Bush nominates John Roberts for Chief Justice

George Bush has nominated John Roberts to succeed William Rehnquist as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Roberts' confirmation hearings were suppose to begin tuesday but they have been postponed to at least thursday because of Rehnquist's funeral on wednesday. If confirmed John Roberts would become the nation's 17th chief justice. Previously he has been considered to have a good chance of being confirmed, although the chief justice position will bring extra scrutiny. Rehnquist's death on Saturday of thyroid cancer was mentioned earlier here on Slashdot.

A rejected Slashdot news submission of mine.

Toshiba may delay HD-DVD launch to 2006

According to Reuters Toshiba may be delaying the launch of it's HD-DVD players that was originally slated for the end of this year. One of the reasons cited was that talks with Hollywood and major studios about the timing are still ongoing. It now seems that the players may not be shipped to retailers before 2006, at least not in the US. The Japanese might still get their hands on 'em by christmas. In any case it looks like a setback for the HD-DVD camp (Toshiba, NEC & Sanyo) if one of their few advantages over the Blu-ray camp (Sony & Matsushita), an earlier product launch, is essentially eliminated. Sony has been rumoured to consider a Q1 2006 launch for Blu-ray in the form of the PlayStation 3 console. There was an earlier Slashdot story about the rivals giving up on a unified format.

A Slashdot news submission of mine.