HD-DVD and Blu-ray Hybrid Player

For ages people have been asking for the HD-DVD and Blu-ray war to come to an end, but neither side has backed down. Here’s something that could change all that. Just as Toshiba boss Atsutoshi Nishida calls for a unified format, along comes Samsung and Toshiba with a simple yet effective idea – a Hybrid HD-DVD and Blu-ray player. The device is planned for a release either later this year or in 2007, and will combine technology from Samsung and Toshiba, making a top-notch player.

Samsung and Toshiba will both manufacturer their hybrid next-gen media players at the same plant, a joint venture between the two. However, Samsung appears to have put themselves into a position to call Sony‘s bluff. According to the licencing agreement between Samsung and Sony for developing Blu-ray, partners aren’t allowed to develop HD-DVD.

Obviously, Sony aren’t going to push this. They won’t risk a confrontation with Samsung, as they are currently Sony’s backbone in their quest to roll out Blu-ray across the world. It was a gutsy move by Samsung to violate the licencing agreement, but in the long term it should be better for all. Hybrid players will be the best invention since…well HD-DVD and Blu-ray players. The only thing that’s worrying me is the price. If this player is too expensive, it’ll flop faster than you can say Betamax.

Via Bit-tech

For ages people have been asking for the HD-DVD and Blu-ray war to come to an end, but neither side has backed down. Here’s something that could change all that. Just as Toshiba boss Atsutoshi Nishida calls for a unified format, along comes Samsung and Toshiba with a simple yet effective idea – a Hybrid HD-DVD and Blu-ray player. The device is planned for a release either later this year or in 2007, and will combine technology from Samsung and Toshiba, making a top-notch player.

Samsung and Toshiba will both manufacturer their hybrid next-gen media players at the same plant, a joint venture between the two. However, Samsung appears to have put themselves into a position to call Sony‘s bluff. According to the licencing agreement between Samsung and Sony for developing Blu-ray, partners aren’t allowed to develop HD-DVD.

Obviously, Sony aren’t going to push this. They won’t risk a confrontation with Samsung, as they are currently Sony’s backbone in their quest to roll out Blu-ray across the world. It was a gutsy move by Samsung to violate the licencing agreement, but in the long term it should be better for all. Hybrid players will be the best invention since…well HD-DVD and Blu-ray players. The only thing that’s worrying me is the price. If this player is too expensive, it’ll flop faster than you can say Betamax.

Via Bit-tech