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At January's Consumer Electronics Show Toshiba said it would launch HD DVD in March. The new machines, to be priced at $500 and $800 respectively, will be much cheaper than the $1,000 starting price for the rival Blu-Ray format.

Originally, the HD DVD format was due to be launched in the fourth quarter of last year.

Toshiba is not giving a precise date for the

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launch of the HD DVD players. On 18 April, however, Time Warner's Warner Home Video unit will release the first three titles using the HD DVD format, including Million Dollar Baby and The Last Samurai, with another seventeen or so released over the following weeks.

The rival Blu-Ray format from Sony is also having its problems. Although Sony is remaining publicly confident that it will ship Blu-Ray players this summer, delays in production have already hit the much anticipated Playstation 3 games console.

Confidence in Sony's ability to deliver took a major knock when the company had to announce that the Playstation 3 was delayed until November following disagreements over the DRM (digital rights management), which is important for controlling access to content, such as games and movies.

While Intel and Microsoft are among the backers of Toshiba's HD DVD format, Apple backs the rival Blu-ray offering from Sony.