Shuttle Announces SFF Blu-ray & HD DVD PC

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Shuttle announced a new small form factor PC today called the XPC G5 6801M that features a dual format Blu-ray and HD DVD drive. The machine is powered by an AMD Athlon X2 6000+ and has 2GB of RAM. Storage capacity is 500GB and graphics are handled by ATI HD3450.

The combo optical drive is a LG GGC-H20L and a DVB-T. Analog Hybrid TV tuner is included. Other features include a 25-in-1 card reader, remote control and multi-function front display. The machine runs on Windows Vista Home Premium. Pricing is EUR 1,234 plus VAT. Read more

Posted on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:42:23 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Best Buy Awards Over $10 Million in gift Cards to HD DVD buyers

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The end of the format wars between HD DVD and Blu-ray was good for most people, but for the early adopters out there who had backed HD DVD the failure of the format was not good news. To help appease customers that purchased HD DVD gear at Best Buy gift cards are coming.

Best Buy announced today that it will be giving out over $10 million in $50 gift cards to customers who purchased HD DVD hardware in its stores. The offer covers stand alone HD DVD players as well as HD DVD attachments, presumably for the Xbox 360. Read more

Posted on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:08:28 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Toshiba faces $986 mln Loss on HD DVDs: Nikkei

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp is likely to book a 100 billion yen ($986 million) loss in its high-definition DVD business and post a full-year operating profit of around 250 billion yen, falling short of its outlook, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:37:25 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Circuit City Lets HD DVD Buyers Swap for Blu-ray

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DailyTech is reporting that Circuit City is allowing people who bought HD DVD players from it to exchange them for Blu-ray players. According to reports shoppers can apply the complete purchase price of the HD DVD player to the purchase of a Blu-ray player.

If the customers don’t want a Blu-ray player gift cards will be given for the purchase price. The catch is that most HD DVD players cost less than Blu-ray players and there will likely be a difference that shoppers need to pay. Read more

Posted on Fri, 7 Mar 2008 16:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Xbox 360 HD DVD Player discontinued

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A Microsoft employee run blog issued a statement saying that Microsoft is discontinuing the Xbox 360 HD DVD player.

This comes as no surprise after Sony's Blu-ray format won last week. Microsoft could get a bit more official on this topic, as they have a responsibility towards their customers who paid $200 for the now worthless HD DVD drive. Read more

Posted on Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

LG Says it Still Backs HD DVD

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With all the news today of Toshiba dropping the HD DVD format it’s a bit hard to imagine someone still actually backing HD DVD. Yet that is exactly what LG is doing. LG told Pocket-Lint that it would continue to back and develop HD DVD players.

LG issues a statement saying, "LG believes that at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer." Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:21:24 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Official: Toshiba stops HD DVD

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Toshiba just issued a statement that they have decided to stop HD DVD.

Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products. Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:00:52 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba Press Conference soon, HD DVD Announcement expected

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Japanese AV Watch just posted a brief story confirming the Toshiba press-conference to take place in 1 hour in Japan.

Update:
Toshiba officially declares HD DVD for dead

Yesterday, the Nikkei News already reported about Toshiba holding a press-conference today. It is not 100% sure yet if HD DVD will be a topic. Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:02:08 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Onkyo to stop HD DVD Player Sales

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Onkyo has reportedly halted sales of their HD DVD players.

Reports say that Toshiba will announce the end of HD DVD today in Japan, I have also read reports that say Wednesday. There are not that many companies that actually made HD DVD players beside Toshiba. Onkyo introduced their first HD DVD player at the end of last year.
The Onkyo HD805 was selling in the U.S. and Europe. Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:34:58 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft says end of HD DVD won't hurt Xbox 360

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp does not expect sales of its Xbox 360 game console to suffer if Toshiba Corp discontinues HD DVD technology, Microsoft said in a statement on Monday.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:50:46 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba to announce HD DVD Pullout on Tuesday: Report

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp will announce plans to cease production and sales of HD DVD players on Tuesday, the Nikkei business daily said. Read more

Posted on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:48:36 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba says that it has not stopped HD DVD Production yet

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Toshiba issued a very brief statement on their site in response to Japanese media reports that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business.

Complete statement: "The media reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business. Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this. Although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment." Read more

Posted on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:05:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Why Blu-ray Won the War against HD DVD

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Rob Enderle over at our partner Digital Trends published an interesting analysis on the Blu-ray victory over HD DVD. He also puts his finger in the wound of early Blu-ray player adopters who cannot upgrade to Blu-ray Profile 2.0. Only Sony PS3 are in the clear.

Quote: "As we went into the 4th quarter of 07, Toshiba and the HD DVD camp was certain they had this wrapped up. Their player prices were well below the Blu-Ray offerings, they had picked up several new studios and Sony's PS3 was looking more like an anchor on Sony's future than a help to Blu-Ray. Read more

Posted on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:46:13 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Investors cheer as Toshiba nears HD DVD Surrender

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By Nathan Layne

TOKYO (Reuters) - Investors cheered an impending end to a format war for next-generation DVDs on Monday, pushing up shares of both Toshiba, on the verge of abandoning its HD DVD discs, and Sony, the leader of the rival Blu-ray camp. Read more

Posted on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:46:57 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba to give up on HD DVD, End Format War: Source

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high-definition video, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp, a company source said on Saturday. Read more

Posted on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:53:43 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix chooses Blu-ray format over HD DVD

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online video rental company Netflix Inc said on Monday it would exclusively stock Blu-ray high-definition DVDs after a decision by some the world's biggest movie studios in favor of the Sony Corp developed format. Read more

Posted on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:52:07 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba announces new HD DVD Marketing Push

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The HD disc format war is not over yet as Toshiba announces a new HD DVD marketing push based on what the company calls "-breaking unit sales in the fourth quarter of 2007".

Warner's move to Blu-ray and the resulting cancellation of HD DVD media events at the CES 2008 are so far the low points in the HD DVD history. Read more

Posted on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:27:23 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

AVN 2008: No more Porn on HD DVD?

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What a difference a year makes. At the AVN 2007, we ran a story titled No Porn on Blu-ray?. Today, Prominent adult movie producer Digital Playground says that they plan to stop releasing porn on HD DVD probably by the end of 2008.

The statement was made by Joone the founder of Digital Playground in an interview with German Heise. Joone names two reasons for the planned drop of HD DVD. The first reason is the decision of Warner to switch to Blu-ray. Read more

Posted on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 03:01:40 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

HD DVD Throws in the Towel

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We have already talked about the big Warner announcement that it decided to go all Blu-ray after the HD DVD group came to CES expecting to announce Warner was an all HD DVD studio. This certainly isn’t a good thing for HD DVD.

However, I for one am very shocked at how they have handled the situation and believe that the HD DVD group itself has made the situation worse. Sure Warner going all Blu-ray could signal the end for HD DVD, but from a business side don’t you think HD DVD should at least be attempting to make it seem like business is going on normal? I do.

Rather than at least sucking it up and going on with the show, the HD DVD group literally threw in the towel and cancelled all of its meetings. Last night as I made my way to another event at the Venetian I ran across the room where the HD DVD group was supposed to be having their CES party and it was displaying the sign pictured here. Read more

Posted on Mon, 7 Jan 2008 10:15:04 CST | by Shane McGlaun

North American HD DVD Sales hit 1 million: Toshiba

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LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp said on Sunday sales of HD DVD players in North America, including other brands' HD DVD drive sales, totalled 1 million units last year, driven by demand for Internet-delivered content. Read more

Posted on Mon, 7 Jan 2008 01:48:42 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba says HD DVD ''has not lost'' despite Warner Move

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By Franklin Paul and Mayumi Negishi

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp insisted on Sunday that its HD DVD high-definition video format is far from dead despite being dealt a major setback by Warner Bros studio's decision to exclusively back Sony Corp's rival Blu-ray technology. Read more

Posted on Mon, 7 Jan 2008 01:46:39 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr