Warren Lieberfarb, former boss of Warner Home Video and often referred to as the "father of DVD" for his work on promoting the DVD format, has come out to criticize the Blu-Ray disc format, and to offer support for the HD-DVD format, a rival format backed by the DVD Forum and Toshiba. In a IGN Article, Lieberfarb claims Blu-Ray is nothing but "vaporware" (something that will never materialize into a product) and blamed Sony and Philips (both members of the DVD Forum, and backers of Blu-Ray and the DVD-Plus recordable format) for trying to create their own closed proprietary standard.
Lieberfarb is also credited with getting Microsoft's Windows Media compression format into the HD-DVD specifications (see news article). On related news, Microsoft and STMicroelectronics have announced that a series of new integrated circuit components will be produced to allow Windows Media 9 HD content to be played back on standalones. No details of the technical specifications have been provided, but it signals yet another sign of Microsoft's keenness in tapping into the digital home entertainment market. You can read the press release here.
