Toshiba May Delay HD-DVD Until 2006

[James Fee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.betanews.com/article/Toshiba_May_Delay_HDDVD_Until_2006/1125587154' target='_blank'>http://www.betanews.com/article/Toshiba_May_Delay_HDDVD_Until_2006/1125587154</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Toshiba said Thursday it was considering pushing back the launch of its next-generation HD-DVD players until 2006 - losing its first-mover advantage and the holiday season sales rush. HD-DVD was expected to get a head start on rival format Blu-ray, which Sony is set to debut early next year. The news follows an end to negotiations over a unified high-definition DVD format. Toshiba said it had ended the talks in order to begin work on meeting its self-imposed year-end deadline for shipping HD-DVD players. Now the company admits it is reconsidering its options. "We are now in talks with Hollywood studios and large-scale retailers to seek the most effective timing of the launch and best way to launch," a Toshiba spokesperson told Reuters."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/92_380_1.jpg" /><br /><br />All I have to say is this is just painful to watch. The longer they take at releasing anything is going to hurt the adoption rate. I'll wager that people won't care too much about either Blu-ray or HD-DVD and just skip this generation of media.

[sbrown23]

All I have to say is this is just painful to watch. The longer they take at releasing anything is going to hurt the adoption rate. I'll wager that people won't care too much about either Blu-ray or HD-DVD and just skip this generation of media.

I'd wager you are right. I won't pony up on either format until some things happen:

1) There is a clear leader in the format wars. Wasting $1000 on a Beta-type loser isn't my definition of fun.

2) There is a PC-based (read: HD media burner) way for me to legitimately back up my (sure to be) more expensive movies. Children and fragile discs do not mix, despite however careful one might be. And I'm a firm believer in fair use, and anti-piracy.

3) It becomes clear that one format or the other will not screw over consumers who have HDTV's that don't have HDMI (w/ HDCP). This junk about not outputting over Component is pure BS, and completely unacceptable. If both formats enforce that, then I hope both fail miserably. These are CE companies behind these formats that also conveniently make HDTVs. In the interest of business and consumer good will, they should not screw people over.

[jizmo]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Give me one of those holographic memory cards over these any time, they really have grasped the concept of advanced technology that would enchant people getting one.

This whole next-gen HD-DVDBLURAY thing isn't next gen at all, it's current gen v.1.5 at best.

And that CD-DVD form factor is still so 90's.