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You may recall that in the high definition DVD wars Microsoft and Toshiba are the leaders of the HD DVD camp while Sony leads the Blu-ray forces. Now there’s word that the battle is all over – HD DVD versus Blu-ray – The porn industry says HD DVD:
Knowing their audience quite well, the adult entertainment industry holds their annual get together in Las Vegas to coincide with the CES. There is also a very pertinent crossover between the adult and tech industries – porn has a tendency to drive, and be driven, by technology. Which means HD DVD when it comes to high-def.
Quite famously in the war between Betamax and VHS the latter won especially because the adult industry preferred it. If you’ve been around long enough, you probably remember that the very early home video rental stores were primarily responsible for driving Betamax out of the market. And those stores carried almost exclusively pornographic content.
Although the market environments from then do not really compare to today’s home video market, parallels are drawn between the Betamax-VHS battle to the ongoing and escalating fight between Blu-ray and HD DVD. One of the key questions at this year’s CES actually is “Which high-def format will win the current format war – Blu-ray or HD DVD?” Surprisingly, it seems that there is no such question in the minds of the adult industry luminaries.
The rest of the article explains some technical reasons why HD DVD is a better choice for small publishers. There’s also an unverified report today that Sony has forbidden “adult” Blu-ray content which would make the choice even clearer.
The “adult entertainment” industry is not shy about preposterous self promotion, but the “porn makes new technologies succeed” meme has been around for years. I can recall arguments from over a decade ago that “adult entertainment” was going to be the driver for adoption of multimedia hardware features on PCs. That never came to pass (at least in the non-Web form anticipated), but the evidence is better in other technology areas. I doubt the battle is really over, but chalk this one up as one more player (albeit nonstandard) weighing in for HD DVD.
Update: For a less arousing status on the format wars, see this overview.
Update 1/19: More on the Sony/Blu-ray position here.
Update 1/27: Sony says there’s really no Blu-ray adult content prohibition.
Not every Microsoft announcement at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show made the Bill Gates keynote.
From the Microsoft Hardware group (i.e. the part of Entertainment & Devices that makes money but gets no buzz):
Microsoft Hardware’s Innovative Industry Firsts Earn Top CES Honors
This week at the 2007 International CES in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corp. will showcase its award-winning peripherals, the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 and the Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000, both named CES Innovations 2007 Design and Engineering Awards Honorees on the basis of their innovative designs and advancements in peripheral engineering…
Microsoft’s Upgraded Fingerprint Reader Makes Windows Vista Features More Convenient
…Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the Microsoft Fingerprint Reader with software updates from DigitalPersona Inc., for Windows Vista compatibility, offering users the convenience of replacing their passwords with their fingerprint…
Microsoft and Razer Launch Cutting-Edge Gaming Keyboard
HD DVD related:
Microsoft Technology Brings HD DVD to the Mainstream
Microsoft Corp. showcased the growing momentum behind HD DVD through its contribution of core technologies. Microsoft helped deliver the highest-quality video with the VC-1 codec, advanced interactivity with HDi™, and a streamlined and affordable platform for player manufacturers through the use of Microsoft Windows CE 6.0.
Microsoft Corp. and Broadcom Corp. announced a joint effort to support a hardware and software reference design for more cost-efficient HD DVD playback. The new platform uses Microsoft Windows CE 6.0 and Broadcom’s BCM7440 system-on-chip solution, allowing consumer electronics manufacturers, original design manufacturers and systems integrators to more easily and affordably deliver HD DVD playback. Several of the more innovative, high volume electronics companies that plan to use this new hardware and software platform to speed the production of HD DVD players include Lite-On IT Corp. and Zhenjiang Jiangkui Group Co. Ltd./ED Digital.
MSN Direct:
MSN Direct Goes High Def with Clear Channel
Microsoft Corp. and Clear Channel Radio today announced at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that they have executed a collaborative agreement to build a nationwide data delivery service using HD Radio technology, providing personalized and localized content to a variety of HD Radio receivers. This initiative will be branded MSN Direct HD, an extension of Microsoft’s existing MSN Direct service, which currently transmits a variety of information including traffic, weather, movie times, sports, and stocks to Smart Watches, weather stations, Global Positioning System navigation devices and small home appliances.
Microsoft SPOT Initiative Accelerates With Addition of MSN Direct to Navigation Devices
Microsoft Corp.’s Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) Group announced the availability of MSN Direct navigation services and announced that Garmin International Inc. will be the first to offer the new MSN Direct service to Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. Customers will be able to receive dynamic local information, including weather condition and traffic updates, movies listings, and gas prices.
Microsoft SPOT also announced plans to work with future versions of Microsoft Streets & Trips and Pharos Science & Applications Inc. to offer MSN Direct Navigation Services to their devices. In addition, Microsoft SPOT is working with Centrality Communications Inc. to integrate MSN Direct with its GPS reference designs…
The big feud over High Definition DVD formats has been smoldering right along since the opposing camps started rolling out their hardware at midyear and not surprisingly has resulted in desultory sales while consumers sat on the sidelines trying to figure out which horse to bet on. Now some industry players have tried to make the feud irrelevant by coming up with ways to support both formats:
Richard Siklos reports at the NY Times that New Disc May Sway DVD Wars:
Consumers wary of buying new high-definition DVD players because of a technology war reminiscent of the days of Betamax versus VHS will soon have a new kind of DVD that might make the decision less daunting.
Warner Brothers, which helped popularize the DVD more than a decade ago, plans to announce next week a single videodisc that can play films and television programs in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD, the rival DVD technologies.
Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner, plans to formally announce the new disc, which it is calling a Total HD disc, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
…
Because of manufacturing complexities, the Total HD disc will not contain a standard format version (i.e. regular DVD – ed.), said Kevin Tsujihara, the president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group. However, several months ago the company filed patents for a new disc incorporating all three formats, which it could produce in the future.Mr. Tsujihara described the new disc as an elegant way for studios to make their content available more widely “in a way that is not conceding defeat” for the format they have been backing.
In the short term, Total HD would actually add to the number of formats retailers will have to stock, raising it from three to four.
Hit the link for more, but so far there is no groundswell of support by the studios in the opposing camps to adopt this compromise and their participation in creating dual format disks is required for this solution to work. I rate the idea “A” for effort, but there seems to be a better choice for consumers – LG Makes World’s First Blu-ray/HD DVD Dual-Format Player:
LG Electronics (LG), a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, announced that it will launch the world’s first dual-format high-definition disc player, capable of playing both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD content. The unit will be released in the United States in early 2007. Details will be provided at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held January 8-11 in Las Vegas.
As long as it’s not too pricey, a dual format hardware solution like this is the only hope consumers have of insulating themselves from the studios’ little games. Moreover, if the dual format players start moving off the shelves, I expect the other hardware manufacturers would pile on no matter which camp they are nominally in.
Mary Jo Foley interviews Jeremy Allison who is free to dish on the Microsoft Novell deal now that his tenure at Novell has ended. One of many good lines:
A nagging doubt is that if I had just spoken out louder against the deal I might have been able to change something, but I was too quiet until too late. It’s *hard* to be the one saying the emperor has no clothes, especially whilst listening to others praising the finery of the silk stitching :-) .
I’m sure plenty of folks at Novell have now noticed how chilly it is.
HD-DVD AACS hacked and Studios Take Claims of AACS Crack Seriously. It’s more of an exploit of some specific HD-DVD player software but it works and it means that all currently released titles are vulnerable.
MMS Exploit Released for Windows Mobile – No Patch Available:
And remember, just because it doesn’t look like a computer doesn’t mean it can’t be owned.
More discussion here.
Is this the HTC 2007 Windows Mobile lineup? HTC manufactures most Windows Mobile phones.
The PlayStation 2 Still Rocks:
“The PS2 will have legs well into 2008,” says Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles. And while Nintendo Co.’s Wii console is getting most of the industry buzz, and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. has racked up big sales in its year on the market, some say the PS2 might even beat out each of those offerings in 2007. “The PS2 probably has the capacity to sell more than any other gaming” console, says Simon Jeffrey, chief operating officer at game maker Sega of America.
Interesting times ahead. The first round results will be clear when we get some holiday sales numbers. Also, Microsoft Xbox 360’s updated 65nm CPU delayed to mid 2007.
Yahoo! Answers Captures 96% of Q and A Market Share according to Hitwise. Windows Live QnA got 1%. Not a surprise – Yahoo owns this niche.
Windows Live Mail Plus rumored to offer 4GB storage and some other assorted bling for the subscription price.
Read the Exchange 2007 fine print since Microsoft has tinkered with the Client Access Licenses (CALs).
And last but not least, Microsoft: Vista’s Secure, Not Perfect. Of course, but the question is whether it is secure enough to get Microsoft out of the emergency patch rut and live up to its advance billing to customers.
