Dell and HP pledge support for Blu-ray format
PC manufacturing giants Hewlett-Packard and Dell are set to join the Blu-ray disc consortium.
Announced at the International Cosumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the move signals the convergence of the information technology and consumer electronics industries in adopting the next generation of optical data storage media.
The so-called “BD-ROM” format based on the Blu-ray technology is currently being developed in collaboration with Hollywood studios and the IT industry, and is expected to be available early this year. BD-ROM products are expected to follow by the end of 2005.
The Blu-ray founders are competing with a rival group comprising Japanese companies NEC and Toshiba, who are developing an alternative HD-DVD format. Both NEC and Toshiba recently announced development of next-generation drives that are backwards-compatible with the current DVD format.
“HP believes Blu-ray is the most consumer-friendly technology choice for the next generation of removable storage,” said John Romano, senior VP of HP’s consumer PC organization.
“HP believes Blu-ray will allow seamless interchange between consumer electronics and PCs, and is looking forward to joining the Blu-ray founders in the very near future.”
Dell’s Gerry Smith echoed these sentiments: “[Blu-ray is] an obvious choice for next-generation optical storage.”
