14 DAY TRIAL // The dispute between Blu-Ray and HD DVD might take a break or even heads towards a happy end.
After dividing the world in two trying to obtain a bigger share of the market, forcing all the important players to act like kindergarten children, it is very possible that future optical storing formats to live in peace.
This is not an affirmation stated only to produce commotion, since it was Ryoji Chubachi, future president of Sony starting with June 22, who stated it. He will replace Kunitake Ando, current president, as a result of the company's top-management changes.
Chubachi wishes to bring Sony closer to consumers and the main criterion taken into account when he was appointed president of Sony was his acquaintance to innovations and technology.
The big surprise for the two format supporters, who might end up without the object of dispute, is an affirmation made by Chubachi during a conference press, in which he exposed his vision about Sony's future and the strategy the company will adopt. Chibachi stated that he takes into consideration a possible integration or a compromise between the two technologies as the optimum solution for consumers.
His statement is even more surprising since Sony is Blu-Ray's inventor and main supporter.
Even if Chubachi didn't detail his statement, it's clear that Sony learned the lesson when attempting to impose a proprietary music storage format detrimental to MP3. The long term effect was the loss of the leading position on the market of portable equipments for music, the walkman being dethroned by the more versatile iPOD.
Still, despite the eventual resolution between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, the winner might be neither of them, but the holographic disc. Hitachi announced even since January the beginning of the production of these 130 mm discs, destined to InPhase systems; this combination will be sold starting with next year. These discs allow the storage of up to 200 GB and a series of third party producers have already shown their interest. Hitachi announces that by 2007 a new generation of holographic discs will be available, allowing a double quantity (400 GB) of data.
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