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Microsoft, Intel back HD DVD over Blu-ray

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the could-this-spell-the-end dept.

raitchison writes "Reuters is reporting that after months of sitting on the fence in the battle over what will replace the venerable DVD that Microsoft and Intel have thrown their weight behind Toshiba's HD DVD over the Sony's Blu-ray. Better compatibility with existing DVD technology as well as lower cost were cited as reasons to back HD DVD. While this is undoubtedly a significant blow for Sony in their efforts to establish Blu-ray as the next standard it's not likely to be the end of Blu-ray."

9 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. XBox vs the PS3? by garcia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Better compatibility with existing DVD technology as well as lower cost were cited as reasons to back HD DVD.

    Or to help their XBox sales against the PS3.

    1. Re:XBox vs the PS3? by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Which will just make the PS3 all that much better

      The XBox360 has a normal DVD player in it (not an HD-DVD, or a Blu-ray).

      What Microsoft may be doing is some pre-launch neutralization of Sony's Blu-ray advantage with their PS3 - e.g. if no one is going to go to Blu-ray, then who cares if the PS3 has it? It'll become an irrelevant difference, and it will help overcome that potential hang-up users (and reviewers) might have when comparing the two consoles. I wish this wasn't the case, but I can entirely see Microsoft making this "choice" based upon such a short term gain.

    2. Re:XBox vs the PS3? by the+Hewster · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sony will support Blue Ray by shipping it with their PS3. Meanwhile, Microsoft is supporting HD DVD by _not_ including it in their XBox 360. Hmmm... I wonder what kind of support Intel is going to offer for HD DVD... Pentium 5: now with HD DVD support! Nevermind, I still put my money on Blue Ray.

  2. And now for the really important question... by BladeMelbourne · · Score: 5, Funny

    So when can I buy HD DVD pr0n?

  3. Betamax v. VHS by stinerman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm too young to remember that format war, but I'm not young enough to learn the lesson:

    Wait until a de-facto standard has emerged. Otherwise, its a crapshoot at best.

  4. Re:Only the market will decide the winner by garcia · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Plus Sony has clout with the media distributers, whereas MS and Intel bite them in the ass because most "pirates" use MS and Intel products.

    Pirates are going to use whatever they can crack. If Sony can successfully obtain superior distribution over the other format then there will be more crackable media available to the pirates. They aren't fickle. They will use whatever they can.

  5. Who Cares? by drvelocity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft has always been in the HD-DVD camp for obvious reasons (Xbox360), so the only real news here is that Intel has jumped on with HD-DVD. Who cares? Intel is a large company, sure, but does anybody really care which optical storage format a SEMICONDUCTOR company supports? This sounds to me like Microsoft begging anyone it can to support their format of choice.

  6. I think Intel and MS made a mistake... by JordanL · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They won't be able to squash the BluRay Consortum... look at their board of directors...

    Apple Computer, Inc.
    Dell Inc.
    Hewlett Packard Company
    Hitachi, Ltd.
    LG Electronics Inc.
    Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Pioneer Corporation
    Royal Philips Electronics
    Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Sharp Corporation
    Sony Corporation
    TDK Corporation
    Thomson Multimedia
    Twentieth Century Fox
    Walt Disney Pictures

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    1. Re:I think Intel and MS made a mistake... by JordanL · · Score: 5, Interesting

      :P

      It looks like Mitsubishi and Hitachi swing both ways.

      But the big difference between the two lists is that the BluRay consortum is full of companies which can actually push a standard throught he marketplace. The second list is full of followers, not innovators.

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