Toshiba says HD DVD format not dead despite Warner Bros’ decision to exclusively back Blu-Ray

Reuters writes that “Toshiba Corp said on Sunday its HD DVD high-definition video format is not dead despite being dealt a big setback by Warner Bros studio’s decision to exclusively back Sony Corp’s rival Blu-ray technology.  Akiyo Ozaka, president of Toshiba America Consumer Products, told a briefing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that HD DVD ‘has not lost.’  […]  Toshiba’s remarks were the latest salvo in a long-running battle over which format will dominate the next generation of technology for delivering high-definition movies to consumers.”

USA Today has a interesting interview with Bill Gates today which covers topics such as Microsoft’s new partnership with NBC naming MSN as the exclusive online partner for the Beijing Olympics, the digital decade, lessons learned from Windows Vista and whether Blu-ray has won the high-def DVD war.

According to the Sidney Morning Herald,  “[t]he loss or theft of personal data such as credit card and Social Security numbers soared to unprecedented levels in 2007, and the trend isn’t expected to turn around anytime soon as hackers stay a step ahead of security and laptops disappear with sensitive information.  And while companies, government agencies, schools and other institutions are spending more to protect ever-increasing volumes of data with more sophisticated firewalls and encryption, the investment often is too little too late.  ‘More of them are experiencing data breaches, and they’re responding to them in a reactive way, rather than proactively looking at the company’s security and seeing where the holes might be,’ said Linda Foley, who founded the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center after becoming an identity theft victim herself.”

In PCMag, Tim Bajarin makes 10 “tech predictions for 2008.”  You can find Bajarin’s predictions here.

Internetnews reports that “Intel said on Thursday it will drop out of the One Laptop Per Child project and resign from the board after the project’s board demanded the chipmaker stop supporting other efforts in emerging markets.”  In response to questions, Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy pointed out that “[w]e’ve always said there will be many solutions. The most important priority is to serve the need.”