Toshiba Boost HD DVD

January 2, 2007: In the wake of the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a number of companies pushing HD DVDs say they will be making a significant ‘announcement’ at a news conference this week in support of the format.

The news comes as some industry analysts are predicting a significant downturn in DVD sales in 2007. Whether of not HD DVDs can come out and save the market is unclear, but in the consumer space at least, some research says the advent of movie downloads is too far along to save the DVD market.

Last week IDM reported that a hacker known as ‘Muslix64’ had posted comments and a video on YouTube.com claiming he had cracked the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) protection on HD DVDs. The encrypted security is used by both Sony’s Blu Ray and Toshiba’s HD DVD to stamp out unauthorised copying of discs.

Toshiba will also use the event to discuss their move forward in to 2007 alongside their strategy for boosting the HD DVD format. The company originally used the 2006 CES event to launch its first HD DVD players and is now the market leaders of the HD DVD format.

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