Blu-Ray Takes the Lead in Australia

By Greg McNevin

February 16th, 2007: Just when it was looking like HD DVD was going to take the next generation crown, it appears like Blu-Ray is taking the lead, at least in Australia.

Sony’s format is enjoying greater penetration in the retail market, with both players and movie titles on shelf and wide support from retailers. HD DVD on the other hand, is suffering under product delays and sketchy support from movie studios according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

While the consumer market is a vital battleground, with Microsoft and Toshiba backing HD DVD, the data storage and computing market in general could end up being just as important. And while blue ray has taken the lead in Australia, the local market is a drop in the pond compared to the rest of the world.

Particularly when HD DVD has made friends with the porn industry at Blu-Ray’s expense. The industry was instrumental in deciding the fate of VHS vs Betamax, and could also prove to be the catalyst for this format war too.

In other HD DVD and Blu-Ray news, December 2006 saw the first working crack for HD DVD surface after a hacker by the name of “Muslix64” got around the format’s copy protection.

Less than a month later the hacker, with the help of another has successfully cracked Blu-Ray’s encryption as well. So much for next generation security.

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