[Michael Reuben]

This is the Official HTF HD Formats Industry/Retailer/Studio Support Thread.

Just heard that Walmart is going neutral? Or that New Concorde will exclusively release on Blu-ray? Want to know why one studio really stopped releasing on HD altogether? Post it here and discuss the consequences.

But please note that all forum rules apply here...


HTF Staff

[BrettB]

I took someone's advice and called Target re: no Toshiba decks online. I interacted with a computer for a few minutes and it was ultimately pointless. Then I tried the email and got back this response;

Quote:

Dear Brett B,

We appreciate your interest in purchasing the "Toshiba HD DVD
players ".

Unfortunately, as our web site indicates, we're currently out of
stock of this item and we are not able to guarantee if this item
will be available for purchase on our web site in the future. For
this reason, the item is currently not listed on our web site.

Please note that our supply of some items is limited and these
products sell out quickly. I am very sorry that you were not able to
place your order before our supply ran out.

I know how disappointing it can be when you aren’t able to get the
item you’ve got your eyes on, so I’m sorry if we’ve let you down.

As we rely on our suppliers for the inventories, we can't offer a
definite date when it will be on hand again, and because of this,
we're not able to make it available for ordering at this time.

However, we kindly request you to check back soon. Our inventory is
constantly changing so we may get the item back in stock.

I can understand this may cause inconvenience but you may check with
your local store to see if they have this item in stock (we are
unable to check store inventory here). If you want to find the store
nearest you, click the "Store Locator" link at the bottom of our
home page.

If your local Target store does not have the item in stock, they
will be able to search availability for the item from a Target store
in the surrounding area.

Unfortunately, we don't have access to check store inventory here.

We're sorry for this inconvenience.

I hope we can be of more help to you in the future.

Seems pretty canned.

[Chris S]

I'm pretty sure this is only so they can move in the new models in October. I imagine the HD players are pretty low volume items that just aren't selling at a rate which they could clear out a new set of inventory before ordering/stocking the newer models. Now, if come October they still aren't online...

[Paul Arnette]

Exactly, Chris. This will resolve itself in due time. For now it is merely another way to poke at the opposition , which is frankly getting tiresome, even for me.

[Douglas Monce]

Yeah it seems pretty clear that its just a matter of being a discontinued item.

Doug

[ppltd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrettB

I took someone's advice and called Target re: no Toshiba decks online. I interacted with a computer for a few minutes and it was ultimately pointless. Then I tried the email and got back this response;
Seems pretty canned.

Looks more like a form letter.

Quote:

I can understand this may cause inconvenience but you may check with
your local store to see if they have this item in stock (we are
unable to check store inventory here). If you want to find the store
nearest you, click the "Store Locator" link at the bottom of our
home page.

If your local Target store does not have the item in stock, they
will be able to search availability for the item from a Target store
in the surrounding area.

It makes reference to checking back at the local stores when the product has been discontinued at the B&M locations.

[Paul Arnette]

Quote:

It makes reference to checking back at the local stores when the product has been discontinued at the B&M locations.

Actually, it makes reference to checking back at the local stores when the product has never been at the B&M locations to begin with, which is even worse.

Anyway, like Brett said, "...ultimately pointless".

[BrettB]

Universal's Kornblau Wants Format War to Continue

Quote:

I had been hearing over the last few days that various Blu-ray Disc manufacturers have been offering Universal plenty of incentives to join the parade but that Universal was walking away from the table every time without any reasonable objection.
Now we know why.

Universal president Craig Kornblau told me this week that the studio actually wants the format war to continue.

[DaViD Boulet]

WOW.


Brett,

that's the most informative article yet on Universal's position. Wow. thanks for sharing!!!

Quote:

So that’s the story. Universal did not want the format war and Kornblau believes the studio did not initiate the war, but he and the studio are now intentionally and strategically keeping the format war alive for what they believe is for the good of the consumer, retailers and studios while awaiting a clear consumer preference for Blu-ray or HD DVD once prices drop to $200. Universal chose HD DVD because costs were lower and it had about a year’s head-start on some interactive features and web connectivity.

Okay, Kornblau has always been straight with me so I have no reason to believe he doesn’t truly believe most, if not all of that.

But if consumers are already showing a 2-1 Blu-ray preference for every movie released in both formats months before Blu-ray introduces its more sophisticated web-connected and interactive features and even while HD DVD is riding a low-price advantage of about $150 - $200, it’s difficult to envision consumers becoming less interested in Blu-ray when all those features debut amid a flurry of the year’s biggest movies exclusively on Blu-ray.

I can understand Universal wanting full support for interactive web-features in BD hardware. But I also agree with the writer that given the consumer support for BD over HD DVD even on the same titles where web-features are offered on the HD DVD (300), it's unlikely that when profile 1.1 BD players hit the streets this fall, that consumer support for BD will diminish.



Does anyone know if web-connectivity is a required part of the profile 1.1 spec or just optional?