In Internet Explorer, you can use the combination of different keys to access many of it's functions. Shortcut keys help you speed up your surfing without lifting your hands from the keys. You do not need your mouse to select menus and buttons options. Basically keyboard shortcuts keys help you save time and perform tasks without leaving the keyboard.

Useful Internet Explorer shortcuts keys:

CTRL+A - Selects the all items on active page

CTRL+B - Display the "Organize Favorites" dialog box

CTRL+D - Add the active page to your favorites list

CTRL+F - Display "Find" dialog box to search text on active page

CTRL+I - Display the Favorites pane

CTRL+H - Display the History pane

CTRL+N - Use to open new Internet Explorer page

CTRL+W - Closes the active explorer window

CTRL+Tab - Go to address bar of current explorer page

ALT+Home - Use to open the home page of internet explorer

ALT+Left - Arrow Go to previous page of active page

ALT+Right - Arrow Go to next page of active page

ALT+A - Go to Internet Explorer Favorites Menu

ALT+D - Go to address bar of current explorer page

ALT+E - Go to Internet Explorer Edit Menu

ALT+F - Go to Internet Explorer File Menu

ALT+T - Go to Internet Explorer Tools Menu

ALT+V - Go to Internet Explorer View Menu

Tab - Move forward between all items on active web page

F5 - Refresh the active web page

CTRL+P - Use to print the active web page

F11 - Press F11 key to view any webpage in full-screen view and then again press for normal view.

Ctrl+Enter - Windows will automatically add both "www" and ".com" to a domain name. For example, if you type cooltechcheck.blogspot in your address bar and press Ctrl+Enter, then it will automatically become www.cooltechcheck.blogspot.com.

These shortcuts certainly speed up your browsing and save time. Once you get used to them, you'll see the difference.

Intel will release it's first quad-core processor for laptops next month, rounding out a broad update to its mobile computing platform.

"We're bringing quad-core to mobile in August," said Sujan Kamran, regional marketing manager for client platforms at Intel in Singapore. Kamran declined to disclose specifics of the quad-core chip, which will carry Intel's Core 2 Extreme moniker.

Getting a quad-core processor into a laptop is more about bragging rights than a genuine boost in performance. Very little PC software is designed to take advantage of multiple cores and it's unclear what performance benefits a quad-core chip would offer over a dual-core chip, such as the 3.06GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9100.

While official details of the upcoming quad-core chip are scarce, Australian PC maker Pioneer Computers is taking preorders for laptops based on an unreleased quad-core mobile chip, the 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300.

The chip is advertised as a A$1,449 (US$1,390) upgrade to Pioneer Computers' DreamBook Style 9008 laptop. But adding a quad-core processor to the laptop doesn't come cheap: the cost of the upgrade is more than the laptop's A$1,399 basic price.

Read More ..

Is your 5-6 month old camcorder outdated now? Well it may happen with any gadget you spent your hard-earned money on.

Technology advance everyday and the result is the market getting flooded with new products each day. The newer gadgets are usually more attractive and functional than their old counterparts and tend to replace them gradually. No one wants an old device when there is a better one available. But everytime you cannot replace your older one as it need to be used for some time and there's a big possibility that your new gadget will also be outdated pretty soon.

How about a solution to this problem? Well, there is this website Inyopocket.com. These guys let you take any product available on their site and use it till the time you get bored or annoyed with it and wish to buy a new gadget. They give you buy back guarantee on their products. It means that once you're over with the device, just send it back to them and they'll refund the money you agreed at while buying the product. It's a pretty good deal and you get a good amount of money back. The amount of money you receive also depends on the condition in which you return the product. If it's bad, then some reduction in the amount may happen and if it's excellent, you get a+10%. Buy back guarantees can even be acquired for products up to 60 days after the initial purchase.

It's a really good way to get the latest gadgets, use them until you hate them and then get something new from the money earned by returning that product.

Take a look at what's it all about ..

This tip will help you uninstall your upgraded version of Windows XP using the command prompt. This will only work if you have upgraded your operating system from a previous versions of Windows like Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and now want to revert to the operating system that was previously installed on your computer.

Follow these steps to revert to the operating system that was previously installed on your computer:

Note: To perform this trick, you need to have administrative rights.

1. First boot your system in Safe mode by pressing the F8 button as soon as the BIOS screen appears.
2. Once you get into the Windows XP Safe mode, click on Start button and type 'cmd' in Run option then press OK.
3. At the command prompt, type 'cd/' command and press enter.
4. Now again type the command 'cd\windows\system32' and press enter.
5. Now type 'osuninst.exe' to start the uninstall process.

Once you give the above command, you can begin with the OS uninstall procedure. Follow the instructions on the screen to restore your previous operating system.

Vista Firewall Control protects your applications from undesirable network incoming and outgoing activity, controls applications internet access. Allows you to control personal information leakage via controlling application network traffic.

Manages and synchronizes port forwarding provided by external network connection (firewall/router) box with applications requirements and activity.

Features:

• Designed for Windows Vista
• Zone based network permissions management
• Integration with Window Explorer for direct access permission management
• Integration with Windows Security Center
• Instant notifications of blocked activity
• Free versions available
• Special editions for portable devices (USB flash/HDD drives, iPod etc)
• Special editions for U3 smart devices
• Protection from incoming and outgoing threats
• External network connection (firewall/router) box support
• Automatic network connection box detection/management
• External/worldwide access to selected local application
• Port Forwarding management
• Automatic Port Forwarding-to-applications synchronization
• Simplicity of operation
• Per-application security settings

Download Vista Firewall Control 1.3 ..

Linksys' Dual-N Band Wireless Router just became official, giving users simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands so 802.11N users and 802.11G users can coexist without N users having to use the crowded 2.4GHz space. Also, since it's dual N-band, two N users can connect (one to each frequency) without interfering with the other. It's styled in Linksys' new form factor, which helps emphasize that Linksys is more for consumers (especially compared to their parent company Cisco).

The Price: $199 MSRP.

Theoretically, you can get rid of it (as well as a few other things). Windows 2000 power users should already be familiar with this tweak.

Fire up the Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the %SYSTEM ROOT% \ INF folder. What the heck is that thingy with the percentage signs? It's a variable. For most people, %SYSTEM ROOT% is C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it ??

Okay, on with the hack! In the INF folder, open 'sysoc.inf' (but not before making a BACKUP copy first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing "msmsgs" in it. Near the end of that particular line, you'll notice that the word "hide" is not so hidden. Go ahead and delete "hide". Save the file and close it. Now, open the Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add / Remove Windows Components icon. You should see "Windows Messenger" in that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set.

NOTE: there are other hidden system components in that 'sysoc.inf' file, too. Remove 'Hide' and the subsequent programs at your own risk.

Do u get irritated when acrobat reader takes 5/10 seconds to load once you open a PDF document? There is a way to speed up the loading.

Follow these steps:

1. Make sure Adobe Reader is not running. If it's opened, then it will lock the files and not allow you to move them. So close it first.
2. Go to the installation folder of acrobat reader
(C:\program files\adobe\acrobat\reader\..... whatever)
3. Move all the files and folders from the 'Plugins' directory to the 'Optional' directory. (Do not copy the files, cut and paste them)

After you follow these steps, your acrobat reader will open up quickly.

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should try to run this utility weekly to help prevent data loss.

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.

To run the Error Checking utility:

1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box, click the 'Tools' tab.
4. Click the 'Check Now' button.
5. The 'Check Disk dialog box will pop-up. In that dialog box, check the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" box, and then click on Start.
6. If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.

Brilliantly Awesome! Nothing else could be a better compliment for this spectacular LCD wonder. A double sided transforming LCD screen could be the future displays.

This concept display can be divided into two back to back monitors allowing two persons to indulge in their own worldly pleasures. With this you can be working on your next project on one screen and your room mate can be busy with the sci-fi movie on the other. If you want to watch the same stuff together, fold it back to recreate a big LCD TV. Isnt that a cool concept?

Unfortunately it is still in the concept phase and may take some more time to get finer details revealed. And so about pricing. Lets wait for that golden moment when this one finally gets launched in our part of the world.

Basically a digital camera is a device use to capture pictures without the use of film. The increased weight is because these cameras often use heavy batteries even though they have fewer moving parts. The storage used is similar to other computer based products so they are compatible with may other types of media we use to view images. This computer language is called pixels, tiny colored dots represented by ones and zeros that make up the picture that you just captured.

These cameras still use lenses in much the same way that conventional cameras do. Instead of film the digital camera captures the light with the aid of a system which records the light rays digitally. A feature of the better quality versions is they have a sensor that converts light into electrical charges using a different system to their less expensive cousins. Some people believe the device used to capture an image in cheaper cameras the CMOS will eventually be the replacement for the better CCD but this is highly doubtful.

You may have noticed the price of some models has dropped, making them much more affordable to many people; the CMOS image capture device is the reason for this. Whilst both the CMOS and CCD systems both capture an image using millions of solar cells to make up the whole picture, they perform this in slightly different ways Information to help you choose a suitable model of camera is mention in this review. From the point of view on having good quality photos, search for a high megapixel version as it will be worth it for the image you will capture with it; if you are lucky you may find a model that is discounted because a new version is about to be introduced.

Where you have a choice, optical zooms on digital cameras are better than digital ones - always; perhaps you can remember how grainy and blurred images become when you used your camcorder’s digital zoom function? Today’s nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries are very powerful and last for around a 1,000 charges so always use these if you want to save money. Although most are supplied with a number of photo functions, try for as many as you can because you will appreciate the effects that can be achieved; just a few examples of functions to look for are shown here:

* Video capture * Time lapse (i.e. one shot every 5 minutes for example) * Self-timer
High resolution cameras require more space to store images so you will probably need an additional storage card. Although larger storage cards have plummeted in price, a 1GB card should be enough for most peoples needs; some cameras won’t accept very high capacity cards anyway.

Cameras are now very tiny compared to a few years ago so you can actually carry around a high specification variant in your pocket and still be able to take fantastic pictures. Professional photographers may need heavy, bulky equipment but there is no requirement for a keen amateur to do so! Hopefully, these few tips will be enough to steer you in the right direction when you come to buy your camera. With all its technology, versatility and portability, the digital camera is the future of photography.

AUO recently announced the launch of curved displays, LCD panels that are just over a half millimeter thick and TFT multi-touch panels. The curved displays are said to be the first built on glass substrate. Because the display has a curve radius of 100mm, it needs a special thinning technology.

AUO will also release a superthin, 1.9" TFT display that is .63 mm thick, while the 8" multi-touch TFT panels that veer away from the trend of multi-touch glass panels.

The Windows Vista registry is an important core Windows Vista operating system component because it comprises all information that is required to keep your PC functional. The registry is basically a tree-like database in which all software and hardware configuration information, user preferences and system setup information is stored. You can view the Windows Vista registry by running the “regedit” command from Start > Run. When the Registry Editor window is displayed, you will see a tree-like folder structure—quite similar to Windows Explorer.

The registry comprises five root keys—HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG—which you will see in the right-pane of the Registry Editor. These root keys are further divided into subkeys and sub-subkeys with each key comprising zero or more values in which configuration data is stored.

When your PC is first installed, this registry tree is quite small and contains only the information that is required for the functioning of your Vista PC. However, as you start working on your system and start performing activities such as, adding new applications, changing system configuration, creating new files and folders, and even browsing the Web, information is accessed, added or removed from the registry. This builds up the registry and it gradually grows in size. The problem starts when, in the process, a large amount of invalid, outdated, and corrupt information strays into the registry and unnecessarily contributes toward its growing size. Many things happen, when you your Windows Vista registry grows to a very large size:

• The registry becomes unstable and easily gets damaged and fragmented.
• Data access speed slows down, and PC performance deteriorates leading to frequent system freezes and crashes.
• Accumulation of a large number of invalid and incorrect entries in the registry generates frequents system errors.

When the situation gets out of hand your registry may fail and leave your PC unbootable. This is the reason why it is important to regularly backup your Vista registry. Because if you have a backup, if your registry fails, you can easily restore it from the backup, get rid of Vista registry problems, and have your PC up and running again.

You must also backup Vista registry before you:

• Make any major system configuration change.
  Install or uninstall a large application.
• Make direct edits to the registry using the Registry Editor.
• Perform registry scan and repair using a registry cleaner tool.

Methods to Perform Registry Backups

There are many different methods that you can use to perform registry backups. Some of the most commonly used methods are discussed here.

Methods # 1: Registry Editor: To backup the registry from Registry Editor, open the File menu in the Registry Editor window and select Export. Specify the name of the backup file in the File name box, in the Export range section, select All to backup the entire registry tree, or select Selected branch and specify the name of the branch in the text box provided and then select Save.

Note: To restore just double-click the backup file and select Yes to confirm your decision.

Methods # 2: System Restore: System Restore is a utility that automatically creates snapshots—or restore points—of your PC system files, including the registry, on daily basis or before you make any major change to the PC. You can also create manual restore points by opening the tool from, Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. When you restore your system using this tool, all your system configuration information and registry is reverted to the time when the snapshot was taken.

Methods # 3: Registry Tool: One of the easiest methods to backup the registry is by using a registry tool. There many different tools available in the market, you must select the one that suffices your needs and is compatible with Vista. These tools are primarily GUI-based, and you can easily use their backup and restore feature to take regular registry backups and restore them if your registry fails. Many advanced registry cleaner tools also enable you to undo registry edits, which make them more useful to the user, in comparison to the other tools.

How to be sure if your anti-virus program is working properly or not ? Using this simple method you can figure out if it's functioning correctly or not.

Copy the below line on a notepad. Then save it with the name of 'fakevirus.exe' or any other name you wish. Just make sure that you add .exe at the end of the file name. After you save it, give it a scan and you'll know it all.

Here's the line -

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

If your anti-virus is working, it will alert you. Otherwise you need to pay attention to your program.

The Dell XPS 730 H2C is Dell's highest-performing consumer PC ever. It comes with the usual gaming rig accoutrements: lighted windowed case, hulking chassis, overclocked quad-core processor, latest technology, and dual-card graphics. Since each ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 card has two GPUs on it, this is really a quad-GPU gaming leviathan. At this price level, however, only high-end gamers with deep pockets need apply. It yielded some of the better gaming performance I've seen lately, but for the time being you're really buying a system with future-proofing built in. You can get this thing for $6,629 direct.

Exceedingly popular, AVG Free offers rock-solid protection, but only the bare necessities. The security features include a real-time shield to prevent infections, antivirus and antimalware wrapped up in one engine, and a link scanner for Web surfing with care.

By default, AVG is set to search for new virus definitions daily, but you can always use the scheduling tool to change this. Should a virus create serious system problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode. The program doesn't tax your system when scanning or when running in the background, and it always proved effective in our tests. The new interface is much easier to navigate than in previous version, with tabbed navigation on the left assisting users in drilling down to the tools they need.

Download AVG Free 8.0 ..

Some people hate text messaging simply because of the hassle to compose a message using the cell-phone keypad. You could always upgrade to a keyboard-equipped phone like the LG Voyager, AT&T Tilt, or RIM BlackBerry Curve, but even those models require you to use your thumbs when it comes to text input. Plus, it probably seems excessive to spend hundreds of dollars on a new phone just for the sake of easier text messaging.

How about your voice doing the fingerwork for you? A free service called Jott will transcribe your spoken message into text and deliver it via SMS to anyone in your contact list (which you have to set up in advance on the Jott site). Just speed-dial Jott from your cell phone, say the name of the person you want to contact, and then start talking.

USB Drives are a necessity for most people today. New models appear in the market everyday. The latest is an 8GB drive with "the world's smallest 8GB drive" tag. This thing weighs less than a nickel and is just a little bigger than a quarter.

What may happen with this drive is that it may get accidentally washed in someone's pocket. So to deal with this problem, they've made it water-resistant. Hope that we get to see more such 'small stuff'.

Watching videos over YouTube is great fun. You get to see loads of videos everyday. Seeing them is pretty easy but when it comes to saving these videos to your hard drive, then it might be a bit difficult.

What about downloading these videos with just a 'kiss' ? You might be wondering what this 'kiss' is. Well this relates to a new method of downloading YouTube videos. What you actually have to do is to just add the word 'kiss' at the begining of a YouTube video URL. For example you want to download this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX8L1QYwZ7c.
To get it using the method described above, modify the URL like this - 'http://www.kissyoutube.com/watch?v=AX8L1QYwZ7c'. Hope you got hold of it now.

You must be thinking how all this happens. It's pretty simple. There's a website called kissyoutube.com which is doing all this work for you. This method is quite simple and easy and requires you to install no other software.

Google has started a new project named OpenSocial. OpenSocial is a set of common APIs for developers to create applications that work on websites like Orkut, Facebook etc. that have chosen to participate.

The much awaited Orkut applications are now live. For now, these applications are available only to Ethiopian Orkut members. But don't worry, you can still get them.
Follow the steps below:
* Change the country in your profile to Estonia.
* Now, you'll will get an option to 'add apps' in the left hand side menu.
* Click on the option. Now you'll be in the application directory. Choose the application you want to try.

For now, these are some of the available apps -
1. PhotoAttack
2. Horoscopes
3. Emote!
4. Music iLike
5. JogaTV by Nike
6. Top Friends by Slide.com

There are not much apps on Orkut at the present moment but you will see many more in the time to come. So just wait and watch.

Are you having trouble with your Windows Explorer ? Does it take a lot of time to open up, even if your hardware configuration is good ?

If yes, then you can resolve this issue. One thing for sure is that you're on a network, and XP is always monitoring shared resources-a printer, for instance, or a networked folder-so as to establish a connection to those resources easily. But you can correct this thing and turn off the monitoring-and still access shared stuff.

To do so, follow the steps:
1. Open Windows Explorer, go to Tools, Folder Options.
2. Click on the View tab and uncheck 'Automatically search for network folders and printers'.

After doing this, you'll definitely feel some change. Your Explorer would speed up.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 brings with it a wide array of features plus an 18X zoom lens and all this into a relatively compact body. This 8.3-megapixel camera provides above-average image quality. At $399.95, it's a good bargain. A worthy follow-up to Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, the FZ18 puts in some important features like a longer zoom and wider angle, higher sensitivity and resolution, and Intelligent Auto Mode, which includes face detection, automatic scene selection, intelligent ISO, and continuous autofocus.

The best part of the FZ18 is its 18X wide-angle Leica lens, which has a range of 4.6mm to 82.8mm. The wide angle is a welcome upgrade from the FZ8, allowing you to capture more in group portraits and landscapes. The zoom operates at two speeds, depending on how far you push the zoom lever, and operation is smooth and seamless.

It's ISO ranges from 100 to 1,600. The camera has an Intelligent ISO mode that detects moving subjects and automatically increases the ISO to decrease blur. Panasonic has added a high-sensitivity mode that enables you to capture photos at an ISO as high as 6,400, although the resolution drops to 3MP. The FZ18 offers not only raw mode, it also provides a raw-plus-JPEG option, which isn't usually found on inexpensive superzooms.

The FZ18's design showcases Panasonic's thoughtful attention to ergonomics. Weighing around 14.4 ounces, the camera is lightweight for a superzoom yet feels solid and well constructed. The mode dial lets you select one of 14 top-level settings, including the primary mode selections and most popular scenes. Panasonic has added discrete manual focus and macro buttons, allowing for direct operation.

The back of the camera has a 2.5-inch, 207,000-pixel display. The screen is very bright. The LCD is sometimes slow to refresh. If that's a problem, you can frame shots with the electronic viewfinder, which has a 188,000-pixel display and includes an adjustable diopter.

The buttons on the FZ18's back are well positioned for ergonomic use. The two that you'll use most are the main menu cursor buttons and the joystick. The center button of the menu cursor puts you into the menu system; the four surrounding directional buttons let you control exposure, flash settings, the self-timer, and image playback. If you prefer, you can navigate the menu using the small joystick. It's convenient for accessing commonly changed settings, such as ISO and white balance.

Image stabilization works well. Panasonic gives you two stabilization settings: In mode 1, the image stabilizer is constantly working; in mode 2, the stabilizer is activated only when the shutter button is pressed. The face detection function, new to the Panasonic's superzoom line, automatically sets exposures and focus. It can recognize up to 15 faces, and it worked well under normal lighting conditions, although sometimes not as well in low light. The FZ18 has 17 scene modes, plus an advanced mode that lets you fine-tune the settings in popular scenes. In portrait mode, for instance, you can choose among normal, soft skin, outdoor, indoor, and creative settings.

For video, you can record motion JPEGs at 30 frames per second (up to 2GB in size) at resolutions of 640 by 480 and 320 by 240 pixels at the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, and 848 by 480 pixels in 16:9 aspect ratio. The camera adjusted well to various lighting conditions and color was impressive, but you can't zoom during video capture.

The Panasonic Lumix FZ18 is at the top of its class in features, and its performance was marred only slightly by noisy images under low lighting conditions, which is typical of cameras in this category. It's a perfect option for the photographer who wants more than a point-and-shoot but doesn't need the advanced features of D-SLR models.

Are you setting up a domain? Then make sure you buy your domain name from a reputed domain seller. Pay Less Domains is one such domain registration website. It makes your work easy and sells domain names at cheap and affordable rates.

Sometimes domain resellers do charge high rates but getting your domain through Pay Less Domains is affordable. It's an amazing reseller and even provides users with web hosting service. They sell out .com and .net domains for 11.95 AUD per annum. That comes out to be less than 1 AUD a month! You can even get yourself a .com.au domain for 34.98 AUD for 2 years. You can check out more on their pricing here.

That's not all. With every domain name you register through them, you get 24/7 Customer Support, FREE Email Hosting, FREE URL Forwarding, FREE Domain Name Parking, FREE Renewal Reminders and much more. You can even get some discount if you register a domain for two years or more or on bulk domain registration.

Seems interesting, ain't it? So, for your next domain registration, try Pay Less Domains.

There is a way to remain somewhat anonymous on the most popular of all search engines, Google. Remember that if you have a username log-in with any of the Internet search engines, their systems can build a profile of you. If you're truly paranoid you may want to delete or cancel any free e-mail accounts that are associated with Web search engines and scrub their cookies from your hard drive. If you use any of the services provided by Google, such as Groups, Wallet, AdSense or Gmail, then you have an account that points back to your identity. This means that everything you do within the search can now point back to you as a unique user. To stop this from happening, follow these steps:

1. Go to www.google.com/psearch to sign in to your account.
2. Click on the Search History page and pick some days on the calendar to see every search made since you created your Google account.
3. Select the Clear Search History button, check off items that you wish to remove, and then click the Clear History button.
4. To prevent Google from collecting this data in the future, select items such as Web, Images, and News that you don't want to collect data, then press the Pause button.

This way you'll remain totally anonymous while you search anything on the Google search engine.

Microsoft Corp. will stop making HD DVD video players for its Xbox 360 game system, a move that comes days after Toshiba Corp. backed off the HD DVD business.

The move, announced on Saturday, follows recent decisions by Hollywood studios such as Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros and retailer Wal-Mart to exclusively support Sony Corp's Blu-ray, a high-definition video technology rival to HD DVD.

Microsoft had been one of the biggest backers of HD DVD along with Intel Corp, but the tide turned against HD DVD after Warner Bros, which had supported both, defected to Blu-ray last month.

Microsoft said it does not see the decision having any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or its position in the market. It pledged to continue product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD players that it has already sold.

Microsoft, in a statement on its GamerScoreBlog, said that it did not "believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace."

The bundling of movie players is a key added feature in the battle for dominance in the next-generation video game console market, where players like Microsoft and Sony see their devices as hubs for delivering games, movies and Web content to living room television.

Sony's PlayStation 3 has a Blu-ray player built in.

"HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room...," Microsoft's statement said.

Microsoft, which earlier said that it would consider supporting Blu-ray technology should consumers want it, did not say if it would make Blu-Ray players.