“If you can't beat them, join them” reads an old saying, and it seems that this is what's happening with Toshiba right now, because the former supporter of the HD DVD in the format war against Sony has applied to join the opposite camp, namely the Blu-ray Disc Association, after staying out for the past year or so.

The company's statement regarding the reasons why it's decided to make this move and finally let go of the HD DVD is actually a pretty short one, “As a market leader in digital technologies, Toshiba provides a wide range of advanced digital products, such as DVD recorders and players, HDTVs and notebook PCs that support a wide range of storage devices, including hard disk drives (HDD), DVD, and SD Cards. In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA.”

Moreover, the Japanese company has also announced its future plans, should its applications be accepted, informing us that it intends to “introduce digital products that support the Blu-ray format, including BD players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives, in the course of this year.”

To tell you the truth, it appears that the poor economic situation is taking its toll on Toshiba as well. I can still remember the company's statements made a while ago (less than a year, if I'm not mistaken), when the Japanese officials considered digital downloads and image upscaling as the way to go.

Now that Blu-ray is everywhere (well, at least its image and concept are, because the adoption rate is still far behind what the format's supporters had hoped for), Toshiba doesn't want to be left out, so that's why it's finally decided to join the ranks of its former “enemy.” Of course, it remains to be seen what good it will come out of it (if its application is approved, of course), but I guess the first officially-sanctioned Toshiba Blu-ray units might appear quite soon on the market.


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