I'm stoked about the news. Frankly I doubt either format will win the war. I think the consumer wants better quality DVDs with better sound and more features but they are also concerned about the titles - they don't want to get into a battle about which is better - saving .50 cents on a $20 disc because it is HD DVD or paying a tad more for more space for features and sound. What they care about is - hey that is a movie I want.

Both camps stand to make more money if they just license the technology for both formats. They get their pound of flesh selling to a dual format producing company and they make the money because the consumer will actually buy the new format because now they don't have to buy two players or decide which camp has more titles they actually want.

This is a hell of a lot slimmer than my 6700 - I would get one over the 6700 if it was offered by Sprint.

I just saw these photos - looks nice and slim -
http://aving.net:9600/newproduct/default.asp?mode=read&c_code=01_01_01_02&c_num=20006&gotopage=1&BT_ExRef=1

Slick looking but TOO thick. Anything over .5" or about 15mm is going to be pushing it. After seeing the Q and other smart phones, full featured WM5 phones will have to become slimmer to get people interested. Granted, they aren't an apples to apple comparison but nobody wants to carry a brick.

Check out the new BM-300 by LG.

I think there are a number of reasons -

1 Lack of advertising/press - everyone I know has heard about the honda civic - when I asked about the hybid accord at a few dealerships - the salespeople knew nothing about them! They had to find out if they had any!

2 Not great MPG - while the accord hybrid isn't bad, it would have to get at least 5 more MPG for people to consider it.

3. Lack of hybrid refinement. The batteries are the older style and there is no plug-in option. If these were changed out, it might get 5-10 more MPG.

4. Price. It would have to drop about $3,000 for people to get interested - in my opinion.

5. Lack of spare tire. A lot of people don't feel comfortable driving a car without a spare - if you shred your tire - you are hosed.

6. MPG not good enough to drive in the HOV lane like the prius and civic.

Mind you - I am very interested in a car with good power like the accord but I'd really want at least 40mpg before I trade in my car for a hybrid.