The HD-DVD and the First Dual-Core CPU (PCGH Retro, April 18)

…2005: According to Intelpress release However, the delivery of the first dual-core systems from suppliers such as Dell and Alienware will begin today. A doubled Pentium IV Prescott is used, manufactured in 90 nm technology. The dual-core CPU, codenamed Smithfield, will initially be launched as the Pentium Extreme Edition EE 840 for a mere $999. The 3.2 GHz fast Socket 775 CPU is connected to the rest of the system via the 955X chipset, for which – also in quantities of 1,000 – 50 US dollars (each!) are due.

…2006: Floppy disks have been out of fashion for a long time, CDs are now too small for games or films, and even DVDs reach their limits when it comes to high-resolution HD videos. High time for a new storage medium – but which one? Two optical formats are fighting over the DVD successor: Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. All attempts to agree on a uniform format fail; the HD-DVD is favored by manufacturers as powerful as Intel, IBM and Microsoft, with the companies NEC and Toshiba bearing the brunt of the development. Finally, on April 18, the latter brings the first HD DVD player to the US market. There’s only a handful of suitable films, but still: the big competitor is a few months ahead, and after a short time all HD DVD players are sold out. Sales continued to do well in the months that followed, thanks in part to the inexpensive HD DVD drive for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. But it’s not enough: On January 4, 2008, Warner Bros. surprisingly announced that they were turning their backs on HD-DVD and releasing HD films exclusively on Blu-ray Disc in the future – the mighty film studio was followed by others, and soon there would be one HD-DVD as the loser of the format war there. Toshiba keeps fighting, desperately lowering prices, repeatedly pointing to the large number of devices sold, but it’s all to no avail: the young format will be officially buried on February 19 – less than two years after its birth.