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Toshiba looks to keep on truckin' (updated) - February 19, 2008

Couple of intriguing details from Toshiba's press release this morning conceding defeat in the high-def DVD format war: "Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies."

Could be just an effort to change the subject (Hey, look over there!) but the reference to "technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content" probably isn't entirely idle. Toshiba is a leading producer of NAND memory chips and looking to get bigger. At the same time it was announcing the death of HD DVD, Toshiba unveiled an agreement with SanDisk to double their current joint NAND production by building a second plant together expected to come on line in 2010.

SanDisk is already seeking to position reusable flash memory as a carrier for entertainment content, not just in its Sansa line of MP3 players, but more recently with its TakeTV device that uses a flash memory chip to transfer video content from the Internet to the TV via sneaker net. Flash drives are already available with 16 and 32 GB of storage, well within the range of optical media. For now, they're too expensive for consumer applications but in two years they won't be. While not an economically viable replacement for pressed discs, sideloading onto relatively inexpensive flash memory could become another viable vector for HD content, particular in the rental market, shaving some of the potential upside off HD optical discs.

Another item from the Toshiba release: "Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD."

Gotta do something with that HD DVD truck they've been driving around the country.

UPDATE: For an insider's perspective on Toshiba's future in non-optical high-def media, see Pocket-lint's interview with Toshiba's deputy general manager for HD DVD in the U.K., Olivier VanWynendaele 
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