Toshiba plans HD DVD firmware upgrade, takes show on the road
Toshiba is planning a major marketing blitz to promote the company's two upcoming HD DVD players, the $799.99 HD-XA1 and $499.99 HD-A1 (pictured), both of which the company still says will be available in March. The media juggernaut will include a road show with in-store demos and new web-based marketing. However, the most intriguing thing about the new effort is buried in Toshiba's press release: in order to allow your HD DVD player to have "full interactivity," you'll need a firmware upgrade. While Toshiba isn't supplying any details about the required upgrade, it looks like the company is more concerned about meeting its ship date (and getting an edge on Blu Ray) than it is about getting all of HD DVD's features in place from the start. Toshiba had better hope the list of missing features isn't too long, or they may regret being first to market.