James Delahunty
30 Sep 2005 23:08
Toshiba has confirmed that its next generation optical disc format, HD-DVD, will be delayed in the United States, with its launch now expected to be February or March 2006. The original end of 2005 target is still set for Japan however. "We have been discussing with content holders the most effective way to launch in the US market," Toshiba Corporate Senior Vice President Yoshihide Fujii said, "and it will probably be in February or March."
Speculation that players for the new format would be delayed began to circulate in early September when a spokeswoman said that hardware and content companies were in talks to set a time to release the format, but that the original target might no longer be appropriate. Sony's Blu-Ray format is expected to first show in Spring 2006, being used in Sony's next generation gaming console, the PlayStation 3.
The spring launch of the console is confirmed for Japan but details on when it will be available in the U.S. or Europe were never released. Toshiba's HD-DVD format also recently got some more major backing, this time from Microsoft and Intel. It also has the backing of the DVD Forum, which is something that Blu-Ray doesn't have. However, Blu-Ray can always fall back on the extra storage capacity that it offers compared to HD-DVD and its heavy mixed support which includes huge support from Hollywood studios.
Source:
The Register