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Toshiba to launch world's first HD DVD recorder for $3,466

Toshiba Corp. said it planned the launch of the first next-generation, high-definition optical disc recorder based on the HD DVD format on July 14 in Japan as it intensifies competition with rival Blu-ray products. Toshiba, which already debuted the world's first HD DVD player in March, expects the new recorder, equipped with a 1 terabyte hard disk, to sell for $3,466. Doesn't look like I'll be getting one any time soon!

Toshiba is a leading proponent of next-generation HD DVD optical disk technology, which competes with the Blu-ray standard promoted by Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., a maker of Panasonic brand electronics. Their failure to settle on a unified format has paved the way for a costly battle, similar to the VHS-Betamax war which caused widespread customer confusion in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. "This is a new product packed with our engineers' and all our employees' dreams and passion," Toshiba Corporate Senior Vice President Yoshihide Fujii told a news conference on Thursday. "The price might have surprised you. But this is the kind of product that I would want to buy even for 1 million yen."

Reuters Technology News

Posted by | Fri, Jun 23, 2006 - 08:13 AM