Last week, various reports suggested that Acer had sided
with Blu-ray following the announcement
that the Taiwanese company joined the Blu-ray Disc Association. This week, the HD
DVD side reaffirmed that Acer will remain format neutral after issuing a press
release stating that the computer maker has joined the North American HD
DVD Promotional Group.
While the ongoing high-definition format
war play numbers relating to standalone players, comments from Campbell Kan,
Acer’s VP of mobile computing, indicated that the company is interested only in
the PC drive market. Acer currently offers high-definition-enabled notebooks
fitted with either Blu-ray or HD DVD drives.
“With increasing demand and expectation for richer media
content, Acer is adding Blu-ray Disc technology into our notebooks and enabling
users to experience high-definition content, playback and storage,” said Kan in
the Blu-ray release. “Acer is pleased to be joining the Blu-ray Disc
Association and to continue empowering our users to benefit from the freshest
technologies available.”
“Acer is pleased to join the North American HD DVD
Promotional Group to help bring the freshest technology to more consumers
worldwide,” Kan added in the HD DVD announcement. “We are confident that our
comprehensive HD DVD notebook offers will meet consumers' demand and
expectation for true high definition experience. I look forward to further
promoting the merit of HD DVD, in close collaboration with the Group.”
The announcements may also affect Gateway, which will be acquired
by Acer, though probably not significantly as the U.S. computer maker
already offers HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc products.