James Delahunty
20 Nov 2005 21:02
The Blu-Ray group has responded to demands made by Hewlett-Packard (HP) to implement two consumer friendly features that are already part of the rival format, HD-DVD's specification. The Blu-Ray group lead by Sony Corp. is pushing the Blu-Ray Disc technology to be the next generation DVD standard. It has so far had an eventful battle with Toshiba Corp. and things are expected to heat up even further when both technologies hit the market.
The Blu-Ray group has announced that it won't adopt the proposal put forward by HP by the launch of the technology. HP demanded that Mandatory Managed Copy be implemented, which would allow consumers to legally copy DVDs and store the digital files on a home network. It also pushed for support for iHD, which provides interactive features and is expected to be implemented in Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system.
The Blu-ray group said it will incorporate Mandatory Managed Copy but would launch it in spring 2006 with interactive features built on Sun Microsystems' Java software. "Mandatory managed copy will be part of Blu-ray format, but while HP's request [for interactivity] is being considered, at this point in time, the Blu-ray group is still proceeding down the path of Java," Blu-ray spokesman Andy Parsons told Reuters. "We are taking their request seriously, but are not willing to delay the launch and are going to go forward with the Java-type option."
The Blu-Ray group is very concerned about getting the technology launched as soon as possible. "I'm not saying we would not implement what they've requested, but it's not going to stop the format at this time," Parsons added. "HP is still a valued member of the Blu-ray Disc Association and I expect to see them supporting Blu-ray in upcoming promotional events." The group's decision however, might force HP to take a more neutral stance, a change from its past complete support for Blu-Ray.
"If they are unable to incorporate technologies we think are critical for the PC architecture, we'll be more neutral. We'll think of cost and implementation across the board. Potentially, we could support both HD DVD and Blu-ray," Maureen Weber, general manager of personal storage in HP's personal systems group said. "You'd see us supporting both formats in various trade show booths."
Source:
Fox News