James Delahunty
1 Jan 2007 8:28
Toshiba is reportedly preparing to focus its efforts mainly on the HD DVD format offerings at CES. The company will stand behind and push the format despite predictions that disc sales are likely to drop over the next couple of years. A group of companies backing the HD DVD format are to hold a news conference on the first Sunday of 2007, January 7th.
President and CEO of Toshiba's Digital Media Network Company, Yoshihide Fujii, is expected to announce the firms path forward for the year. Some speculate that the company will announce lower prices for HD DVD hardware. When quizzed on the subject, Fujii didn't give any details but did say he expected the next price threshold to be $399, with $299 following next.
The price of hardware to play high definition video content is still quite high and leading many consumers to ignore the area for now. There has also been worrying developments for the companies that developed the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) copy protection with the release of the BackupHDDVD tool, which can be used to rip certain HD DVD titles (providing you have the keys needed).
Source:
Engadget HD