|
|
Posted by Allan on 10/05/86 11:34
http://smh.com.au/news/breaking/toshiba-to-delay-hd-dvd-player-launch/2005/12/14/1134236080080.html
Toshiba to delay HD DVD player launch
By Tokyo
December 14, 2005 - 10:04AM
Japanese electronics maker Toshiba says copy protection issues would
delay the Japan launch of the first players supporting its HD DVD
format, the latest development in the high-stakes battle for the next
generation of video discs.
Players will not hit the Japanese market until details of a copy
protection system for the players were worked out, Toshiba said in a
statement, reversing its earlier intention to roll out the first
players in Japan by the end of the year. Toshiba did not give a
specific release date.
But the company said it would continue to push for a US launch early
next year.
The delay brings the launch of the HD DVD, jointly developed by
Toshiba and NEC, closer to the expected debut of its main competitor,
the Blu-ray disc, which is backed by Sony.
PlayStation 3, Sony's popular next-generation video game console, is
expected in Japan early next year and will read Blu-ray discs.
The two formats are incompatible, raising fears of a repeat of the
VHS-versus-Beta battle over the format for videotape recorders in the
early 1980s.
The HD DVD is backed by Universal Studios, NEC, Sanyo and Intel as
well as Microsoft.
Blu-ray is backed by Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Samsung along
with a number of other tech companies and studios.
Warner Brothers has said it would release its films in both formats.
"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_
Navigation:
[Reply to this message]
|