Another Hit on Blu-ray: Toshiba Backs Movies on Memory Cards

Movies on SD cards

In my humble opinion (and I admit I am not a techno geek - barely able to utilize a DVD recorder/player) - if future television sets have SD slots/players built in (as many TVs now have DVD players built in) just imagine how small a cabinet would be needed to store ALL our favorite movies/TV shows at home.

Imagine being able to BUY SD movies at Walmart (and other stores) forget the Kiosks! Laptop computers that have SD slots can play the movies anywhere.

AND possibly best of all the bulky mobile players that so many parents have in their vehicles to keep their children occupied on long trips - think of how sleek the player would become for this media - lighter weight - bigger screen better speakers and how about a much more expanded library of movies and tv programs that can be carried in a small bag - instead of a small suitcase to hold all the DVDs in!

Portable DVD players would become obsolete - you would basically carry a SCREEN with speakers (or headphones jack) and SD port.

Mom of Many of CO @ Feb 20, 2009 14:25:16 PM

I hate scratched DVDs

Well, I hate scratched DVDs and like the idea of being able to have a little tiny sd card that my kids can't ruin playing their movies. Maybe kids is a niche market, but seems like a pretty big one to me.

Kate of MO @ Jan 15, 2009 22:29:22 PM

Blueray not a niche product

I disagree that Bluray is a niche product. Only someone without a Bluray player would say so. I have an Oppo Digital upconverting dvd player which does a great job of up-conversion, but it is no match to an actual Blueray dvd. I have a new Panasonic Blueray and I am amazed at the video quality and sound of the movies on Blueray compared to the same title up-converted on my Oppo Digital and even my Panasonic Blueray up-conversion. Now if you don't have a high definition tv, blueray or even a good up-converting dvd player will not make much difference in the picture quality. Prices are dropping on bluray discs and can also be rented at Netflix or bought at a decent price at Amazon.com.

Alberto Garcia-Mendoza of CA @ Jan 08, 2009 10:39:40 AM

Portable media is for portables

SD cards are going to have to drop hugely in price and they're going to have to get SD slots into useful devices double quick or this thing is deader than HD DVD.

8GB SD cards cost about $16 and an 8.5GB DL DVD-R is about $0.60, and since all laptops have DVD drives and most portable video players don't have SD slots, this tech is either useless or redundant for virtually everybody. Factor in that no-one is going to want to hang around for fifteen minutes while the kiosk writes their card (except maybe the bored airport captive above) when they could just grab their rental on disk and go, and it's a solution looking for a problem that doesn't really exist and will fail accordingly.

The SheWee of technology, if you will.

Ricardo Pavlova of CA @ Jan 06, 2009 11:45:34 AM

You Go Toshiba! Now You Are On The Right Track!

This is this right direction for all future digital media! Memory cards are Completely ubiquitous on the PC and the emerging CE equipment front. Thanks to digital cameras People are totally familiar with the use of memory cards and public Kiosks do work when properly marketed and secured. I haven't found a mall in the US or a major US Airport that doesn't use Kiosk for either information or information distribution. If I could get a movie or movies at an airport kiosk loaded on to a memory stick or SD card and watch them during my 2-8 hour flight all the while not using my laptop battery up for the DVD drive I would greatly appreciate it!

The_Omega_Man of CA @ Jan 06, 2009 03:58:17 AM

I am Toshiba's sense of total desperation......

Surely it's time for SOMEONE at Toshiba, be it the shareholders or board to step in and stop this madness? I know about the Japanese creed of face and honour, but why aren't Toshiba USA putting pressure on their Japanese peers to just step back and look at what they're doing before it's too late?

I doubt Blu-Ray will usurp DVD, but it's grown too much, too quickly for Toshiba and it's cronies to get another proprietary format to market in time to kybosh the BDA's party. I mean, they're only now announcing players and proposing getting SD equipped TVs to market, with DVD quality video only a future intention, and HD even further down the line. All the while Blu Ray is already out there, growing apace, and regularly grabbing 10% of the DVD market.

Even if you ignore the ground they need to make up, just look at the proposition. Will people really purchase SD cards that cost more than a movie, then pay to rent the movie, and stand in a store for 10 minutes while it's loaded onto their card? And that's only rentals, what about when they want to start selling them? People need to buy a card for each film, or copy it onto some (as yet) vapourware media storage box? Crazy!

Seriously, I can buy that downloads will be a viable proposition in the future, but this half-assed halfway-house has got failure stamped (in very tiny letters) on it's fiddly, easily lost surface.

Toshiba, take some good advice. Nobody likes the sulky kid, so just put your toys back in the pram, play nice, and make a Blu Ray player. There's a good baby.

Harry Kari, Toshiba CEO @ Jan 05, 2009 09:28:43 AM

KIOSKS FAIL AND FAIL AND ALWAYS FAIL

I was part of a team heading up a KIOSK MUSIC and FILM System almost 10 years ago and we saw a flurry of people entering the business. MP3 was in its infancy and we all lost our shirts. WHY? KIOSKS are not profitable. The only KIOSK people will queue for is an ATM. We blindly believed that KIOSKS with huge data-pipes and fast burning times would solve the problem...The investment, connectivity, re-stocking (if needed) and overall maintenance is also a spanner in the works. Not to mention that the MUSIC INDUSTRY and FILM INDUSTRY fear PIRACY at Kisosks more then the Intenet and would not release the right titles and hits that people actually want. CD Sales are dessimated by a la carte sales (Internet Downloads and Piracy of Hot Titles/Songs has shown that).

Another case of history repeating itself and another investment into a Black-Hole...Why don't we just find a technology-stick to it for a while and let the consaumer benefit...intead of playing tug-of-war with us on Media Formats?

Anthony Smith-Chaigneau @ Jan 05, 2009 04:46:36 AM

keeping it digital all the way has been easy after i brought a high def media player under the tv 1080p that plays avi wmv divx hd mpeg4 and any it wont play can easily be converted.

ive stored over 300 films into a hard drive and can move them from one place to another and have been using sd cards and flash drives for over a year!with the price of manufacturing sd cards and flash drives dropping in price toshiba are thinking ahead.well done i say.

of NH @ Jan 02, 2009 16:16:45 PM