Tokyo, Japan — If you can't beat 'em: Toshiba has finally applied to join the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and plans to introduce products that support the Blu-ray format.

The decision follows recent rumors that the company was working on Blu-Ray products. It formally abandoned its rival HD-DVD format in February 2008, after Blu-ray won support from all four of America's biggest movie studios. However, it carried on trying to push an enhanced DVD format for some time afterwards, claiming that Blu-ray was simply too expensive.

Now, Toshiba has finally caved in to pressure from consumers and retailers. It says it plans to introduce a series of Blu-ray products over the course of this year, including Blu-ray players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives.

"Details of the products, including the timing of regional launches, are now under consideration," it says.