Universal Ends Exclusivity With HD DVD

The end is nie…

This sounds to be the case for HD DVD as Variety has confirmed that Universal will no longer support HD DVD exclusively. Universal and Paramount were the last two movie homes to support HD DVD exclusively, but that has changed since the announcement of Warner Bros. Blu-Ray only support. Paramount has a clause that will allow them to also push both formats, but some speculate that they will leave HD DVD completely.

Universal did say that they’re still committed to HD DVD, and in fact plan HD DVD promotions in the future. But Jesus Diaz from Gizmodo brings up an interesting point stating that retailers are not going to commit "premium shelf space to a dying format.”

If HD DVD starts to lose shelve space and begins to be pushed to the side, Universal might as well not make another HD DVD!

[Variety via Gizmodo]

Dual 4x Layer Drive Set To Turn The HD Format Market

Panasonic announced that they have a Blu-Ray drive that has the ability to burn at 4x speeds. This is twice as fast as any other Blu-Ray drive on the market, and opens up a new avenue for the format.

Having the option to burn large amounts of data at a fast pace will give Blu-Ray more of an edge that seems to be increasing in the HD format war. Panasonic's new 4X dual-layer gives a more stable laser, and allows for a faster, more accurate burn at 50GB in about 46 minutes, or more than 1GB per minute. No word on when these will be available, but they hope to have them in computers soon.

This could be what turns the tide in the HD format war.

Hit the jump for more info. [Electronista via Crunchgear]

Wal-Mart joins the High Definition war

It looks like the HD-DVD and the BluRay war is going to really heat up. The uber super store Wal-Mart is getting into the mix, which could turn the tide tremendously. Wal-Mart is teaming up with a over seas group to produce a low priced HD-DVD that will be on the shelves this year.

"The first batches of these blue-laser HD DVD players are to land sometime in 2007, with complete fulfillment of the order [from Fuh Yuan] in 2008. The deal could be worth up to $300 million US, which translates to $150 per player. If so, by the time Christmas 2007 rolls around, Wal-Mart could be selling these for less than $200 retail, although some speculate that the initial manufacturer suggested retail pricing might be in the ballpark of $299. Currently the cheapest high-definition player is a Toshiba HD DVD with an MSRP of $399." By comparison Blu-Ray players, manufactured in Japan, are not expected to drop below $1000 until next year. The International Herald Tribune writes about the risk Toshiba is taking by bringing in Chinese manufacturers to trump Sony in the format war.

This should be interesting!!!