HD DVD & Blu-ray News

* Future of DVD - History has a way of repeating itself in consumer electronics. A few decades ago, the squabble surrounded the format that would become the standard for VCRs. - May 29, 2006

* HD DVD to carry unwelcome DVD baggage - Perhaps capitulating to studio pressure, the DVD Forum has moved to burden the next-generation HD DVD format with region coding similar to that of its predecessor. - May 26, 2006

* Home Entertainment: The Next Generation - No self-respecting high-tech home would be complete without a next-generation gaming console or high-definition media player. And there is a growing number of each to choose from. - May 26, 2006

* Warner Bros. Aims to Be First With Next-Generation DVDs - Those who tried to adopt video-on-demand over the Web initially found it frustrating, giving DVD makers hope that the high-definition format will give them an extended window of time to dominate the at-home movie market, said Gartner analyst Laura Behrens. - May 24, 2006

* Hollywood reportedly in agreement to delay forced quality downgrades for Blu-ray, HD DVD - As the DVD format welcomes two potential heirs to its kingship as the commercial video medium of choice, there are mounting concerns that these new heirs are nothing but pretenders. - May 22, 2006

* PlayStation 3 will be ready for Christmas, Sony says - Sony says it will roll out the PlayStation 3, the long-awaited successor to the world’s most popular video-game system, in time for the holidays. - May 22, 2006

* Blu-Ray DVDs Delayed Again - Sony has announced that it is further delaying the release of its new, high tech Blu-ray DVDs until June 20. The move coincides with a decision by Samsung to delay the release of its Blu-ray player until June 25. - May 20, 2006

* Hail to the Chief - In the weeks and months leading up to the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known at E3, all of the hype was surrounding two new consoles - Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii. The Xbox 360 was largely considered an afterthought. - May 20, 2006

* HD DVD players hard to find - Toshiba’s $499 HD DVD player is out of stock at many major retailers and the consumer electronics maker’s timetable for replenishment is unclear. - May 19, 2006

* ABCs of HD DVD - We test drive the first high-def DVD players to arrive in stores. - May 19, 2006

* Video Disc Players, Big TVs and Fast Phones - I've been writing about prototype high-definition video disc players for a long time, so it's great to finally be able to report that they're coming. - May 17, 2006

* The Next Game Wars - There's more at stake than the spoils of the $25 billion videogame industry. Sony and Microsoft are about to face off over who gets to own the digital living room. - May 13, 2006

* Samsung prepares Blu-ray, HD DVD combo drive - AT CES 2006, I was very much after the latest in the HD DVD and Blu-ray standards dispute. - May 13, 2006

* Can I record HDTV on a DVD recorder? - DVD is not an HDTV format. DVDs cannot hold HDTV information. The maximum resolution of a DVD is 480i (which can be played back in 480p on a progressive scan DVD player). - May 13, 2006

* Blu-ray Is Doomed to Lose DVD Format War - Blu-ray is doomed. I came to this conclusion shortly after reading John Dvorak's thoughtful dissection of the HD DVD versus Blu-ray imbroglio. - May 13, 2006

* Toshiba Readies Write-Once HD-DVDs - Volume production of a write-once HD-DVD-R disc that can store 15GB of data will begin in the first half of next year, about the same time that HD-DVD recorders and PC drives will become available, Toshiba and two optical disc makers said at a news conference this week. - May 13, 2006

* Warner Releases Hybrid HD DVDs - In an effort to ease the transition from standard-definition to high-definition DVDs, Warner Home Video announced this week that it will release a first-of-its-kind format that combines both HD DVD and traditional DVD movies on a single disc. - May 13, 2006

* Blu-ray poised to win DVD format battle - With Samsung set to release the first Blu-ray disk player next month, the Blu-ray Disk Association is confident that it will prevail in the next-generation format battle with rival HD-DVD. - May 13, 2006

* Why the world doesn't need high-def DVDs - Last month, Toshiba's HD-A1 high-definition DVD player hit store shelves. - May 13, 2006

* Sony's Blu-ray is the better next-generation DVD - Universal, Paramount, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. just announced that, starting next year, they'll ship high-definition movies on new high-capacity disks called HD-DVDs. - May 13, 2006

* NVIDIA Technology Powers First HD DVD-ROM Notebook Available in U.S. - New Toshiba Notebook with HD-DVD-ROM and NVIDIA Graphics Showcased at World’s Largest Entertainment Expo ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO—LOS ANGELES, CA—May 11, 2006—NVIDIA Corporation today announced ... - May 11, 2006

* Blu-ray a player in PlayStation pricing - The battle between Sony and Microsoft in the game console market won't hinge on price, analysts say. Instead, it will likely come back to Blu-ray. - May 9, 2006

* Microsoft announces HD DVD on Xbox 360 - When Sony announced that they would be including a Blu-ray drive in the new Playstation 3, many analysts expected that Microsoft would counter by integrating an HD DVD drive with the Xbox 360. - May 9, 2006

* Microsoft unveils cross-platform game service - Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday announced a new cross-platform gaming service that integrates games played on cell phones, Xbox 360 consoles and the upcoming Windows Vista operating system. - May 9, 2006

* Video games a key battlefield in high-def DVD war - While most gamers are heading to the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles hoping to view the latest and greatest in video games and consoles, a key subplot will be Sony's plan to use the PlayStation 3, the newest version of its market-leading video game console due late this year, to get its Blu-ray high-definition DVD standard into homes. - May 7, 2006

* Sony Hopes PlayStation 3 Will Drive Blu-Ray To Next Level - A major video game conference next week could prove pivotal for a multibillion dollar war over high-definition DVD standards brewing in Hollywood. - May 7, 2006

* Sony bets more than video game unit on PS3 success - With the launch of its PlayStation 3 video game console six months away, Sony Corp. is gearing up for an all-out battle to put the electronics and entertainment conglomerate back on a growth path. - May 7, 2006

* Sony Delays Blu-Ray Movie Releases - From a consumer's perspective, the delay makes sense, said Josh Martin, an analyst at IDC, because it will sync up the release of the discs with the hardware. - May 7, 2006

* Standard-Def / High-Def DVDs Announced - Delivering on a promise made months ago, Warner Home Video has announced the first hybrid disc to feature high-definition (HD) DVD content on one side and standard DVD content on the other. - May 4, 2006

* HOME THEATER: Industry divided on high-def video - It was 10 times as much as a regular DVD player, and there were only half a dozen movie titles available for it, but Paul Crawford still forked over the money to become the first in his neighborhood to own the newest video wizardry - a high-definition DVD player. - May 1, 2006

* Toshiba sells DVD players in HD format - With high-definition televisions flying off the shelves and more networks broadcasting in high definition, one might assume that high-definition DVDs would be a sure-fire hit. - May 1, 2006

* Spoutin' Off: DVD fight is VHS vs. Beta, Round 2 - Over the past several months, I've received many inquiries regarding my take on the coming availability of high-definition DVDs and, in particular, on the two competing formats. - May 1, 2006