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The change of heart follows a decision by the Sony-led Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) to stick with its Java-based software for providing interactive features on Blu-ray (BD) discs. HP had asked the BDA to adopt the iHD platform, as this will be supported in the forthcoming Vista version of Microsoft Windows.

Blu-ray spokesman Andy Parsons told Reuters that

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the BDA is not ruling out iHD entirely but that it did not want to make any changes that would delay Blu-ray's launch.

'We are taking their request seriously, but are not willing to delay the launch and are going to go forward with the Java-type option,' he said, adding that he expects HP to continue to support the technology.

The BDA has agreed to HP's other request to incorporate mandatory managed copying, which will allow content on BD discs to be copied for sharing on a home network and playing on media centre computers. HD-DVD was already committed to providing it, one of the reasons why Microsoft and Intel prefer the Toshiba-led alternative to Blu-ray.

Maureen Weber, general manager of personal storage in HP's personal systems group, said that unless the BDA changes its policy on iHD, it will adopt a policy of platform neutrality.

'If they are unable to incorporate technologies we think are critical for the PC architecture, we'll be more neutral,' she said. 'We'll think of cost and implementation across the board. Potentially, we could support both HD DVD and Blu-ray.'