[paulfoley]

From IGN (US Site) - Its looking good guys !

"May 09, 2005 - Following recent announcements of a move towards compromise in the heated battle to become the next generation home video standard, the Tuesday morning Nihon Keizai Shimbun contains a first report on the shape that such a compromise will take. According to the paper, Sony and Toshiba have entered into final preparations for a format which combines disk technology from Sony with software technology from Toshiba. The two companies plan to offer an unified format to members of their respective high definition video forums as early as next week.

Toshiba's decision to give way on the disk format was apparently made after examining cost issues related to the Sony technology. The merged format will make use of Sony's 0.1 millimeter Blu-ray disk technology with Toshiba's software in place for reading and writing from the disk and handling copyright protection. Toshiba's 0.6 millimeter HD-DVD disk technology will be dropped. The resulting technology will be offered as a new format. It's unclear at this point if the new format will adopt the Blu-ray or the HD-DVD name, or if something completely new will be used.

Sony announced late last year that the next generation PlayStation would make use of the Blu-ray format. The Nihon Keizai article reveals that, as part of the compromise, Blu-ray supporters Sony and Matsushita were demanding the highest possible storage space for future IT and game applications. This would suggest even though Blu-ray as it was known is gone, the new merged standard will end up serving as the format for PS3.

Expect further announcements later this week or at E3."

[paulfoley]

Just found this at Macworld.com :

Toshiba expands HD-DVD capacity to 45GB
By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

Toshiba Corp. has developed a prototype HD-DVD disc that increases the format’s storage capacity by 50 percent and brings it much closer to that of the rival Blu-ray Disc, the company said Tuesday.

The new disc has a capacity of 45GB, which is just under the 50GB offered by a dual-layer Blu-ray Disc, and will give content producers additional space to store longer high-definition movies or extras such as trailers, out-takes or interactive features.

Toshiba accomplished the capacity jump by adding an extra data storage layer to the disc. Each HD-DVD layer has a capacity of 15GB and the new disc packs three such layers.

The company also announced a second prototype disc that uses the same basic technology. The hybrid disc combines a dual-layer HD-DVD with a dual-layer DVD to provide a double-sided disc that can be played in either HD-DVD or DVD players. The disc could be used as a transitional format enabling consumers to buy discs for use in DVD players while building up a library of high-definition content for the time when they purchase an HD-DVD player.

More details of the two discs will be announced on Wednesday at the Media-Tech Expo 2005 exhibition in Las Vegas.

The announcement could give Toshiba a boost in ongoing talks with Blu-ray Disc-supporters Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic) regarding a single, unified high-definition video disc standard.

The talks began earlier this year and are aimed at heading off what many expect will be a damaging format battle that will harm both consumers and the consumer electronics and entertainment industries.

The current state of the talks is unknown. However, a report in the Tuesday morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said an agreement between the two sides could come as soon as next week. It reported that Toshiba, Sony and Panasonic are discussing using Toshiba’s software technology and the Blu-ray Disc structure, the latter because of its greater storage capacity.

Toshiba reacted fast to the report and said “absolutely no decision has been made for unification on any basis” and called the report’s claims “unfounded and erroneous.”

Whatever the eventual outcome of the talks, time is running out for both sides.

The HD-DVD group said in January that it plans to have players and content available in U.S. stores in the last quarter of this year, and the first machine to support prerecorded Blu-ray Disc is expected to be announced next week, when Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. shows off a prototype of its next-generation PlayStation 3. The console and other Blu-ray Disc players aren’t expected to be commercially available until 2006.

[paulfoley]

Oh well, at least they are still talking. Fingers crossed that they agree & the consumer wins !

Toshiba Denies Blu-ray

The high definition soap opera continues as reports of Blu-ray's victory are denied.

May 10, 2005 - Sony and Toshiba have issued statements on today's Nihon Kiezai Shimbun report of a settlement in negotiations for a single high definition DVD standard. Both parties deny the report, which suggested that an agreement had been forged to adopt Sony's 0.1 millimeter Blu-ray disk technology and Toshiba's software technology for the new format.

Toshiba, a major backer of the HD-DVD next generation format, acknowledged that, under the belief that a single format would most benefit customers, negotiations are still under way with Matsushita and Sony, Blu-ray's primary backers, but denied that a settlement has been reached. In addition, the company revealed plans to show off the current HD-DVD format at the Media Tech Expo, set to kick off in Las Vegas on 5/11.
Sony offered a similar denial, stating that while a single format is ideal, there have been no major advancements since negotiations were first announced on April 21. "The only true aspect of this report is that Sony, Matsushita and Toshiba are currently engaged in negotiations," a Sony representative stated.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has had breaking news stories denied and then proven correct many times before. Is this a case of Toshiba and Sony trying to take control of a bit of hot information that leaked out ahead of schedule, or have there truly been no advancements in negotiations for a single format next generation DVD? We expect more details to surface shortly (and be subsequently denied).