Toshiba: First HD DVD players will be interactive
First-generation HD DVD players will be interactive, Toshiba has announced. Quashing speculation from last week, Toshiba revealed that their first two players, the HD-A1 and the HD-XA1, would not need firmware updates to be interactive, as had earlier been reported.
The rumors were caused by Toshiba’s press release last week, which announced Toshiba’s new HD DVD players but stated “Firmware upgrade required for full interactive features.”
According to Macworld UK, Junko Furuta, a spokeswoman for Toshiba, responded to reports by clarifying that their first two HD DVD players will in fact be able to support all interactive features currently available, and only once further advancements had been developed would an upgrade be needed.
“Toshiba’s first HD DVD players will support the advanced content features called for by HD DVD.
While our players will provide support for current HD DVD advanced content from the start, we anticipate that the industry may add to these capabilities as HD DVD continues to develop.
Toshiba’s players can be updated to support future applications and services, which may include downloading supplemental audio and video content, disc related online shopping and other features yet to be imagined,” Furuta said.
Meanwhile, the launch date of the HD DVD players, which is set for March, has been threatened due to a conflict with the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), Heise has reported.
The AACS copy protection has not been completed and instead an interim licence has been issued to HD DVD and Blu-ray player manufacturers.
The interim licence will allow manufacturers to continue working on the drives and then upgrade the AACS keys when the problems with it are resolved.
Toshiba is planning to stick with its original release schedule for the HD-A1 and the HD-XA1. The build up for the launch of the HD DVD players kicked off yesterday as Toshiba began a 40 city promotional tour of America.
Related:
Leave a comment