It looks like the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray war may be nearly over.

In a sign of things to come, retailers are preparing to lower the visibility of HD DVD on their shelves, putting a larger emphasis on the rival format, Blu-ray.

With a number of studios such as Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, and HBO leaving HD DVD for the Sony-backed Blu-ray format, it was inevitable that HD DVD would lose the all-important shelf space at retail.

Of course, Toshiba is not letting this go without a fight:

Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. has announced that it is stepping up its successful marketing campaign for HD DVD as it experienced record-breaking unit sales in the fourth quarter of 2007. Major initiatives, including joint advertising campaigns with studios and extended pricing strategies will begin in mid-January and are designed to spotlight the superior benefits of HD DVD as well as the benefits HD DVD brings to a consumer’s current DVD library by upconverting standard DVDs via the HDMI output to near high definition picture quality.

ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes sees it this way:

Dropping the price might make HD DVD seem attractive in the short term, especially for those looking to complement an HD TV with an HD player. But the sudden and dramatic price drops so soon after the announcement by Warner that it was backing Blu-ray and the canceled press conferences at CES, it’s hard to look at this move as anything other than Toshiba trying to offload existing inventory.

All I can say is, I’m glad I waited.

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I have to be honest, I’m not really all that interested in the Britney Spears soap opera or Dr. Phil’s request constant quest for higher ratings, but I could not resist the chance to compare these two:

The latest on this saga from the AP:

Britney Spears’ family says “Dr. Phil” McGraw crossed the line by not keeping his mouth shut after making a house call on the singer last week.

Lou Taylor, a business manager for Spears’ mother, Lynne, and younger sister, Jamie Lynn, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday and said McGraw had betrayed the family’s trust by talking to the media about Spears’ mental health after showing up at the 26-year-old pop star’s hospital room on Saturday for a visit.

Does anyone really have any doubts as to the mental health of this woman?

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The first poster child for the steroid era of baseball failed another test yesterday; an integrity test administered and judged by the voters for baseball’s hall of fame:

On the steroids front, Mark McGwire received no spike in his second year on the ballot as writers continued to overwhelmingly shun him. His 23.6% was about the same as last year (23.5%), making it clear that the steroids protest against him wasn’t a one-year deal.

No spike in year two. But he is such a stand-up guy. Who could forget that moving and inspirational testimony before the Senate:

Is is possible that the enhanced players from the steroid era will be by-passed by the hall of fame forever? Hard to say. The good new is, Mark McGwire did not make it again and if his numbers drop below 5%, we can be rid of this.

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Too cool.

Where do I sign-up?

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This will go down as one of the best high school pranks ever:

Kyle Garchar, a senior at Hilliard Davidson High School in suburban Columbus, said he spent about 20 hours over three days plotting the trick, which was captured on video and posted on the video-sharing Web site YouTube. He said he was inspired by a similar prank pulled by Yale students in 2004, when Harvard fans were duped into holding up cards with the same message.

These kids received three days of in-school suspension for their troubles, but I’m sure they have reached legendary status on campus.

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A poll conducted this past weekend seems to say, if Fred Thompson joins the race, things will get very interesting for the Republican candidates:

Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani holds first place in the survey, with support from 27% of the Republicans and independents who said they plan to vote in the party’s 2008 primaries.

But Thompson, an actor who played a prosecutor on NBC’s “Law & Order,” runs just behind, with 21%. Indications are he will join the race within the next month.

The two other major GOP contenders, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, fall well short of the leaders and are in a battle for third place. McCain was backed by 12% of those polled, Romney by 10%. The rest of the crowded field is mired in single digits.

Thompson is expected to announce his candidacy soon and has many conservatives using the ‘R’ word:

Thompson, 64, a former Republican senator from Tennessee, may also benefit from his fame as a film and television actor. “When I watch him on `Law and Order’ I’ve always loved him,” said Al Pepe, a 79-year-old retired electronics manager from Jacksonville, Florida.

`Reagan’

“He reminds me of Reagan,” said Pepe, a Republican who favors Thompson. “You want to listen to him.”

Lofty praise indeed. What about the Democratic side of the poll:

Clinton had 33 percent in the poll; Obama 21 percent; former Vice President Al Gore, who so far is not a candidate, 20 percent; and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., 12 percent.

Democratic analysts had no ready explanation why Clinton has lost support from men, especially younger men. Much of this support seems to have moved to Gore. Her chief strategist, Mark Penn, said that could change and noted that younger men do not vote with the frequency that women do.

Clinton, Gore and Obama each draw about one-quarter of Democratic men. Said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who is not working for a candidate: “If she can hold close in the race among men and dominate among the women, that’s the ballgame” and she will win the nomination.

Funny how candidates who are not even technically running are gaining ground. Is that a statement about public opinion of Fred Thompson and Al Gore or rather an indication of the level of disgust with the present cast of presidential characters? Seems to me the American public is getting very tired of professional politicians; unfortunately, that’s all we have to choose from at the moment.

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It looks like Coca-Cola has stepped-up their Internet marketing campaign:

The Coca-Cola Company is redefining the relationship between consumers and their sparkling beverages with the launch of the Sprite Yard, a real-time digital “on-the-go” community that provides social connections and downloadable content via their mobile phone anytime, anywhere. This mobile marketing breakthrough launched in China on June 1st and will go live in the US later this month.

The Sprite Yard creates an entertaining social experience beyond the value of traditional online destinations by providing consumers constant mobile, social and brand connectivity through mobile devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Coke is definitely on the right track. The marketing money being spent on Internet will boggle the mind:

Studies have predicted that mobile marketing will increase sharply in the coming years, and Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have all introduced mobile-friendly search interfaces.

Mobile advertising could account for 25% of global internet advertising spend by 2011.

But what are they really trying to accomplish?

“The brand becomes the enabler of mobile social connections,” Mark J. Greatrex, senior vice president of marketing communications and insights at Coca-Cola, told a gathering of the nation’s leading mobile marketing executives. “The Yard users literally have their friends in their pockets.”

The mobile marketing effort is part of Coca-Cola’s plan to “create, connect and customize on-the-go experiences,” according to Mr. Greatrex.

Sprite’s “usage over-indexes with mobile phone usage,” Mr. Greatrex said. “This is Generation C and they’re right at the center of the mobile target audience.”

Genius. In case you have not heard, this is how Wikipedia defines Generation C:

Generation C could be said to comprise the people who use Web 2.0, create user-generated content and participate in the co-creation of products and services.

It’s getting harder and harder for marketers to reach Generation C and this effort means users will go to the Sprite Yard to interact with their peers. What could be easier? Only one question remains, how long will it take Generation C to see through the marketing campaign and declare the Sprite Yard as lame? There is a reason why it is hard to reach Generation C, they are at least a couple of steps ahead of the marketers.

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Evan O’Dorney, 13, of Danville, California won the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee. For his efforts, he earned an interview on CNN and Jimmy Kimmel Live:

That was a brutal…how’d Jimmy do?

Home schooling is great, but it has been know to cause a bit of social awkwardness…

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Wow, that was fast. According to Paris Hilton was just ordered back to jail in Lynwood to serve out the remainder of her sentence! She’ll get credit for at least 5 days already served.TMZ.com, Paris Hilton is heading back to jail:

Paris Hilton was just ordered back to jail in Lynwood to serve out the remainder of her sentence! She’ll get credit for at least 5 days already served.

Hilton left the courtroom in tears, screaming, “Mom, Mom, Mom.” Hilton was also heard saying “It’s not right.”

Well, maybe celebrities are not above the law after all…

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I would like to think something like this can only happen in LA.

At 1:30 p.m. ET she [Paris Hilton] was on her way to the courthouse, which is about 11 miles away from her home.

Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer’s decision to have Hilton brought to court was announced by court spokesman Allan Parachini shortly before the hearing had been scheduled to start at noon ET.

“Judge Sauer has instructed the Sheriff’s Department to go to Ms. Hilton’s residence, pick her up and bring her here. That is happening now,” Parachini told reporters outside the courthouse.

Earlier, the court announced that Hilton would not physically appear in a Los Angeles courthouse as she was ordered to do, but would attend the hearing via telephone.

Apparently, she can’t phone this one in…

With cameras focusing on all aspects of her neighborhood and following every police car, one is reminded of another escorted celebrity as they made their way through LA. Perhaps this court case will end differently than that one.

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