After more than a decade of sensational buzz, Starbucks is struggling nationwide as it faces slowing sales growth and increased competition. The man who built the chain, Howard D. Schultz, has retaken the reins in an effort to revive it. He is scheduled to roll out a plan on Wednesday that will almost certainly involve shutting down more stores in the United States while accelerating expansion overseas.

Mr. Schultz has said he wants to refocus on the "customer experience," recapturing some of the magic of the chain's early years, when employees -- who had heard the term barista before Starbucks came along? -- made the drinks by hand and customers were excited by top-notch coffee.

Mr. Schultz faces a difficult task: He has to slow down the company to make stores feel more like hip neighborhood coffeehouses while also delivering the steady growth that investors have come to expect from Starbucks. Can he pull it off?

Details of Mr. Schultz's plan remained under wraps on Tuesday. Officially, he has not given up the goal of opening 40,000 stores worldwide, which no food or beverage chain has ever achieved. Wall Street will be watching closely on Wednesday to see how he reconciles that plan with the need to close some stores and refocus the business in the United States.

But a growing number of companies directed to the needs of seniors are fomenting just such rebellion, insisting that home design doesn't stop at geezerhood or the first hearing aid. We're no longer stuck with grim, all-function, no-aesthetic medical supply fare that adds insult to infirmity. Seniors and others now can choose from an array of chic aids that don't make them feel as if they've just been discharged from intensive care.

Leading the charge are websites such as Elderluxe and Gold Violin, as well as legendary architect and industrial designer Michael Graves, who is introducing a line of tub bars, canes and other aids for daily living that are sleek and modern. Need a hand with the groceries? Forget that decrepit granny cart that looks as if it came from Woolworth's in 1962. Upgrade to a black patent leather shopping trolley from Murval of Paris, available from www.elderluxe.com.

"We're saying that aging can be a more positive experience. You can still have a very vibrant and active life," says Patrick Conboy, founder of Chicago-based Elderluxe, a Sharper Image for seniors that sells designer shower chairs, home exercise equipment calibrated for older bodies, high-tech body-fat analyzers and a tricked-out $3,200 scooter that looks ready for the NASCAR circuit.

The LEGO history began in 1932 in Denmark, when Ole Kirk Christansen founded a small factory for wooden toys in the unknown town of Billund in the south of the country. To find a name for his company he organized a competition among his employees. As fate would have it however, he himself came up with the best name: LEGO - a fusion of the Danish words "LEg" and "GOdt" ("play well").

Barely 15 years later Christiansen discovered plastic as the ideal material for toy production, and bought the first injection moulding machine in Denmark. His courage, input and investment paid off: in 1949 he developed the LEGO brick prototype, which continues to excite countless children and adults to this very day. Over the years he perfected the brick, which is still the basis of the entire LEGO game and building system today. Of course there have been small adjustments in shape, colour and design from time to time, but today's LEGO bricks still fit bricks from 1958.

Production of LEGO bricks with Acrylonitrile Butadine Styrene (ABS) began in 1963. This matt finish plastic is extremely hard, has a scratch and bite-resistant surface, and is ideal for keeping the bricks connected. LEGO labs regularly monitor the high quality of the ABS for the bricks.

The Lego company plans to celebrate the anniversary with, among other things, a worldwide contest to discover the best kid Lego builder. Each country will have its own national champion, Lego promises, and these lucky kids will get the right to come to headquarters in Denmark to fight it out for the world title.

In a place where a gallon of gasoline is almost as cheap as a liter of bottled water in the U.S., anything seems possible.

With the world's tallest skyscraper and most opulent hotel, plus solar-powered parking meters, desalinated seawater from the taps, indoor alpine skiing and a new archipelago of artificial islands, the desert city of Dubai has transformed itself so completely that it now figures as one of the Eastern Hemisphere's great, cosmopolitan centers, on a par with Singapore and Hong Kong.

But wedged on the Persian Gulf between Abu Dhabi and Sharjah (two of the seven mini-states that make up the United Arab Emirates), it is off the radar of many Westerners as a destination. When it's thought of at all, it's considered faraway, exotic and possibly dangerous, although the State Department has issued no warnings on it and the agency's website says crime is not a problem.

After passing through Dubai International Airport several times on my way from Europe to the Far East, I finally decided to see the city-in-the-making during the Dubai Shopping Festival, which began Thursday and continues through Feb. 24. The fest celebrates the city's favorite pastime with fireworks, concerts and up to 75% reductions on designer fashions, jewelry, electronics and curios from all over the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The shopping was grand, the winter weather not unlike that in L.A. (summers, though, are much hotter) and I never worried about my safety.

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About $400 billion worth of tourism projects are expected to be launched by 2010 in hopes of drawing 15 million visitors a year. (Las Vegas, which attracted 38.9 million visitors last year, plans to spend only about 10% that amount on tourism.) Dubai's projects include a public light rail system that is to be built in a four-year sprint, an air-conditioned outdoor Universal Studios Dubailand, a one-of-a-kind DreamWorks Animation theme park, a Tiger Woods-designed golf course and an underwater hotel.

Faced with growing competition from cheaper rivals, Starbucks Corp. is selling small cups of drip coffee for $1 with free refills as part of a test in its hometown. That's about 50 cents less than the Seattle-based coffee retailer normally charges for an "short" 8 oz. cup of joe, though prices vary from store to store. The suggested retail price for a small 12 oz. premium roast at McDonald's is $1.07, and at Dunkin' Donuts it's $1.39 for a 10 oz. small, the companies said Wednesday.

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Starbucks would not say when the test began, how many stores are part of it, whether it's considering a similar promotion for any other brews or whether any new test markets are on the horizon. "Testing is a way of life for us, as we are constantly looking for new ways to connect with the customer and provide the best Starbucks experience," the statement said. Starbucks shares rose $1.42, or 7.6 percent, to close at $20.09 on Wednesday. The stock has traded between $17.66 and $35.67 over the past year.

Developed jointly with Nichia of Japan, the new laser unit is just 3mm thick and should help manufacturers miniaturise the hardware in their Blu-ray drives. Sony says it imagines the device ending up in 9.5mm laptop drives sometime this year.

Cost savings come from a simpler manufacturing process that will yield dividends in mass production, while other features include the ability to handle dual-layer BDs and disks with organic dye in the recording layers. Organic disks can be churned out from existing DVD production lines, so it's a win-win situation here.

The Project Runway winner you've seen on TV. We challenged designers to create a new look using Levi's 501 jeans and Trucker jacket, capturing the originality and spirit of the originals. This strapless dress has curvy, jean-style seaming, a seven-button placket, and stretches to fit. Invisible back zipper. Proceeds benefit YouthAIDS. Due to limited inventory, item may not be available for exchange.

Were you surprised when the judges had all positive feedback for you?

I was so shocked to hear them say something good about what I had done ... surprised ....

You say at one point that you don't think the judges will like your garment, but you don't care -- was that true?

I was at the point in the game that I started to not care what the judges had to say about my work, so I truly didn't think I cared what they had to say. I guess I was wrong.

You won! What was your confidence level like after this challenge?

To those who can understand: Remember the feeling of never doing anything quite right ... in front of all your peers ... are told it's not good enough? Then on the day you least expect it you do something so right and it takes you by complete surprise. I was on a high and was ready for whatever challenge came!

Squabbles between Pakistan and India over trade-related issues are multiplying. The latest to erupt is over intellectual property protection for the prized pashmina wool and the products made from it, by getting a geographical indication tag. In dispute is the application filed by a Jammu and Kashmir-based handicrafts association to register "Kashmiri Pashmina" as the exclusive brand for products made in this Indian state. This will lend "Kashmiri Pashmina" the same kind of brand protection enjoyed by, say, champagne and Darjeeling tea. And the challenger, predictably, is a pashmina-trading organisation in Pakistan which wants products produced in the part of Kashmir under that country's occupation to be given the same IPR protection.

Prima facie, Pakistan would appear within its rights to put forth such a plea, as pashmina is produced from the under-growth of the hair of a special changthangi or pashmina breed of goat that has been indigenous to the high altitudes of the Himalayas, including the Pakistan-occupied region. But if that logic is applied, Nepal too should be made a party to this patent protection as its upper mountainous reaches have also been home to pashmina goats for thousands of years and pashmina-based products have been woven there for a long period. Even in India, for that matter, pashmina goats have not been confined to the Kashmir region, and have inhabited the higher hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal as well. The real difference lies in the quality, as also exclusivity, of the pashmina fleece and its products produced in different regions though, admittedly, all kinds of genuine pashmina wool possess the envious trait of being incomparably soft. India's case might be that additional scientific effort has gone into refining the quality of pashmina and improving the fleece yield of these goats.

The researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to give rechargeable lithium ion batteries--used in laptops, iPods, video cameras, and mobile phones--as much as 10 times more charge. This potentially could give a conventional battery-powered laptop 40 hours of battery life, rather than 4 hours.

The new batteries were developed by assistant professor Yi Cui and colleagues at Stanford University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering. "It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development." Citing a research paper they wrote, published in Nature Nanotechnology, Cui said the increased battery capacity was made possible though a new type of anode that utilizes silicon nanowires. Traditional lithium ion batteries use graphite as the anode. This limits the amount of lithium--which holds the charge--that can be held in the anode, and it therefore limits battery life.

Silicon anodes have the "the highest theoretical charge capacity" according to Cui's paper, but they expand when charging and shrink during use: a cycle that causes the silicon to be pulverized, degrading the performance of the battery. For 30 years, this dead end stumped researchers, who poured their battery life-extending energy into improving graphite-based anodes.

Cui and his colleagues looked at this old problem and overcame it by constructing a new type of silicon nanowire anode. In Cui's anode, the lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter that is a thousandth of the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate to four times their normal size as they soak up lithium, but unlike previous silicon anodes, they do not fracture.

In its landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states must allow out-of-state wineries to ship directly to residents if they gave their own wineries direct shipping rights. Now 36 states and the District of Columbia allow wineries to ship directly to residents, although those rights are sometimes limited to just a few cases of wine annually or are accorded only to small wineries, said the Wine Institute, the major trade group for the California wine industry.

But the decision only addressed wineries. Retailers can ship to just 14 states, and that will drop to 13 this summer when an Illinois law takes effect prohibiting the practice, said Tom Wark, executive director of the Sacramento-based Specialty Wine Retailers Assn. "We have been able to ship wine to Illinois since we started our e-commerce site back in 2000, but because of new state legislation, we are going to lose that privilege," said David Richards, executive vice president of the Concord, Calif.-based Beverages & More chain.

Such restrictions are generally supported by wine wholesalers and distributors, who see any relaxing of the rules as an assault on a distribution system that has served them profitably since the end of Prohibition in 1933. They argue that the laws make good social policy by reducing access by minors, ensuring state tax collection and providing consumers with a wide selection of products. Retailers disagree, saying that allowing people to order wine in other states improves consumer choice and often saves money.

"This is a pretty clear-cut argument about economics," said Greg Taylor of Taylor & Norton Wine Merchants in Sonoma. "The wholesalers want to have an iron grip on sales." What wholesalers charge for wine varies greatly by state, depending on competition and regulatory issues. BevMo, for example, sells the highly regarded 1999 Dom Perignon champagne for $114.99 in its California stores and through its website. The same bubbly costs $134.99 at its Arizona stores. "In many states the wholesalers are donating huge sums of political money to ensure that outside players are blocked from the market," said Keith Wollenberg, K&L's spokesman and Burgundy wine buyer.

Many women are aware that implants can break down over time, requiring replacement just like car tires. Both saline implants, made out of a saltwater solution, and silicone implants, made out of gelatinous silicone, can form minute tears in their rubbery shells, causing ruptures. In the case of such defects that require product replacement, both manufacturers, Allergan Inc. and the Mentor Corporation, offer guarantees. Mentor has a 10-year guarantee to replace implants and defray some surgical fees; Allergan's warranty includes lifetime implant replacement and up to $1,200 for fees for the first 10 years.

Dr. Mark L. Jewell, a plastic surgeon in Eugene, Ore., who is a past president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, said he warns his patients that breast augmentation surgery automatically guarantees a second operation at some future date. He added that many patients in clinical studies had elected to have follow-up operations to change implant type, size or position.

"Women are used to having their hair or nails done on a regular basis to maintain their appearance," said Dr. Jewell, who has conducted clinical trials for both implant manufacturers and is a consultant for Allergan, the manufacturer behind the ads running in Elle. "Ultimately, breast implants may also be a matter of maintenance."

But a rupture is only one of the local complications that may engender additional surgery. Like cocoons that grow around larvae, scar tissue can form around implants; and sometimes that scar capsule hardens and squeezes the implant, causing pain and deforming breasts. And saline implants can cause visible, tactile rippling beneath the skin.

Earlier this month, Starbucks completed the switch to serving milk only from cows that weren't given the artificial growth hormone, which helps cows produce more milk.

For its turnaround effort, Starbucks has said it plans to reduce the number of offerings at its stores while adding more-exciting products. The company said this change is unrelated to the turnaround plan. Organic milk is scheduled to come off the menu Feb. 26. Starbucks has charged extra for drinks made with it.

Drinks with organic milk account for less than 1% of Starbucks' beverage sales, said Michelle Gass, the company's senior vice president of global strategy. "Far and away, the No. 1 reason people are purchasing organic milk is because [it lacks] the growth hormone," she said.

In 2006, sales of organic dairy products in the U.S. grew 25% to $2.67 billion, making it the second fastest-growing organic food category behind meat, according to the Organic Trade Association. Some quick-service restaurants, including Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., have been adding organic ingredients to their menus.

William L. McComb, chief executive officer of the $4.99 billion Liz Claiborne Inc., told WWD that the "long-term" deal — the brainchild of Dave McTague, executive vice president of partnered brands for Liz Claiborne Inc. — has been in the works for months.

"Dave walked in the door with a charter to fill the emotional vacuum of the brand," McComb said. "Liz Claiborne is an extremely well-known, well-regarded brand that failed to deliver on the core values that made it great in the first place: color, fit, value and style. The turning point was when Liz Claiborne died [in June], and we got lots of calls and letters from consumers who didn't know she hadn't been working here since 1989."

Claiborne is hopeful that Mizrahi can bring his fashion wit and color sense to the struggling women's collection. Mizrahi's appointment follows Monday's announcement that John Bartlett will design the Claiborne men's sportswear line, under the label Claiborne by John Bartlett, also launching for spring 2009. Unlike the men's line, the core Liz Claiborne collection will not be called Liz Claiborne by Isaac Mizrahi, though his association with the brand will be clear on the labels.

"Isaac is an international icon," McTague said. "He not only knows this woman, he adores her. His core values are so perfectly aligned with our core brand: fit, color, comfort, value, fun and a uniquely American brand."

Apple's application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes a process for placing an order and then notifying customers when an order is ready to grab at a pick-up station. One goal, the patent application notes, is to avoid an "annoying wait in a long queue if the purchaser arrives before completion of the order."

U.S. Patent Application #20070291710 describes a device that also would keep tabs on where a user shops and what he or she likes to buy. Computers at participating stores would keep track of regular customers and their favorite orders.

Customers might tap a button to order their favorite drink, say a double-shot mocha, as they stroll up to the nearest coffee shop. When the drink is ready go to, the device--such as an iPhone--would chime or blink to let the thirsty one know it's time to scoop up the order at the counter.

With plenty of space for all of your entertainment system, a place for an integral flat-screen TV, a handy bar, and display areas for treasured possessions, this contemporary wall unit by MisuraEmme is the solution to uncluttering your living area. Broad expanses of reflective glass create the sleek and futuristic look of the wall unit, hiding and revealing items as you please. Being a modular system, the wall unit is flexible and easily adapted to your specific needs. MisuraEmme is a company looking to the future in other ways... they are proud of their low environmental impact through their use of MOS technology. This varnishing technology involves water soluble solvents and, in short, the MOS method of lacquer spraying eliminates the release of toxic particles into the air. MisuraEmme proves that cutting-edge style can indeed have a conscience.

Beauty and Fashion

Steal the Look (..We Mean Rent It!): Brides in lust with the luxury labels have found salvation at sites like bagborrowandsteal.com; for less than $100, you can rent a $2,600 pair of Vera Wang diamond and pearl-studded earrings or a Judith Leiber jeweled-encrusted clutch worth over $3,500.

Split-Personality Brides: Brides are doing a double take during the wedding: doing presto-changos with their gowns (sometimes up to three wardrobe changes) and sneaking away during cocktail hour for a whole new hairdo (classic updos for the ceremony, then sexy tousled tresses on the dance floor!).

Heirloom Engagement & Wedding Rings: Jennifer Love Hewitt just got a bauble that's been in fiancé Ross McCall's family for over 100 years. Alicia Silverstone wed Chris Jarecki wearing a ring crafted from his great-great-grandmother's ring. Passing down a time-honored piece of jewelry adds another layer of sentimentality that can't be bought in a store.

Reception Redux

The "Marie Antoinette" Wedding: We bet that Sofia Coppola had no idea that her fashionable blockbuster would inspire a whole new class of bourgeoisie brides! Lush floral centerpieces, rich gilded colors, big gowns, brocade, and decadent receptions are fit for royalty, complete with hand-painted invitations, champagne tasting bars, seven courses, and extravagant dessert displays!

'80's Cover Bands: Oh L'Amour! Couples are going beyond the classic wedding band and hiring '80s cover bands to play their favorite tunes from Men at Work, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Other genre bands for hire: classic rock, college frat-house bands, swing orchestras, and Latin ensembles-along with hired dancers to get the party moving.

Green Weddings: Couples continue to be earth-conscious in 2008: from email invites for weddings and festivities to serving up locally grown, free-range fare and donning bio-friendly wedding gowns made of 100 percent silk and cottons. They're also honeymooning at eco-resorts and gathering friends for charitable showers at soup kitchens and local park events.

Going Hi-Tech

The Social Network Wedding: From viral proposal videos posted on YouTube to enhanced wedding web pages and Facebook-friend polling on first dance songs and menu options, weddings have become public planning ventures. Look for couples to log online, use blogs as "communication central," and, with new mobile technology, post on-the-road photos to get immediate feedback on decisions from their bridesmaids, friends, and family.

The Real World: Your Wedding: Couples will get celebrity exposure with major video footage of their wedding days, from "day in the life of" documentary-style videos to "same day edits" where ceremony photos and footage are highlighted at the reception. Guests become paparazzi with disposable video cameras on the tables (check out The Knot Shop).

Travel

Daring Destination Weddings: The destination wedding trend will continue to evolve as new spots emerge. From taking guests on African safaris to skiing the slopes of Sundance, fly-fishing in Big Sky, Montana, and jetting off to Barcelona and Scottish castles!

Honeymoons on Steroids: Twice as long, twice as far, twice as memorable: Couples are going the distance for their deluxe vacations. Some of the types of honeymoon destinations The Knot listed for 200 include the Italian Coast, cruising the Nile, the Panama, East Asian excursion and private villa.

"There was a lot of discussion about Victoria being in our ads and tons of blogs on the Internet about 'Should she or shouldn't she?,' 'What's going on with Marc Jacobs?,' and 'Has he lost his mind?'," Jacobs explained. "We thought the funniest thing would be to show the Victoria Beckham ads that don't show Victoria Beckham, but just to see those legs coming out of the bag."

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"The images are humorous and ironic," Beckham said. "You can't be afraid to experiment with fashion, especially when working with Marc and Juergen — you have to push the envelope and show a different side. "Marc is a genius," she added. "I completely trusted his vision and the opportunity to work with Juergen again after so many years was a privilege."

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And Jacobs couldn't care less that his muse just topped Mr. Blackwell's worst-dressed list. "Mr. Blackwell to me is this fictitious thing," he said. "I know there is a Mr. Blackwell, but it means absolutely nothing to me. It's like saying, 'What do you think of Santa Claus' list? I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was a little kid. The idea of best-dressed and worst-dressed is so subjective. To me, the best-dressed people are the ones happiest with the way they look and how much they enjoy getting dressed. I am sure there are people on that list that have appalling taste, but it doesn't matter if it makes them happy." Plus, he added, "Getting attention for being well-dressed or poorly dressed is great, because it is attention."

As for Beckham, she was hard-pressed to pick a favorite image from the campaign. "Truth be told, I love them all," she said. "If I have to pick favorites, it's the package series: me coming out of the box in the gray knit dress shot with the hat, as well as the image of the oversize shopping bag. Certainly, if you can't get locked inside a Marc Jacobs store, then trapped inside a Marc bag has got to be the next best thing."

"I've also adopted a tip from Richard Giorla, nutritionist for Carmen Electra and Jennifer Lopez, to carry around a vial of grapefruit oil,' she added. 'He says that the oil lets out an aroma that affects your liver enzymes, which activates the nerves that cause fats to be broken down and burnt off. We spoke to doctors who backed that up but, from my point of view, I can only say that it noticeably and definitely reduces my appetite.'

Pearlman has picked up a few diet tricks of her own from the stars: 'Asparagus, parsley and dried prunes are a staple in many celebrities' cupboards - and now my own - because of their ability to repress hunger and reduce bloating. I've also started following the lead of Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford by taking a few sips of vinegar before going to dinner because the vinegar kills your hunger pangs,' she added. 'I have to admit the pounds have dropped off me since I picked up these tips.' Klum also claims putting Epsom Salts in her bathwater helps reduce bloating.

John Cusack, meanwhile, stays away from everything white, including flour, sugar and wheat and, more conventionally perhaps, Oprah Winfrey swears by Wulong Slimming Tea for weight loss and a healthy lifestyle.

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Some of the tales in Pearlman and Douglas's book detail bizarre behaviour by celebrities seemingly driven to near-distraction by their diets. 'I can't name her, but there is a young starlet who goes into Jerry's Deli in Beverly Hills every week and orders their famous three-storey chocolate cake,' said Pearlman. 'She looks at it for half an hour, then she drinks some water and leaves.'

Exposure to something that whets the appetite, such as a picture of a mouthwatering dessert, can make a person more impulsive with unrelated purchases, finds a study from the February 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. For example, the researchers reveal in one experiment that the aroma of chocolate chip cookies can prompt women on a tight budget to splurge on a new item of clothing.

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[A]nother experiment used a cookie-scented candle to further gauge whether appetitive stimulus affects consumer behavior. Female study participants in a room with a hidden chocolate-chip cookie scented candle were much more likely to make an unplanned purchase of a new sweater – even when told they were on a tight budget – than those randomly assigned to a room with a hidden unscented candle (67 percent vs. 17 percent).

"The scent of the appetitive stimulus led to reduced happiness with remote gains, which implied that participants in a present-oriented state were less sensitive to future values," Li explains. "In addition, [this] experiment showed that participants were more likely to satisfy their current and spontaneous desire if they were exposed to the unrelated appetitive stimulus before they made the decision."

[T]here is scarcely a woman in Britain wearing a pair of pants that actually fit her. Instead of having something that, sensibly and reassuringly, contains both the buttocks -- what I would call a good pair of pants -- they're wearing little more than gluteal accessories, or arse-trinkets. They're all in briefs, demi-briefs, bikinis, strings, midis, hi-legs or thongs.

These tight, elasticated, supposedly saucy partitions across the mid-derriere are, in terms of both comfort and aesthetics, as cruel as the partition between India and Pakistan. There is catastrophic physical displacement. Entire body parts are split asunder, and undertake vast migrations. With my own eyes, I have seen women walking around out there with anything between two and eight buttocks - and placed anywhere between the hip and the mid-thigh. This enforced deformity is not the fault of the pants. They are little guys, simply overwhelmed by the task that faces them. They are outnumbered. They are the Alamo. They are, indeed, often in terrible danger - many look like they're on the verge of being absorbed by their owners. A&E departments must have had a few emergency admissions for "emergency admissions" in their time.

Women, this manner of underwear cannot be an act of sanity. Why are we starving our bottoms of the resources - like an extra metre of material - to stay comfortable? Why have we succumbed to pantorexia? It is, of course, all a symptom of women's continuing, demented belief that, at any moment, they might face some snap inspection of their "total hotness," and have to reveal their underwear to a baying crowd, possibly featuring George Clooney.

In some ways, the fight is a replay of the VHS versus Betamax battle of the 1980s. This time, however, the Sony product appears to have prevailed. Revenge is sweet for Sony, which lost the Betamax vs. VHS wars. "The overwhelming industry opinion is that this decides the format battle in favor of Blu-ray," said Richard Doherty, research director at the Envisioneering Group, a market research firm in Seaford, N.Y.

Behind the studio's decision are industrywide fears about the sagging home entertainment market, which has bruised the movie industry in recent years as piracy, competition from video games and the Internet, and soaring costs have cut into profitability. Analysts predict that domestic DVD sales fell by nearly 3 percent in 2007, partly because of confusion in the marketplace over the various formats.

HD DVD, however, is not dead. Two major studios, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, have deals in place to continue releasing their movies exclusively on HD DVD, as does DreamWorks Animation. Warner Brothers, part of Time Warner, will also continue to release its titles on both formats until the end of May. But by supporting Blu-ray, Warner Brothers, the largest player in the $42 billion global home entertainment market, makes it next to impossible for HD DVD to recover the early mome