02.17.2008 — Reuters is reporting that Toshiba plans to give up on HD DVD. A Toshiba source confirmed a report by public broadcaster NHK that Toshiba will drop the format, according to Reuters.

The unnamed source reportedly said, “We have entered the final stage of planning to make our exit from the next generation DVD business."

Assuming Toshiba bails out of the format wars, that leaves Microsoft as the only powerhouse to carry the banner for HD DVD. Microsoft, whose HDi technology is the basis of HD DVD’s interactivity, has supported only HD DVD on its Xbox 360.

The software giant said earlier this year that it would consider Blu-ray for the gaming console.

Niveus, possibly the first vendor to integrate HD DVD into the Vista Media Center environment, announced last week that it would drop the format and go all-Blu-ray.