8 replies to this topic

[ShadowFox]

TOKYO - Japanese electronic maker Toshiba has given up on negotiations with a rival camp led by Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). to agree on a unified format for next-generation DVDs, a media report said late Tuesday.

Toshiba Corp. leads a group of companies that support the HD DVD format and has been in talks with a Sony-led bloc, which backs the Blu-ray format.

"It is regrettable but unavoidable that two formats will remain (on the market)," Kyodo News agency quoted an unnamed Toshiba official as saying.

Officials were unavailable for immediate comment late Tuesday.

The two blocs developed their DVD formats separately, but growing concern about confusion among consumers over the different formats prompted Sony and Toshiba to start negotiations on a unified format earlier this year.

Kyodo said, however, that two rival formats were certain to continue as Toshiba's move follows a decision by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. from the Sony camp to also abandon the negotiations.

Sony's Blu-ray disks have a more sophisticated format and play back 25 GB of data compared with HD DVD's 15, but are more expensive to produce.

Both sides are already developing products that feature the respective DVD formats. Toshiba plans to roll out HD DVD players by the end of this year, while Sony's popular game console PlayStation 3, which will play Blu-ray disks, is due out in spring 2006.

Source: Yahoo!

[ShadowFox]

TOKYO - Toshiba Corp.'s president said Wednesday his company has no plans to revive failed talks with a Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).-led consortium to find a unified format for next-generation DVDs, indicating that two rival ? and incompatible ? formats of the discs are here to stay.

"There's no plan for (resuming) such talks at this moment" with Sony, Toshiba President and Chief Executive Officer Atsutoshi Nishida said.

Toshiba Corp. leads a group supporting the HD DVD format, while the Sony-led bloc backs the Blu-ray format.

Nishida said it was very likely that DVD products using the two different formats will remain on the market for the time being, but he added Toshiba hasn't given up efforts to unify the next-generation DVD formats.

Fears are growing that this may be a repeat of the VHS-versus-Beta battle of the early 1980s over the format for video tape recorders. Nishida said it would take up to two years to develop DVD devices once the two sides agree on the new format.

Sony's Blu-ray disks have a more sophisticated format and play back 25 GB of data, compared with HD DVD's 15, but they are more expensive to produce.

Both sides are already developing products that feature their respective DVD formats. Toshiba plans to roll out HD DVD players by the end of this year and HD DVD recorders next spring, Nishida said.

Sony's popular game console PlayStation 3, which will play Blu-ray disks, is also due out next spring.

Regarding Toshiba's core semiconductor business, Nishida said the company was having difficulty meeting demand for NAND-type flash memory chips amid brisk demand for consumer products using the chips, such as portable music players.

Toshiba is the second-largest NAND flash memory chip maker after Samsung Electronics Co. and is now fulfilling 70 percent of demand for the chips compared to 80 percent in late July, he said.

But even as demand grows, prices are falling, Nishida said. "We expect prices to drop 30 percent to 40 percent every year," he said.

Toshiba can absorb that price drop by cutting costs, he said, to keep posting profits in its memory chip business.

Analysts say Toshiba faces tougher competition in the memory-chip market from new suppliers such as Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. Some critics also say Toshiba's dependence on its semiconductor business is too high, making its earnings vulnerable to chip market trends.

Source: Yahoo

[Nvyseal]

I think someone taking a different road right now is a bad thing. Too many DVD players are out already

[ShadowFox]

Yeah and now you're going to have to have two different types of DVD players, depending on what disc you get a hold of. Someone will come up with a DVD player that supports both disks and make millions ... I wonder if I could do it

[Visentinel]

I dont think its all bad... Blu Ray for Computers and Consoles and HD-DVD for Movies.

The only thing i hate about these 2 formats is they have such damn good Anti-Piracy.

~edited

[ShadowFox]

what about burning dvds? what if you want to make a home DVD, you're going to have to have a special type of dvd burner. I think they should all stick with the same type of DVD.

[Visentinel]

Its just that DVD doesnt have that much capacity to record HDTV Streams

I embrace the Capacity, But don't like the methods been used to stop copying, HD-DVD infact is going to take it as far as DVD players may even become unusable if they detect a non-legit Disk Like asin Self-Destruct >_>

[Linoman]

Why can't we just have ONE single standard for DVD discs. Life would be so much eaiser

[ShadowFox]

Yeah, That's what I seem to think too. BUt they are having issues deciding which one they want for the standard DVD and I guess now they are just abandoning the whole Idea and going their seperate ways... I thinks is will actually benefit both companies if they make special dvd players they'll make profit from the players and the discs.