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Blue lasers coming down in price, PS3 to follow?

by Erik Hanson posted May 1st 2007 at 11:11AM

Blue laser assemblySony's semiconductor subsidiary recently announced an increase in blue-violet laser diode production, with a monthly capacity of 1.7 million, and capability to produce up to five million with future upgrades. In June the diodes are expected to cost around $8 per diode in bulk, as compared to a price of $125 per drive (including the diode and other parts) when they came onto the market last year. Analysts predict that the lower cost of materials will likely drive manufacturers of blue-laser products to lower their own prices, with the PlayStation 3 benefiting from this reduction by allowing Sony to reduce the price, possibly even lower than $499, to be very competitive with the Xbox 360 Elite model. Of course, Toshiba could also theoretically take advantage of similar cost savings to reduce the price of their own HD DVD players. Perhaps that Wal-mart player isn't such a far-fetched idea after all.

HD DVD to Blu-ray: "Oh yeah, well we've sold a lot of discs too!"

by Erik Hanson posted Apr 26th 2007 at 12:40PM

Two kids fighting, Flickr photo from http://flickr.com/photos/parc/
It just wouldn't be a proper format war without a rebuttal from the opposing side about this week's announcement that Blu-ray has sold over a million discs. The HD DVD PR machine scrambled to life to point out that they, too, are so close to that magic million, with their own sales numbers showing 998,000 units sold, up from the 937,500 reported by Home Media Research. The HD camp also points out that -- not including the PS3 or Xbox add-ons -- standalone next-gen DVD hardware is selling 4-to-1 in favor of HD DVD this month, and content sales numbers are very close week-to-week between the two formats. Meanwhile, the average consumer sits on the sidelines waiting for a winner to emerge from the fight -- that is, if they can even spell it.

And so the war starts

by Matt Burns posted Aug 31st 2005 at 5:51PM


blue_rayWe knew it would happen soon, but man was that quick. Manufactures of optical drives already have out new versions that will read Blu-Ray and HD DVD.  Pioneer released early this week its first volley into the battle with the BRD-101A, capable of producing Blu-Ray disks. NEC returned fire with its first HD DVD drive, the HR-1100A. Both of the drives can do their respective high capacity disks, but unlike the Pioneer, the NEC can read CDs too. Sweet. Both are going to hit the streets around $600.

This is going to be a long war folks.

[via Engadget]

EDIT: Good catch on the spelling of Blu-Ray. 




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