It's official. Toshiba just made a statement saying, " it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders." Cessation of the player and recorders are targeted for March 2008. Volume production of HD DVD disk drives for PCs and games will end in the same time frame. However, Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation did say that Toshiba will, "continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives." That's it folks, the format war is over, Blu-ray has won. Full press release after the break.

Wal-Mart has confirmed with Blu-ray.com that beginning in June the world's largest retailer will only stock Blu-ray players and movies. Over the next few months, they will phase out all HD DVD products and reorganize their stores to focus on Blu-ray. This move comes days after similar statements of support for Blu-ray by Internet movie rental site Netflix and retailer Best Buy.

The latest Home Media Magazine has been released with the latest Nielson VideoScan data, and for the week ending January 20th, market share are 83:17, Year-to-date 76:24, Since Inception 64:36

A new NPD Group report shows that stand-alone Blu-ray player sales benefited greatly from the recent announcement that Warner would be going Blu-ray exclusive. The first week of January, before Warner made their announcement, there was a nearly 50-50 split between Blu-ray and HD DVD standalone players. The following week, after the announcement, Blu-ray players grabbed 93% of the market.

Warner Bros. will release "I am Legend" on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray.
The 2 disc DVD and Blu-ray release will arrive on March 18th. The HD DVD will follow on April 8th.
Extras include a "Alternative Theatrical Version with a Controversial Ending" as the studio puts.
Warner has set a suggested list price for $35.98 for the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions.

Amazon is once again offering a Blu-ray sale, this time with movies priced as low as $14.99 and with savings up to 53% off.

The huge selection of movies includes a total of 229 titles from Disney, Fox, Sony and MGM. Titles available in the promotion include Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3, The Fifth Element (Remastered), Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy, Ratatouille, Cars, Close Encounters of a Third Kind, Casino Royale, Superbad and many more.

Amazon: Disney, Fox, Sony and MGM Blu-ray Sale

Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the sleeper hit 'Enchanted' to Blu-ray on March 18th, day-and-date with the DVD release. This title was previously announced for an Easter release, but we now have a firm date. Extras remain the same, with making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and the BD-Java game "D-Files".

Fox Home Entertainment has announced that they will release the Arnold Schwarzenegger classics 'Predator' and 'Commando' to Blu-ray on April 15th. Both releases will be encoded in 1080p MPEG-2 and accompanied by DTS-HD MA audio. Full extras have yet to be officially announced, but expect only the minimal.

When Warner announced that they would back Blu-ray exclusively, there was no immediate confirmation that New Line Cinema and HBO would follow, only speculation that it was highly likely. The very next day New Line confirmed that they would follow Warner and back Blu-ray exclusively and now, a few days after the Warner announcement, HBO has also confirmed that they are "following the same policy as Warner Home Video." according to HBO Video president Henry McGee.

The studio's Danny Kaye said the projection is based on current sales trends continuing for both set-top Blu-ray Disc players and the Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3 game console. Should those trends continue, he said, the number of Blu-ray Disc playback devices in U.S. homes could be at 10 million by the end of 2008.

LAS VEGAS -- Blu-ray Disc software sales could hit $1 billion this year, according to proprietary research from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Following Warner's lead, sister company New Line has confirmed that it will support Blu-ray Disc high def releases exclusively. New Line has previously delayed their day-and-date new releases on HD DVD due to the format's lack of region coding, effectively making titles such as Shoot 'em Up, Hairspray, and Rush Hour 3 exclusive to Blu-ray. Although a 2008 release slate for the studio has not been released, an announcement may be possible at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Fox Home Entertainment has announced six upcoming Blu-ray titles, all with street dates during the first quarter of 2008. Included in the list is the delayed Blu-ray release of 'Independence Day' which will see release on March 11th, the same date as the newly announced and highly anticipated 'I, Robot'.

Warner has announced that they will be switching to support Blu-ray exclusively. Warner has been supporting both formats since they were launched, but recent talk from top executives suggested that Warner couldn't continue down that road much longer, and that the all important holiday sales would help them make a decision. With Blu-ray winning every week in high definition sales this year, Warner has decided that The Future is Blu.

In a pre-CES press release, Disney has unveiled their expected upcoming Blu-ray releases through the summer. While the list is by no means complete, it does give us a good indication of what to look for in the coming months. 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' has once again been put on the Blu-ray release list for May, which should be released around the May 16th theatrical release of 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'.