Merely a day after Toshiba threw in the towel in its format war with Sony by announcing it is abandoning HD DVD, both Paramount and Universal Studios unsurprisingly announced their new Blu-ray alliance - thus making all six major Hollywood studios Blu.

The Hollywood Reporter expects to see Universal and Paramount new releases hitting Blu-ray and DVD at the same time by late spring or early summer. Blu-ray's challenges are far from over, however. Despite now being touted as the next major video format, prices still have to come down for stand-alone players before it gains mainstream acceptance. Moreover, Blu-ray needs to step out from the shadow of the billion-dollar DVD business and find a way to distance itself from the advent of digital downloads before any returns on investment are seen.