Toshiba to delay HD-DVD rollout?

In the upcoming next-generation disc format wars, Toshiba's HD-DVD has had few advantages over Sony's Blu-ray format, cost of manufacturing and an earlier street date for the format being foremost among them. Toshiba might be losing the latter edge soon, as it has begun hinting that the first HD-DVD players may not be hitting shelves until 2006, according to a Reuters report.

"We are now in talks with Hollywood studios and large-scale retailers to seek the most effective timing of the launch and best way to launch," a Toshiba spokeswoman told Reuters, adding, "We originally aimed for the year-end launch in the United States. But we have not really decided on that."

A year-end launch might not be possible in Japan, either, according to the spokeswoman.

Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs provide multiple times the storage capacity of a normal DVD, allowing for movies to be stored on a single disc in sufficient resolution to take advantage of increasingly common high-definition TV sets. Sony and Toshiba have been jockeying for position in this format fight for years, dividing the entertainment industry into camps supporting one over the other. Although, earlier this year it seemed there still might be some hope for a unified format.

That scenario is looking increasingly unlikely, and the format dispute could become an issue in the console wars as well. Sony has already said it will use a Blu-ray drive on the PlayStation 3, while Microsoft and Toshiba are codeveloping HD-DVD players that use Windows CE, and Bill Gates himself said future versions of the Xbox 360 may include an HD-DVD drive. Adding to this convoluted, incestuous family feud of the entertainment industry, Sony and Toshiba have been working together on the Cell processor, which will be at the heart of the PS3.