Blu-ray could still lose HD video war, Toshiba says

Toshiba claims that Sony's victory in the high definition disc format war will be short lived due to the rise of HD digital video downloads over broadband, which the company claims was one of the key reason for abandoning HD DVD.

In a press conference this morning, Toshiba Australia general manager, Mark Whittard (pictured), said that while the US film and retail industries' recent shift to support Blu-ray sealed HD DVD's fate, other factors played a role in Toshiba's abandonment of its high definition video disc business.

However, while Toshiba is now moving towards a business model which will see it place more emphasis on other HD video delivery platforms, it has not ruled out joining the Blu-ray camp.

[sonarus]

wat sore loosers.

[INehalemEXI]

Indeed.

[Lord Anubis]

if they think HD downloads will take the place of physical media around the world then they should grab a sit.

[fenderputty]

it's making them look bad.

[actas123]

Its sad to see big shots acting like freakin kids man.

[Anything but Cute]

Right now it takes like 7 hours to download an HD movie on XBOX 360. Which is the only common way to download a movie and see it on an HDTV.

If Digital Downloads wants to become Blu ray's next b*tch, then bring it.

[jwatt]

That's like you play on a basketaball team and you play against another team and destroy them. Then the other team says your not going to when the championship anyways becuase the nba is going to get cancelled. Yea we were just playing you guys for fun, we got money to burn!

[TheTwelve]

Sour grapes, my friends, sour grapes!!!

12

[Anything but Cute]

I mean they did just get owned in the sickest way possible. They basicly got raped.

[SSCOOLCHEA]

to download porn on divx files ,

1080p + uncompressed audio = good luck DD

I think thats what there trying to get at download it now and in 10 years the download will be completed ..morons

[IntelligentAj]

My thoughts exactly. You can't beat em', then bash em'

[Seraphim]

exactly... I couldn't agree more...

The fact of the matter is that digital downloads are a good 10 years from becoming reality; at least a reasonable reality as right now it's a joke. Even then, I'd say a majority of movie watchers rent most their flicks; kind of like how most gamers seem to rent. Skip the download and rent the HD version of the movie through On Demand. And even then I'm not so sure digital downloads will have a strong attach rate. People either won't have the hard drive to accommodate or would rather have the physical media. After all, half of having a collection is being able to show it off and/or look at it.

Not to even mention that most homes only have a hard drive size of 40-80 gigs. And I don't see most PC manufacturers offering 160-200+ as the norm. Even then, if digital downloads is the key way to buy new titles you're talking about needing a TB drive, not a GB drive. Of course unless you only buy a couple movies a year.

Also, I highly question whether or not our ISP's will be up to speed by then to make digital downloads a reality. As you stated, about 7 hours for an HD dl via XBL. ISPs are a huge rip off and why offer better service when they can charge for it? Right now the norm is 3 MB for my service; obviously idk what each ISP is. To get 5 MB it's an extra $5 or $10 a month; I forget but think it's only $5. Yet to bump that up to 10 MB service it's a whopping $20 additional. Perhaps 5 years from now 10 MB will become the norm. But even then, you're still talking about half a shift to dl a movie...

Realistically downloads could very possibly be the future but not anytime soon. You're either ignorant or naive to think downloads will be taking over anytime soon...

[ruibing]

I unfortunately have Comcast as my ISP, there is an unspoken bandwidth limit with them. Choosing to purchase bits and bytes of video is kind of difficult since I could just as fast download it on torrent. I would much prefer to pay more for it as a physical HD media with extra contents.

[Harry190]

how come they never think of
download limits and broadband restrictions too?
funny

[BenzMoney]

Wtf? "Right now it takes like 7 hours to download an HD movie on XBOX 360"

What are you, on dialup?

If I start a download for an HD movie on XBL, it takes about 5 minutes before I get a message that the movie is ready to play. I then start the movie, and finish it, as it streams. No hiccups. I can't remember the last time I watched a 7 hour movie, either.

Stop making up lies. If you prefer having your media on a physical format (Bluray, DVD, whatever) then fine, all the power to you. But don't try to make DD sound like it's such a horrible idea that will never come to fruition. It already is! Look at on-demand movies, PPV, etc, from your local cable provider. That's DD just as much as downloading those things from XBL is.

Like it or not, DD is coming. Toshiba execs aren't "acting like children" for pointing that out.

[BenzMoney]

What do you think On Demand is? Why, oh my goodness, it couldn't be! No way. It's... It's digital distribution?!?! Wow!!!

[WeaseL]

If the HD downloads are less than 8GB why did anybody bother with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray in the first place?

[Nostradamus]

at $5 or $6 bucks each. The price of a rental at blockbuster.

Look at my bio, you can see what its like to have all HD content available, cable, 360, ps3, etc. edit: I dont have HD-DVD.

[Salvadore]

What else do you expect them to say?

[Mario18]

Thats like saying, "I can poop out icecream"

[beast]

So if they think dowload will be the king . Then why were they spending millions of dollar for HD-DVD.

[Odonnus]

You are right on the money. They wouldn't have poured so many resources into a fight that even if they did win against bluray, would've been lost to DD. Essentially, they knew money was to be made in the HD video war, and are just trying to rain on bluray's parade.

[man0fsteel]

bubble for that comment, you're spot on

[KillaManiac]

millions? they lost billions by canceling HD-DVD...but you are 100% correct

[hella whip]

Toshiba will produce a Blu-ray player within a year, they're just being sore losers at this point.

[lodossrage]

If they REALLY felt that way, then the wouldn't have spend all this time and money trying to fight Blu ray in the first place.

[Dark-Angel09]

Well. Toshiba lost, so of course they are going to say that Blu-Ray's Victory will be short lived.

[HarryEtTubMan]

This hurt them bad. What sore losers... hahahaha like Digital downloads(of 1080p Blu Ray quality movies) is even gonna be relevant to the average person in the next 5-10 years. NO. Lmao.

Keep doubting Sony and they will keep jackin you up!

[SSCOOLCHEA]

You what im not going to say anything , let them keep believing that DD is about to be the norm.. Most of the people i know that dont have a ps3 is still on DSL....Try showing to some dumbazz who has know knowledge to download anything..lets put it this way i download alot of music and you know what my girlfriend stills buy the the same CD that i have just downladed . People think its so easy...but time + hard drive space and the time you keep switching back and forth , 30 bucks is quite worth it to me to walk into the store for a purchase.

1080p + uncompressed audio = good luck DD

[FamilyGuy]

I live in the U.S. in California and i can safely and assuredly say that digital distribution is right around the corner. Verizon, the cell phone and ect. company is advertising a 15mbps download and upload internet package thats to be run through fiber optics cable

Check it out here http://www22.verizon.com/co...

They actually sell a package that gets you 30mbps download speed but the 15mbps up and download pack is the one they keep advertising here.

It doesnt mean DD is here or that people will prefer it over hard copies of their movies but it DEFINITELY means something! And at $43 for the basic package the jump from whatever you're currentlt paying for the internet isn't that drastic.

Someone should make a news story about this topic

[SSCOOLCHEA]

If your willing to pitch extra money on the download speed more power to you . i just see paying 30 bucks get a physical copy i can shared with my friends and family and dont even have to waste any of my time downloading / copying etc . how long is it going to take for you to transfer 1080p with uncompress sound to a stick...its probably not even 1080p and uncompressed sound but some upscale stuff. if i wanted that i can just get a dvd and played it on my ps3 and dvd is 10 bucks....

[BrianC6234]

This report is hilarious. Sure Toshiba, the main reason you dumped the HD DVD format is because of digital downloads. How much did Microsoft pay them to say that? Did Bill Gates offer to cover all their losses personally if they would say it? I think so.

[BrianC6234]

"I live in the U.S. in California and i can safely and assuredly say that digital distribution is right around the corner"

FamilyGuy - You're the one who is wrong. I live in California too and no way is digital download going to take over the movie business. Only bootleggers do that. Anyone serious about movies buys or rents movies on an optical disc of some kind.

I've been using computers since the late 70s and I don't see them getting any easier for the average user. I still have to help people I know install simple programs, hard drives, wireless networks, you name it. Most people just aren't savvy enough to download movies. You're thinking everyone is like the 5% or so of people who understand it. Most people just don't understand computers enough and don't want to.

[SlappyMcTaint]

Like anybody has the bandwidth, storage and time needed to download 1080p movies!! It will happen some day in some streaming/downloadable form, i guarantee it, but not for another 10 years at least -when we all have fiber optic int4rwebs and 100 Petabyte HD's.

Toshiba = Epic Fail

[Fat Bastard]

Harry Potter agrees with the Harry above. He knows that blu ray is the dominant form of high defenition media viewing. Harry Potter suggests you stop doubting the almighty Sony when it comes to technology, because everything else sucks major hairy elephant balls. He knows that seven hour downloads from the useless You Know What on the failing "Live" are a horrible choice and very limited. Harry Potter hopes to save you from looking like a dork.

Avada Kedavra!

[boodybandit]

That sounds like a little kid being a poor loser on the playground saying "I am taking my ball and going HOME!"

Way to take the high road Toshiba.

[Genuine]

Sore losers or not, the guy is right about DD. When the rights issues are resolved for the majority of content, purchases of physical media will fall to the wayside.

Digital Distribution will greatly reduce the cost companies share in getting media to consumers. In theory, this should reduce prices for consumers. I have yet to see any kind of cost reduction yet though. It's still .99 cents to download a song, or $15 for a 15 song CD. DD is simply too convient though to not be the future of entertainment media. No driving, wading through crowds, or waiting for a product will all be a thing of the past. And if you want to burn your content onto a physical disc it's not like you can't.

[Proxy]

I'll just download my HD movies and then burn them to a DVD - oh wait, it wont fit on a DVD. Wonder what I'll be using instead?

[Rageanitus]

is price really a factor???? what happened to hd-dvd and their price advantage.

DD is simply not convenient right now, and Im quite sure alot do no know the concept of downloading.

DD is a format in itself.

[rofldings]

"Digital Distribution will greatly reduce the cost companies share in getting media to consumers."

Wtf, have you thought of bandwidth costs for hosting BD/HD-DVD quality movies? Not just lame compressed/upscaled movies you get on XBL. It would also have to serve the entire movie-watching public which consists of HUNDREDS of millions of viewers - ALL OF WHICH are there to watch movies, not just 10 million live users - where most are there to play games.

Not to mention the networking nightmare.

...And this is just the US. Where a 0.5mbit connection can be considered "broadband", thanks to the FCC. Can't wait to see how they tackle European/Asian countries where they have download limits each month.

[LastDance]

dude... last night i started downloading a file. it was 1.3 gig.

it took me 14 hours(not kidding) to download and it didnt work properly. if DD became the in thing then say goodbye to anything else you want to do online. How many movies do people buy or hire in the world on a daily basis? now imagine all that is being downloaded and some in Full HD.

Now go play COD4 online.

Believe me.. Its not enough to get the right speeds and storage. but bandwith large enough to fit all the downloading PLUS everything else every1 does on the net.

your dreaming mate.

[eyeh]

While downloads would cost less, at this point I highly down digital downloads can compete at this time. It takes too much time to download that kind of content, which translates to too much planning for the consumer.

you'd have situations like the following...
I want to watch this movie. I'll start downloading today, i'll watch it tomorrow after work, if i don't do other things at the time it finishes...unless something else comes up. wait, wait, im bored right now.

by the time digital downloads have a chance, blu ray would probably lived long enough to be an old format.

[Genuine]

It's obvious some of you have no experience with DD. It takes approx. 2 minutes from the time you make your movie selection til you are watching the content (this is for Live and Netflix). It's not only possible, it already exists.

And Proxy, show me an HD movie that won't fit on a DVD-9.

And Last Dance, my advice for you would be to drop dial-up and get broadband.

@rofldingsvvv
All video is compressed braintrust even on blu-ray and hd-dvd. If it wasn't you wouldn't be able to watch it. Also if you take away all of the extra bloopers, different languages, and garbage you don't need, none of those movies would be over 6gb.

[rofldings]

Doesn't look like any of these will fit on a DVD9 (There's a reason there was a format war, btw.)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs...

And again, we're not talking about compressed video/audio movie you find on XBL. They have to be the same quality as BD or HD-DVD to even matter.

[eyeh]

the majority of bought movies I'm guessing (maybe I'm wrong) are movies people have already seen and wish to own.
though streaming potentially can allow watching in real time, it's difficult to skip to parts you wish to watch and things of that sort. Also, you do not own netflix downloaded movies do you? I assume you cannot watch them over and over again whenever you'd like forever. I don't know though, I've never used it.
In addition, I don't agree about HD content fitting on a DVD-9.
480p material on dvd's currently often fill up the majority of dvd-9 space.
The debate here isn't if digital downloads can replace non HD material. In theory, it might be able to. As HD material becomes mainstream with HD tvs and such, dvd's will not be able to store this information.

[The Closing]

So i'm to burn my ps3 or by that time more likely ps4 even ps5 games to dvd-9 then?

[demolitionX]

why don't u tell us which ISP u're using! cause um calling them tomorrow! where u live buddy, I live in the states! unless u live in your dreams, 2min. to buffer !LOL!

[Genuine]

Who knows by then? I'm sure dvd-9 will be a portable storage option, right alongside blu-ray discs, and memory sticks.

@demo
I have Comcast. But the way Live and Netflix seem to work. Your bandwidth is calculated with the file size/length, and when enough of of the file is downloaded/buffered, it allows you to start viewing. For a 2gb movie, it takes approx 2-5 minutes before I'm able to start watching. Some people seem to be thinking that a movie has to be completely downloaded before you can start enjoying it.

[The Closing]

Bluray. I rest my case.

Although hopefully we'll have a rewritable 4 terabyte halo card storage device by then or something of that nature.

[rofldings]

@8.11

We know that it doesn't have to be completed before you can start playing. That still depends on the fill size and your bandwidth; some people can do it, some can't. There still isn't a service that offers full 1080p movies with lossless audio, so we'll never know.

[Richdad]

For software and data handling blu ray is just giving more space and not speed so Blu ray will mostly be for Videos and PS3 games.
Other than that it cant acquire the market of DVD for data handling purposes.

[hfaze]

"I have Comcast. But the way Live and Netflix seem to work. Your bandwidth is calculated with the file size/length, and when enough of of the file is downloaded/buffered, it allows you to start viewing. For a 2gb movie, it takes approx 2-5 minutes before I'm able to start watching. Some people seem to be thinking that a movie has to be completely downloaded before you can start enjoying it."

Well, if you have Comcast, then you're familiar with how transfer rates on your cable modem drop off SIGNIFICANTLY during peak usage times. During off-hours I've seen my Comcast cable modem hit 22Mbit using speakeasy.net's speed test, while during peak times I have seen it hit as low as 2Mbit (and I live in the Philadelphia suburbs, not the boondocks).

If you take a look at the AVS forum posting, you'll see that Blu-Ray video/audio requires at the least 18Mbit/sec, and up to 46Mbit/sec transfer rate.

And you're trying to say that the current Internet infrastructure is ready to handle this?

[Bubble Buddy]

Of course, Toshiba's always correct, same with Microsoft, denial much? Sony got one right and you always have a sloppy comeback...Expect more from Sony (Y)

[Rockstar]

^^^^^

[Genuine]

Sour Grapes???

[Rockstar]

Toshiba.

Sorry for the confusion.

[darkgod101]

Toshiba needs to take the loss and admit it. And join the Blu Ray camp.

Just like Sony did with the Beta and joined VHS after.

[pwnsause]

Damage Control anyone???

[gambare]

I have lost the last remain of respect towards toshiba right now...

[Peekay]

this guy's from Australia! He should know that not everyone can have Super Duper Blizting high speed internet here! I don't have access to Toshiba's servers!

[beast]

But world wide NO WAY its not even close to be ready yet. Plus people like to own it , take it to there friends /vacation ie portable DISK . How in the world if I wanna see a movie over my friend house that i own. Do i take my whole BOX to my friends house or just take my Disk. What out HDD failures. The quality of HD movies via DD are still not comparable to 1080p HD sound of DISK. Sorry. LONG WAY TO GO.

[Genuine]

Burn your content to a disc.

[gambare]

^^^^ try to do that with your XBL movies

[rofldings]

Haha, yeah. I'm sure studios/DDers will make it that easy to burn it on a disc.

Expect HEAVY HEAVY DRM regulations; some might even be as gay as not even letting you watch your movie off that device or your PC ala Itunes.

There isn't even a DRM standard yet for DD.

[eyeh]

we're also talking about all of media watching population. I would think the majority of people wouldn't go through the trouble of burning it to a disk, or even know how.
I respect your passion for digital downloads as i do most opinions on on this site, but it's just not there yet whereas blu ray is ready right now for the masses.
people won't want to invest in a new HD home theater to play existing non HD resolution, lower quality audio movies.
not yet for digital downloads.

[demolitionX]

guys, genuine is here waiting for his DD to buffer he said 2min, but seems it's 2hours to buffer 2 min MAYBE???

[ITR]

I will say it now. Any disc tech eventually will be killed off by some type of portable compact flash or SSD.
No moving parts and nothing to really scratch. Once prices drop in the next 5 yrs we'll see more and more folks carrying movies on CF or SSD variants.

[Alcaponeyou]

fail me

[GrammarPolice]

It's only a flesh wound!

[jackdoe]

Sour grapes. Digital distribution will never kill a disc based format. For one thing, disc based formats allow for better picture and audio; digital distribution sets limits to make for plausible downloads while Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies have transfers that could be 20gb. Imagine downloading 20gb! The other thing is that people like having a collection that they can display. Discs allow you to do that. Digital content does not.

[jacobdevos]

if toshiba-hd dvd
actually found digital downloads to be such a big threat..
wouldn't they have given up the war ages ago?
instead of getting beaten to submission then claiming there was no fight?

[Kyur4ThePain]

Can someone explain to me just what it is that has been holding back DD the last few years?

I mean, just about everyone has a PC and can access Netflix, Movielink etc etc etc. So why is it that now, all of a sudden, DD is "about to take over from physical disks"?

What's changed?

[The Fungus]

Nothing, except for the fact that now some companies(mainly MS) are SAYING that DD will take over.

The fact that they say, nay, BELIEVE it will doesn't change a thing. I might use DD for convenience every now and then, but I have to have physical copies of everything I buy media-wise.

[Kyur4ThePain]

To the person that disagreed with my post...it's ok. I know you don't really disagree - you just don't like the questions I'm asking.
And if that's not the case, why don't you answer me?

[Rageanitus]

Just because they lost, doesnt mean blu-ray will lose.... if that were the case why in the hell did they just fund a couple million dollars in superbowl adverts.

More importantly why did they have a ces conference setup before warners announcment??

[JAKESPLACE_]

Cry babies,jus giv up already to the best format chosen for the pple by the pple mann

[AllroundGamer]

omg the face on the picture... it is... eeevil! he reminds me of the actor Bruce Campbell from Evil Dead series :D
http://www.imdb.com/media/r...

[The Fungus]

No way downloads are going to take over. Some people say that you are 'old fashioned' if you have to have a physical copy. I say that its easier to transport and just feels more tangible overall.

And I'm 16, so it'd be pretty far fetched to say that I'm 'old fashioned' when it comes to technology.

I'm constantly replacing and reformatting my hard drives, and it sure would be a pain in the arse if I had like 30 HD movies to back up whenever I did.

[lim_ryan]

lol what a looser....i dunno u guys....
but for me i want the pysical disc on my collection....
even if my harddisk spoil...or any accident ...
i still have the pysical disc......
i can take my bluray disc to anywhere....
digital downloads=meh

[Maddens Raiders]

HD-DVD as...Sarah

360 add-on as...Reese

Blu-ray as...Technology from the future

[undacovabrothe]

Thats the biggest sore loser I ever seen. If they thought digital dls were a big threat that Sony cant handle WHY THE HELL THEY GET INTO THE BUSINESS? As long as Sony has all the studios and the sales keep increasing nothing can put a wrench in their plans.

[Carbon]

Jesus do these guys think were ideots... Of couse Blu-Ray will loose to a future technoligy. Downloads, probable....

These guys act like were suprised VHS did'nt last forever.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Toshiba...

Just give up...

You're just losing respect now, and it's not looking good.

HD downloads are great. Sony's even a part of that.

However, you guys lost. You know they had a better product and they did a better job of getting it to the customer.

Sorry...

[enigmaticheretic]

He cant face the fact that hd dvd failed, he will never say that blu ray is better hd dvd. Digital downloads wont take over DVDs and CDs for a long time, but blu ray will be here for a long time.

[Rice]

"oh one of our major reasons why we abandon hd dvd is because the rise in digital download", cut the crap... Why cant u just accept defeat... what a load of bs..

[demolitionX]

so if this is case Toshiba, why waste your time with dvd players and stuff. I wish they would cancel dvd manufacturing to backup this BS!!!

[resonate]

Common toshiba, that's just pathetic. Leave with grace, not kicking and screaming like a 2 year old child.

[Anything but Cute]

Blood has been drawn. The next battle is Blu ray VS Digital Downloads.

We're gonna start getting sales reports of how Digital Downloads are doing compared to Blu ray. We will start getting reports like 500 digital movies rented from XBOX Live week whatever...

[Rageanitus]

BDA should not allow Toshiba to join BDA or charge super duper royalties. After all they dont see hd media as a large market.

[tweaker]

HD war? Bluray already won the HD war. HD is not about compressed media. so DD is pretty much a format that should've been introduced during or even before DVD launched.

People like to borrow each others movies. Thats the joy and freedom of physical media. People know theres VALUE in physical ownership. There is NO value in digital media.

"Oooo let me sell my downloaded movies on eBay" o hell. ERROR ERROR ERROR!!! damn DRM!!!!!

Everything doesn't have to revolve around digitally.

The DD idea is as dumb mind controlled games. WAY too early.

[UnDone14]

I completely agree. Had I read your comment before, I wouldn't have posted something similar below! lol

[Lionsguard]

Let Toshiba cry and do whatever they want I hope they bankrupt themselves. Idiots like that should not be left to run a once decent company.

[aiphanes]

Does microsoft release all of their software for the Xbox 360 and i mean current games, like Halo 3 and Mass Effect over Xbox Live? NO!

Sony has on 2 games available on bluray and PSN....Warhawk and GT5 Prologue...and they will release more....but sony realized that DD will compliment hard media like bluray and DVD and CDs....but will never replace that media.

Not everybody in the world has a 50 meg FIOS pipe to their house...most have dialup for 1.5 meg DSL or Cable...some have nothing...some get their undersea cables cut...and have no internet for weeks at a time...so if everything is DD, and the internet is down...you are out of luck...with Bluray, DVD and CD you can still watch a new movie or play a song.

[undacovabrothe]

they think just because it works and took off for music movies will be too. Music is much smaller in size and can xfer easy to 1 person/player to another. To dl regular movies takes awhile itself let alone HD movies this will never take off until T1 connections become assesable in homes.

[hfaze]

Actually... T1's are SLOW by today's standards. T1's are only good for 1.544Mbit/sec up and down. My cable modem can peak out around 22Mbit/sec down.

Once T3 speeds (45Mbit/sec) are more commonplace, THEN I can see digital distribution of HD content at Blu-Ray quality being feasible.

BUT, in order for this to be possible on a wide-scale basis, it will take a MAJOR overhaul of the Internet backbone connections. ISP's are already screaming about the bandwidth consumption of sites like YouTube, and we all know how low resolution the video is on it...

Wide-spread digital distribution of Blu-Ray quality video is still quite a ways out into the future...

[DJ]

"We didn't lose. Nuh-uh. Blu-ray's the loser!" Talk about immature. Undacovabrothe has it spot-on. "If they thought digital downloads were a big threat that Sony cant handle why the hell did they get into the business?"

[bootsielon]

to Mark Wiitard

Mark Blowhard was the runner-up...

[Mandangoof]

Because DD won't be 'significant' for another 30, and another physical format (or just BR) will have to fill the gap.

By the time we have hi-speed internet, movies will go the way of music. i.e. rampant piracy. 86% of music sales are CDs, and CDs aren't what they used to be.

[Mandangoof]

Fire this muthaf*cka.
Bury Toshiba in bankruptcy.
Fire Ken Graffeo.

They need to be taught a lesson.

[cr33ping_death]

wow.....toshiba was fighting fire with fire....but now SONY is using nukes and toshiba is slap fighting. its over.

[damnwrx]

Shame......

[BIGELLOW]

Everyone is talking about how strong the DVD market still is, even though standard definition video has been around forever. There is going to be a long and gradual transition from people collecting physical media for their libraries to collecting gigabytes on a hard drive. The kind of storage most people would need to contain their entire library would be more costly than having the physical media. Furthermore, it is less reliable... one unfortunate hard drive crash and blammo!

If you talk about the ability to re-download your movies from the service, the next question is "which service?" Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, and others are all providing competing services for downloading premium video content. Each has their own DRM and their own restrictions. Just as there have been physical format wars, there are also electronic format wars which are worse, because there are many more players.

So, the reality of it is... nobody can be certain which service they should be downloading their movies through... which service will allow the movies to be downloaded virtually instantly... whether or not their ISP may start charging extra for bandwidth bursts due to downloading such content (this has been happening in certain areas)... how reliable the hard drives are, and in what kind of setup (home network, TiVo, 360, PS3)... and how easily they will be able to take the movie with them on a road trip, to a friend's house, etc...

Really, downloadable movies ARE the future... but they're not going to replace physical media overnight... nor is it going to happen in the next 5 years. I would say during the next three years or so, we'll see a transition from DVD to Blu-ray... there will still be those who insist on sticking with DVD because they aren't concerned with resolution... then, in about 5 years, it'll be difficult to find DVDs for the movies you want... instead, it will be primarily found on Blu-ray... and around this time, more and more people will be downloading and storing movies, and there will be much more robust solutions without all sorts of confining DRMs, etc... but just as there will be those who will want to hold onto DVDs... there will be those who will want to hold onto Blu-rays, because it is a much more understandable format. You can just grab it and take it with you, etc... no need to be concerned about the quality of the Internet connection is at your destination... no need to try to transfer data to a portable medium... or be concerned with hard drives going bad... etc...

Then, about 3-5 years after that, there will be robust solutions to all of these concerns... DVD will be gone... and Blu-ray will start being phased out as everything becomes truly digital. Blu-ray is going to live a perfectly normal life-cycle and, at the same time, in about 10 years, Toshiba is going to try to tell us all "we told you so... downloads are the future." Yes, the distant future. In the meantime, Blu-ray is now and the near future. No need to wait.

[SSCOOLCHEA]

There can be DD but dont you ever think that physical media will ever go away not now not ever..

[UnDone14]

Sorry but Toshiba is in no position to be predicting anything when their format has just kicked the bucket.

As far as downloading movies, that's simple not for me. I would rather have the disc and case in hand, not on a hard drive. Especially if I want to sell the movie, I could anytime. How are you supposed to sell a digitally downloaded movie????

[Whoooop]

Toshiba is looking more and more like 360 fanboys...

One day? excuse... another day? different excuse and another day?? different excuse.

[patterson]

Blu-ray: 1080p, uncompressed audio, scratch resistant surface, nice cases (attractive shelf storage), ease of use, studios like the built in security, etc...

Digital Downloads: Watch once bye bye, 720p compressed everything, watch on a computer screen, waiting a day to download, only tech saavy will know what to do, etc...

verdict...

Blu-ray: sounds cool and has a cool blue laser
Digital Downloads: not cool whatsoever

[The_Firestarter]

Wow! That's pretty immature, Toshiba.

[psnDevistator356]

Never shut up! GOD DAMN!

[sheng long]

so they were wasting an endless amount of money on HD-DVD because digital distribution is the future. Riiiiight....

[tethered]

This just tells me they were never in touch with reality to begin with.

Sad really.

[Bladestar]

I just checked my xbox 360 movie market place and there are 322 Movies and a lot more TV shows... it's crazy fast to download previews and to rent movies... only takes like 15 seconds to start watching the movie after purchasing... lots of anti digitial distribution / pro blu-ray here... believe that it will take 10 years before it's possible to watch movies via download...

There is no way that it takes anyone less than 15 seconds to drive to the video store and rent a movie... which it was it takes me to start watching a movie on my xbox 360... now new movies are there pretty much at the same time as the video store... Want to hear something Ironic? Sony is making their movies available on xbox live! ahaha! If they don't think DD is possible why would they support it... even on a competetitive platform?

Digital distribution was toshiba's goal all along too.. just like microsoft... for toshiba it was Plan B... why continue wasting resource with HD DVD when they can join effords with Microsoft and push digital distribution? Why do you think Microsoft supported them... now is time for them to support Microsoft.

Funny... Sony have a conflic of interest going on here... they can't support digital distribution because it hurts their HD Disc goals... while they are doing nothing as far as digital distribution is concern... microsoft is gathering support and probably signing exclusive contracts with all movies studios and tv channels for the xbox live marketplace... GO BLU-RAY! the better blu-ray does the more microsoft is able to capture the digital distribution marketplace...

I think this way we are all happy... digital distribution supporters are happy... and blu-ray supporters are happy.

Why should toshiba support blu-ray and pay royalties to Sony when they can probably help microsoft build the backbone of digital distribution which is the future... be 5-10 years.. it's the future.. why not work on it now and capture as much marketplace before it takes over? soon the blu-ray market will become saturated with companies making drives... why should toshiba focus their resources on that?

They should make media hubs... or device that comes with a 360 built in... designed with digital distribution specific features...

[tethered]

I really had a great laugh with this one!
You state:
"Digital distribution was toshiba's goal all along too."

Thats funny.
Best spin of the night award goes to Bladestar.

Nice try! lol!

Mark my words:
Toshiba will go Blu-Ray.
Microsoft will go Blu-ray.
Its where the money is now.
They wont pass it up.

Quote me on it if you like!
I WONT be wrong.

[Bizmal]

HD content takes longer for it to prepare then 15 sec. That's only true with the normal DL's. Also if you look up the facts it's not true HD. Not the vid not the sound. All in all nothing is better then the hard copy.

[Fighter]

Losers will say anything to feel like winners

[Fux4Bux]

Yeah right maybe in 10 years when everyone has a connection with the bandwidth to stream HD. As of now there hasn't even been a major service. There's always going to be people who want the hard copy of a movie anyways even 20+ years down the line.

[AngryTypingGuy]

I enjoy the 360 video download service, but it's nice to have a physical product you can keep, and trade with friends, etc. I plan on getting a BluRay player eventually, maybe in the form of a PS3 once the price lowers a little. The 360 will make an add-on though, they'd be crazy not to. Although if the price is comparable to the cheapest PS3, I'd rather enjoy the best of both worlds.

That being said though, digital distribution is the future, but BluRay will be around for quite awhile.

[BrianC6234]

Like I told FamilyGuy, most people aren't savvy enough to deal with digital downloads. Maybe it will catch on with the high tech crowd but the average movie fan will stick with buying or renting movies on an optical disc. Computers are really easy to use now but I still have to help most people I know with basic stuff. Even installing programs. I doubt I know people any different from the average. People just don't want to deal with things like downloading movies. It's okay with music because it doesn't take that long. Movies would take a lot of time to download and then you have to figure out how to watch them.

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

In my blog about digital distribution there's something called Rogers Digital Cable / Bell Satellite that offer pretty much the same things for free. Where I think digital distribution will take off the most is if it's in the Blu-ray / DVD players otherwise no. I will continue to by my stuff like Beast Wars: Transformers, Reboot, Crash, etc. on disc to own not to rent.

Digital Distribution
- rent only service

Blu-ray / DVD
- rent / buy service

Rogers / Satellite
- rent only plus free stuff

HTML: http://www.gamespot.com/use...

[RUF1]

It's just some sour grapes and trying to take a final shot at Blu-ray. As someone who supported the HD-DVD format, I highly doubt that Toshiba gave up on HD-DVD because they think that HD downloads will take over everything. No doubt, once America upgrades its Internet, this may indeed become a reality EVENTUALLY, but I really don't think that movie "enthusiasts" (read: collectors) are interested in downloads only. A movie on disc is still desirable in some ways, and HD-on-disc still has a future as far as I am concerned--and not just a six-month future, either.

[Bizmal]

Sore loosers

[Baba1906]

no way this is happening anytime soon. i mean renting movies is still a big part of the movie buissness and most people dont have the possibilty to download around 15gb movies in 10 min. and if i want to see a movie its should be when i choose to and not having to wait hours for a download.

[Monty_The_Great]

in no less than 2 years, digital downloads, will be the normal way to get movies. The same way that cell phones are moving ahead in DL's, TV will move ahead twice as fast.

[whoelse]

What B.C.

They just cant take losing!

[NextGen24Gamer]

Even come in the ball park of standard dvd player and movie sales? Because right now Blu Ray's biggest competitor is DVD. How many years before Blu Ray sales match DVD sales? 5 yrs? 10 yrs?

I'm curious to what people think in regards to time frame realisticly speaking.

Now, how many years until Digital downloading becomes a norm for HD content? Honestly people?

With xbox live having over 10 million people connected via xbox live...and their digital downloads have been breaking records since its inception.....Will it slow down or continue to grow with faster internet speeds and downloading?

When will standard DVD sales slow down? Because they continue to do unbelievably well. WIth new releases selling in the multi millions within days. But yet blu ray titles/ hd dvd titles are lucky to sell a couple hundred thousand.

I myself enjoy my extensive blu ray collection and I'm sad to see HD dvd fail....but at the same time, I'm happy to see one format prevail. But the bigger question is can Blu ray EVER overcome standard DVD? And if and when it can...will the download era have grown and become more feasable by then?

BTW...American Gangster is a great movie, I just picked it up on HD dvd along with Dragon Wars and War on Blu ray. I just love watching movies in Hi Def regardless of the format or if its downloaded.

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

In my blog about digital distribution there's something called Rogers Digital Cable / Bell Satellite that offer pretty much the same things for free. Where I think digital distribution will take off the most is if it's in the Blu-ray / DVD players otherwise no. I will continue to by my stuff like Beast Wars: Transformers, Reboot, Crash, etc. on disc to own not to rent.

Digital Distribution
- rent only service

Blu-ray / DVD
- rent / buy service

Rogers / Satellite
- rent only plus free stuff

HTML: http://www.gamespot.com/use...

[RINGOFDEATH]

HD Downloads is just the HD movie alone which takes forever and you also may catch a virus of virus's,while BLU RAY,you spend from $15.00 to $40.00 and you'll get the movie,alot of in play option's while watching to movie,and alot of access video clip's,pics,trailers,etc,etc,e tc...

Nuff said

watch out for the HD virus's while downloading.....

[DethWish]

Yeah let's hope ... .. ?? -.-'

[Lumbo]

I wonder how the same people who claim disk media is doomed next year or the year after explain that mp3 as a format is around more than a decade and still CD's are the biggest part of the market. Especially if you consider that music files are multiple times smaller than movie files.

And the few who claim 2GB movies would cut the mustard .. sorry, but i did not buy a HDTV to watch highly compressed joint stereo movies that present a macroblocking and compression artifact hell on my LCD TV.

Only when HD downloads offer me good HD quality in picture and sound it might become a solution. But then i rather OWN the movies, and with the digital barbwire called DRM that is stuffed into DD movies at no end i won't actually own anything.

While i can pop in any of my DVD's into any player, at any place and watch the movie with friends or alone, the DD system can't even guarantee that the company who "sold" me the DD movie would be in business 5 years after i bought the thing. And if the company went down, whats with my now worthless digital certificate? DD could lead to people loosing their PURCHASED goods when the company who sold them goes out of business. That is something that will NOT happen to you with media based stuff. No one can come to your house, kick in the door, and take away your DVD's cause the shop you bought them at went down. But with the DRM world of DD that is a very possible scenario.

"Couldn't acquire the license for this movie, please contact customer support" - "hello CS, i can't watch the movie, what ? you are not the same company? huh? i will have to 'renew' my licenses with you again cause the other company dropped dead?"

That leads to the same horror as forced online activation for games on the PC. In a few years when the activation server is gone you will try to reinstall the game and .. *tadaaa* , activation failed. Then, if you are not a warez type, you will curse all that garbage ^_^

[hfaze]

My point exactly... When you compare watching a movie over XBL to watching the same movie on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, there is no comparison.

The XBL version is definitely watch-able, but nowhere near the video and audio clarity you get from 1080p video with 7.1 channel uncompressed audio.

Digital Distribution will not be a serious contender until there is an industry standard spec that allows the content to be played on the player of your choice. With the way digital distribution is currently implemented, you would have to take your playback device with you in order to watch the content somewhere other than your own home.

Compare the convenience factor of having to lug your 360 over to a friend or relative's house to watch a movie versus just taking a disc...

[leon76]

A typical speech of a loser: "we lose, but the others will lose too"! What an @sshole!!!!
Digital downloads will never win the spectacular technology of the BR!!!!!
I like xbots now turning back to DD, because their beloved format lose the format war...in a very close future, when dd will be forgoten, they go back to another thing to bash BR, what an idiots!!!!
Blu Ray is the Winner!!!!

[solidworm]

Somewhere in a boardroom in japan Toshiba execs are taking it in turns to kick each other in the nuts

[Mattstorm]

Firstly I live in the Uk and mt ISP gives me 8MB Broadband, If I download a big file off the net from a trusted source that doesn't kill your bandwith like torrents do, you can still kiss goodbye to online gaming untill its finished.

My Main Points:

1) Who cares how long it takes to buffer, 2 mins or not, I'm not paying to stream a movie over the net which ruins the bandwith for other people in the house, then jamming up my network to stream it to my Denon AMP and Pionner plasma, not that you can do this yet. The only way to watch streamed content at the mo is on your PC, well thats not what I have in mind for Home Cinema experience.

2) I could pay to download it in full then stream it over my network via my PS3 to my Plasma and AMP but that would mean Movie Costs + ISP Costs + New Network hardware as my netgear DG843 will not cope with HD streaming + Hardrive Costs to store data, then the risk of Hardware fail = lost all movies.

3) You can't but HD content on a DVD unless it is heavily compressed, for all you idiots who dont understand what compressing means it means taking out data, = loss of quality = not full HD once you have finished.

4) If I'm going to spend all this money on infrastructure, ISP Cost and downloading costs, time, effort and loss of Network usability for others in my house and after al that I dont get a nice product to keep, forget it. I'll stick to Amazon and Play.com where I order my moves and games and they turn up 24 hours later in nice boxes with shiney booklets which I can keep forever.

To conclude my views I would like to mention that Music downloads have been on the seen for ages now and the costs are rediculous, it costs on average £2.00 less per CD to download it rather than buy the CD in a shop and yet what you get on download is a fraction of the data you would get on CD. I invite of all you to go and buy a CD then download the same music of the net as MP3's burn those to a cd then listen to it through a Hi Fi system then swap to the pucker CD from the shop and tel me there is no difference. You think we are going to do the same with Movies, I dont think so,

[Death2494]

I'd rather dish out the 30 bucks for a movie than wait 12hrs to focking download a HD file that's just going to take up hard drive space anyways.Might as well keep it on a disc.Quoting David Jaffe " I would've left out the blu-ray and offer it as an add-on." Well bet you're putting your foot in your mouth now biatch.Sony thought long term and Toshiba and Microsoft didn't.You better have FIOS if you want to take that route.I did that whole downloading from xbox live crap and it took forever, not to mention the fact that after 24hrs I would have to purchase the damn movie again if i wanted to watch it twice.Sony looks like things are looking up for you guys, congrats.Good thing i purchased your 60gig for 415.00.It's goes great with my 42inch LG LCD 1080p hdmi display.Can't wait till the US starts getting OLEDs.

[zane547]

Another disk format. I can think of a few companies off-hand who would love to take on the BDA.

Right now, Blu-ray disc is THE HD movie format. Microsofts HD movie service on Live hasnt really taken off yet due to technical restrictions, both on download speeds and storage space (not that many have the bigger hdd) but not long ago, Microsoft signed a "licensing agreement" with JVC, the parent of VHS, and Netflix's CEO recently got appointed on Microsofts board of directors.

BD will be the format for a good couple of years. But those rumours about The next Xbox sporting a Blu-ray drive, think again.

MS have the capital and the business contacts to come off with their own disk format if they felt it made business sense.

[rogimusprime]

seriously...this is not news. This is a joke. The funniest thing I've read all day. I'm not trying $hit on the contributors, but c'mon....

[REbirth]

downloading HD movies is not like a mp3 music...may be when the internet speed reach the 30GB/s the digital download will be the standards...but when this gonna happen? 7/ 10 years? and physical media will ever be needed!
...by the way who dont like to see the movie gallery in the livingroom growing?

[Merovee]

My 1982 Reliant 'K-car' does suck, and I know all these fuel and oil efficient models are out and are way better, but cars are a losing format. I'm just using what I have for now, and have no intention to get a new one, which is what every smart consumer would do. Why would I waste my money buying a new type of car when it's perfectly that obvious site to site transporters are a superior means of transportation, and with them being right around the corner I won't have to wait long.....

ROFL, seriously the world of electronics reporting needs a reality check.

[Milky]

Not many people who want to watch a HD movie know how to download them. Think of all the 35+ year olds in the world who dont even understand what DD stands for.

[Wozzer]

Tosh are just digging themselves another grave because if they continue this bashing for the time being they are just gonna get knocked back later on when they come crawling back to the BDA to try and make deals to manufacture Blu-ray products.

[ScottEFresh]

Wow look @ Genuine go....keep lying to yourself bud. I have a fast ass connection and there is no way in hell I Would be able to play CoD4 and download an HD movie at the same time. DD is WAY off...are they going to get people like my mom to get into DD? No...no they won't because people like my mom (part of that group that still buys DVDs) don't even know wtf DD means and can't click a mouse to save their lives. But she sure knows how to drive to Blockbuster and pick
up her favorite movie on DVD...which is a physical format. I'm sure she'll be doing this for Blu-Rays in the near future.

Save the DD discussion for another 5 years...then we will talk.

[Kemicalbeliefs]

So lets ask this guy how many he's downloaded so far.

A list of reasons why downloads would be bad.

1. The idea of some software being in control of my content. I.e. how long for and if I can watch it.

2. Software that could be written by Microsoft would scare the sh1t out of me. Lets sit down to watch a movie and your DRM's go all wonkey.

3. No discs to look at, booklets, etc. The satisfaction of admiring them sometimes adds the pleasure. Come on, I'm an 80's kid, we did that sort of thing.

4. Less jobs for people.

5. How many hard drives would i need for a huge collection?

6. What happens when those hard drives fail?

7. Everyone has 1Gb broadband do they?

8. Just because ok.

[SL1M DADDY]

Sorry, but why is it that they just can't admit that they lost and die with dignity?

[LaChance]

but its true that music is going all digital ,cinema might follow too if ever we get faster internet , in France 100 m/bits is already availible but expensive.I'm not really into technology like othor fanboys are but it looks like digital distribution could be a possibility though I still prefer a physical support by far and I think its the same for most people.
Anyways after bluray its sure there wont be anymore physical supports thats for sure.

[DeZimatoR]

Then why the fvck were you in the HD 'format war' huh?!

Freaking dumbasses...

[JeepGamer]

Spin, it's not just for politics anymore.

Toshiba gave up the ghost on HDDVD due to downloads? The fact that they couldn't give away their stuff in about another month has nothing to do with it.

[Enigma_2099]

Why do they wait until NOW to claim that digital downloads is the way of the future? When it was Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD, they could have cared less...

[sonyfanonly]

man they just aint going to admit that sony kicked their asses in this hd war FACE IT SONY WINS

THEY JUST CANT GET OVER THAT FACT

[djroberts]

Yes and this is why Toshiba put so much behind HD-DVD, to see it lose against digital downloads. This is some dumbass politics.

[Ares84]

It's funny how these Toshiba guys just can't take losing!!
DD is very possible just not now!! Maybe in 10-15 years when everyone will have a T1 connection. But for now most people have cable and that's just too damn slow to download a full HD 1080p movie.

[Kaz Hirai]

These INSECTS should learn to lose with honour!
Mark Whittard- Sony will ALWAYS win!

MWAH-HA-HA-HA!!!

[KYU2130]

can we say in denial. yes HD downloads will become a huge factor in movies, but it will never completly replace physical media. there will always be a place for phsical media in the video marketplace.

[feejo]

They should close their door, cause it will take a while before people stop going to video club and get movies there, it is part of the joy of rentig movies. And so many people buy movies they want to own it. This is excuses.

[ApocalypseShadow]

being that it was the truth.without directly attacking with names or saying "microsoft sucks."but i had a feeling.

i don't hate you elite24gamer.you can't hate someone you don't know.only sheep do that when led to war against someone else with lack of facts.

but a lot of gamers who remain nameless get a free pass for the FUD they spread last year.i'm just pointing it out.

not only was sony right about what should be in their hardware,they were right about bluray and lead the way the whole time.and made it's competitor blink and backpeddle on every issue.

but there is no anger,no malice.just vindication for sony fans for being right the whole time.and now,we bluray fans and ps3 fans are saying naysayers are wrong again about DD.

lack of space to hold the movies
lack of knowledge to do it for everyone.
lack of speeds to get it quickly.
no guarantee that if you lose your download,you can redownload it for free.

**it will not happen anytime soon to replace tangible media.not unless they speed up the net,and give away the hard drives for free.**

so as an OPINION,we believe toshiba are being sore losers.microsoft is ducking the issue as usual,and the followers have jumped to the next thing against sony and bluray.

but it's cool.eventually we may meet up in home.or ps3 games.as i thought would happen a long time ago.sony thought so too.the console LEADERS.

vindication..........megaton. ................

[NextGen24Gamer]

How long till Blu ray movies are outselling standard DVD movies?

Right now its not even close. For some reason I can't imagine DVD sales slowing down. People have dvd players in their computers, mini vans, portable, ect....

New Releases sell in the millions in less than a week. The price of DVD movies are 10-20 dollars compared to 25 to 40 for blu ray.

So my question is will blu ray sales ever match dvd sales?

And when do you think this might happen?

It just seems like Blu ray has an up hill battle against the NOW Standard....DVD.

Is it possible that DVD won't go away anytime soon? 5-10 yrs?

Now in between that time....some will buy blu ray (me) and some will download movies (me). But I believe both DD and BR won't be standards any time soon. Like 5 plus years. When will your every day people STOP buying DVD's?

[BardockS30Z]

They are jus using that as an excuse for their absolute loss.

[Blooper]

Toshiba spends millions on a HD format-war all to come to the conclusion that DD will be the winner? Wow..just wow.

[sleepbox]

Seriously, if I wanted to talk about movies, I would go to imdb or something. I'm so sick of the blu ray vs hddvd crap.

Please stop believing that blu ray or hddvd somehow has something to do with gaming. Please stop. We have swapped game disks in the past and I think that most of us are still alive to tell the tale and to even quite possibly not mind doing it again.

I think I wanna start a GAMING website and BAN anybody who brings up HDDVD or BLURAY

[jinn]

Bluray and HD DVD have been causing too much attention away from the games.

[Slayer OP]

Not even the leaders of console wars do this....

[TheDarkHado]

Toshiba will never get my money for any TVs or electronics ever. This sore loser crap has left a bad taste in my mouth. Had they just lost and moved on for the best of the consumer i would have felt bad for them but no. I glad the got raped by all same people who helped them make DVD so big. I nominate Toshiba for cry baby of the year award. Bad Form, Bad Form Indeed!

[Suki03]

I would go Digital downloads....if it was free! :D

[davez82]

god toshiba is dillusional and they are yet making another bad business decision, way to go.

[Superiorrior]

Oh Toshiba, this is almost as pathetic as Microsoft's damage control comment from the NPD numbers.

[Myth]

I know your mad Toshiba. You are full of it, video downloads are not going to replace crap. I dont want or have a large enough hard drive to store all my movies. Plus hard drives go bad, oops there goes my collection. Go away Toshiba and stop being sore losers

[silenius]

Come On give it a rest Will ya???
Jeez we have better things in life than the crapie Format War...

[ROCCOZILLA]

BLU RAY is a the future,just deal with it!oh,sorry you must have stock with m$.P L A Y B 3 Y O N D !

[Samer305]

they can not accept defeat. HD download will not be here for a while and there is no quick easy way of watching it on your tv. Even if you do find a way your not going to download 30gb worth of video content because it will take way to long.

[aceman7]

Digital Distribution will never become popular, period.

[Fezthebest]

dvd could lose to VHS too guys

[MadMax]

Blueray has not won anything as far as im concerned. Dvd is the only real winner. No one is buying blueray or Hd dvd. Comon people, the only ones that are watching blueray movies are the hardcore gamers that own a PS3. Everyone else is watching dvds, anyone that disagrees is an idiot!

[MRMagoo123]

I know 8 ppl who own stand alone bluray players and dont have a ps3 so you logic is stupid the same as you.

[Lumbo]

Sorry, but even Warner said that the main problem they had with the "format war" was that their DVD sales where already in decline and they do need a followup format to get momentum to the business again.

If DVD sales already drop, its only normal that HD disk sales will rise, especially combined with all these HDTV sales you see right now.

No one buys a STD TV anymore, they all buy LCD and Plasma units.

You sound as bitter as that remote Toshiba representative. Who cares what some random Australian Toshiba guy thinks. The core movie industry decided and we will get our unified movie format because of that.

[Suki03]

I guess those gamers are buying blu-ray discs like crazy to drive toshiba out of the market then eh? :p

[PSWe60]

just sounds like bitter grapes to me

[tk]

So they lost, and suddenly the hidef format was a bad idea. So they based their whole business plan for hidef "knowing" that down-loadable content will kill it? Sounds like incompetence to me. But on the other hand, just a month or two ago they were adamant that they will win the war - and then there was no talk of hd formats losing...

PR BS.

[Adamalicious]

Sour grapes much?

[darkshiz]

It has to be if they really think so why the hell did they join the HD disc war anyways.

Way to be hypocritical.

[trancefreak]

people still want physical media toshiba I know i do

[Genuine]

In my life, I don't think I've seen so many stupid motherflunckers all in the same place.

[pixelsword]

Acting like a baby is unbecoming an adult, much more so for a group of people in a company.