Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Wed - Sony defends their DVD format

Sony has dismissed concerns about the future of its next-generation DVD standard, called Blu-ray, after Intel and Microsoft announced their support for a competing format from Toshiba.

Sony exclaimed that the announcement from the two titans of the computer industry would have no impact on the format battle. This seems a little hard to believe. But, Sony have stated that Blu-ray offers superior features, particularly in copyright protection.

And the analysts are quick to point out that it will not be the PC industry that ultimately decides which format will win, it will be the content companies and the movie studios in particular, where copyright protection is important. But, the studios are currently split over which format to support. Proving that this format war could be long and protracted, which will be bad for all of us consumers.

Sony's Blu-ray will also get a major kick start next year when they launch the PlayStation3, which features the format. This format war gives Stringer yet another major challenge on his hands at the troubled Sony and I still find it a little hard to completely dismiss the relevance of Intel and Microsoft's clear backing for Toshiba's format.

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