competing standards for a new generation of digital video players that can record high-definition films and video games. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD-compatible devices are expected to hit stores worldwide early next year.
Friday's move represents the biggest victory for HD-DVD since Microsoft, the world's biggest sofware company, and Intel, the world's biggest computer chip maker, threw their support behind that format in September.
HP said its decision to support both standards would put the company in a "better position to assess true development costs and, ultimately, provide the best and most affordable solution for consumers".
HP warned in October that a failure by the Blu-Ray Disc Association (BDA), the consortium behind the Blu-Ray standard, to adopt two technologies tied to HD-DVD could prompt the company to change allegiances.
The BDA said last month that it would support one of the technologies, which allows consumers to make legal copies of high-definition movies. However, it remained silent on the other technology, an interactivity feature that will be integrated into Microsoft's new Vista operating system.
"This integration will reduce development costs and provide a more affordable solution for consumers," HP said. "In addition, HD-DVD provides a rich, cost-competitive solution for the consumer and is easier to manufacture."
Entertainment industry executives are eager to avoid a repeat of the VHS-Betamax format wars of the 1980s, which created a divided market for video recorders and hit the profits of companies that invested in the vanquished Betamax format.
Blu-Ray had long been seen as the front-runner in the battle over the next geneation DVD format, thanks to the strong support of Hollywood. But HD-DVD has gained ground in recent months thanks to the backing of Microsoft and Intel.
Both camps are expected to begin the widespread rollout of next-generation high definition digital video recorders early next year. Shares in Hewlett Packard fell 1 per cent to $28.92 in New York.
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Post by dkennedy on Jan 4, 2006 6:39:32 GMT -5
CES 2006: Sony names first Blu-ray titles
January 4, 2006
CES 2006 News Release
Sony's home entertainment unit has named the first 20 movies it intends to launch on Blu-ray Disc, the high-definition video disc format backed by Sony and several other major consumer electronics manufacturers.
The announcement was made to coincide with the start of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas at which commercialization plans for the format are expected to be announced.
"We want everyone to know that there will be plenty of software content [for the launch of Blu-ray Disc]," said Ben Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, in a telephone interview.
Sony's first movies will include: The Fifth Element, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Legends of the Fall, Resident Evil Apocalypse, Robocop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species, SWAT, XXX, Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai.
The discs will be launched to coincide with the availability of home players, he said. Major consumer electronics brands are expected to disclose their launch schedule later in the week.
The retail price of the discs wasn't disclosed and Feingold said this will be announced in the next couple of weeks. He said they will be priced at a premium on existing DVDs but they won't be a lot more expensive.
"I think people will be happy," he said of the pricing.
Among the launch titles, Bram Stoker's Dracula will be released with multichannel uncompressed audio and both Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai will be released on dual-layer 50GB discs, said Feingold.
Content makers have a choice of three video compression systems to choose from on Blu-ray Disc including MPEG2, which is used on current DVDs, and the newer VC1 and MPEG4 AVC formats. Sony will employ the MPEG2 system because it can provide a better picture, said Feingold.
"The new codecs are interesting but unproven," he said.
From the middle of the year the company plans to add Java-based games to its discs. At about the same time, new releases should be running at around four titles per month rising to ten titles per month during the fourth quarter.
Blu-ray Disc is backed by a group of major consumer electronics manufacturers including Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung. It will compete against the HD-DVD format, which is backed by the DVD Forum and companies including Toshiba, NEC, Intel, and Microsoft.
The first HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc players are expected in stores during the first half of this year.
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