Toshiba has made a terse press release regarding Warner Bros. announcement that they will be going Blu Ray exclusive.

 

Toshiba expressed surprise at the move, and one must wonder if talks had been taking place between the three parties in the weeks leading up to CES. They cite contracts that exist between the two parties, and it is unclear at this time if this will be the beginning of a legal skirmish between Toshiba and Warner Bros. if that is the case, or if Warner will have to buy their way out of whatever arrangement they may have with Toshiba. Note that this is speculation, and more details will become clear as this story continues to develop. Toshiba goes on to say that they are disappointed, and cites that HD DVD player and HD DVD-equipped  personal computers outsold rival Blu Ray in 2007.

 

Toshiba seems genuinely shocked by this development, and I would love to be a fly on the wall for some of the conference calls that are taking place regarding this situation. It's hard to imagine HD DVD will have anything that looks positive at CES in light of this, but we'll find out soon enough.