Toshiba Corp delayed the release of its new high-definition (HD) home video player to April 18, after Warner Bros said it would postpone new videos in the format by three weeks because of technical issues.
The new date is a change from the company's previous plan to release its HD-DVD player this month and coincides with the debut schedule for high-definition films from Warner, a unit of New York-based Time Warner Inc.
Toshiba still has about a month lead on video players in the competing Blu-ray format backed by Sony Corp after previously putting off a holiday debut last year. Samsung Electronics Co says it will come out with the first Blu-ray player on May 23. Toshiba's planned release this month was timed to coincide with the availability of videos, the Tokyo-based company said in January.
"This is a new format, and there are technical issues that need to be resolved," Jodi Sally, a US vice president for Toshiba, said on Friday in an interview. "We feel it's important to synchronize the sale date."
Toshiba and Sony are vying for consumer support for their competing standards of high-definition DVDs, which promise better sound and picture quality than the current generation of home-video products.
Sally declined to say what the technical reasons are.
Sometimes it's "understandable with a new format" that delays occur, Sally said.
Warner will release three films on the HD-DVD format on April 18 and another 17 videos in the following weeks, the Burbank, California-based studio said in a statement on Friday.
Warner previously planned to release 50 films starting in the fourth quarter of last year and 24 films beginning March 28.
The studio plans to sell films in the two competing formats.
"It's about getting the right product," Stephen Nickerson, a vice president of market management at Warner Bros, said on Friday in an interview.
"We'd rather take a little more time. It's not any one film that is an issue or any one technology that is an issue," he said.
Warner's delay marks the second time the products have been postponed, with the most recent decision the result of technical issues including copy protection.
The first three Warner HD films are Million Dollar Baby, The Last Samurai and The Phantom of the Opera. Warner, Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures and General Electric Co's Universal Pictures had previously planned to release HD-DVD films last year in time for the holiday season in the US and to coincide with Toshiba's initial plan to sell HD-DVD players and computers.
The spokeswoman for Paramount home video, Brenda Ciccone, and Universal spokeswoman Lea Porteneuve didn't immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a