People looking to buy into high definition optical on the cheap will be in luck this Friday at select Wal-Mart locations across the country.

Wal-Mart is advertising the Toshiba HD-A2 as one of their secret specials. Prices go into effect Friday at 8AM, and are limited to available quantities. A Toshiba HD-A2 for $98.87, down from $200, is quite a bargain, and a major milestone in the high def optical war.

If you're in the market to dive into high def at mass market pricing, check your local Wal-Mart this Friday, but get there early. 

Pansonic has released some details about their forthcoming Profile 1.1 Blu Ray player, the Panasonic DMP-BD30.

The Panasonic DMP-BD30 will be the second player available that supports Blu Ray Profile 1.1, following in the footsteps of the LG BH200. Among the features the $499.95 DMP-BD30 will sport is inclusion of an SD card slot that will allow users to playback AVCHD high definition content from their SD cards, in addition to functioning as an image viewer. HDMI 1.3b and 1080p24 compatible, the DMP-BD30 features the secondary video decoder mandatory in Profile 1.1 players, so DMP-BD30 users will be able to enjoy interactive content that requires PIP.

 It sounds like a lot of player for the price, and is a step in the right direction for Blu Ray. With $200 players on the other side of the fence, the Blu Ray camp is going to have to get these prices down if they are serious about adoption.

Home Media Magazine is reporting some statements made by a Warner Brothers VP from the two day Blu Ray Festival industry pep rally.

Dan Silverberg, VP of high definition media at Warner Home Video, was quoted Monday as saying "One thing that may be changing is our strategy. When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide. But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu Ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide, so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter.". Silverberg also said "We can definitely talk Blu Ray. We are commited to the format.". 

Warner abandoning either side for exclusivity would be a crushing blow to the unlucky side. Again, fourth quarter sales are going to make or break this Format War, so we'll just have to keep an eye on things and see if any more telling quotes surface. 

According to makers of AnyDVD Slysoft, a version of their disc copying software with support for BD+ encrypted Blu Ray discs will be available by year's end.

Sony and their adherents have trumpeted the impenetrability of Blu Ray's BD+ encryption asone of the major points of Blu Ray's superiority to HD DVD. It has been stated on record that it would take ten years for BD+ to be cracked. Well, much like DVD's 'uncrackable' encryption, it took the hacker community no time at all to devise a workaround. 

Didn't anyone tell Sony, Fox and Disney that going around bragging up BD+'s strengths was only going to make it fall faster? There is no uncrackable encryption and there never will be. Severe DRM schemes only make things harder on the consumer.