Toshiba and its partners yesterday raised the tempo in the battle to determine the next-generation DVD format, saying they were on track to launch next year a DVD recorder capable of storing more than eight hours of high-resolution content on one disc (around 27GB for single-layer and 54GB for dual-layer discs).

Microsoft’s Japanese unit, meanwhile, said the company’s next Windows-based operating system, called Longhorn, would be compatible with HD-DVD.

The HD-DVD format is competing with Blu-ray disc technology to become the standard for next-generation recorders.