Apparently it's not enough that Toshiba is beginning to ship their third generation of HD-DVD players before most Blu-ray Disc manufacturers have begun shipping their second generation disc players. Or that Venturer, Onkyo and Integra have announced forthcoming HD-DVD players. Now Toshiba's HD-DVD format is going up against Blu-Ray Disc with a secret weapon - a classic Star Trek phaser gun.

Now that Paramount has pulled their support of Blu-ray vowing exclusive support for the HD-DVD format, the company has entered into a promotion with Toshiba whereby anyone who buys a Toshiba HD-DVD player, and also purchases the upcoming Star Trek Season One Boxed Set on HD-DVD will get a free Star Trek phaser remote control (complete with realistic sound effects). The remote actually operates Toshiba HD-DVD players.

The Toshiba phaser remote. Can it beat a Blu-ray Laser?

In a campy Star Trek-themed press event at CEDIA Expo in Denver, Toshiba executives, resplendent in vintage Star Trek costumes, announced new LCD TV models in their REGZA line and also announced the Star Trek and other HD-DVD promotions intended to win away market share from competitive next generation DVD format - the Sony-backed Blu-ray Disc.

In addition to the Star Trek promotion, 3rd Generation HD-DVD players will come with two HD-DVDs in the box ("300" and "Bourne Identity"), in addition to a "Five Free HD-DVD" mail-in rebate offer. Including the HD-DVDs in the box is actually more important than one might think as some market research firms count these HD-DVDs as "units sold." If Toshiba sells a large number of players, and each player has two discs in it, this could help bolster their software sales statistics as reported in future market research reports by Nielsen and others.

Toshiba's third generation of HD-DVD players will be transporting to a store near you, later this month.

As for the new HD-DVD players themselves, the new models in the "3" series will span from $299 for a 1080i model (HD-A3) to $499 for a Full HD 1080p model (HD-A35). The HD-A30 ($399) and HD-A35, will output 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080p), including 1080p/24 frame rates (as well as 1080p/60).

Jodi Sally, VP of Marketing, Digital AV Group, and honorary Star Fleet officer outlines HD-DVD's Q4 plan of attack.

The HD-A30 and HD-A35 models also feature "CE-Link" (HDMI™-CEC), allowing two-way control between the HD DVD player and a TV through an HDMI connection. The HD-A35 will also support native bitstream output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, as well as including on-board conversion of both formats (but DTS-HD decoding is of the "core" DTS bistream only). With a new chassis design, Toshiba's third generation players have a cabinet that is approximately 1/4-inch slimmer than second generation models. The HD-A30 will begin shipping this month, with the other two models following in October.

The 2nd generation HD-XA2 will remain as the flagship in the HD-DVD line at a list of $799. Toshiba announced an upcoming firmware upgrade to support 24fps in the current 1080p players (HD-XA2 and HD-A20). Also, in a sidebar conversation with Marketing V.P., Jodi Sally, she assured me that Toshiba is also committed to a firmware upgrade for the HD-XA2 that will allow it to pass next generation audio format bitstreams as well (Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD in all its variants). Exact time frame for such an upgrade is not yet known, but it is expected before the end of the year.

The presentation wrapped up with Craig Kornblau, President Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (along with execs from Warner and Paramount in the front row) announcing an aggressive fourth quarter marketing campaign around over 125 new titles, coming this year to HD-DVD, including the Harry Potter films, "Bourne Ultimatum," "Shrek the Third" and "Transformers."

It looks like this format war still has legs, and a winner has yet to emerge.

Update: for those who wanted a closer shot of the phaser remote, here you go (note that the controls for the HD-DVD player are actually on top (not pictured).