News 

HD DVD's main backer said that the player will sell for less than $500 in the US. This marks another coup, since Blu-ray players from the likes of Sony, Philips and Panasonic are expected to cost least twice or even three times that.

Toshiba has taken the viewpoint that if the machines are cheaper they will sell faster, giving its technology an early foothold in what promises to be a protracted

HD DVD got a further boost when its heaviest heavyweight backer, Microsoft, announced that later this year it will provide a high-definition drive as an add-on for its Xbox 360 games console released last month. Blu-ray drives will be pre-installed in Sony's Playstation 3 when it is released in the spring.

However Blu-ray does, for the moment, appear to have the lead when it comes to content, with several distributors announcing their first high-definition releases this week, among them Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Lionsgate and Paramount. Warner Brothers has also committed to Blu-ray but has yet to reveal its BD titles.

However Fox, Paramount and Warner as well as Universal, HBO and New Line Entertainment have said they will have a total of 200 HD DVD titles by the end of the year, with the first 50 on shop shelves by May.