Toshiba prepping HD movie download store?

Posted on 05. Sep, 2008 by Rob in Computing, Hi-Fi and AV, Technology

IFA 2008: Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Blu-ray

Picture of a Toshiba Qosmio X300 notebook PC

Toshiba looks set to launch an HD movie download store within the next few weeks, according to a source close to the company.

An announcement was due to be made during Toshiba’s IFA 2008 keynote last week, but was postponed, I Mead Mine has learned.

Toshiba is said to be partnering with at least two major blue-chip companies, with a launch as early as this month. The announcement – when it comes – should finally set the seal on the whole HD DVD farrago, and give Toshiba something new to crow about.

The high def movie download store is likely to compete head-to-head with iTunes when it launches in the UK. Apple has been offering HD movie downloads to UK owners of Apple TV devices since June.

The launch of an HD movie download store would make total sense for Toshiba. It already has close ties to both Microsoft and Intel, while its high-end Qosmio laptop range is also home entertainment focused.

Toshiba certainly dropped enough hints during its IFA 2008 keynote that something along these lines was afoot. Alan Thompson, executive vice president of Toshiba Europe, suggested that technology was already moving beyond optical disc formats.

That’s thanks to high speed broadband, the increasing capacity of hard disk drives, and the ability to store up to six HD movies on a single 32GB flash memory card.

Related posts:

  1. BT Vision to serve up HD downloads
  2. iTunes movie downloads: over-priced, over-hyped and over here?
  3. Fox to offer movie downloads on iTunes?
  4. Free movie downloads come to BT Vision
  5. Toshiba consigns HD DVD to history, reveals new kit galore

Tags: downloads, hdtv, ifa 2008, toshiba

One Response to “Toshiba prepping HD movie download store?”

  1. NBC Universal offers HD content to BT Vision viewers | I Mead Mine

    18. Sep, 2008

    [...] HD DVD pioneer Toshiba is also expected to debut its HD movie download store this month - an announcement was due to be made at IFA 2008, but was postponed. Post this story to: These [...]