Will all the record labels get together now and release one new HD audio format now? Will the RIAA be in charge of the releasing of such music? probably will happen after seeing the studios collude. This Blu-Ray alliance of all studios into one, is the most corrupt form of collusion since the 1948 Paramount Decree where studios were sued by the US government for manipulating the exhibition market. This is the same thing but in the home video market now. You wont see any signs of corruption now, but mark this post when HD-DVD is finally announced (god forbid) that they are done. Watch Sony and the studios run the greed machine. Forget trying to be an independent releasing films on Blu-Ray, they will charge an arm and leg just to license the logo now. Toshiba had an unfair fight , if they were fighting an electronic maker NOT the actual studios, they would beat Blu-Ray hands down. I know there are electronic makers in the Blu-Ray alliance like TDK, Panasonic, etc. but TDK/Panasonic is like the Island of Tongo being named as part of the US Coalition on the War in Iraq. They are just there to sell the war. Its all US funded. This is all about THE STUDIOS vs. TOSHIBA. trust me. The studios are going to collude on prices, on Digital Rights Management and on the ENTIRE market . Regions on a $34.99 Blu Ray disc is the first major sign that they are in it for the money, first, second and third. While of course, Toshiba/HD-DVD is also in it for the money, Region free coding, HDI interface, the amazing features of its discs, are all pro consumer and most importantly for the technology. Blu-Ray glitches, loading erros, times to load, obsolete players after 1 year on the market, discs that have DRM up the wazoo, ARE clear sign they don't care about the technology of HD media. COMPETITION IS GOOD, it thrives the technology forward (see airline industry and the pricing, big screen TV and the advancement of size and price, see hard drives, without competition, Maxtor would still be at 120GB for $300.) Competition is also good for price points and offers. You wont see Blu-Ray, 2 for 1 deals when HD DVD leaves. it will be back to the days of CDs at $18.99 min. Lack of educated consumers is the saddest part. Average Joe didnt care to educate themselves that HD DVD is actually a better "CAR" than the glossy "Sony SUV" which costs more to own and run for doing the same thing. They got sold on marketing and on the horrific Playstation 3 which still cannot produce 1 great title much less a graphic card that makes objects look real. Toshiba had an unfair fight. HD-DVD is the better format for the technology and for the consumer. I will never support Blu-Ray. I suggest you keep buying HD DVD media, and download HD movies not on HD DVD via XBOX live or similar. Do not support Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray payola to various retailers, companies and such to shut down or support Blu-Ray only is disgusting and goes against the american way. If the studios were not in any camp, HD-DVD would of been the hands down winner but as always --- everyone has a price. do you? Do NOT sell out to Blu-Ray.

Toshiba got it very wrong it could have marketed hd dvd and player in south asia where cost sensitive half the population resides. with its backward compatibility with dvd and cd format it definitely holds better future in countries like india, pakistan, nepal, bangladesh. ideal for laptops and desktops where lots of original software is held by people on cds and dvds. blue ray is only good for films, hd dvd is truly versatile format.

Biased and Misleading. As of today, Toshiba has not thrown in the towel yet. If the writer does not even know how to quote an external source just put a link to the originals. Synthesizing news won't get you very far. If you are so desperate, read the news more often and 'report' the link as soon as you've seen one. By elaborating on others reports, adding your own interpretations and calling it news is not encouraged. There will sure be more bad news on HD-DVD, you don't have to give it a evil kick like this to help the format die. It's dying in at good rate already.

Could you afford a quality surround system that didn't come in a box? Me thinks no.

This goes to show how stupid some people can be when it comes to money. HD-DVD players cost less than half that of Blue-ray and both have the exact same picture quality. Unlike the VHS and Betamax wars where the public choose VHS because it was more economical, today the public is willing to pay more for something that does not provide anything better than the cheaper item. The cost to produce HD-DVDs is less than Blue-ray; therefore do not expect the cost of Blue-ray players or movies to go down in price soon. The only difference in players is how many hours of extras to watch. What I believe is most people have better things to do with their lives than to watch a movie and 10 hours of extras, but once again the business world has decided what is better for the people.

<i>members of the HD-DVD consortium, which is the 135-strong corporate alliance formed to promote the Toshiba format of next-generation DVDs, told The Times that they expected the group?s ?total collapse? within the next few weeks. </i>-- TIMES

To be honest if it HD-DVD did fails and Blu-Ray won I'd be disappointed but I wouldn't lose any sleep. At the end of the day I've got an excellent EP30 HD-DVD player that upscales all my DVD collection. As for Blu-Ray, well I wouldn't touch it until all the compatibility issues had been sorted. Just one more thing. If the consumer goes to an electrical retailer to purchase a Blu-Ray standalone player who's going to explain to him that if he buys a discs after the 2.0 hardware upgrade the extra features wont be accessible on the machine he's buying.

The HD-DVD camp only have themselves to blame. Appalling marketing by Toshiba and an appalling lack of support from Microsoft - HD-DVD would most likely have won over if they'd been in 360s from the start. Cue the climb-down from Universal and Paramount. Should be fun to see how they spin this one...

Well HD was the better format due to region free on the discs. So region coding just means price fixing in different countries. i.e. in UK we pay ?60 - ?80 for Charmed say on DVD. If the region code hadn't been cracked I would not be able to purchase it from USA or Canada for ?15 (thats a big difference). As for being compressed audio , how many people listen to MP3's compared to CD's these days? Its a shame the film companies will not let you swap hd versions of films for blue ray versions instead of making you buy em all again. So they complain about piracey, but who can blame people when us the consumers get ripped off. The licensing should change where you buy a licene to a film then can redownloaded it if a better version comes out at alater date rather than keep buying it.

Nothing matters anymore! Whats done is done... HD DVD has been abandoned by Toshiba... It is over for sure!

YOUR HEADLINE IS MIS LEADING NOTHING HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED DONT TRY TO BE FOX NEWS

I get sick and tired reading articles like this from so called " sources say" . You?ll notice it always appears when the HD DVD side has good news, like this week?s announcement about sales of hardware and software up by 700%. XBox drive has now been slashed, free disc offer extended to that and it too, along with cheap Toshibas, is selling out all over the USA. Then hey-presto a ?sources say? story appears. Notice too that they print only sales figures from before the Toshiba price cuts, when the new figures are freely available.

Reuters has spoken directly to a source at Toshiba (unidentified, but even so) and the story was originally broken on NHK (the Japanese version of the BBC). As has already been said above, there's no way Toshiba has missed this story so to not deny it speaks volumes. Carry on deluding yourselves if you wish. As to WHN's diatribe, would you have said the same thing if Warner & Fox had jumped to HD DVD as rumoured they might do? Of course not. Nice conspiracy theory though, ranks right up there with the CIA on the grassy knoll, the fluttering moonlanding flag and the secret order that runs the USA. Hey, wait a minute! Maybe that secret order IS the studios! Yoinks! Hah-hah, anyway, the format war is over, here's to the next few years of lovely HD DVD (it's a generic term now, geddit?) movies. On Blu Ray.

the disks themselves (blu-ray or hd-dvd) are not important. what matters is the restrictions placed on the media recorded on the disks.

What a Pathetic Article, whos the Idiot who wrote this article? He seems to be more interested than the studios to Scrap the HD DVD format..Now a days it has become quite easy to say "Unidentified sources" say this say that...bah... the only unidentified source i can think of for this article is the Writers Wife... I am not a supporter of the HDDVD or Blu Ray format but its surely quite improper to say that "Games over" before even reaching half way through...so what if big producctions houses reject the format? they may find someone else..some other way..if not then yes the format may perish but until it actually happens news should only be reported not manipulated by adding personal & kith & kins opinions

Biased and Misleading. As of today, Toshiba has not thrown in the towel yet. If the writer does not even not how to quote an external source just put a link to the original. Synthesizing news won't get you very far. If you are so desperate, read the news more often and 'report' the link as soon as you've seen one. Buy eleborating on others report, adding your own interpretations and calling it news is not encouraged. There will sure be more bad news on HD-DVD, you don't have to give it a false kick like this to help the format die. It's dying in at good rate already.

@WHD, oooh, pram well and truly tipped over! Toys everywhere! Yeah, yous have a good cry mate! Your HD DVD player still works, why make a bufty of yourself typing that whinging load of load of old b*llocks? Someone had to lose, most people think the superior format won, you don't. Doesn't matter now does it? Get over it.

This site, as well as other news outlets, are reporting unsupported hyperbole, from unidentified "sources." Toshiba hasn't announced anything. In fact, they just released (and I installed today) firmware updates for its players. It's pretty darn irresponsible to use sensational headlines, using "info" from shady "sources," which may or may not exist. It's just pure rubbish right now.

INSTEAD OF TOSHIBA WILL WRITHDRAW HD DVD FORMAT IT SHOULD SAY TOSHIBA MAY WITHDRAW HD DVD FORMAT DONT MAKE US THE NEWS