So I read this article about the CEA meeting and a panel talking about the “format war”

The part that really got me interested was right at the end

….asking the panelists about rumors that their respective licensing agreements prohibit the production of dual-format players. Both Parsons and Knox assured us that no such prohibitions exist

Well if we take this at face value why is the EU asking the companies to show their contracts to deal with anti-competitive clauses?

So both sides claim there is no restriction on a dual format player. They claim it is just price, which may be true at the moment with the amount of hardware and different licensing that would have to be paid to create such a player.

So if it is just a technology and cost issue, we should see a dual format player by mid to late next year. Of course it will probably be out in 2008 which would fit the time line I proposed earlier perfectly.

Man I love it when a plan comes together

CE Pro § No Truce for Blu-ray, HD DVD Format War, CEA Panel Says