Following in the footsteps of several other notable retailers, Amazon has just announced a mercy program for customers that purchased an HD-DVD player from their website. In exchange for your foolish courageous adoption of a doomed technology, the company will kindly reward you with a $50 Amazon.com gift card, redeemable for anything your little heart desires. There is a catch, however. This rebate program only applies to customers that purchased an HD-DVD before February 23rd. This means that anyone that took advantage of the cut-rate Toshiba player sales after the 23rd is SOL. Sorry guys.

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If there’s one thing HD DVD players are good for these days, it’s promoting creativity. Finding something to do with your now-a-big-hunk-of-doorstop is great for exercising your cerebrum, but not so great for watching new HD movies. If you’d like to try the latter, watch some new HD movies that is, then Circuit City may be your friend. You won’t find this program advertised anywhere, but there is a bit of solace for Circuit City customers who have purchased an HD DVD player within the past three months. Take your box-O-useless back over to your local Circuit City store and you will be given a credit for the entire purchase price of the unit. The credit can then be applied towards the purchase of a new Blu-ray player. You can also opt for a Circuit City gift card if Blu-ray isn’t your thing. What does Circuit City plan to do with all of those HD DVD players? Hold open a hell of a lot of doors we would imagine…

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That’s right people… Move along, nothing to see here. The long drawn-out ordeal that has been the Salem HD DVD Trials has officially come to an end. Toshiba has finally given in to the pitchfork-wielding lynch mob and tied HD DVD to a tree out back. A shame perhaps, as HD DVD had some real potential. When the tech blogosphere clamps down though, even the Jaws of Life might not save you. From Toshiba’s official press release this morning:

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

That leaves high-capacity, high definition physical media seekers with one real option: Blu-ray. Sweet, Blu-ray is great… or… it will be some day maybe. For the time being, Blu-ray is a spec nightmare that changes faster than an OJ alibi. If you do currently have a Blu-ray player, unless it is a PlayStation 3 it’s likely already obsolete and probably not even upgradeable to the current spec. Work it out Blu-ray, you got lucky with HD DVD’s demise.

[Via Gadget Lab]

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Just how much does it cost to extend your stay on this planet? If you’re part of the HD-DVD camp over at Toshiba, the answer is a cool $2.7 million. The company that has been backing the HD-DVD Hi-Def format since day one has just dropped some serious cash on a Superbowl ad set to premier this Sunday. This is a dying gasp from a format that has experienced a number of crushing blows to its viability. The most recent, and perhaps most significant, was dealt earlier this month when the Warner Brothers studio defected and placed their eggs in the Blu-ray basket. While Toshiba is hoping to spark some renewed interest in its format with a combination of new advertising and drastic price drops, we’re still pretty sure that come December of this year, we won’t be seeing much of the HD-DVD format. R.I.P. Xbox 360 HD-DVD player!

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