Thomson to Back Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD
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Company, one of the core backers of Blu-ray, will also support its rival format. Thomson, one of the core backers of the Blu-ray Disc format for high-definition video discs, plans to offer players supporting
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The high-definition DVD format war has not been won, at least not in the minds of the retailers. Last week, Time Warner Inc's  Warner Bros studio said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Blu-ray format instead of Toshiba Corp's  competing HD DVD technology.
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Two days after Warner Bros. announced plans to back Blu-ray Disc -- a decision that could prove pivotal in the high-def disc format battle -- Sony CEO Howard Stringer thanked the company and other Blu-ray Disc backers for supporting the format.&quot;As you can probably guess, all of us at Sony are feeling blue today,&quot; Stringer quipped as he took to the stage at a news conference held at the International Consumer Electronics Show. &quot;But that&#39;s a good feeling.&quot;On Friday Warner Bros. said it would stop issuing its movies on HD DVD later this year and go solely with Blu-ray Disc. Warner had been the only major Hollywood studio to back both formats, and with its shift exclusively to the Blu-ray Disc camp, leaves just Paramount and Universal as backers of HD DVD.&quot;I&#39;d like to thank Warner for making the decision to release in Blu-ray their home video and to [Time Warner CEO] Jeff Bewkes and [Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO] Barry Meyer for making the decision, as they said in their press release, in the long-term interests of consumer and customer,&quot; he said. Stringer also took the opportunity to thank Blu-ray&#39;s existing backers for being &quot;true blue all the way through.&quot;The comments were Stringer&#39;s first since Warner announced its decision. He didn&#39;t say anything further on the issue, which has been the buzz of many of the news conferences held Sunday by major consumer electronics makers ahead of the show&#39;s official opening on Monday.Earlier Sunday the main backer of HD DVD, Toshiba, said it remained committed to the format and that talk of its demise was premature. &quot;We&#39;ve been declared dead before,&quot; said Jodi Sally, vice president of marketing for digital audio and video products at Toshiba America Consumer Products, at a Toshiba news conference.
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With the news early Tuesday that Toshiba is ending the next generation optical disc war by pulling the plug on HD DVD, the manufacturer said it has no plans to support or manufacture Blu-ray players. Likewise, Microsoft said it has no plans to announce.
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Blu-ray takes the lead in the battle of the high definition DVD formats after Warner backs it.
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Once the backer of both high-def DVD formats, Warner Bros. is now exclusively backing Blu-ray Disc. Warner Bros. is Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18% to 20% of sales in the United States.
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General Electric Co's   Universal Pictures, one of a few studios using the Toshiba  Corp-backed (6502.T) HD DVD format, said on Tuesday it will  switch to the rival Blu-ray format now that Toshiba has  officially pulled the plug on HD DVD.
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Toshiba Corp  is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp , a company source said on Saturday.
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Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. retailer, on Friday said it would phase out the sales of HD DVD offerings and exclusively offer high-definition Blu-ray hardware and DVDs by the middle of this year.The decision was based on U.S. customers&#39; preference for Blu-ray movies and hardware in purchases, Wal-Mart said in a statement.The retailer will phase out HD DVD offerings in Wal-Mart and Sam&#39;s Clubs retail stores, as well as online offerings, by June, the company said.Wal-Mart&#39;s rejection of HD DVD is a sign that Blu-ray is catching on with retailers. Best Buy earlier this week said it would recommend users to buy Blu-ray products, though it would continue offering HD DVD products. Movie rental chains Netflix and Blockbuster recently abandoned HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray DVD offerings.Six of eight major movie studios publish Blu-ray DVDs, including Walt Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Sony, and Warner Bros. Only two major movie studios, Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, publish in the HD DVD format.The Blu-ray format has also seen a spate of victories in the gaming and consumer electronics industries with companies like Philips adopting the format over HD DVD.Blu-ray supporters include Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung, while Toshiba, Microsoft, and Intel are among the companies supporting HD DVD.
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Toshiba has announced a dual layered disc that will playback both HD-DVD and DVD formats strengthing its offering in the battle of the next generation DVD formats.
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Blog: Total HD, announced at CES this year, was supposed to appease next-gen DVD fence-sitters. Now Warner Bros. says the dual-format discs are going to be pushed back from mid-to-late 2007 until early next year.
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Companies backing Blu-ray Disc will finalize the read-only version of the optical-disc format early next year, a Sony Corp. spokesman said earlier this week.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc  has  decided to exclusively sell high-definition DVDs in the Blu-Ray  format, dealing what could be a crippling blow to the rival HD  DVD technology backed by Toshiba Corp .
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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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The high-definition DVD format war  has not been won, at least not in the minds of the retailers.  Last week, Time Warner Inc's  Warner Bros studio said it  would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Blu-ray  format instead of Toshiba Corp's  competing HD DVD  technology.
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Universal Studios, one of the two major studios that was putting out HD DVDs, will focus its attention on the rival Blu-ray movie disc format.
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Blu-ray and HD DVD -- will be costly to everyone concerned, analysts say. The availability of two rival formats will raise prices and confuse consumers.