Following widespread speculation in recent weeks, Toshiba has now officially announced plans to join the Blu-ray Disc Association and to incorporate Blu-ray technology into its products. Toshiba's HD-DVD format famously lost 2007-2008's "format war" with Blu-ray.

August 10, 2009 - Today we hear the final installment in Toshiba's troubled relationship with Blu-ray: Having staunchly opposed the Sony-developed format in favor of its own HD-DVD format, Toshiba has now finally taken Blu-ray on board.

The dream of HD-DVD came to an end in early 2008, when Toshiba announced it would cease to "develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders", citing its determination to advancing the high-definition market as a whole.

Now, 18 months on, the Japanese company has caught up to Blu-ray's initial supporters and plans to release Blu-ray players and, among other devices, laptops fitted with Blu-ray drives "in the course of this year". The company has not yet announced precise details about the planned devices.

Toshiba is a common name in other areas of consumer electronics - now, the Japanese company will also make Blu-ray players.

As part of the move to support Blu-ray, Toshiba has applied for membership to the Blu-ray Disc Association. This organization oversees development of Blu-ray technology and is responsible for granting licenses to firms interested in implementing Blu-ray. The membership list reads like a Who's Who of consumer electronics, in which Toshiba's glaring absence will now finally be resolved.