Fomat War Over, HD-DVD Officially Dead
Tuesday, February 19th. A day that will live in infamy…for early tech adopters anyway. Like 8-Track, Beta Max and DivX Discs before it, the HD-DVD format has officially succombed to its heavyweight competitor. This decade’s format wars are over and Sony’s Blu-Ray stands triumphant on the battlefield.
Toshiba, the tech giant behind HD-DVD called it quits early this morning via a press release available through Business Wire. Frankly, I hadn’t placed any monetary stake on either technology, though I did find myself rooting for HD-DVD based on less than honest demonstrations by Sony in the past, but I digress. Here’s the full and official low-down:
TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.
HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.
