Criterion Collection Going Blu-Ray!
May 8, 2008
When it comes to the fine art of presenting movies on discs, Criterion’s treatment of films, in quality and extras, finds itself unparalleled. And that’s why it is amazingly good news that they’re finally going Blu-ray. What’s even cooler is that they’re not going to charge any more for Blu-ray versions of movies. The first 12 titles are:
The Third Man Bottle Rocket Chungking Express The Man Who Fell to Earth The Last Emperor El Norte The 400 Blows Gimme Shelter The Complete Monterey Pop Contempt Walkabout For All Mankind The Wages of Fear
- From Gizmodo
Media sales flat in 2007
May 2, 2008
The total haul for the 12-month period — rental dollars from movie theaters, TV fees and video/DVD receipts returning to the six major companies — came to $42.9 billion, slightly down from 2006’s $43 billion. The U.S. market slipped from 2006’s $24.5 billion to $22.7 billion, while international advanced from $18.5 billion to $20.2 billion.
The industry’s prevailing fear that home video sales are fast eroding was confirmed in the report, which indicated that the 5% uptick in international sales could not offset the eyebrow-raising 17% plunge in the U.S. domestic market. Moreover, the summary notes, a 4% growth in DVD in 2007 was not enough to offset the 850% decline in VHS.
Via THR
Blu-ray fumbles after winning format wars
April 30, 2008
Hot on the heels of last week’s report from ABI Research noting that many consumers may not see the picture quality difference between Blu-ray and standard DVDs comes the latest Blu-ray sales figures from NPD Group. And they’re not pretty.
According to NPD, sales of Blu-ray standalone players plummeted 40 percent from January to February, then rose a scant 2 percent from February to March. The general consensus was that once Toshiba dropped its support for the HD DVD format early this year, sales would increase.
In fact, sales of Blu-ray standalone players remain so low that NPD has not yet released actual numbers, for fear that it would be easy to identify individual retailers. The research group will start to give actual figures later this year, said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD.
Via NYtimes
Is Blu-ray a Placeholder Format?
March 27, 2008
According to Laurie Fincham, Chief Scientist at THX, Blu-ray doesn’t have much of a future. In fact, she was quoted as saying that “I think it’s too late for Blu-ray,” in a recent interview with Home Cinema Choice Magazine. The reason? She thinks that consumers are waiting for HD movies to become available on flash memory. While it is true that mankind probably doesn’t need another spinning format, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Blu-ray is taking off.
Via Gizmodo
Now, if you DO want Blu-ray 2.0 to work, you prolly need to buy one of these just announced Sony Blu-ray Players
March 24, 2008
Sony’s first Blu-ray disc player that can download bonus materials like trailers and games from the Internet will debut this summer, the company announced Tuesday. The BDP-S350 player Sony plans to introduce this summer for “about $400″ will be the company’s first to feature an Ethernet port, allowing it to connect to a home broadband connection. However, it won’t be able to access Internet content when it ships — a software upgrade will be available later to enable that feature, known as BD-Live. A second player, the BDP-S550, will be available this fall for “about $500″ and will be BD-Live-capable when it ships.
Via USAtoday
More details on Blu-ray 2.0, aka BD-Live, aka it won’t work on your current Blu-ray player unless you have a PS3
March 24, 2008
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is targeting April 8 as the date it will release its first batch of Blu-ray Disc titles that can be connected to the Internet for more bonus materials and features. The musical spoof “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” and the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi thriller “The 6th Day” will be the studio’s first two BD-Live titles. Their release coincides with the launch of a new software update for Sony’s PlayStation 3 that makes the game console the first Blu-ray player with Internet connectivity, an ability known as “Profile 2.0.” Sony’s two BD-Live titles each include exclusive downloadable theatrical and home video previews along with a FAQ about BD-Live functionality. “Walk Hard” includes three featurettes that star Bill Hader as Derek Stone, a historian and expert “Coxologist.” These featurettes are available only via the BD-Live download.
Via Reuters
PS3 firmware update supports Blu-ray 2.0 BD-Live
March 20, 2008
Sony announced Thursday plans to release new firmware for its PlayStation 3 video game console. The new update will expose new capabilities in the PS3’s Blu-ray Disc player. The updated firmware enables Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0, or BD-Live, to be supported on the PS3. BD-Live enables Blu-ray Disc makers to incorporate aditional interactive features including downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more.
Via Macworld
Blu-ray Cracked
March 19, 2008
Late last year, disc-copying software maker SlySoft claimed they cracked the BD+ DRM protection in Blu-ray discs. They weren’t kidding. The newest version of AnyDVD HD strips Blu-ray discs of BD+, allowing you to copy even the most locked-up Blu-ray discs (*cough*Fox*cough*) to your heart’s content—assuming the copies are for personal use, of course.
Via Gizmodo
Nice move, Best Buy
March 19, 2008
Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. said Wednesday it will give gift cards to customers that bought HD-DVD players or HD-DVD attachments from its U.S. stores as the format goes away in favor of the Blu-ray standard.
Via CNN
Sony in Blu-ray talks with Apple, Microsoft
March 7, 2008
With its victory last month in the high-definition DVD format war, Sony is now said to be entertaining talks with rivals Apple and Microsoft over supplying its Blu-ray drives for future generations of the pair’s electronics devices.
Via AppleInsider
The Big Blu Double Dip
March 5, 2008
“We warned you that one reason to hold off on boarding the Blu train is that movies released in the past year without sweet BD-Live interactive features might be re-released. A lot of them. Today, we got first confirmation of this from Fox, which told us it’ll be re-releasing Alien Vs. Predator later this year with a suite of new interactive features. And that’s just the beginning.”
Via Gizmodo
Sony CEO: $200 Blu-ray Players Coming
March 5, 2008
“Everybody clamoring for a cheap Blu-ray player now that the format war is over might wanna bide their time with a sweet DVD upconverter—the $200-player Blu-ray cavalry is at least a year away, according to Sony Electronics CEO Stan Glasgow, who we talked to today in New York. “I don’t think $200 is going to happen this year. Next year $200 could happen. We’ll be at a $300 rate this year. $299 will happen this year.”"
Via Gizmodo
Home video format war just beginning. Blu-ray’s next battle is against standard DVDs
March 4, 2008
“And that next battle starts with the entrenched format Blu-ray is trying to usurp, good-old 480p-resolution DVD, which may not be the “it” product it was back in the early days of the Bush administration, but overwhelmingly remains the go-to platform for delivering recorded movies and TV shows into the home.
“You will now see more of a comparison towards standard DVDs and less about the difference between Blu-ray and HD DVD,” says Sony Pictures Home Entertainment topper David Bishop, summing up Blu-ray’s next major marketing push.
Now that HD DVD is going away and the DVD biz is undeniably in recession — despite a boffo summer theatrical season, North American homevid sales declined 3.1% in 2007, according to Variety sister publicationVideo Business — the studios would love it if Blu-ray became even half as trendy as DVD was just a few years ago.”
Via Variety
Thanks Variety. A day late and a dollar short…
February 20, 2008
“Blu-ray wins high-def war.”
Via Variety
Paramount and Universal see Blu
February 19, 2008
“Universal’s president Craig Kornblau had this to say: “While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray.”"
Via Engadget
HD-DVD gets the Blu’s from Best Buy
February 13, 2008
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) says it will begin in early March recommending Blu-ray disc players and other products that support the Sony-backed high-definition video format, dealing another big blow to the competing HD DVD format backed by Toshiba.
The consumer electronics retailer said it would prominently showcase Blu-ray hardware, DVD titles, and software products in its stores and online in the United States. “Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them,” Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement released Monday.
Best Buy Goes Blu…. Ray that is…
February 12, 2008
Netflix & Blu-Ray In Hot Lesbo Action
February 11, 2008
