Panasonic claims to drastically cut cost of Blu-ray discs
We're not entirely sure how much credence to pay their announcement, but Matsushita (who you might otherwise know as Panasonic) have announced that they've found a way to majorly cut the cost on one of Blu-ray's biggest drawbacks, the hard surface treatment required by the media. (For specifics on this peep our Blu-ray vs HD DVD: State of the Division guide.) Of course, there are still the nagging issues of equipment production costs, who'll get to market first, initial media capacities, and, of course, who's backing whom; but to date, unit cost seemed to be the biggest detriment to the future adoption of Blu-ray. So assuming that's nixed in time for Blu-ray to hit the streets, it seems there's a continuously dwindling amount standing in Sony's way.
[Thanks, Sue and Ghazi]
