Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Some rumors never die, and this one we heard even before the official Warner press release was issued. Now that the format war is officially over, newspapers and magazines everywhere are looking back on the events preceding Toshiba’s announcement. While no one really knows why each studio made its decision, The Globe and Mail cites “analysts” who think the payoff was a factor. Well, we asked Warner point blank about the payoff rumor and Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group said that it “was not a bidding war” and that it really came down to Q4 sales. This answer leaves us with the impression that while some money probably changed hands, the real reason why Warner went Blu was because during all of 2007 the Blu-ray versions of Warner’s titles always outsold the HD DVD. The bottom line is that regardless of any single payoff, since Warner owns most of the home media market, it had the most to lose if it waited too long to chose a format. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

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Filed under: Portable Audio

The labels and XM have been fighting it out over XM + MP3 players for a while now, but it looks like Universal Music Group is finally backing down, signing a multi-year settlement agreement covering recording-capable XM radios like Pioneer’s Inno. Terms of the agreement weren’t released, but everyone sounds happy, with XM CEO Nate Davis calling the settlement “a win for everyone involved, especially for consumers.” Of course, that means XM is now in a suit with just most of the RIAA instead of all it, but the outlook’s not all bad: Reuters is reporting that Warner and XM are close to settlement as well. No word on when that might go down, but Reuters says it’ll be “soon.” Now if only the other labels would get it together, no?

Read - XM and Universal settlement press release
Read - Reuters blurb about XM and Warner settling

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Another day, another format war rumor. Business Week has a lengthy writeup on the possibility of lone dual-format holdout Warner Brothers switching to Blu-ray exclusively, and how it could affect the outcome of the long-running feud between high-definition disc formats HD DVD and Blu-ray. The rumor gets its seed from vice-chairman of Lionsgate Michael Burns, who claims that Warner will be turning blue soon. With Warner on their side, the Blu-ray studios would hold a 70% market share for the DVD market. Of course, if Warner shifts red, then the studio market will again be split into two equal halves, and consumers are left to wait and see if one format can outsell, outspend, or outlast the other until only one format remains. The stakes are so high that top execs from both camps are banging down Warner’s door with personal meetings — and possibly even truckloads of cash — to get Warner to turn to their side. One thing you can be sure of is that Warner is going to be keeping an extra close eye on the dual-format release of Harry Potter next week for guidance.

[Thanks, Michael P.]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio

The major record labels’ ongoing fixation with physical media continues on, as Universal, EMI, and Warner have each announced plans to sell music preloaded on flash drives. Universal says the move is “aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be,” but that “people still want to own a physical product.” Yeah, too bad that physical product is a DAP. Predictably, the $10 flash drives will cost twice as much as normal CD singles but contain additional content — just like that ridiculous “ringle” concept we just heard about, only with more plastic and manufacturing involved. There’s no word on what format the music will be in or what the DRM will be, but it’s not like it really matters, since no one is going to buy these anyway. No word on when we’ll see this Stateside, but UK teenagers can expect to be patronized by the record labels sometime in the next few months.

[Via Pocket-lint]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!