August 23rd 2005

Late August "Last Chance For Unified Format"

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There are reports in Japanese newspapers that Toshiba and Sony have given up attempts to unify the competing HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats.

This news comes as no surprise after talks collapsed earlier this year, just when a single consumer-friendly format seemed to be on the cards.

Late August is the last practical date that an agreement could have been reached in order to still allow both sides to bring a product to market within planned timescales, but it appears that, with no compromise in sight, a final push will not now happen.

A Toshiba spokeswoman said that the company needed to start developing software by the end of the month for its HD-DVD-based players, scheduled for release at the end of 2005.

Neither side has totally given up on a single format at some future point, but presumably that single format will now consist of one or the other, as opposed to a combined system.