Toshiba To Kill-Off HD DVD? February 16, 2008

Read more Blu-ray , Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , HD , HD DVD , HDTV , Movies

If the latest batch of rumours are to be believed then Toshiba is ready to throw in the towel in the high-def war with Blu-ray.

Deep throats have been croaking to The Hollywood Reporter that Toshiba will finally announce defeat and pull the plug on the HD DVD format in the next few weeks. If true, it's a real shame for all those who already bet on HD DVD but it should help clear up widespread customer confusion over HD and kick-start the market.

Of course, all of this is speculation right now but it's fair to say that HD DVD has had a rough 2008 so far. In early January, Warner Bros, defected to the Blu-ray camp during the high-profile CES 2008 show in Vegas, forcing the HD DVD camp to cancel its big presentation.

This was followed by New Line Cinema doing the same and, in the last week, US online movie rental site Netflix jumped ship, as did mega-retailer Best Buy. And let's not forget good old Woolworths which has also just dumped the format.-Martin Lynch

[Hollywood Reporter]

Play.com Challenges iTunes With Cheaper UK Downloads February 16, 2008

Read more Apple , Digital Audio , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , MP3 , Music , iPod

One of the bigger etailers out there, Play.com, has decided to take on Apple and others in the UK music download game by offering cheaper downloads.

The company has teamed up with EMI to offer a DRM-free catalogue of around 1 million tracks, with prices starting at a very competitive 65p. The downloads are also high quality 320Kbps versions that will play on any music player.

Play.com has said it plans to stay cheaper than Apple. Apple was recently ordered, by an EU court, to cut the cost of its downloads from 79p to around 74p to bring the UK into line with what other European countries pay.

The top 100 tracks on the new PlayDigital service cost from 65p while Play claimed that it intends to stay £1 cheaper than Apple for albums.

The UK download pool will get a little more vicious later this year when Amazon extends its massive US music service over here. All the better for us.-Martin Lynch

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