Microsoft and Toshiba yesterday said they would jointly investigate the development of high-definition DVD players, a move that considerably strengthens the Japanese consumer electronic group's position in the battle over the format of next-generation DVDs.

The backing by Microsoft will give Toshiba extra leverage in its tussle with Sony over the adoption of a single, unified format for next-generation DVDs. Sony heads a group that favours Blu-Ray, a rival technology, and the two companies have remained at loggerheads despite months of negotiations.

Atsutoshi Nishida, president and chief executive of Toshiba, said: "From the HD-DVD viewpoint, we now have a very strong supporter. We want to leverage this support and come up with a concrete outcome."

Though Microsoft is a member of the HD-DVD group, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said yesterday the company maintained a neutral position with regard to the format wars.

A Sony spokesman said: "Microsoft commented that they are in a neutral position, so we totally understand." Toshiba said the companies were still negotiating but no date had been set for their next meeting.

Microsoft and Toshiba said they would investigate development of HD-DVD players using Microsoft Windows CE technology and would strengthen their collaboration on iHD, a next-generation DVD interactivity format. - (Financial Times Service)