AfterDawn: News

Microsoft and Toshiba strengthen ties

Microsoft and Toshiba have announced that both companies will strengthen joint development of consumer electronics goods and consider working together on HD-DVD players that will play one of the competing formats for the next generation format of DVDs. Both companies have been working together for years now. Toshiba is the third largest notebook PC maker in the world. Both companies reached an agreement back in May that would allow each company to use the others patents on computer and digital electronics technology.

Both companies are now considering working together on making HD-DVD players that would run on Windows software; a move that could bring down the development costs for the players, Toshiba hopes. "We think the agreement will have practical benefits such as lower costs and shorter development times," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida said at a news conference in Tokyo. Bill Gates was also in attendance at the conference.



Toshiba hopes to be able to provide HD-DVD players for the Japanese and U.S. markets by the last quarter of 2005 which would play back the HD-DVD format backed by Toshiba. Sony Corp. is supporting the Blu-Ray Disc format, which stores higher capacity than HD-DVD (HD-DVD holds about 30GB, whereas Blu-Ray holds about 50GB). However, the HD-DVD camp claims that their format will be a much cheaper option for the entertainment and software industries to adopt.

According to Bill Gates however, Microsoft still has not taken any sides in the battle for the next generation DVD format.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 27 Jun 2005 23:11

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• 4 comments

• p4_tt

  "Considering that such a decision would postpone the launching date, Microsoft will equip the initial models with classic DVD drives"
  
  Read that on softpedia so it looks like MS won't do that for some time.

  28.6.2005 15:54 #1

• borhan9

  Well i gotta say heres another pieice of the pie that BG wants to take over....
  
  wats next???? :)

  29.6.2005 04:05 #2

• ToxicFish

  HD-DVD on XBOX 360. Take that you punk Sony. Think you're all bad with your Blu-ray on your PS3. This means more support for HD-DVD from game manufactures.
  
  Remember N64 had less titles than playstation because they didn't like working with cartridges. If it's harder to work with, it'll have less support. Possibly, XBOX 360 will have cheaper/better games than PS3. I don't want to switch -_-;;;

  29.6.2005 11:32 #3

• trevk

  TDK Develops 2X, 100GB Blu-ray Disc Prototype
  
  What is the max for HD-DVD.
  
  I personaly like the HD-DVD becasue it doesn't require a cartrige.
  
  I like the space that Blu-ray offers!
  
  I wish they would work together to offer the best for us the consumers.
  
  Would movies come in cartrige's? I hope not!

  2.7.2005 09:27 #4