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]Rumors are flying today that Toshiba may abandon it’s HD-DVD dreams and that of their outspoken owners.  The Hollywoood Reporter, if you can’t trust them - then who?, says Toshiba will make an announcement inside of two weeks that it is over.  The white flag will go up, the war over.

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Best Buy stores have begun a new promo which offers a free HD-DVD player with the purchase of an audio system. According to their February 10, 2008 circular, any customer who buys the $899 Yamaha/Klipsch audio package will receive a free Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player. They are also offering a buy one get one free promo for selected HD-DVD titles. Sounds like a great deal, but at this point I am not sure I want an HD DVD player, even for free.

Read [PunchJump]

Toshiba sent out this announcement today, I only wish I was making this up.  “Mass Market Acceptance Confirms that HD DVD is the Consumer’s Choice for Next Generation High Def Entertainment” and it is dated today.  The release cites strong Q4 sales and announces a beefed up marketing buy in the coming months.

It is almost funny.  Any topic we’ve touched here at Gadgetell that even remotely took a side in the Blu-ray/HD-DVD format war (and yes it is a war, one will win, one will die -like a Mel Gibson movie) brings out the other teams haters in our comments.  But here, the media has declared the winner and I believe most people would argue Warner Bros. leaving the HD-DVD camp was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.  But is Toshiba listening?

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This may be the definite death of the HD DVD format. Financial Times is reporting that Paramount may switch over to Blu-ray thanks to a clause in their contract with HD DVD that states that they will be able to make this move if and when Warner Bros. goes exclusively with Blu-ray, which is now a done deal.

As it stands, Blu-ray has 70% of Hollywood’s output, and if Paramount Studios makes the switch to Blu ray, that would leave HD DVD solely with Universal Studios. The question is, does Universal Studios have the same clause in their contract with the HD DVD camp?

Read [Financial Times]

It has been rumored for the last couple of weeks but now its official: Warner Bros., the only movie studio that until now was releasing movies in both formats, has decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray, starting in May of this year. This means that the score is now 6 for Blu-ray (Sony, MGM, Disney, Fox, Lion’s Gate, Warner) and 2 for HD DVD (Universal, Paramount). So, is this the end for the HD DVD camp? Will all those cheap HD DVD players that were bought over the holiday season become obsolete in the near future? Will this be Sony’s only triumphant proprietary media format you know, after being not so successful with Betamax, UMD, MemoryStick and Minidisc?

For some reason I’ve been supporting HD DVD since the beginning, for various reasons: they seem to be the underdog, I dislike Sony and their proprietary formats, the name is catchier, and finally, they offer cheaper players. But I still don’t think HD DVD is going the way of the dodo, the consumer still has the final word and what drives consumption is only one thing: price. HD DVD disks are cheaper to manufacture than Blu-ray disks and HD DVD players are cheaper than their Blu-ray counterparts. I believe we are going to start seeing even cheaper HD DVD players and HD DVD movies as a counterstrike.

A battle has been won, but the war is not over yet.

Via [Ars Technica]

User arnezami over at the Doom9 forums has found the “processing key” for Blu-ray and HD DVD just two months after the “volume keys” were discovered.  Now this may be gibberish to you, so let me break it down for you.  The volume keys are used to decrypt AACS DRM on individual films/titles.  This is not very helpful in the grand sceme of things because each title has a different one.  Arnezami’s find was the processing key, which is the same on ALL titles.  This means that with these keys, you will be able to decrypt any and all HD titles on the market today.  The great part about it is that he claims no hacking was involved at all.  All he had to do was keep a close watch on his memory, and once the key popped up, he was in business.  The AnyDVD HD, BackupHDDVD and BackupBluray utilities will likely be updated due to the find.  And yes, you can expect tons of movies to hit the net now that they’re no longer wrapped in DRM.

Read [Doom9] Via [Engadget]

When LG introduced the Super Multi Blue Player (BH100) at CES this year, we were very impressed with the demonstration and ability to play both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats.  Unfortunately, I can’t say we’re very impressed anymore.  Brian from Gizmodo has posted his review of the BH100 and seems a bit disappointed in the lacking of HD DVD features.  As we’ve mentioned in the past, it makes perfect sense that Blu-ray is their top priority since they’re a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, but it really makes them look like they’re more concerned about politics than their customers.  The HD DVD features are as Brian puts it, half-assed.  The player will do for a majority of the public, since the they only care about the movie itself, but it seems that you and I may be disappointed.  Hit the link below for his full review.

First Review: LG BH100 Hybrid Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Player (Verdict: Format War Still Blazing) [Gizmodo]

Photo courtesy Gizmodo

As soon as a new DRM format is released, hackers and crackers get to work looking for ways to unlock it.  Using a similar method to how HD DVD was cracked, someone has now cracked the Blu-ray DRM.

“Oups, I did it again! ... In less that 24 hours, without any Blu-Ray equipment, but with the help of Janvitos, I managed to decrypt and play a Blu-Ray media file using my known-plaintext attack ... I will keep you informed If I found anything new...”

They also note that this is not a complete solution yet, only a proof of concept.  AACS encryption is the heart of Blu-ray DRM, and it looks like it won’t be long until we see a final version.  In the meantime, “BackupBluRay V0.01” has been made available for all of you dare devils out there.

Read [Doom9] Via [Gadget Lab]

One of the big announcements from this year’s CES was LG’s new Blu-ray / HD DVD combo player - AKA the Super Multi Blue player - which was set to launch on February 4.  We’re now just a couple of weeks after the show (and it’s not yet Feb. 4), and the units are already up for order at Best Buy.  One strange thing to note is that they’re not going as Super Multi Blue, but rather “LG Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD High-Definition Player with Standard-DVD Upconversion.” Maybe they decided to change the name at the last minute? 

Selling for $1,199, the Super Multi Blue will play both your Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, but remember that you will only get the added features on the Blu-ray end.  Since LG is a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association (clearly not very loyal members), it was likely a clause in their negotiations that they must leave out those features for HD DVD.  Head over to Best Buy and put in your order...but you might have to take out a loan first.  Hooray for innovation!

LG Super Multi Blue [Best Buy] Via [Gizmodo]

10 layer HD media? Yes ladies and gentlemen, we have it, and we owe it all to Ritek. Available in both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray flavours, these delicious discs offer up to 250GB of storage… Not bad a for a few inches of… well… whatever these new fangled discs are constructed out of. Who knows… perhaps corn? Back to the point, Ritek have really pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this one.

According to Engadget, we should all go and “forget single-layer media, that dual-layer stuff that was all the rage last year, and even the triple-layered discs that got announced just days ago.”

All-in-all, a major shock announcement! The fact that Ritek boasts that they can apply their technology to both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray is a nice little bonus too.  No word on pricing or availability, but in your face, Toshiba.

Read [Techzi] Via [Engadget]