Toshiba lost the format war to Sony’s Blu-ray, but the former HD-DVD maker has had enough of sitting in the corner sulking and looks ready to start scoffing humble pie: it’s about to release a Blu-ray player of its own for the very first time.
Toshiba was left with egg on its face after every major movie studio ditched its HD-DVD format in favour of Blu-ray back in January 2008, and it’s since stuck to concentrating on technology like upscaling regular signals to high def. Now though, Japanese newspaper Daily Yomiuri reports that Toshiba will finally launch a Blu-ray player of its own later this year, as well as a Blu-ray recorder in Japan.
A Toshiba Blu-ray player would be a surprise move only months after its UK CEO laid into the format, claiming it would be rapidly outdated by downloads. HD-DVD would be rolling in its grave, but with Blu-ray disc sales up 91% in the first half of 2009 alone you can’t really blame it for wanting to cash in while it can. We just hope you’re not forgetting about that Cell TV you promised us, Tosh.
Out 2009 | £TBC | Toshiba (Via Tech Radar)
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