Sonic Solutions has announced it will no longer sell the HD DVD version of its Scenarist professional authoring software, focusing instead on Blu-ray and digital distribution.
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11:30 am ET January 31, 2007 - Sonic Solutions this morning clarified its position regarding its apparent switch from HD DVD to Blu-ray, telling BetaNews that initial reports that the company abandoned HD DVD altogether were not quite accurate.Sonic spokesperson Chris Taylor said that the decision is only specific to its professional authoring suite. Other divisions, such as its Roxio consumer arm and ATG licensing group would remain format neutral. Even within the professional division, HD DVD would still live on through its CineVision authoring application.
"The decision has been in the works for a while and based on the pro authoring sales opportunity, the needs of the majority of our customers, and the opportunities we see in emerging markets," Taylor said in an e-mail interview. He confirmed that support would still be offered for the portion of the HD DVD hardware that is being discontinued, although said details of the exchange program mentioned in the original story are yet to be finalized.
Despite the denying the deny above, I take it as confirmation, the HD DVD is officially dead. The industry put their hands off. Nobody is going to make HD DVD players just so people can make their own movies.
Toshiba is expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format in the coming weeks, after a rash of retail defections that followed Warner Home Video's stunning announcement in early January that it would support only Sony's rival Blu-ray Disc format after May.Officially, no decision has been made, insists Jodi Sally, vp of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products. “Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings,” she said.
It depends from which side of the fence you are looking at the consumers. If you are one or you are looking at one. Consumers have no horses in this race. Consumer task is exactly as name suggest to “consume”. It is believed in industry consumers can “consume” more with BD since BD has stronger restriction on playing user recorded material.
But she hinted that something's in the air. "Given the market developments in the past month," she said, "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players."
What is there to study? That Sony owns also the movie studios, but toshiba don’t? I could tell you that without much study.