A lot of announcements have been coming out at the CeBit expo in Hanover, as with any large consumer electronics show. The latest releases regarding the next generation dvd format are internal and external drives for your PC, laptop, game console, what have you.

First we start with Samsung’s external Blu-ray burner, which I have to say (and I’m not the only one) looks a bit like someone has PS3 envy. The SE-B046 is a 2nd generation disc drive of the SE-B026A, which also looked like a PS3 but with out the high gloss finish.

The latest external Blu-ray disc drive/ burner writes BD-R discs at 4x and BD-RE at 2x and uses a second laser for DVD and CD burning. It will also sport a dual USB 2.0/Firewire interface and you will be able to connect it to the PS3. I guess that is why it got the shiny makeover. The SE-B046 will be available sometime in 2008, and Samsung has not announced a possible price point yet.

As for the HD DVD side, Toshiba showed off their internal desktop and notebook drives which included the SD-H903A. This drive is an internal desktop drive capable of writing HD DVD at 1x speed and can also write DVD/CD with a single objective lens.

Earlier this month, Toshiba released their external HD DVD drive that can only read HD DVD but it still can read and write DVD/CD and it is not as invasive as Samsung’s PS3 twin. The PA35 will connect to your PC via USB 2.0 and will read HD DVD at 1x speed. Let’s hope they come out with a 2nd gen of this little guy. You can get one now though for only $370.

R.Hollis

As previously mentioned, The Blu-ray Disc Association has been claiming victory in the format war stating their sales are 3:1 compared to HD DVD. At the consumer electronics show CeBit this week, Toshiba Europe has categorized these claims as propaganda.

Olivier Van Wynendaele, Deputy General Manager of HD DVD for Toshiba stated that the Blu-ray sales figures included the redeemed vouchers given to new PS3 owners to receive a free movie and is not a true representation of actual sales. According to Van Wynendaele, Toshiba has sold 200,000 players versus 30,000 “true” Blu-ray players, and the 2 million PS3 sold should not be included in the sales figures of hardware. He also stated “that neither format could claim victory when high def player sales accounted for less than 1% of regular DVD player sales.”

These are all valid points. One could argue though that the reason there are more PS3 sales than stand alone Blu-ray players is because of price and duality. But if there are 2 million PS3 owners that are using the game console to watch Blu-ray movies, they must be watching the same movie over and over again. Blu-ray movie sales are nowhere near the amount they would need to be in order to make the claim that all PS3 owners buy Blu-ray movies.

An interesting side note to Sony’s “victory” is Samsung’s voiced willingness to work with the competitor. According to Stephen Mitchell, marketing manager with Samsung Electronics “We think Blu-ray is the stronger of the two; however we aren’t ruling HD DVD out yet.”

Now isn’t that an intriguing statement coming from one of Sony’s original supporters in the Blu-ray format. I guess Samsung didn’t get the memo that Sony has already won.

Mitchell went on to say, “We could launch a hybrid player or a Blu-ray recorder tomorrow, but until we see what other manufacturers are doing we are not going to be announcing anything.”

As with every twist and turn in this format saga, it becomes increasingly obvious that the public relations departments of the respective formats are working harder than the potential buyers, tune in next time for as-the-formats-turn.

R.Hollis