Brian's Brain

This blog post references my article 'Subpar Wars: High Resolution-Disc Formats Fight Each Other, Consumers' Pushback' in EDN's March 2, 2006 edition.

Due to the as-usual hard work of my crack editing counterparts at EDN, which enabled me to make content tweaks on the fast-moving subject of blue laser optical storage up to a few weeks before my article's publishing date, it's still very up-to-date as I type these words on the eve of its public unveiling. I wanted to take this opportunity to first clarify that Microsoft's support for HD DVD extends beyond the planned Xbox 360 peripheral; the company also plans to embed native support for HD DVD within its next-generation Vista operating system due out this fall. In re-reading the article last week, I realized that while I'd strongly implied that this was the case, I hadn't stated it outright.

A few updates for y'all:

• Toshiba is still poised to ship its first generation of HD-DVD players this month, although yet another AACS standardization pushout (ironically caused by Blu-ray DRM delays) may force the company to do post-sales firmware upgrades of gear that's already in consumers' hands.
• Sony Pictures is targeting May 23 for the release of its first Blu-ray titles (new releases at $39.99...gulp!), which coincides with the release date of Samsung's $1000 BD-P1000 Blu-ray player.

Also, make sure to check out other Brian's Brain blog posts for information on the continued no-show of the PlayStation 3. The PS3's production schedule and price are critical variables in assessing the future fortunes of Blu-ray, since the console's content-subsidized status will, at least initially, make it the lowest-cost hardware platform for playing back Blu-ray content.