Developer showcases new Halo game

Microsoft has shown off the full version of the long-awaited follow-up to the first person shooter, Halo 3, ahead of its launch on Tuesday.

The Halo series is one of the most popular video games of all time, selling millions of units worldwide.

Set prior to events in the last game, Halo 3: ODST allows gamers to take control of an elite human soldier fighting hordes of alien invaders.

Halo 3: ODST will be in the shops on global release 22 September.

Initially developed as a add-on to fill the gap between the big instalments of the game, it snowballed into a stand-alone game in its own right.

Piers Harding-Rolls - senior analyst with Screen Digest - told BBC News that the title was "very big" for publisher Microsoft and that previous versions had done "fantastically well".

"We expect it to sell well and the chart track data - which looks at what gamers intend to purchase - has Halo 3: ODST pretty high up," he said.

"The last version - Halo 3 - sold more than eight million copies worldwide, although it is difficult to say whether it will be as big as the last one," he added.

Set toward the end of this millennium, Halo 3: ODST - which stands for Orbital Drop Shock Troopers - sees the human race engaged in a life-or-death struggle with a coalition of alien races called The Covenant.

Speaking to BBC News, Alex Cutting, associate producer with Microsoft Games Studios, said players would notice a big difference from previous Halo titles.

"There is no Master Chief (the main character in previous Halo games), instead players are going to be more ordinary," he said.

There are a number of gameplay changes reflecting the fact players are now regular troopers, rather than the turbo-charged super-soldier Master Chief.

"This means they are going to take damage if they fall off buildings and aren't nearly as fast as Master Chief," said Mr Cutting.

The latest version of Halo has players in the role of regular soldiers.

Jon Hicks, editor of the UK's Official Xbox Magazine, told BBC News that the lack of Master Chief would not be a problem.

"There might be those who miss [him], but I'm expecting they'll be in the minority.

"Everything else is pure Halo - the weapons, the vehicles, the setting - and it's engineered into the existing world and storyline in a way that even the biggest fans will fully appreciate," he said.

Health check

Probably the most significant change is how characters' health is affected by events in the game.

While Master Chief regenerated health, providing he was not being shot at, the ODST squaddies have a limited supply, which can be topped up from only a few health packs scattered across the map.

The developers behind the Halo series, Bungie, have intentionally made the combat location - an African city called New Mombasa - a dark environment, so they have added a visor system that has night vision and identifies enemy troopers with a red outline.

As in previous versions, fallen enemy soldiers can be looted for weapons and ammo. It also sees the return of the silenced pistol that made its debut in the first Halo.

"The pistol is quite a throwback to the Halo 1 pistol, of which people were really big fans," said Mr Cutting.

The first in the series - Halo: Combat Evolved - was released on Xbox in 2001

The game is not just played through the eyes of a single ODST soldier. There are various items scattered throughout the game that belonged to fellow troopers.

Picking up the item will trigger a flashback, putting you in the combat boots of the lost teammate and allowing you to replay the events that lead up to the item being dropped.

"You find out what your team has been up to during the time you were unconscious after your crash landing on New Mombasa," said Mr Cutting.

Multiplayer

The developers have also added a new mode to multiplayer called Firefight.

Entirely co-operative, the game sees up to four players defending themselves from successive waves of alien attackers, with each group being progressively harder than the last.

"You have to constantly adjust your strategy and work as a team, otherwise you won't last long," said Mr Cutting.

"As a co-operative game, its basically a score game and your team is trying to get the highest score possible.

Teams' scores are logged on a tournament ladder on the Bungie website.

Mr Hicks said the new Firefight feature gave the game a new dimension, compared with previous titles.

"Fighting off endless waves of enemies has been around since Space Invaders and given some excellent updates in Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty: World at War, but this adds a much brighter and more varied element to Halo.

"You really feel like you're facing a genuine threat, rather than a simple onrushing horde."

Mr Cutting said that the developers were now focusing all their attention on the next instalment of the Halo franchise - Halo Reach - due for release late next year.

By Daniel Emery

Alarm sounded over game futures

A stark warning about the finances of the games industry has been aired at the Edinburgh Interactive conference.

EA is experimenting with novel ways for players to pay for games

The sector had suffered "significant disruption" to its business model, Edward Williams, from BMO Capital Markets told the industry gathering.

"For Western publishers, profitability hasn't grown at all in the past few years and that's before we take 2009 into account," he said.

By contrast, he said, Chinese firms were still seeing improved profits.

What makes the difference between Western firms and Chinese developers was the way they went about getting products to players.

Western publishers, said Mr Williams, still relied on the traditional develop methods of putting a game on a DVD and then selling that through retail channels.

Chinese developers focussed primarily on the PC market and used direct download, rather than retail stores, to get games to consumers.

Those Chinese developers were also helped by the low number of console users in South East Asia (other than Japan) which meant developers there did not have to pay royalties to console makers.

Future models

Three factors, said Mr. Williams, were forcing the operating costs of Western firms to spiral upwards:

• Games are getting larger, which meant longer development time and larger staff costs.

• In the 1990s the PlayStation accounted for 80% of the market, today the console space is very fragmented, so developers have to work on many platforms at any one time.

• The cost of licensing intellectual property or gaining official sports body endorsement (such as FIFA or FIA) has gone up.

These factors, said Mr. Williams, explained the stagnation in overall profitability despite sales in the games sector increasing by $30bn (£24.17bn) over the past four years.

Recent figures suggest sales are also coming under pressure. US game sales fell by 29% in the last 12 months suggest statistics from research group NPD.

The PlayStation no longer dominates pushing up costs for game makers

Speaking to the BBC, Peter Moore - president of EA Sports - said that while the Chinese and Western markets were still very different, he expected to see some significant changes in the way Westerners buy games in the future.

"In China, PC and mobile platforms will continue to dominate," he said. "There isn't the necessity to buy other pieces of hardware and it is our job to service that."

"In Europe we are going to see more content that's delivered electronically, be that through Steam, Xbox Live or whatever."

Mr Moore added that while this may have some impact on retailers, the future of the high street shop was still bright, especially if you factor in sales of hardware, peripherals and game-time cards.

"The release of Tiger Woods online as a free to play experience will be the real test of the Western consumer's appetite for digital downloading," he said.

The game, scheduled for release in late 2009, has a segment which gamers can play for free online but can also pay for additional content as required.

Now in its sixth year, the Edinburgh Interactive Conference brings together industry figures, developers, publishers and the media to discuss issues facing the interactive game sector and to try to promote creativity.

From BBC

Judge bans Microsoft Word sales

A US federal court has ordered Microsoft to pay over $290m (£175m) for wilfully infringing on a patent by Canadian firm i4i.

The patent relates to the use of XML, a programming language that allows formatting of text and makes files readable across different programs.

XML is integral to Microsoft's flagship word processing software Word.

Texas district court judge Leonard Davis also filed an injunction preventing Microsoft from selling Word.

The row specifically relates to the use of Extensible Mark-up Language, or XML, documents.

I4i filed a patent in 1998 that outlined a means for "manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other" invoking XML as a means allowing users to format text documents.

XML is also used extensively among other word-processing programs such as OpenOffice.

Wilful

Earlier this year, the court found in a jury trial that Microsoft had infringed the patent and awarded i4i $200m (£120m).

In the latest ruling, the court ordered Microsoft to pay $40m (£24m) for the wilful nature of the infringement and interest on the amounts totalling more than $40m.

In a separate injunction, the court prohibited Microsoft from "selling, offering to sell, and/or importing in or into the United States" any version of the software that can open custom XML files (with file extensions .xml, .docx, or .docm).

Microsoft has 60 days to comply with the injunction but said in a statement that it will appeal the ruling.

"We are disappointed by the court's ruling," said Microsoft spokesperson Kevin Kutz.

"We believe the evidence clearly demonstrated that we do not infringe and that the i4i patent is invalid. We will appeal the verdict."

The News BBC

Hacked blogger seeks Russia probe

A pro-Georgian blogger at the centre of a co-ordinated attack that hit Facebook and Twitter has asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to hold an inquiry.
The blogger, known online as Cyxymu, said he was targeted for "telling the truth about the Russian-Georgian war".
The attack forced down Twitter for two hours on 6 August, and Cyxymu now wants Mr Medvedev to find the culprits.
Despite the blogger's claims, security researchers have said they doubt the attack was state-endorsed.
As well as Twitter and Facebook, search giant Google and blogging platform LiveJournal - all sites where the blogger holds accounts - were also affected.
In an open letter to Mr Medvedev, the blogger, whose real name is Georgy, appealed for an investigation into the attack, during which the affected websites were bombarded with data requests until they crashed.
"Your special services are able to trace the persons involved in this case and organisers of this attack," he wrote.
"And your court, the most humane court in the world, is able to find and punish them. "
'Big surprise'
He also said that last week's so-called denial-of-service (DoS) attack was not the first against his blog.

In October 2008 his blog at livejournal.com was hit and did not function again until May this year.
In his letter, Georgy said that "the entire world is speaking of the Russian hackers working for the Russian Federation government".
Those hackers were able to prevent millions of people gaining access to world famous social networking sites merely "to block one blogger" because of his "unpleasant and unacceptable" position, he suggested.
Georgy has posted a series of videos and blog entries criticising Russia for its conduct during the five-day conflict with Georgia a year ago over its disputed region of South Ossetia.
Last week he expressed his surprise at the fallout from his blogging, saying: "It's a big surprise to me that my blog has meant that 250m people have not been able to enter Facebook."
However, Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos told BBC News last week there was no suggestion the attack against the blogger was state-endorsed.
"It was almost certainly an individual who took objection to his blogs," Mr Cluley said.
"They took internet vigilantism into their own hands to try to blast him off the web, but in the process blasted Twitter off instead."
Spam campaign
Security experts at Facebook confirmed that the attack was directed at an individual "rather than the sites themselves".
"A botnet was directed to request his pages at such a rate that it impacted service for other users," the spokesperson said.
Botnets are networks of computers under the control of hackers. The machines were used to mount a DoS attack on Thursday.
DOS attacks often involve a company's servers being flooded with data in an effort to disable them.
A spam campaign, containing links to Cyxymu pages on the various sites, coincided with and compounded the attack.
Although Facebook was back up and running within hours, Twitter continued to feel the effects into the weekend whilst LiveJournal has said it has continued to be attacked.
Taking to BBC News following the attack, Cyxymu, said that he had noticed that things were not right when he realised his Live Journal page was not working.
"After, I entered Facebook to say LiveJournal was not working and Facebook was down," he said.
"So I entered Twitter to say that LiveJournal and Facebook were not working, and Twitter was down.
"And so I understood that it was under attack. It is not possible that these three services were all down at one time."
The blogger, whose online name translates as Sukhumi, the capital of the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia, published the letter on a blog from a rival service.

news.bbc.co.uk

Telecom Companies Scramble for Funding

It's crunch time at International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC). The Huntsville (Ala.) telecom provider has until Aug. 14 to complete an application for part of the $4 billion that Uncle Sam is spreading around to make high-speed Internet connections more widely available. To meet the deadline, IBEC Chief Executive Scott Lee has six of his 54-person staff working overtime and weekends filling out the paperwork. "It's not an easy application. It's a lot of work in a short period of time," Lee says. Yet, it's "worth the effort."

No kidding. If successful, IBEC stands to walk away with $80 million to $100 million to help it build broadband networks in rural areas. In all, the economic stimulus legislation known as the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $7.2 billion in grants and loans to encourage the installation of broadband networks in areas with little or no access to it, from hard-to-reach hinterlands to low-income inner-city neighborhoods. The Obama Administration considers access to high-speed Internet connections a critical way of bridging socioeconomic gaps, creating jobs, and spurring economic growth.

The program isn't without its critics. Some say it doesn't go far enough in bringing Web access to the most remote areas, while others fret the government hasn't left itself a big enough window for disbursing so large a sum. Applicants, meantime, are racing to meet the Aug. 14 deadline, though some say the government wants more detail than they can readily provide.

Just over half the total is up for grabs now. The official notice of funding was posted on July 1, and all awards must be made by Sept. 30, 2010, a mere 15 months later. To assist applicants, the two federal agencies responsible for distributing the funds held a flurry of 10 informational workshops from Birmingham, Ala., to Billings, Mont., last month. Over a 17-day stretch, representatives of the Agriculture Dept.'s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Commerce Dept.'s National Telecommunications Information Administration coached companies, state agencies, universities, municipalities, and others on how to properly complete paperwork. Even an event in Lonoke, Ark., a town with an estimated population of 4,552, was packed to the rafters, says David Villano, assistant administrator for USDA Rural Development regarding the stimulus funds.

Mapping Capability

Some applicants need all the help they can get. The government asks for detailed proof a particular area lacks the cables and other equipment needed to provide fast Web access—and that service hasn't been available for years. "The companies that are going to benefit from this initiative are going to be those that have the best mapping in place," says Tim Dowd, president and CEO of INPUT, a consulting firm that helps companies find and win business.

Here's the rub. The companies with the most data on broadband availability include the incumbent large providers, such as Comcast (CMCSA), AT&T (T), and Verizon Communications (VZ). Those companies have historically been reluctant to give up mapping data they consider proprietary and competitive, and it's difficult for many smaller providers to get information elsewhere. Representatives of Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon, the three largest broadband providers, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

John Banks, senior vice-president at USTelecom, an industry trade group, notes that the government has already allocated money for broadband availability maps, and that many states, including California, have drawn up their own maps।

The Recovery Act has set aside $350 million for state broadband mapping grants, so it will be possible in the future to tell which areas are already served. But the national map won't be completed until February 2011, long after the funding has been handed out. "The stimulus funds were supposed to have a more immediate impact, but without a map, it's like building a road without plans," says INPUT's Dowd. Villano, of USDA Rural Development, acknowledges the timing gap but says some states do have maps. He adds that the larger aim is to stimulate the economy quickly and that there isn't time to wait for maps to be created.

The speed at which broadband stimulus funds must be doled out is exactly what worries some people. "My main concern is when you give any government agency a ton of money to hand out in a short time, there's huge potential for waste and fraud," says Vince Vittore, principal analyst for broadband at research and consulting firm Yankee Group. The concern, echoed by other analysts, is that broadband access won't get to the communities that need it the most or that communities that do get broadband access might be saddled with services that are either too expensive or aren't fast enough.

"A Very Good Down Payment"

As large as the $7.2 billion sum may seem, it simply may not be enough to bring broadband service to every corner of America, some experts say. Between 2004 and 2010, Verizon alone is spending about $23 billion to install equipment capable of delivering a wide range of Internet services to the areas where it operates. It's much more expensive to install broadband gear in rural areas, where fewer people live, than in highly populated city centers.

"It's not enough [money] to get everybody broadband in the country, but it's a very good down payment," says Villano. He says that because RUS is giving out loans in addition to grants, the funds will have a multiplier effect. "If I make a $1 million loan, it will be repaid, and it only costs us $72,000 to do that," Villano says. The $2.4 billion his agency will distribute will have the impact of $7 billion to $9 billion, he estimates.

Still, even with a combination of loans and grants, it might be difficult for some providers to make a business case for serving rural customers. Consider TDS Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Telephone & Data Systems (TDS). The Medford (Wis.) provider wants to use the funding to reach about 1,000 customers who live just outside town. But because the outskirts of Medford aren't considered by the government to be sufficiently remote, TDS may only qualify for 50% grants, with the rest in loans. As a result, it may still be too expensive for TDS to reach the extra customers, says Drew Petersen, a spokesman for TDS Telecom, which owns 120 small phone companies in 30 states.

In drafting the rules for broadband stimulus funding, the government tried to be flexible. That involved creating parameters that would let providers apply for funding no matter the technology they use, be it access over cables, airwaves, or even power lines.

IBM's Backing

That's potentially good news for IBEC, which specializes in broadband over power lines, or delivery of Internet access over the systems that provide electricity to homes. Known by its acronym BPL, the technology has been around for years but gained little traction because it's pricey. "It is a viable technology, but it's too expensive," says Yankee Group's Vittore. In fact, a mere 1% of past lending by RUS has gone to providers that deliver broadband using BPL, says Gary Bolton, vice-president for global marketing at ADTRAN (ADTN), which makes equipment for broadband networks।

Mostly, RUS has granted loans for service delivered via fiber-optic cables, followed by broadband wireless services and so-called digital subscriber line (DSL) connections.

IBEC's Lee says he'll be able to use stimulus funds efficiently. His confidence stems in part from the company's backing by IBM (IBM). In November, about a week after President Obama was elected, IBEC and IBM announced a $9.6 million agreement for IBM to install broadband over power lines at electric cooperatives throughout the U.S. IBM has lobbied for stimulus funds, and the company's CEO, Samuel Palmisano, was one of 13 executives who met with President Obama in January in an appearance aimed at pressuring the House of Representatives to pass the economic stimulus bill.

Before the stimulus was announced, IBEC had already won $62 million in RUS funding. If IBEC gets more, IBM stands to gain as well. The company will do consulting and installation of BPL technology—everything from training people to walking the entire network to ensure proper placement of devices—says Ray Blair, director of advanced networks at IBM. Blair and IBEC's Lee say BPL technology has gotten a bad rap and that it's now ready for prime time.

"There hasn't been a tremendous amount of success with broadband over power line, and this is the first foray into it [for RUS]," says Villano, referring to the loan RUS gave IBEC। "It was a unique technology that we felt had strong merit and particularly with the partnership with IBM…so far the loan we've made to [IBEC] is working out there." Whether that goodwill will translate into stimulus funds remains to be seen, but one thing's certain: Both IBEC and IBM are working hard to persuade the government to include BPL among the technologies they deem fit for wiring rural America with high-speed Internet access.

(www.businessweek.com)

Microsoft-Publicis strike $530 million deal for Microsoft’s Web ad agency Razorfish

According to recent reports from Microsoft, the software maker Sunday has struck a $530 million cash and stock deal, for its digital ad agency Razorfish, with the French advertising giant Publicis Groupe.

The acquisition of Razorfish is being made for 1.4 to 1.5 times its annual revenue.

The strategic Microsoft

-Publicis deal for Razorfish - which Microsoft has owned since the 2007-acquisition of its parent company aQuantive - was finalized after Microsoft held an auction for its Web ad agency, which attracted bids from some of the leading companies in the advertising arena - incl

uding the world's largest agency company, WPP, and Japan's largest agency company, Dentsu.

As per

company reports, after the deal is closed - most likely in the fourth quarter - Razorfish will function as a

n autonomous unit of the Publicis' VivaKi division; thereby continuing with its present management.

Commenting on the significance of the acquisition of Razorfish for Publicis, Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Public

is, said that the company expects to derive nearly a quarter of its revenue from interactive and digital advertising in 2010. Publicis already owns agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, the MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia.

In a statement from Paris, Levy said: "The deal is another step forward in realizing our strategic vision of building a world leader in digital communications, a critically important space for our clients."

by Amandeep Dhaliwal

Lib Dems demand curbs on 'spying'

The Lib Dems want tighter controls on surveillance powers for authorities including councils and the police.

More than 500,000 requests to access phone and e-mail records were made in 2008, a report by the Interception of Communications Commissioner showed.

The Lib Dems say only a magistrate should be able to approve a request for surveillance, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa).

The Home Office said the powers should be used only when "proportionate".

'Beggars belief'

An average of about 1,500 surveillance requests were made every day in Britain last year, according to figures which have emerged from an annual report by commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy.

That is the annual equivalent to one in every 78 adults being targeted.

Although slightly down on 2007, the total number of requests last year was up by more than 40% on 2006.

It included 1,500 approved applications from local councils.

The government forgets that George Orwell's 1984 was a warning, and not a blueprint Chris Huhne, Lib Dems

Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the figures "beggared belief".

"Many of these operations carried out by the police and security services are necessary, but the sheer numbers are daunting," he said.

"It cannot be a justified response to the problems we face in this country that the state is spying on half a million people a year.

"We have sleepwalked into a surveillance state, but without adequate safeguards. Having the Home Secretary in charge of authorisation is like asking the fox to guard the hen house.

"The government forgets that George Orwell's 1984 was a warning and not a blueprint."

Councils have been criticised for using surveillance to tackle dog fouling

'Collective security'

Ministers introduced Ripa to help tackle serious crimes including terrorism.

The act allows certain people within councils, police forces and other public bodies to ask for details of when e-mails were sent or phone calls made and to whom, although it does not give them access to their content.

Councils, in particular, have been criticised for using Ripa to investigate more trivial matters, such as dog fouling.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Of course it's vital that we strike the right balance between individual privacy and collective security and that is why the Home Office is clear these powers should only be used when they are proportionate.

"To ensure the appropriate use of Ripa, the Home Office has recently completed a public consultation on revised codes of practice, and on all public authorities able to use certain techniques relating to Ripa, the ranks at which these techniques can be authorised and the purposes for which they can be used."

(http://news.bbc.co.uk)

Rivals bid to snatch green domain

The two groups have different business models for the domain

Rival environmental groups are lining up supporters to try to take control of a new net domain aimed at green groups.

At least two consortiums are known to be preparing bids to control .eco.

In March this year, former US vice president Al Gore backed a bid by the California group Dot Eco to operate the so-called "top level domain" (TLD).

But now a Canadian environmental group known as Big Room has launched a competing bid to manage the TLD, which is similar to .com or .uk.

Both firms plan to apply to Icann - the regulatory body that oversees domain names - for the creation of .eco early in 2010.

"We're two different applicants with two different business ideas," Minor Childers, co-founder of Dot Eco, told BBC News.

"Ours is to sell domain names to raise funds for organisations who can effect change."

He said the group had already entered into contracts with its supporters - such as the Sierra Club and the Alliance for Climate Protection - to give away 57% of its profits from sales.

"We could be one of the biggest contributors to environmental causes anywhere in the world," said Mr Childers.

'Sole focus'

Big Room also plans to generate money from the sale of .eco domain names to fund "sustainability projects around the world".

However, the consortium, which includes WWF International and Green Cross, also believe that .eco could be used as a labelling system to endorse companies with green credentials.

Al Gore won a Nobel Prize in 2007 for his environmental work

".eco should mean something and it should be about something more than just another domain," Trevor Bowden told BBC News.

Companies and organisations that apply for .eco domains through Big Room would have to meet certain criteria to be granted a web address.

For example, the company may have to measure and publish its carbon footprint to apply.

"This could evolve over time - this is not about us deciding what is green and what is not," said Mr Bowden.

The criteria would be drawn up with the help of international organisations, he said.

Mr Bowden envisages that the companies would use the .eco sites to publish all of their green information.

"We think transparency is a really powerful tool," he said.

Mr Childers said that his scheme would also require applicants to prove their green credentials but would probably not be as strict.

"It's unrealistic to think that you will get a lot of sign-ups if you're too restrictive," he said.

"I think our websites should give the opportunity for the 13-year-old environmentalist to have a website as well as a business," he said.

Despite having differences about a model for .eco, Mr Childers said that both groups would "definitely have to sit down" together at some point.

"My only problem is that I think labelling is a really poor use of this opportunity," he said.

The .eco domain has been made possible because of a relaxation on Icann's strict rules on top-level domain names.

The decision, made last year, means that companies could turn brands into web addresses, while individuals could use their names.

As a result, either group could apply for a different domain.

However, for the moment, both sides have one goal.

".eco is our sole focus," said Mr Bowden.

(By Jonathan Fildes
Technology reporter, BBC News)

Toshiba joins Blu-ray disc camp

Toshiba is to start making products that can play Blu-ray discs.

The decision marks a big change for the electronics firm which was the prime mover of the rival HD-DVD format.

The format war over high-def discs effectively ended in early 2008

Blu-ray and HD-DVD went head-to-head to see who could dominate the burgeoning market for movies produced in the high definition format.

The format war was effectively won in early 2008 when the Blu-ray camp won the backing of all four of the biggest movie studios.

Blu-ray was largely developed by Sony. Its efforts to dominate the HD market were also helped by sales of the PlayStation 3 which has a Blu-ray player built-in.

Toshiba said it would begin production of stand alone Blu-ray players as well as drives for PCs and laptops. Its first products are likely to be ready for the end of 2009.

The Japanese firm also said it would join the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) - the industry body which oversees development of the high-definition format.

"In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA," the Japanese firm said in a statement.

(The BBC)