The Digital Home

A report has surfaced in Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun that Toshiba, one of the top backers of the HD DVD format, will be releasing a Blu-ray player before the end of 2009.

Toshiba lost with this player; why should it release a Blu-ray player?

(Credit: Toshiba)

It's a fascinating concept. the company that spent years trying to tell the world that Blu-ray is inferior is now looking to tell those same people that it really is worthwhile. Wow.

I understand that Blu-ray is becoming more popular. I know that it's slowly, but surely, gaining market share in the disc market. But it's not the only way to bring entertainment to the masses.

The vexed consumer
Tech companies have nothing unless the consumer base trusts them. Whether it's faulty products that break that trust or poor business practices, once it's broken, it could lead to financial ruin. That's precisely why I don't see why Toshiba would want to release a Blu-ray player.

During the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, Toshiba did all it could to highlight issues with the competing format. It explained why its format was better. And it did everything it could to make Blu-ray look less desirable.

Even after the war was over, Toshiba didn't stop with the Blu-ray bashing. In an interview with TechRadar last year, Toshiba's deputy general manager of HD DVD, Olivier Van Wynendaele, said his company "wouldn't change anything that it did" with its HD DVD strategy.

LG launched two broadband-equipped HDTVs this week--the 47-inch 47LH50 and the 50-inch 50PS80. Both televisions boast NetCast Entertainment Access, which provides consumers with the entire Netflix streaming library of more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes.

This LG HDTV streams Netflix content. Are you ready for more?

(Credit: LG)

The LG HDTVs released this week require a broadband connection to work with the NetCast Entertainment Access service. To choose a film, users need only to surf through the items and make selections on the right of the screen. They can read movie synopses and rate films.

LG isn't the only company bringing connected HDTVs to store shelves. Toshiba is well on its way to bringing its Regza line of HDTVs into the streaming realm. When the connected HDTVs launch later this year, Toshiba plans to give consumers access to a variety of content, including local weather, top news stores, sports scores, videos, and more. The HDTVs will also be able to access multimedia content stored on a connected PC's hard drive.

Surprised by the sudden uptick in connected HDTVs coming to store shelves? Don't be--it's the future.

That's right: it's alive and, believe it or not, quite well.

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In the past, I've always felt that Blu-ray would win the high-def format war. After that, I wasn't necessarily sure what the future would hold for the format.

Would it be the success DVD was? Would it flop worse than LaserDisc? Would it cater to a slightly more advanced crowd but never reach the mainstream? Would it be a downright loser?

For a while, I decided to hold off from making any judgements until I could see how the Blu-ray group handled its victory. And while it has only been a relatively short amount of time since that win, the end is already in sight and the format has no hope of survival.

Coming to a store near you...in 2008

(Credit: Crave)

In a recent post on the News.com blog, David Carnoy opined on the future of Toshiba and its ill-fated decision to back a losing format for so long.

Pointing to a Wall Street Journal interview with Toshiba's CEO, Carnoy extrapolated information from the discussion and concluded that because the company's chief executive said his company would "improve this [upconverting feature] even more, so that consumers won't be able to tell the difference from HD DVD images", Toshiba has no designs on a move into the Blu-ray player market.

Carnoy asserts that 2008 will not bring a Blu-ray player from Toshiba, but it may "change its tune" in 2009.

And while Carnoy makes a good point in saying Toshiba Blu-ray players will be available next year, I think he's off by one year.

Was the fix in?

(Credit: CNET)

When the format war was finally brought to a close, almost everyone was happy to see that we'll only need to watch one format try to survive in the Digital Age instead of two.

And while most of us were sad to see Toshiba throw in the towel and admit that it made a mistake with HD DVD, some were wondering how the house of cards crashed so swiftly. Some said it was due to the departure of some of HD DVD's retailers and rental services, some said it was poor internal operations and still others said it was due to the fact that movie studios simply had enough of the war.

But what if all of those assertions are false? What if all of those companies knew that an undercurrent continuously undermined the growth of HD DVD and helped Blu-ray cement itself as the winner?

What if Toshiba and Sony worked together to kill HD DVD?

Do you remember earlier this week when I told you that step one of ending the high-def format war relied on Sony's ability to get Warner on its side? Luckily for us, it happened (and yes, I'll take the credit for it).

Is this the most significant development of the entire high-def format war? Sure. But now that we know Warner is backing Sony, I can't imagine Toshiba is feeling good about itself. Not only did it cancel the big HD DVD party here at CES, but we have yet to hear any true official response. If you ask me, the company is in crisis mode right now and desperately trying to justify itself to Paramount.

And while all this is going on, I can't help but not care.

Can Sony put an end to this war?

(Credit: Blu-ray)

How many times over the past few months have you heard that "the worst is over" and the chances of the high-def format war finally coming to a close were increasing by the day? If you haven't heard it at least once, you're probably not reading the right stories.

But with all that going on, the war is officially a quagmire for both sides and the chances of getting out of this quickly are diminishing at an astounding rate. Consider this: as it stands, the Blu-ray camp commands roughly 49 percent DVD market share, while HD DVD is trailing slightly behind. To make matters worse, some reports suggest HD DVD may be gaining strength, although most buyers are sitting out.

So what's really going on with this war? Is there an end in sight? Even better, is there a solution in sight that can finally put this to rest? If you ask me, I think this could be over in a month if the Blu-ray camp follows three steps.

HP Pavilion dv2600

(Credit: HP)

With HP's decision to release a slew of new laptops that offer a slick design and nice specs, it had me thinking: is this the new face of the notebook market? Are notebooks becoming commodities that can be differentiated only by design?

And if all of that is true, what will happen to brand loyalty? Is it another victim of this vicious battle?

I think it is.