[Andrew M]

Here's an article from Singapore:

<b>Hi-Def Wars; Offerings by rival format founders Toshiba and Sony are set to stir up market</b>


Loh Wei Loong -- The Straits Times (Singapore) , August 5, 2007 Sunday


AFTER months of teasing local consumers with small hardware releases to whet our appetites, the parents of both next-generation DVD formats have finally brought the high-definition format war here.

In May, Toshiba, one of the key developers behind HD-DVD (High-definition DVD), launched its first standalone HD-DVD player, the HD-E1.

Last month, Sony, founder of the competing Blu-ray format, introduced its first standalone Blu-ray player, the BDP-S1E.

While companies like Microsoft and Samsung have unveiled their individual players in the last few months, it is this latest salvo by the founding fathers that looks set to stir up the market.

Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray represent the next-generation DVD format, which can store better-quality high-definition media content.

Given the increasing demand for high- definition TVs in the last three years, with a 2.8-time increase last year compared to 2005, the time seems ripe to introduce the players, notes a Toshiba spokesman.

While Sony would not discuss details about its Blu-ray plans here, Toshiba said it was expecting to move 5,000 HD-DVD players here this year and one method it plans to use to gain an edge is pricing. At $999, the HD-E1 is much cheaper than Sony's BDP-S1E, which is priced at $1,699.

But these are not the only players in the market. For owners of the Xbox 360 game console, the HD-DVD external drive accessory for the console is a mere $299.

Gaming fans also have the choice of a PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console which comes with a Blu-ray player, retailing at just $799. These would allow you to play the respective DVDs.

For the most part, many have noted that the PS3 console is also a good Blu-ray player and one can even think about the PS3 as a DVD player that plays games as well. In fact, Sony is positioning it as one that does both, says Mr Leon Pereira, assistant manager at Sony Singapore's marketing communications department.

The sharper images, better sound and keen competition all sound like good news for consumers. But there is one problem: The two formats are not compatible.

A Blu-ray player cannot read HD-DVDs and vice versa.

The battle is very much like the VHS and Betamax video war in the 1970s.

Content providers, in the form of Hollywood studios, have already picked their sides.

Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros, MGM, Paramount and Disney are releasing their movies in Blu-ray format only while Universal Studios is backing the HD-DVD camp.

And even though Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures and New Line Cinema are supporting both camps, not all of their movies are released in both formats.

So a Blu-ray supporter may find his DVD library lacking a high-definition copy of The Bourne Supremacy, while a HD-DVD fan would be missing out on X-Men: The Last Stand.

As it stands, it looks like both formats might be around for the long term, with no clear format winner in sight.

On the one hand, Sony's sale of 3.6 million units of the PS3 means there is a significant number of console owners who may not want to splurge on an HD-DVD player. American video rental giant Blockbuster is also endorsing Blu-Ray by stocking only Blu-Ray titles in all its 1,700 stores in the United States.

Over in the HD-DVD camp, one also cannot dismiss the influence of the US$57 billion (S$86 billion) American porn industry, which is backing HD-DVD exclusively. South Korean companies LG and Samsung have announced their line of hybrid players, with LG retailing its product at US$1,199. However, this machine does not recognise some of the interactive features found on HD-DVDs. While Samsung's hybrid player will support all DVD interactive features found on both formats, the company has yet to reveal a price for the machine.

These hybrid versions are good news to people like carpenter Tiong Jai Kin, 48, whose attempt to sort out the technical details about both formats has left him frustrated. He had initially decided to go with the Blu-ray format, but was erroneously told that Blu-ray players were not compatible with his current collection of several hundred regular DVDs. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players can play regular DVDs.

Now, he prefers to wait for an all-in-one solution, rather than make a costly mistake.

'I would just buy the movies first, and wait before buying the player. With prices dropping, there is a higher chance of companies making a player that can play both formats. There is no need to invest so much right now.'


<b>The HD format war is global and total just like World War II. Like WWII it will end in unconditional surrender by one side after billions of dollars have been spent and tons of materiel produced just to be discarded. I'd consider those who manufacture "hybrid" players the equivalent of the neutrals, who always come out ahead in wartime by playing both sides.

Perhaps there'll be an HD or Blu-ray "cargo cult" developing in the future with isolated early adopters worshipping the boxes their players came in.<b/>

[Andrew M]

<b>More Consumers Turn to PCs for Entertainment: The Younger the Demo, the Bigger the Numbers By Mike Vorhaus </b>

Published: August 13, 2007 in Advertising Age Digital.

In case there was any question, the computer has become a major entertainment device. The time spent using the PC for such purposes has exploded in the past year.

The average 12- to 64-year-old internet user reports using a PC for entertainment almost 14 hours a week. And that number becomes bigger when looking at a younger demo: The average for all 18- to 24-year-olds is more than 16 hours a week.

What's leading to such large increases in entertainment derived on the PC? The plethora of activities -- from games and video to social networking and chatting.

Almost all internet consumers indicate that in the past year they have either maintained or increased the amount of time they use the computer for entertainment -- 42% say their time has increased, and 42% say it has stayed the same. Only 11% of consumers say they are using the PC less for entertainment.

Looking forward to next year, 56% of consumers expect to spend the same amount of time using their PCs for entertainment. But among the 18- to 24-year-olds, 23% expect to use their PCs more for entertainment.

Mike Vorhaus is senior VP-managing director of new media and strategy for Frank N. Magid Associates.

<b>The hard drive and software manufacturers know that this is not just a global HD war but a generational war, as well. Not only will younger consumers watch HD content on their PCs & laptops in either format but with HDMI outputs they can use their drives on large screen HD TVs, too. Which of the manufacturers has the deep pockets and stamina to sustain and to prevail to the end?</b>

[Michael Reuben]

EMA 2007 is over. For the appropriate location of posts like these, please go here.

M.