Sony to Toshiba - "HD DVD is whack!"

TOKYO (Reuters) - For Sony Corp's head of video businesses, Kiyoshi Nishitani, Blu-ray's impending victory over Toshiba Corp's HD DVD format is something he has been working at for more than two decades.

Nishitani, a 35-year company veteran, helped develop Sony's Betamax video tape system but the technology lost out in the 1980s to the competing VHS format, supported by JVC and Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd.

This time around, however, Nishitani, 57, and other company executives have made certain Sony joined hands with Matsushita and many other global electronics makers.

They also tied up the majority of Hollywood film studios, laying siege to Toshiba's HD DVD camp, whose short list of supporters include Microsoft Corp.

The reward for his employer may include the salvation of its loss-making PlayStation 3 game console, although it may now face a battle for supremacy with other Blu-ray backers including Matsushita....

News corp and Yahoo talking? (wsj)

News Corp. Enters Yahoo Fray

By Jessica E. Vascellaro

Word Count: 388 | Companies Featured in This Article: News Corp., Yahoo, Microsoft

News Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are in discussions about combining MySpace and other News Corp.-owned online properties with Yahoo, according to people familiar with the matter.

The discussions are aimed at helping Yahoo fend off Microsoft Corp's unsolicited takeover offer, which was initially valued at $44.6 billion. Under the deal being discussed, News Corp. would get a stake in Yahoo which could be more than 20%.

The deal under discussion, which would also include a contribution of cash ...

Netflix cockblocks HD DVD

thanks Engadget:

In what can only be classified as yet another crushing blow to the embattled HD DVD camp, rent-by-mail giant Netflix has just announced its intention to only stock Blu-ray titles in the future. Netflix justified its decision by pointing out the fact that most Hollywood studios seem to be converging solely around the Sony-backed format -- a fact that's all too familiar to Toshiba and friends. With both Blockbuster and now the 'Flix having eschewed HD DVD for BD, it's gonna get harder and harder to even find a place to rent those former discs in the first place, let alone one that has a decent selection.