HD DVD is officially dead
Do you hear that? That’s the sound of “Taps” being played for HDTV players and recorders. Toshiba has announced that, “it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders.” Yes, it’s true. Just like Beta was phased out in favor of VHS, HDTV has lost in its head to head battle with Blu-ray. As of March 2008, the manufacture of the hardware will cease, and production of HD DVD disk drives for PCs and games as well. The only exception, said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation are laptops. “[Toshiba] continues to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives.”
Where does that leave those lucky consumers who’ve invested in HD DVD and its recorders? Up a tree, in many ways. Toshiba spokesmen say the company will continue to sell recording media on line, but don’t expect a slew of HD DVD software in the future. Blu-ray will be king, you can bet on that. For those of us who haven’t gone HD, Toshiba reiterates in their corporate release that they will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders.