Blu-Ray Gets Delayed

But so does HD-DVD. Call it irony but it seems a simple (or perhaps not so simple) piece of software has managed to delay the bloody format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, at least for a few months. The Advanced Access Content System (fancy piece of anti-piracy protection) that both formats rely on is simply not ready. The always reliable folks at Ars Technica comment that:

“This particular delay could push the Spring 2006 launches of HD DVD and Blu-ray back by a month or more. HD DVD drives were going to hit US stores in March, while Blu-ray players where expected as early as April.”

No word yet about whether or not this affects the PS3’s proposed spring launch. Theoretically Sony could apply the software via firmware update or on Blu-Ray movies (just like with the PSP and its UMD updates), but that might be playing with fire as people might simply decide to forgo upgrades in favor of less secure and more pliable firmware.

But so does HD-DVD. Call it irony but it seems a simple (or perhaps not so simple) piece of software has managed to delay the bloody format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, at least for a few months. The Advanced Access Content System (fancy piece of anti-piracy protection) that both formats rely on is simply not ready. The always reliable folks at Ars Technica comment that:

“This particular delay could push the Spring 2006 launches of HD DVD and Blu-ray back by a month or more. HD DVD drives were going to hit US stores in March, while Blu-ray players where expected as early as April.”

No word yet about whether or not this affects the PS3’s proposed spring launch. Theoretically Sony could apply the software via firmware update or on Blu-Ray movies (just like with the PSP and its UMD updates), but that might be playing with fire as people might simply decide to forgo upgrades in favor of less secure and more pliable firmware.