Toshiba's HD-DVD going the way of Betamax
,----[ Quote ]
| Toshiba is expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format in the coming
| weeks, after a rash of retail defections that followed Warner Home Video's
| stunning announcement in early January that it would support only Sony's
| rival Blu-ray Disc format after May.
`----
http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCAN1451010520080215
iSuppli thinks PS3 will be the ultimate winner – by 2011
,----[ Quote ]
| Putting the PS3 in top spot by 2011, iSuppli says the Wii will be number
| two , with the Xbox 360 in the third spot – but 4 years is a long time in the
| videogame business and just because iSuppli predicts it doesn’t mean it will
| come true.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16658/1105/
Microsoft might as usual end up last where the desktop isn't involved. It's
still trying to spin the recent executive exodus saying that "there are many
inside promotions" or "it's just an ordinary reorg" or "it's because of
Yahoo". The spin is hilarious!
In the case of HD-DVD, even possible bribery and dumping did not save
Microsoft.
Related:
Netflix dumps HD DVD, opts for Blu-ray
,----[ Quote ]
| Stating that the industry has already picked a winner in the battle of
| next-generation DVD superiority, Netflix announced Monday that it will stock
| only Blu-ray discs and drop the HD DVD format. Since the first
| high-definition DVDs came on the market in early 2006, Netflix has offered
| both formats.
`----
http://www.macworld.com/article/132047/2008/02/netflix.html
Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive 48 percent price drop
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft have announced a dramatic drop in the Xbox 360 add on HD DVD drive
| package.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16509/1063/
HD DVD News: Why Intel Supports the HD DVD Format
,----[ Quote ]
| Regardless, many believe that the format which can proivde a replacement to
| current DVD players (HD DVD is support by the DVD forum) at a low cost is HD
| DVD; including tech giant Intel.
`----
http://ilovehddvd.com/hd-dvd-news-why-intel-supports-the-hd-dvd-format
Woolworths stores to stop selling HD DVD
,----[ Quote ]
| Woolworths has thrown its high street heft behind the Blu-ray Disc format.
| From March, it will no longer sell HD DVDs in its shops.
`----
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/28/woolworths_exclusively_backing_blu_ray/
Toshiba's HD DVD Price Cuts May Not Stop Blu-ray
,----[ Quote ]
| According to industry reports, Toshiba has invested nearly $3 million for a
| 30-second advertising spot in Sunday's Super Bowl. The company plans to use
| the spot to highlight its lineup of low-priced HD-DVD players.
|
| But the increasingly difficult question for Toshiba is what consumers will
| play on those HD-DVD units if they buy them. Just two weeks ago, Warner Bros.
| Studios announced that it was dropping the HD-DVD format entirely and would
| produce movies in the Blu-ray format alone. The move leaves just three
| companies -- DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal -- still releasing Hollywood
| titles on HD DVD.
`----
http://www.cio-today.com/fullpage/fullpage.xhtml?dest=%2Fnews%2FToshiba-Price-Cuts-May-Not-Stop-Blu-Ray%2Fstory.xhtml%3Fstory_id%3D13000G0BBW9Q
http://tinyurl.com/3dugxl
Jobs: Blu-ray wins HD format war then loses to downloads
,----[ Quote ]
| Blu-ray Disc beat HD DVD, but who cares? Downloads, not physical media, are
| the future of HD content consumption. So said Apple CEO Steve Jobs this week,
| a comment that's a distant echo of allegations made by Transformers director
| Michael Bay last year.
|
| Bay grumbled that the HD format war was, in part, Microsoft's fault, the
| fight being stirred up to worry consumers into not buying eitehr format and
| give the software giant to put movie download and rental services in place.
| Which is, of course, just what Apple launched this week: HD-ready iTunes
| Movie Rentals.
`----
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/18/jobs_on_bluray_hddvd/
DVD sales plummet
,----[ Quote ]
| USA Today points out that the the movie download market could be another
| killer. That industry is expected to double from $689 million in 2006 to $1.6
| billion in 2008.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/08/dvd-sales-plummet
Microsoft to bypass High Def disc war with Mediaroom on Xbox 360
,----[ Quote ]
| This is why Microsoft is not overly worried about Warner Bros jumping ship
| from the HD DVD that they back, to Blu-Ray high definition disc format. They
| know that in the long run, the physical media will be bypassed.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16006/1063/
No Winner In Blu-ray, HD DVD Battle
,----[ Quote ]
| Both rival formats seeking to become the high-definition successor to the DVD
| have attracted consumers, and while Blu-ray Disc leads HD DVD, the race is
| far from over.
|
| [...]
|
| "That is the dirty secret no one is talking about," said Bay, director of the
| recent hit film "Transformers." "They want confusion in the market until they
| perfect the digital downloads." Microsoft sells HD movie and TV show
| downloads to its video game consoles through its Xbox Live Marketplace.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/071224/tech.html?.v=1
Director: Microsoft fueling HD wars
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is deliberately feeding into the HD disc format wars to ensure that
| its own downloads succeed where physical copies fail, says movie director
| Michael Bay in a response to a question posed through his official forums.
| The producer contends that Microsoft is writing "$100 million dollar checks"
| to movie studios to ensure HD DVD exclusives that hurt the overall market
| regardless of the format's actual merit or its popularity, preventing any one
| format from gaining a clear upper hand. Bay's own Transformers is available
| on disc only in the less popular HD DVD format despite his stated preference
| for Blu-ray. To the director, this is primarily a stalling tactic while
| Microsoft refines its own online-only technology.
`----
http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/12/04/bay.on.microsoft.hd/
Two Studios to Support HD DVD Over Rival
,----[ Quote ]
| But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive
| about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD
| DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but
| who asked not to be identified.
|
| The incentives will come in a combination of cash and promotional
| guarantees. Toshiba, for instance, will use the release of “Shrek the
| Third” as part of an HD DVD marketing campaign.
|
| Paramount and DreamWorks Animation declined to comment. Microsoft, the
| most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not
| ^^^^^^^^^
| rule out payment but said it wrote no checks. “We provided no financial
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| incentives to Paramount or DreamWorks whatsoever,” said Amir Majidimehr,
| the head of Microsoft’s consumer media technology group.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?ei=5088&en=d4e1f285e2f41437&ex=1345348800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1187698143-B5wO3L/F+4r1NyAsum87vQ
Cringely the Unemployable on the fallacy of Web 2.0, Microsoft ruthlessness,
and the CB radio of our decade
,----[ Quote ]
| Davidson: Which software company would you hate to compete against? What
| makes you single them out?
|
| Cringely: Microsoft of course. They have the deepest of pockets, unlimited
| ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make
| sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean.
|
| Davidson: Why do you think Microsoft is mean? Are you implying some kind of
| malicious intent rather than just ruthlessness?
|
| Cringely: Maybe "mean" is the wrong word to use for Microsoft. "Ruthless" is
| good. The company is built in the image of Bill Gates and Bill is a guy who
| gets caught-up in the game of business and doesn't typically see its personal
| cost. To use what might seem to be an obscure example, just look at all the
| various partnerships and industry consortia that Microsoft has announced
| through the years that never produced a product or even a usable
| specification. There have been literally dozens of these operations that are
| intended solely to freeze the competition until Microsoft can figure what the
| heck it actually wants to do. To Microsoft its a PR exercise that helps them
| compete but to customers it is just a damned lie. That's ruthless. There are
| plenty of other examples I can give but you get the point. I represent the
| concerns of users, not vendors, and Microsoft doesn't really care about
| users.
`----
http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2007/07/cringely-the-un.html
|
|
