The battle over the next generation of DVD format is finally over. At last, Sony emerged as the winner in developing a new recording, rewriting and playback system for HD video.

This is not so surprising though, Toshiba’s HD-DVD knock down has been in the works for some time. We witnessed how five major movie studios decided to take the Blu-ray format: Sony, Walt Disney, Lions Gate Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM figured out it was best to stick with Sony and Blu-ray.

A small hope appeared when Paramount and Universal decided to go with Toshiba’s HD-DVD format. At that point it seemed to be some chance Toshiba would make a comeback and continue the battle.

Alas, last month Warner Bros. decided to release movie discs in the Blu-ray format only. And that’s where the beginning of the end for HD-DVD happened. I guess there are plenty of you who didn’t saw this coming. It reminds me of VHS and Betamax battle, that wasn’t so long ago.

Blockbuster and NetFlix decided to go with Blu-ray discs, while Wal-Mart said it will sell only Blue-ray DVD’s and hardware. That was the time when Toshiba decided it is enough.
Toshiba announced today that it will not produce any HD-DVD hardware, software and other tools.

This news will make millions of people who bought Toshiba’s HD-DVD players groan. Sometimes it’s just not convenient to be an early adopter.

Tags: blu ray, hd dvd, toshiba hd dvd

Very soon, we will have the opportunity to own a personal vehicle which is capable to run on ground, water and even air. The streets could no longer be so important as travel routes, because with this vehicle you can take a river as a shortcut through the traffic. Even better, use another of vehicle’s capabilities and fly over any obstacles to get to where you’re going.

The designer of this transformer, Evolution ST Begalet, is Russian aircraft designer and inventor Alexander Begak. He said that this vehicle was in plan for some time, but there were some obstacles keeping him from starting the work on design. This compact aircraft can be used not only in personal but also in military purposes.

Believe it or not, the weight of the whole machine is only 60kg. It is made of special materials which are tough and can sustain damage but are not nearly as heavy as aluminum. Also, the special compound can not be detected by radars. It’s perfectly capable of patrolling frontiers, conduct day and night photography with mapping and monitoring.

Only one person can fit inside the Evolution RS aircraft and fly at the height of 4,000 meters above the ground. It will be possible to cover the distance of up to 400 kilometers without refueling. With the 30 horse-power motor that can develop 160 km/h in the air and 80 km/h on land, the time you can save with a help of this guy is unbelievable. It’s a lot of potential for such a small aircraft and it will be amazing to see it in action.

This evolution aircraft passed more then 100 tests on functionality and safety. For example, in case there’s a breakdown, the parachute will open to land the carrier and driver safely to the ground. Also, there is an inflatable device that will keep it on water surface. Everything that’s happening in the Evolution RS is controlled by on-board computer, so travelers safety is on an impressive level.

If you have $7,200 you can purchase this vehicle right away. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll wait for some people to test it first, just to see is this evolution aircraft for real.

Tags: aircraft, evolution, vehicle