Armistice Day for the format war: Toshiba signs on with Blu-ray

Toshiba this morning announced that it has applied for membership in the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), the body in charge of standardizing and evangelizing the high definition disc format, and that it intends to launch Blu-ray notebooks and standalone players this year.

"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," read the company's statement this morning.

Today's announcement confirms last month's report in Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun in which an anonymous insider said that the former champion of HD DVD had plans to release its own Blu-ray players by the end of 2009.

Like a shy schoolboy, Toshiba is acting as though it's just now considering its Blu-ray product plans for 2009; but of course, there's not much of 2009 left. "Toshiba aims to introduce digital products that support the Blu-ray format, including BD players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives, in the course of this year," reads this morning's statement. "Details of the products, including the timing of regional launches, are now under consideration."