IN BRIEF

Blockbuster to limit HD DVD format rentals

Blockbuster Inc. will rent high-definition DVDs only in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores when it expands its high-def offerings next month, dealing a major blow to the rival HD DVD format.

The move, being announced today, could be the first step in resolving a format war that has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players until they can determine which format will dominate the market.

Blockbuster has been renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year. But the company said it found that consumers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time.

Blockbuster will continue to rent HD DVD titles in the original 250 locations and online, the Dallas-based company said.

The decision was helped in large part by the lopsided availability of titles in Blu-ray, Smith said.

NEW YORK

New USB chip can be used worldwide

Chip designer Alereon Inc. said today it is releasing the first chip that uses a frequency band that is legal all over the world for wireless USB, a technology with the potential to cut the tangle of cables surrounding computers.

The new chip could prove an important step in persuading computer makers to incorporate the technology.

A few wireless USB products are already on the U.S. market, but they send and receive signals over a frequency that isn’t legal in most of the world because of potential interference with radar.

USB, or Universal Serial Bus, cables connect computers to mice, keyboards, printers, cameras and external hard drives. Alereon spokesman Mike Krell believes the new chip, the AL5100, will show up in external hard drives and cameras this year. They’ll connect to computers with optional wireless add-in cards, or dongles that go into USB ports.

Alereon spokesman Mike Krel expects the Austin, Texas-based company’s first UWB chipset, the AL4000, to reach the consumer market in a month or two in wireless USB hubs, to which peripherals can be connected with standard USB cables.

The hub itself communicates wirelessly to a dongle on the computer.