Hoo-boy. Let's see...

HDMI is a fairly new standard (latest version is v1.2, but most hardware is v1.1 at best - some isn't even that - and a lot of folks are eagerly waiting for v1.3) that combines digital video and digital audio in a single connection. The digital video format was borrowed from the existing PC digital video format DVI, and the two are pin-compatible for digital video. The digital audio side will carry the same signals already carried by SPDIF (coaxial or optical digital audio), plus multichannel PCM (up to eight channels of uncompressed digital audio) DVD-Audio's MLP bitstream (v1.1) and SACD DSD bitstream (v1.2).

Whatever you were reading about the Toshiba was very deceptive (even inaccurate): both Toshiba players include multichannel analog audio outputs to support the millions of Dolby Digital receivers and processors already on the market. Blu-ray will do the same. The Toshiba clearly was rushed, and it lacks several features that the format could support.