In an effort to swing the tide in the high-definition format wars, Toshiba has announced the release of the first set of titles that support Internet connectivity features on second-generation HD DVD players. Although HD DVD and Blu-ray both launched last year, neither format is currently sporting all of their planned features. While we're still waiting for managed copy to appear later this year, Toshiba is talking up some of the interactive features which will be featured in releases that are already out or just around the corner.

The first title is the Japanese animated film Freedom, released last week. Freedom sports the relatively modest features of downloading an additional movie trailer, changing menu styles, and downloading different subtitles. A networked HD DVD player will grab all of this content from an online content server.

The HD DVD version of the hit film 300, due out at the end of July, will offer more substantial bonuses such as a strategy game and the ability to re-edit the movie in a different sequence and upload the results to a server hosted by Warner Bros. Blood Diamond, coming out on July 3 in HD DVD format, will offer an online poll as part of the special features.

Toshiba and other companies supporting HD DVD may need all the help they can get, as Blu-ray is generally acknowledged to be winning the high-definition battle. Few would say that HD DVD is winning, but as we have argued, it's really too early to tell right now.

Nevertheless, Blu-ray has the advantage of greater studio support: five out of six of the major studios are releasing titles in Blu-ray format compared to only three that are supporting HD DVD, and three of the five (Sony Pictures, Disney, and Fox) are exclusive to Blu-ray, compared to only one (Universal) which is exclusive to HD DVD. Blu-ray recently got another significant boost when Blockbuster announced that it would be the format of choice in 1,700 of its stores.

In terms of stand-alone players, HD DVD units are doing better than Blu-ray players: over 150,000 HD DVD units have been sold so far, and Toshiba claims that this represents over 70 percent of total stand-alone high definition player sales. Most of the sales have come after Toshiba's price cut, which saw their cheapest player selling for $299 after an instant rebate—this rebate has now been made permanent. Sony has responded by cutting the price on their cheapest Blu-ray unit, the BDP-S300, to $499.

While HD DVD might be out touting these new interactive features, Blu-ray also support interactivity, and it's only a matter of time before we see titles with interactive content coming from that camp.