November launch date for HD-DVD
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Toshiba confirms it will launch HD-DVD players in Europe on 15 November.
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(InfoWorld) - Visitors to the IFA consumer electronics show, which opens Friday in Berlin, will have ringside seats to the war over high-definition disc formats raging between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. As the two formats duel for the title of successor to current DVD movie discs, many European consumers haven't decided which kind of player they will buy. "Everyone is waiting for IFA where many new products are expected to be announced," said Frank Simonis, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc have sold in lower quantities in Europe than in other regions and prices are still relatively high, between â¬599 (US$814 ) and â¬899, according to Simonis. Currently, five manufacturers have launched Blu-ray Disc players in Europe, including Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic). Five additional vendors are expected to launch Blu-ray Disc players at IFA, while companies with players already in the market plan to introduce devices with new features, Simonis said. Many of the manufacturers are major suppliers of HDTV sets and hope to leverage that expertise to "accelerate the adoption of Blu-ray Disc," he said. The format has received a big boost from its use in Sony's PlayStation 3 games console, with sales of more than 1.4 million units in Europe, according to Simonis. The HD DVD camp is also bringing new wares to IFA, according to Frank Eschholz, business development manager of HD DVD products at Sony Deutschland GmbH. "There will be new devices and new features and more." Both types of players are designed with many of the same components inside and offer many of the same features, according to Simonis. But one of Blu-ray Disc's key benefits is its ability to store up to 50G bytes of data, he said. "Studios want to pack a bunch of extras onto discs in addition to the movies, and Blu-ray Disc allows them to do so," he said. The Blu-ray Disc camp, however, was jolted when Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation announced last week that they would align themselves exclusively with the HD DVD high-definition format. The decision comes at a time when market indicators have been pointing to competitor Blu-ray Disc as having the lead. In addition to next-generation movie-disc players, visitors to this year's IFA can expect to see plenty of HDTV sets, camcorders, digital cameras, MP3 players and notebook computers. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will introduce new products in all those categories, according to a spokeswoman. The company may launch two handsets as well, she said. Sony has decided to return to IFA after its absence last year, with plans to exhibit new Blu-ray Disc players, new Walkman music players and HDTV sets, according to a spokeswoman. More information about IFA -- the letters stand for Internationale Funkausstellung, although the full name is rarely used these days -- is available at the show's Web site .
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The new models, capable of storing up to 16 hours of high-definition programmes on a dual-layer, 50GB Blu-ray disc, will go on sale on November 8.
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Sony Corp  said it will launch four models of new Blu-ray high-definition optical disc recorders in November in Japan, as its format battle with the HD DVD camp heats up.
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Blu-ray, one of two much-hyped  high-definition DVD formats, debuts next week, but the launch  is expected to be muted amid device delays and consumer  confusion, industry analysts said on Thursday.
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Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp.  said on Thursday it would launch the next-generation,  high-definition optical disk recorder based on the HD DVD  format on July 14 in Japan.
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While HD DVD may be trumpeting the success of Transformers, the format is still struggling to take the lead back from rival Blu-ray. Sony's format has seen sales of 2.6 million discs from January 1 to September 30, compared with 1.4 million discs sold on HD DVD.
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(InfoWorld) - Vendors supporting HD DVD are cutting prices to boost their products, which are vying with Blu-ray disc technology to replace current DVD movie discs. Next month, consumers can expect to find a range of entry-level players priced at around â¬300 ($409), the HD DVD Promotional Group announced Friday at theÂ IFA international consumer electronics show in Berlin. The price is nearly half of what many entry models in Europe currently cost, said Oliver Van Wynendaele, a manager in Toshiba's HD DVD group. Canada's Venturer Electronics plans to launch its SHD-7000 player at around â¬300 next month, while Toshiba will offer its HD-EP30 model for around â¬350, Van Wynendaele said. Toshiba will also give buyers five free discs. Toshiba will begin equipping its notebook PCs with HD DVD drives in the fourth quarter, according to Yoshihide Fujii, Toshiba corporate senior vice president and president and CEO of the company's digital media network unit.
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Watch out, Toshiba Samsung will launch its promised dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc player in Europe next month, the company has said, and industry insiders are already claiming the machine could be priced at just â¬400 ($548/Â£271).â¦
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Toshiba will unveil slim SD-L912A HD DVD on Tuesday.
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Japan's Sony Corp, reeling from a string of production problems, has kicked off its bid for industry dominance in high-definition DVDs with a planned December launch of its new Blu-ray machine.
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Toshiba has hammered another nail in the Blu-Ray coffin, by announcing a dual layer HD-DVD and DVD disc. This means that studios will be able to sell discs that have the DVD version on one side and the HD-DVD
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Sony Corp  said it will launch  four models of new Blu-ray high-definition optical disc  recorders in November in Japan, as its format battle with the  HD DVD camp heats up.
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Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O said on   Wednesday it will launch its Xbox 360 HD DVD player in Japan on   November 22.
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SEATTLE -- Amazon.com Inc. will begin selling high-definition independent films in the HD DVD format through its on-demand DVD printing service, the company said yesterday.
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HD DVD is gaining momentum with Hollywood studios. Several studios have announced their intentions to go with the Toshiba format, among them New Line Cinema, Paramount
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First drives due to ship in Japan in November.