THE DARK satanic rumour mill has turned out a yarn which suggests that HD-DVD's number one backer, Toshiba, is about to throw in the towel and surrender the format wars to Blu-Ray.

Over the last few weeks there have been significant defections to Blu-Ray and each time it has been Toshiba who has piped up for the standard's future.

Well now according to that well-known tech magazine, the Hollywood Reporter even Toshiba has admited that HD-DVD's goose is not only cooked, but served in a fruit sauce and mostly been eaten.

A deep throat within Toshiba told the Reporter that Toshiba will be abandoning its high-definition format.

Officially the outfit has not said a dickie-bird about it yet. The last thing we heard was a statement that Tosh felt HD DVD was the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings.

Toshiba has done all it can. It has spent millions on price reductions, advertising and everything. But it still cannot get the studios to back the standard. If it is any consolation, the only people who seem to be splashing out on Blu-Ray disks are the owners of Sony's PS3.

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