James Delahunty
11 Jan 2006 13:06
To make investing in next generation disc formats more comforting for consumers, the sale of a device capable of playing both would be ideal. However according to many executives and analysts, intellectual property issues, legal agreements and simple pride will keep such a consumer-friendly option at bay for a long time. "Until everyone agrees to check their egos at the door and help the consumer, there is nothing we can do about a universal product," said Peter Weedfald, a senior vice president of marketing at Samsung North America.
The battle between HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc continues to heat up after the announcements from both camps at the Consumer Electronics Show. Both revealed very similar upcoming movie releases and the first players for the discs. Each side is confident that they have the best format with consumers interests in mind. Microsoft also announced plans to release a HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 console so owners could enjoy high definition movies with the console.
Microsoft, Intel and Toshiba stand on the side of HD DVD while Sony, Samsung, Philips and Dell are supporting Blu-ray. Hewlett-Packard (HP) however, is right in the middle. But is pride among these major tech companies going to cost consumers in the coming years? Steve Kovsky, an analyst at Current Analysis, remembers how a meeting in Tokyo saw a reporter asking an executive at a major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer about the possibility of a "universal" player. The executive blew up and just called the idea "stupid". It does sound like a response you would hear from a young child, doesn't it?
"Japanese executives in general are very political, so this was very surprising," Kovsky said. "Technically, it is possible...but at this point, it doesn't look like it will happen, which is a shame, because it will hinder adoption." Of course the rules that govern all of these companies just makes the battle more bitter for consumers. "The conundrum is that you've got two different camps. You've got licensing issues, you've got trademarks, you've got copyrights," Weedfald said. "You can't just be on the Blu-ray side and say, 'We will put HD DVD in there,' and the reverse is true."
He also went ahead to say Samsung may make a separate line of HD DVD players to complement the Blu-ray players it plans to release later this year but the company had no current plans to do so.
Source:
News.com