http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/DreamWorks/Paramount/CES_2008/Paramount/DreamWorks:__Still_Supporting_HD_DVD_[UPDATED]/1345

UPDATE: We have received word from Paramount/DreamWorks that although they continue to support HD DVD, they will not be making any new high-def title announcements at CES 2008.

Paramount/DreamWorks responded to Warner's shift to Blu-ray exclusivity today, saying that the studios have no plans to abandon the HD DVD format.

Following Warner's shocking defection to Blu-ray last Friday, and the subsequent cancellation by the HD DVD Promotions Group of its planned CES media event Sunday night, speculation has run rampant regarding Paramount's next move, as well as the fate of any HD DVD title announcements they had originally planned for CES.

High-Def Digest contacted Paramount for comment, and we were told by a spokesperson that despite the events of the past few days, "we are still supporting HD DVD," and that neither Paramount nor DreamWorks had any further statements on the matter at this time.
As for any Paramount HD DVD title announcements originally planned for CES, at press time any such plans were "up in the air." Needless to say, we'll keep you posted.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080108/music_nm/techshow_viacom_dc;_ylt=AhiT5Vu1bsFZGyxwXm0GNAhxFb8C

FUTURE OF HD DVD

Viacom's Paramount is one of the minority of Hollywood film studios that currently release DVDs using Toshiba Corp's HD-DVD next generation format.

Toshiba suffered a blow last Friday after Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros studios decided to release movies only on Sony Corp's rival format Blu-ray, which now has the backing of studios representing about 75 percent of U.S. DVD market share.

"We made a good decision, which I endorse," Dauman said, responding to a question about whether Viacom would reconsider its support for HD-DVD.

However, he stopped short of expressing strong support for the HD DVD standard in particular.

"We're focused on making sure high definition technology succeeds," he said. "It will sort itself out."

Paramount denies BR defection.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29262/Paramount-denies-Blu-Ray-defection

MPEG LA Expands Call for HD DVD Patents (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080108005043&newsLang=en)
High Density Read-Only Disc Optional and Physical Specifications Included

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In its continued response to marketplace interest in the creation of a joint HD DVD patent license including as much essential intellectual property as possible, MPEG LA, LLC today expanded its call for patents essential to the implementation of the HD DVD Standard to include the following specifications:

1) DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM) Part 1 Optional Specifications: Triple Layer Twin Format Disc; and

2) DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM) Part 1 Physical Specifications (51 Gbytes).

MPEG LA’s plan for forming a joint patent portfolio license to provide users with fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to the HD DVD technology as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses was first announced in a 9 May 2007 news release [see http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_07-05-09_pr.pdf]. The inclusion of the DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM) Part 1 Optional Specifications: Triple Layer Twin Format Disc and for DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM) Part 1 Physical Specifications (51 Gbytes) are in addition to the other parts of the Standard earlier announced.

Comcast to launch 4-min HD movie downloads (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0744267520080108)

By Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Superfast Internet speeds on Comcast Corp this year will allow subscribers to download a whole high-definition movie in just four minutes, as the largest U.S. cable operator hastens to fight off competition from phone and satellite companies.

Comcast will also offer up to 1,000 HD movies and programs for downloads in another new service slated for 2008, in hopes of winning back customers and boosting its stock which has slumped more than 40 percent in the past year.

The Wideband superfast Internet service will mark a "quantum leap" ahead of its competitors, Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts told Reuters in an interview before the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Conventional DSL requires six hours to download an HD movie.

"Wideband takes four channels and bonds them together and will enable speeds to go up from 12-16 megabits a second to over 100 megabits a second," said Roberts.

Roberts said Wideband would be available to millions of homes in 2008, but he would not be more specific on a timeframe or a retail price range for the new service.

"If it's as successful as we plan we'll roll it out to tens of millions of home shortly thereafter," he added.

Super-fast download speeds could render the debate on high-definition disc formats moot, even as Hollywood studios are fighting over whether to back the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD disc systems. Continued...

“We saw evidence that the format war was actually hurting standard definition,” Tsujihara said. “The industry had very high expectations for the fourth quarter. The summer was the highest box office quarter in history. We ended up the year somewhere down 2 percent or a little bit more than 2 percent. That was a little disappointing, given the summer we had.” Warner Bros. and Fortune are both owned by Time Warner (TWX).


http://bigtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/01/07/warner-dvd-format-war-was-hurting-movie-sales/

Blu-Ray takes inside edge in war with HD-DVD

Up to 20 firms backing HD-DVD consider defection after Warner opted for Blu-Ray and Paramount is poised to follow

The sprawling consortium of technology and media companies assembled to promote the HD-DVD format of next-generation high definition discs faces a spate of defections to the rival Blu-Ray Disc consortium.

As many as 20 companies currently part of the HD-DVD Promotion Group could be preparing to remove their names from the alliance’s 130-strong membership list, The Times has learned.

Paramount yesterday emerged as the latest major Hollywood studio poised to switch allegiances.

Despite the huge armies of technology companies ranged against each other in the format showdown, Paramount has turned out to be a pivotal figure. Its decision in August to give exclusive backing to HD-DVD was seen as a potentially devastating blow to the prospects of Blu-Ray, and to the strategy of Sony’s president, Sir Howard Stringer.

Sir Howard consistently argued, though, that the Playstation3 games console, which includes a Blu-Ray disc player, would put the format in people’s living rooms around the world more quickly than HD-DVD players would be adopted by consumers. But Paramount, like other members of the HD-DVD group such as Fujitsu, Lenovo and Kenwood, has hedged its bets. It offered exclusivity in August on the basis that it could reverse the decision should Warner Bros switch to Blu-Ray.

The threatened exodus from the HD-DVD format follows last week’s decision by Warner Bros to back the rival Blu-Ray Disc format, whose main technology backers include Sony, Apple and Dell.

One Tokyo-based analyst said that the defections could represent the final nails in the coffin of Toshiba’s HD-DVD standard after a bitterly-fought “format war” that has run for a little over one year.

Eiichi Katayama, of Nomura Securities, said that the battle between the formats, which display films and video games more sharply in an era of ever-growing television screen sizes, was now “entering its final phase”.

Pony Canyon, a major Japanese music, animation and film studio and part of the giant Fuji Television media empire, said that although it was currently part of the HD-DVD Promotion Group, the decisions of US studios meant it would “choose Blu-Ray in the end”.

Several other Japanese firms – including content producers and electronics component makers – said that their support of HD DVD was “under review” and that they knew of many others in the same position. Others, who admitted that they had previously been waiting for “clear market momentum”, said that it had now probably arrived.

Backers of HD-DVD point to the relative ease of producing the discs, and the lower cost of building machines capable of reading them. Unlike previous format wars, particularly the notorious Betamax v VHS skirmish in the 1980s, the war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD has effectively been decided in boardrooms, rather than electronics showrooms. The decisions of the major studios have come well before those of customers, who have generally held back from picking one format for fear of backing a loser.

Facing a future with only Universal Pictures as its major Hollywood supporter, Toshiba and HD-DVD, said analysts at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, could quickly find itself isolated. But HD-DVD does retain a few potential trump-cards, most notably Microsoft. It is the presence of Microsoft on HD-DVD’s list of supporters, say many of the promotion group, that preserves hope that the format could yet prevail.



http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article3153038.ece

CES: Studios plan to go live with BD Live (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6517874.html?industryid=47211)
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/7/2008
RELATED ARTICLES
CES: Web extras coming to Blu-ray

JAN. 7 | LAS VEGAS—Studios demonstrated several Web-enabled features on planned 2008 Blu-ray releases, including Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Godzilla, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Lionsgate’s Saw IV, during a Monday CES press conference.

By committing to such BD Live software, studios wanted to prove that these BD interactivity advancements are a reality, even though BD Live set-top players have not yet launched at retail. Executives showed off the features with a PlayStation 3. Sony and Panasonic also are displaying at CES BD Live set-tops, which should launch later this year.

Despite HD DVD’s release of many Web-enabled titles of its own, BD software has continued to far outpace its rival in sales.

Fox is hoping to blend the best of current Web activities, namely gaming and social networking, on Alien vs. Predator.

...

Sony also showed off the ability to send a “roar” ringtone, capturing a signature sound of Godzilla, to friends. Separately, as another innovation demo, Sony said that it will be embedding a digital copy of Godzilla on the Blu-ray disc that can be transferred within minutes to the PlayStation Portable for viewing. The PSP retrieves the data when it’s connected to the player’s USB port.


How much space are these second PSP copies going to take up on the BR discs?

New Line Details Transition to Blu-ray (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/New_Line/Industry_Trends/New_Line_Details_Transition_to_Blu-ray/1351)

Confirming earlier reports that it would follow Warner to Blu-ray exclusivity, New Line says its first HD DVD title ('Pan's Labryinth') will also be its last.
...
New Line says it's not planning to issue an official press release trumpeting the move, ending its short-lived HD DVD support with a relative whimper.
...

Paramount has issued a statement saying that the Financial Times story which was published earlier today claiming that Paramount was set to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray is false.

"Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format,'' according to a spokeswoman for Paramount, as quoted by Bloomberg.

The original Financial Times story, says HD DVD backer Toshiba, was speculative. Now the arises how the normally rock-solid FT got this one wrong. A malicious plant from an anonymous source? Or simple speculation gone awry?

On the other hand, Paramount's "current plan" could certainly change at any time.

In any case, for now, consider this one a rumor that's debunked.
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/64691

link (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080108-sony-to-distribute-content-in-divx-format.html)

Sony Pictures Television announced today that online retailers will soon be able to offer Sony content for download in DivX format. The news came as part of a partnership with DivX, Inc. that will also let those files be playable on DivX Certified devices. "We are dedicated to finding legitimate outlets for our content and to that end are excited to be working with DivX to provide retailers with an expanded ecosystem for the digital distribution and playback of our digital media," said Sony Pictures executive VP of Digital Distribution & Mobile Entertainment, Michael Arrieta.

Originally posted on bd.com
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=841

After much searching, I finally located Daewoo at CES today. Their BD Live Blu-ray player is still in the prototype stage and the company is in planning and research mode for an eventual Canadian release under the Daytek brand name. Daewoo hopes to enter the market in the $199 to $299 (Canadian dollars) price point sometime this year. There is still the possibility that the player could come to the US market, but the rapidly falling prices on BD players from major CE companies might price Daewoo out of the BD race in the states

MPEG LA Expands Call for HD DVD Patents (http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS129508+08-Jan-2008+BW20080108)

In its continued response to marketplace interest in the creation of a joint HD DVD patent license including as much essential intellectual property as possible, MPEG LA, LLC today expanded its call for patents essential to the implementation of the HD DVD Standard to include the following specifications:

1) DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM)
Part 1 Optional Specifications: Triple Layer Twin Format Disc; and

2) DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM)
Part 1 Physical Specifications (51 Gbytes).

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080109/show_dvd.html?.v=3

Reuters has a story that retailers at CES are saying that the format war may drag on.

Bill

HBO Confirms Switch to Blu-ray Exclusivity (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/HBO/Industry_Trends/HBO_Confirms_Switch_to_Blu-ray_Exclusivity/1357)

As expected, HBO Home Video has fallen in line with parent Warner, confirming that it too will drop HD DVD support in favor of Blu-ray.
...
McGee offered no further details on the HBO Video's plans to transition to sole Blu-ray support, or the fate of its current HD DVD releases, which include two box set releases of the top-selling 'The Sopranos.'

Germany's Constantin Film goes Blu-ray only starting March 1.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117978808.html?categoryid=19&cs=1

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/18/usb-cables-back-movie-industry?

A USB FORUM has come up with a wizard wheeze to make sure that your computer does not carry pirated HD video content.

The USB Implementer's Forum is developing a cable that will not carry high-definition video data unless it has been given the nod by some sort of DRM program.

According to EETimes, the forum is trying to develop a flavour of USB that includes High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). This proprietary technology was developed by Intel to control Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), or Unified Display Interface (UDI) connection content.

Although the plan is that data is compressed as it goes down the wire, HDCP also allowed for it to be encrypted. So for hackers to get around the technology they have to come up with a method of mimicking the encryption or making the two devices think that they are running with legitimate cables.

Variety is reporting that Universal is no longer HD DVD exclusive.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117978760.html?categoryid=20&cs=1

Daily Variety has confirmed that Universal's commitment to backing HD DVD exclusively has ended. And Paramount has an escape clause in its HD DVD contract allowing it to release pics on Blu-ray after Warner Bros.' decision to back that format exclusively.

Hadn't seen this posted before, interview between Robbie Bach and analysts. One question about Blu-ray/HD DVD/VOD. About 3/4ths of the way down the page.

You can only quote 400 words and there is more...
Microsoft 2008 CES Financial Analysts Call Transcript (http://seekingalpha.com/article/59312-microsoft-2008-ces-financial-analysts-call-transcript)



[Unidentified Analyst]
Yeah, just a question on blue-ray versus HD, just your thoughts on that and is Xbox Live going to make the argument moot?

Robbie Bach
Yeah, let’s talk about, I’ll sorry of handle the narrow topic and the broad topic, I think there’s both.

On the narrow topic of HD-DVD and blue, the interest we have, certainly we’ve been a supporter of Toshiba and HD-DVD, the predominate reason for that has been the investment we have made in something most people don’t see called HDI, which is the interactive software that enables people to create interactivity into these new disks and one of the benefits of new high definition disks, both blue-ray and HD-DVD is this opportunity for internet connectivity and interactivity and you need an authoring layer for that. HD-DVD chose our HDI technology for that, BD chose ajava based implementation. So, from a business perspective you should understand that that’s really the primary business engagement we actually have in that space and it’s important for us to continue to support Toshiba and we’ll do that and continue to support our partner in whatever direction they choose to go, but in fact as a percentage of our business from an economic perspective it’s a small percentage of our business.

In terms of how it effects Xbox, because HD-DVD is a peripheral for us, if HD-DVD somehow is successful, that’s fine for us we have the peripheral. If for whatever reason and maybe the Warner announcement is the thing that moves it this direction, it becomes a BD world, it’s an accessory for us, our involvement is still as an accessory, again it’s a small part of the business, it’s not an accessory that has big attach for us so it’s not a big economic [unintelligible]. I think most gamers buy game consoles to play games and if they can do some other things with it, fine, some of them decide to just buy the accessory, but I think as has been demonstrated in the market, people who don’t want to pay $50-$100 more to have the accessory included and I think we would see that continue.

~~continued~~

Paramount Delays 'Into the Wild,' 'Things We Lost in the Fire' HD DVDs

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Paramount/Street_Date_Changes/Paramount_Delays_Into_the_Wild,_Things_We_Lost_in_the_Fire_H D_DVDs/1353

The HD DVD Promotional Group is expected to release a statement this afternoon refuting claims that Universal is jumping ship to Blu-ray.

http://www.betanews.com/article/HD_DVD_Universal_expected_to_deny_Bluray_rumors/1199974983

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080110006038&newsLang=en

January 10, 2008 02:56 PM Eastern Time
Hauppauge Demonstrates New Affordable High Definition Video Recorder for PCs
‘HD PVR’ records video from HD cable TV or satellite boxes into H.264 in real time.

Includes Hauppauge’s IR blaster for scheduled TV recordings.


2008 International CES
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--2008 International CES, South Hall 4 - Booth #35328 -- Hauppauge Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAUP), the world's leading developer and manufacturer of analog and digital TV receiver products for personal computers, demonstrated at CES 2008 for the first time their ‘HD PVR’, a USB personal video recorder which can record high definition TV video into H.264 in real time.

The HD PVR can connect to high definition cable TV or satellite TV set top box receivers, and uses it’s on-board H.264 hardware encoder to record high definition TV programs in an ISO standard HD H.264 AVC format in real time. The connections to the set top boxes are made via component cables, also referred to as ‘YPrPb’ or the red/blue/green connectors on HD set top boxes. The HD PVR includes a video player application which allows the recorded TV programs to be played back on a PC screen.

To enable automatic recording of TV programs, the HD PVR recorder includes Hauppauge’s IR Blaster, which controls the channels on most popular cable and satellite TV set top boxes in North America and Europe, and will allow users to schedule the recording of their HD programs. The IR Blaster is also used on Hauppauge’s WinTV-PVR-150 and WinTV-HVR-1600 TV receivers.

In addition to high definition ISO standard H.264 recordings, the Hauppauge HD PVR can also create AVCHD recordings, which is the format used on Blu-ray high definition players. As part of the software applications which will be shipped with Hauppauge’s HD encoder, a DVD burning application will be provided which can take AVCHD formatted recordings and burn them onto a conventional DVD disc. These discs can then be played in Blu-ray DVD players. About 2 hours of Blu-ray HD content can be recorded on a 4.7 GByte DVD disk.

The HD PVR will be available in Q1 2008, with a suggested retail price of $249.

About Hauppauge

Hauppauge Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAUP) is a leading developer and manufacturer of digital TV and data broadcast receiver products for personal computers.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Universal_Were_staying_with_HD_DVD/1199974983

Universal: We're staying with HD DVD

5:00 pm ET January 10, 2008 -- Universal Studios has officially dispelled the rumors from Variety that it will drop HD DVD and switch to Blu-ray.
"Contrary to unsubstantiated rumors from unnamed sources, Universal's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format," said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment and also co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group.
The response would have come sooner, but many HD DVD executives were on flights home from CES when the story from Variety broke.

Formalizing the first step in its HD DVD separation plan, Warner has pushed back the previously-announced HD DVD releases of 'The Invasion' and 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.'

As we first reported late last week, Warner stated in their original Blu-ray exclusivity announcement that although they would continue to support HD DVD through May, their HD DVD releases would now follow their Blu-ray release by "a short window."

The studio has now confirmed the first titles to be affected by the transition, announcing a three-week-delay for the HD DVD/DVD combo versions of 'The Invasion' (now February 19, previously January 29), and 'The Assassination of Jesse James' (which will shift from February 26 to March 18).

Street dates for the previously Blu-ray and standard DVD versions of both titles remain as originally scheduled.

The studio has told us to expect a three-week delay for all of its remaining HD DVD/DVD combo titles through the May 2008 cut-off, but that they will officially announce the new dates over the next several weeks.

At presstime, all Warner HD DVD catalog titles remain unaffected by the transition, and are still set to street as originally announced (including such highly-anticipated titles as 'Bonnie & Clyde' and 'Twister').

Tech specs and special features for both 'Invasion' and 'Jesse James' remain as previously announced, and Warner says future delays will also not see any changes in specs.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Release_Date_Changes/Warner/Warner_Outlines_HD_DVD_Separation_Plan_Delays_Invasion,_Jess e_James_HD_DVDs/1364

In a piece primarily focused on Blu-ray over at Business Week, a bit of scrolling led to quite the interesting tidbit: Sony has apparently been able to slash the production cost of its PlayStation 3 in half. More specifically, it was noted that the firm has been able to "shrink the PS3's chips and tweak its design," which aided in getting the cost per machine "to around $400 now, from above $800 just before it went on sale in November 2006." According to Nikko Citigroup's Kota Ezawa, the biggest culprit for such an improvement is the "reduction in the parts count." Still, we wouldn't get our hopes up for yet another price cut just yet, but at least things are moving in the right direction.

link: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/12/sony-cuts-playstation-3-production-cost-in-half/

January 14, 2008: 01:09 AM EST

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Toshiba Corp.'s (6502.TO) Toshiba America Inc. unit said it will increase its marketing campaign this month for HD DVD, following the recent move of Warner Bros. and other studios to the Blu-ray format.

The maker of HD DVDs said it will launch joint advertising campaigns with studios and "extended pricing strategies" will begin in mid-January.

Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) Warner Bros. Entertainment announced earlier this month plans to produce DVDs exclusively in Blu-ray format.

General Electric Co.'s (GE) Universal Studios and Viacom Inc.'s (VIA) Paramount Pictures support the HD DVD format, while Sony Corp. (SNE), Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and News Corp.'s (NWS) Twentieth Century Fox have exclusive Blu-ray production deals.


http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200801140109DOWJONESDJONLINE000010_FORTUNE5.htm

Toshiba Deploys New HD DVD Marketing Initiatives Based on Strong Fourth Quarter Unit Sales (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-14-2008/0004735440&EDATE=)

...
New Marketing Strategy for Mass Market Adoption

Taking the holiday season sales based on promotional prices into full
consideration, these new manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) are
designed to meet the potential demand for HD DVD players in the U.S.
market. Effective on January 13, 2008 the MSRP of the entry-model HD-A3
will be $149.99, the HD-A30, with 1080p output, $199.99, and the high-end
HD-A35, $299.99.

"While price is one of the consideration elements for the early
adopter, it is a deal-breaker for the mainstream consumer," said Yoshi
Uchiyama, Group Vice President Digital A/V Group. "Consumer sales this
holiday season have proven that the consumer awareness of the HD DVD format
has been elevated and pricing is the most critical determinant in
consumers' purchase decision of

the next generation HD DVD technology. The value HD DVD provides to the
consumer simply cannot be ignored."

Or in this case, "You're going to need a bigger form of HDM"...

1080p and QuadHD / 4K can take a step back, the Japanese government has announced plans to bring Super Hi-Vision (a.k.a. Ultra High Definition) to life as a broadcast standard by 2015. With its 33 megapixel (7,680 x 4,320) resolution and 22.2 channel surround sound, challenges so far have included building a camera that can record it, and equipment to transfer the 24Gbps uncompressed stream.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/14/33-megapixel-super-hi-vision-ultra-hdtv-could-be-on-the-air-in/

(I put this here because if 7,680 x 4,320 becomes a standard, an HDM format that supports it won't be far behind)

Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD Player Wins Sound & Vision Editors' Choice Award (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-16-2008/0004737568&EDATE=)

WAYNE, N.J., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba America Consumer Products,
L.L.C. ("Toshiba") today announced that Sound & Vision magazine, "the
preeminent source for consumers of home theater, audio, video and
multimedia products," has selected the Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player for its
prestigious 2007 Editors' Choice Award.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080116/NEW034A )

"Toshiba has maintained its position as a leader in delivering quality
high definition products to the market," said Mike Mettler, Vice President
and Editor-In-Chief of Sound & Vision. "The Toshiba HD-XA2 is a great
example of a product that combines outstanding engineering and design to
create an excellent value for the consumer."

The HD-XA2 was selected as one of the top products of 2007 from a large
field of consumer electronics devices. The player was chosen because its
"boot-up and disc-load times are vastly reduced, connections are more
robust and its Silicon Optix video processor turns the HD-XA2 into one of
the best upconverting DVD players we've seen," said Mettler.

"Toshiba is thrilled to receive an Editors' Choice Award from such a
highly regarded publication in the industry as Sound & Vision," said Jodi
Sally, Vice President of Marketing, Toshiba America Consumer Products
Digital A/V Group. "Toshiba HD DVD players continue to be recognized as one
of the best home theater products in the high-definition category from both
A/V enthusiasts and everyday movie lovers alike. As Sound & Vision has
noted, the HD-XA2's outstanding picture and audio capabilities and cutting
edge interactive and Web-enabled networking features create the ultimate
entertainment experience."

German publication Heise has posted a report indicating that formerly HD DVD exclusive-turned-neutral porn studio Digital Playgrounds has now announced Blu-ray exclusivity.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35630/98/

HD DVD is losing support left and right, this time from the adult film studio Digital Playground.

About a couple dozen titles were released on HD DVD from the studio, making it the leader in high-def adult entertainment. The lucrative industry has been deemed one of the most important factors in determining the success of a new format.

...

Because of the dominant force Blu-ray has in the format war, the studio has chosen to drop HD DVD support entirely, reports German publication Heise.

Digital Playground joins Warner Bros, New Line, and HBO as recent converts to Blu-ray exclusivity.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/01/15/discribe.60.released/

...optimizing the disc mastering software for Mac OS X on Intel-based hardware. The latest release is a major upgrade that is completely rewritten to offer support for Blu-Ray discs...

From The Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ie7d46e37694ce941f2d65f37f6865fd9) ...
HD DVD still kickin' with new releases

By Thomas K. Arnold
Jan 17, 2008

Down but not out, the beleaguered HD DVD format suddenly has some product in the pipeline, after studio announcements that had been slotted for the Consumer Electronics Show were yanked at the last minute due to the pre-show defection of Warner Home Video to the Blu-ray Disc camp.

One of the most high-profile HD DVD releases, ironically, will be from Warner, which won't officially abandon the Toshiba-developed format until the end of May. The studio Wednesday announced it will release a two-disc special edition of the action hit "Twister" on all three home entertainment software formats, with the DVD and Blu-Ray Disc coming May 6 and the HD DVD edition following May 27.

Orders are due April 1 for the standard DVD and Blu-ray Disc and April 22 for the HD DVD. Special features include a commentary, an HBO First Look Special on the making of the film, and a 2003 History Channel special on tornadoes.

Paramount Home Entertainment, which after May will be the only major studio besides longtime supporter Universal Studios Home Entertainment to release titles on the HD DVD format, is expected to announce a full slate of HD DVD titles for the first quarter Thursday -- a slate it was to unveil at CES.


Already in stores is "Zodiac," which quietly shipped to retailers during CES -- and the HD DVD Promotional Group's self-imposed quiet period.

Next is "Into the Wild," Sean Penn's acclaimed adaptation of an inspirational true story, which arrives in stores March 4, along with the drama "Things We Lost in the Fire."

DreamWorks Animation's animated hit "Bee Movie" is next, coming March 11 with hours of extras, including Web-enabled downloadable features such as a "Build a Bee" avatar. The HD DVD also comes with a picture-in-picture storyboard reel, customizable menus, a trivia track and an interactive exploration of the world of bees.

Slated for later in the quarter, with no release date yet set, are "The Kite Runner" and "The Jack Ryan Collection," the latter a set of four thrillers starring the fictional CIA operative: "The Hunt for Red October," with Alec Baldwin as Ryan, "Clear and Present Danger" and "Patriot Games," each with Harrison Ford in the lead role, and "The Sum of All Fears," in which Ben Affleck takes over as Ryan.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is expected to announce upcoming HD DVD titles as well, including "American Gangster," coming as a combo disc. Ken Graffeo, executive vp of HD strategic marketing, said the studio was "very encouraged" by Toshiba's recent player price drops and believes it will spur HD DVD software sales, particularly on the new release front.

The product announcements come in a week when the top 10 high-definition disc sellers are all Blu-ray Disc releases, according to an analysis of Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales numbers by Home Media Magazine's market research department.

Net HD DVD sales, according to Nielsen, constituted only 15% of hi-def disc sales last week. And the top HD DVD seller, "The Kingdom," sold just 10% as many copies as the top Blu-ray Disc release, "3:10 to Yuma."

Unfortunately, if you were expecting big news, there's actually only one new announcement ("The Kite Runner"), with no firm date. Everything else was announced before Warner's decision:
Paramount Home Entertainment Announces HD DVD Slate for First Quarter of 2008

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) today announced its upcoming slate of releases on HD DVD for the first quarter of 2008. A compelling array of action-adventure, drama and family fare, PHE’s lineup of HD DVDs provides something for everyone, further expanding the format’s offerings for a broad consumer audience.

Released on January 8, PHE’s first HD DVD title of the year is David Fincher’s director’s cut of the mesmerizing drama Zodiac, which has been cited on over 200 critics’ lists as one of the top 10 films of 2007. The HD DVD includes over three hours of in-depth bonus materials including a multi-part exploration of the making of the film, the facts of the real-life attacks and more. Following on February 26, PHE will debut the director’s cut of Robert Zemeckis’ visually stunning cinematic experience, Beowulf, which conjures a world the likes of which has never been seen before with state-of-the-art technology and exhilarating storytelling. The HD DVD will include a feature-length picture-in-picture track, web enabled Beowulf Profiler, A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf with optional pop-up trivia and much more.

Director and screenwriter Sean Penn’s widely praised adaptation of the inspirational true story Into The Wild arrives March 4 with behind-the-scenes material that takes viewers deeper inside the enthralling, real-life story, characters and experience, along with the compelling drama Things We Lost In The Fire, which features phenomenal performances by Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, as well as a discussion of the film and deleted scenes.

DreamWorks Animation’s funniest new animated hit Bee Movie buzzes onto HD DVD on March 11 loaded with exclusive content, including web-enabled downloadable features such as The World of Bees and a Build-A Bee Avatar, a picture-in-picture storyboard reel, customizable menus, Barry’s trivia track and much more.

“The Jack Ryan Collection” will arrive on HD DVD featuring four explosive thrillers including The Hunt for Red October starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games starring Harrison Ford as well as The Sum of All Fears with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman. In addition, the highly-anticipated film The Kite Runner, based on the international best-selling novel, also will debut on HD DVD in the first quarter.

About Paramount Home Entertainment

Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. PPC is a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. PHE is responsible for the worldwide sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of various parties including: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Studios, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, PBS and Hasbro and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.

About HD DVD

HD DVD is the next generation, post-DVD standard for high capacity, high definition optical discs, approved by the DVD Forum, which develops and defines DVD formats. Its more than 220 strong membership brings together leaders in movies and entertainment, computing, consumer electronics and software. The North American HD DVD Promotional Group, Inc. is an organization established to promote the HD DVD format and educate consumers in North America. For more information and a complete listing of HD DVD launch titles please visit www.TheLookAndSoundOfPerfect.com.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080117005362&newsLang=en

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/174917,toshiba-affirms-future-of-hd-dvd-after-warner-setback.html


Hamburg - Japanese-based consumer-electronics group Toshiba affirmed Thursday its commitment to HD-DVD, its high definition optical disc system, which suffered a bad hit earlier this month with the Hollywood studio Warner abandoning it. At a briefing in Hamburg on the upcoming CeBIT computing show in March, Sascha Lange, marketing chief of Toshiba Germany, announced price cuts for HD-DVD players in Europe, matching cuts the previous day in the United States.

He said the German price of Toshiba's base model in Europe, the HD-EP30 player, would be reduced to just below 200 euros (292 dollars) including 19-per-cent German sales tax. The same model would be offered in the United States at 199 dollars plus tax.

He said the company had needed a couple of weeks to analyse its position after the Warner defection to the rival technology, Blu-ray, at the start of the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

"We are still convinced this is best product at the most reasonable price for the end user," Lange said. He said 200,000 of the players had been sold so far in Europe.

Toshiba would in future stress a feature of HD-DVD which was not available on Blu-ray players, an internet connection.

"It creates huge opportunities," he said. "We can use it to run a video stream from an internet provider."

He demonstrated how this could be used for broadcasting over the internet, and added that the feature was already being used by owners.

Lange quoted a survey by the remaining pro-HD-DVD studios, Universal, Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animations, suggesting 30 per cent of users had tried this.

A majority of Hollywood studios are backing Blu-ray. Both technologies pack more data on optical discs, but Blu-ray packs the most. HD-DVD is promoted as cheaper, because it uses much of the same technology as existing DVD optical discs.

From TG Daily (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35662/98/)

BBC says it will still support both high-def formats
Games and Entertainment By Mark Raby Thursday, January 17, 2008 13:19

London (England) - In a time where every HD DVD supporter seems to be expected to comment on recent events, BBC Home Video has said it will continue to release titles on both formats.

A BBC spokesperson said that it is not ready to make a call on the high-def war, and "will evaluate the marketplace before committing to one format," in an interview with online portal TV Shows On DVD.

A few days before this big CES show in Las Vegas, Warner Home Video announced it was dropping HD DVD support, creating mass chaos in the format war. Since then, all HD DVD supporters have been questioned about their stance. Even staunch format loyalist Universal was rumored to be changing sides to Blu-ray. BBC is even more germane to this issue because it is distributed by Warner. Other Warner subsidiaries New Line and HBO have followed the studio to Blu-ray exclusivity.

BBC's major release, the Planet Earth box set, is one of the all-time top-selling HD DVD titles, and in its first few weeks of being available on both formats, the HD DVD version actually outsold its Blu-ray counterpart.

From Fragland (http://www.fragland.net/news/Death-of-HD-DVD-Porn-goes-Blu-ray-Updated/18404/)Dailytech (http://www.dailytech.com/Adult+Pornographic+Film+Industry+Still+Firmly+Behind+HD+DVD/article10369.htm) received word from Digital Playground that the studio still supports both formats and also that other studio, Vivid, still intends to stay with HD-DVD

“Currently Blu-ray is very expensive to encode and replicate. It probably won't be embraced by the adult industry until the price is lowered,” Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment, told DailyTech. “We will continue to consider [Blu-ray Disc] for some of our blockbuster titles and also continue to produce in HD DVD."
From Daily Tech (http://www.dailytech.com/Adult+Pornographic+Film+Industry+Still+Firmly+Behind+HD+DVD/article10369.htm)
http://images.dailytech.com/frontpage/fp__ron_jeremy_up_and_coming.jpg
Hardware

Pornographic Film Industry Still Firmly Behind HD DVD (http://www.dailytech.com/Pornographic+Film+Industry+Still+Firmly+Behind+HD+DVD/article10369.htm)
Marcus Yam (http://www.dailytech.com/ContactStaff.aspx?id=50) (Blog) (http://www.dailytech.com/blogs/%7Eyam) - January 17, 2008 8:35 AM

Despite Blu-ray Disc's momentum, adult video still likes HD DVD

Despite all the talk regarding Blu-ray Disc's momentum after Warner Bros. gave its support exclusively to the format, the high-definition format war is far from over. With the overall high-definition market barely a drop in the bucket when compared to DVD sales, there is still a lot of ground still to be claimed.
Analysts looked early to the adult industry as a strong decider of the format war. The adult industry is often credited with giving VHS its support, helping the format to edge out Betamax – and some believe that history may repeat itself with the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc battle.
Digital Playground founder and director Joone originally backed HD DVD, but at this year’s Adult Entertainment Expo he reportedly told German publication Heise Online (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/101629) that his company will be shifting its support to Blu-ray Disc by the end of the year. Joone also said that Blu-ray Disc movies were selling better than HD DVD, a fact that he attributes to the PlayStation 3.
When reached for comment regarding the report, Digital Playground media relations denied its validity, saying, “This is not accurate. We are currently supporting both formats, HD and Blu-ray.”
Another statement from Digital Playground received by a member of the High-Def Digest (http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showpost.php?p=651791&postcount=1) forum expands further, reading, “We are currently producing both HD DVD and Blu-ray. HD DVD is still a viable market for us and we’re selling a lot of units. There are over a million players out there, so it may be perceived as ‘dead’ in the long term, but on an immediate basis, it’s still a viable market. We will continue to grow our Blu-ray business as well, and for us, it’s going to be a smooth transition if we have to go from one to the other. For the time being, we will continue to release our movies on HD DVD. We have a good, solid customer (HD DVD) base that is buying a healthy quantity, so until that number starts coming down, we will continue supporting it.”
Digital Playground isn't the only adult film studio currently in the high-def arena. Vivid Entertainment Group, the world’s largest adult film producer, expressed to DailyTech plans to stick with HD DVD on grounds of the format’s economic strengths.
“Currently Blu-ray is very expensive to encode and replicate. It probably won't be embraced by the adult industry until the price is lowered,” Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment, told DailyTech. “We will continue to consider [Blu-ray Disc] for some of our blockbuster titles and also continue to produce in HD DVD."
Hirsch’s comments underscore an ongoing concern in the adult film industry: cost. “With DVD sales down as much as 50 percent for some companies, it's difficult to fund new product based on current sales,” said Kathee Brewer, former editor of AVN Online and now an independent analyst and consultant. “So the price of new endeavors becomes a huge issue.”
While producing an HD DVD product requires only minor changes to a standard DVD production line, making a Blu-ray Disc is a much more expensive undertaking since it commands new hardware, analysts from the adult entertainment industry explained.
Although the Blu-ray Disc Association lloosened its restrictions on the production of adult content (http://www.dailytech.com/Bluray+Opens+Up+to+Pornographic+Content/article8244.htm), film producers like Steven Hirsch had to find his own facilities to press movies on that particular format. “Sony is not giving any assistance in the authoring or replication of adult content on Blu-ray,” said the Vivid Entertainment co-chairman in a previous interview (http://www.dailytech.com/Adult+Content+Confirmed+to+Appear+on+Bluray+HD+DVD/article5686.htm).
Now that there are a greater number of Blu-ray Disc replication houses, companies such as Vivid Entertainment and Digital Playground may find it easier to publish its content in blue boxes. One obstacle, besides cost, preventing the adult industry from making a stronger push to Blu-ray Disc is piracy.
“Now there are a few replicators in Asia, who’ll touch adult, but sending masters to the people who are notorious for contributing to the piracy problem is a lot like handing the chickens over to the fox with your blessing,” explained Brewer.

Unlike with VHS and Betamax, it appears that the format war of current day won’t be decided by the adult film industry.

Microsoft and Sundance Institute Award HDi Grant to Bring Leading Interactive Capabilities to Independent Films
(http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-20-2008/0004739518&EDATE=)

Grant gives 2007 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Winner 'Manda
Bala' resources to develop interactivity using Microsoft HDi and publish to
HD DVD and other digital delivery scenarios.

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at the 2008
Sundance Film Festival, Microsoft Corp., together with Sundance Institute
presented the Microsoft HDi Grant to director Jason Kohn and producer Jared
Goldman for their 2007 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning
documentary "Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)." Worth an estimated $100,000, the
grant provides Kohn and Goldman with resources to author "Manda Bala" in
pristine high definition and develop immersive interactive experiences
using Microsoft's industry-leading HDi technology. HDi technology enables
filmmakers to complement their work with features such as
picture-in-picture director's commentary and character biographies that
enhance the home viewing experience. The grant also includes support for
production of the finished product on HD DVD along with other digital
delivery scenarios.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

"We put several years into making 'Manda Bala,' and this grant lets us
explore the digital canvas of HD DVD and HDi and express the work we've
done in entirely new ways," Kohn said. "Considering all the extra footage
we have to work with and the award-winning capabilities of HDi on HD DVD,
Jared and I are excited to get started."

HDi is Microsoft's implementation of the advanced interactive layer in
the HD DVD format. The technology has provided the foundation for HD DVD's
leadership in interactivity by taking advantage of mandatory features in
every HD DVD player (for example, a secondary video decoder, persistent
storage and an Internet connection) to enable in-movie experiences such as
picture-in-picture director's commentary, and Web-enabled features that
allow fans to discuss the movie during playback and enable a director or
producer to provide new content downloads in the future. Based on Web
standards, HDi easily and efficiently extends the benefits of Web
connectivity to the movie-watching experience and can be applied to both
optical and digitally distributed scenarios.

"We've always believed that the creative community behind filmmaking
would best define how HDi should be used, and this grant is meant to put
the technology in the hands of the people who will explore its full
potential," said Jordi Ribas, general manager of the HD DVD Group at
Microsoft. "Sundance Institute has long been an important part of
Microsoft's history with digital media technologies, and we look forward to
continuing to work together to advance the spirit of independent film."

Microsoft Continues Support of Independent Films

The HDi Grant further extends Microsoft's support of independent films,
which also includes the 1,000 HD DVD Indies Project announced earlier this
year with Amazon.com Inc.'s CreateSpace. Due to its heritage in DVD, as
well as the inherent authoring and disc replication efficiencies over other
optical formats, HD DVD can scale to support the independent film community
in a cost-effective way. The 1,000 HD DVD Indies Project was designed to
provide independent filmmakers with free access to HD DVD authoring and
on-demand replication. A number of Sundance films are already taking part
in this program, including the acclaimed comedy from David Wain, "The Ten"
(City Lights Home Entertainment); "Manda Bala" (City Lights Home
Entertainment); "We Are the Strange;" and the Sundance Channel original
series "Big Ideas for a Small Planet."

In addition, on Jan. 18, 2008, Microsoft began offering digital rentals
of Sundance Film Festival short films on Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points,
which can be purchased at retail or online. The Video Store on Xbox LIVE is
the leading provider of high-definition on-demand content, with the most
hours of high-definition content available, offering movies for video on
demand and TV shows and music videos for electronic sell-through. More
information about content being offered on Xbox LIVE Marketplace is
available at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace/moviestv.

More information about Microsoft's support of independent film and how
HDi is transforming the way movies are made and experienced is available at
the Microsoft House at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival (301 Main St. in
Park City). More information about Microsoft HDi and HD DVD can also be
found at http://www.thisishddvd.com.

Universal EVP Ken Graffeo says HD DVD is here to stay. Read his interview.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Interview_Universal_EVP_Ken_Graffeo_says_HD_DVD_is_here_to_s tay/1200951636

The format war cost home entertainment in 2007
Industry posts slight decline, but studios counting on high-def

JAN. 21 | The home entertainment industry suffered its first significant year-to-year decline in consumer spending in 2007, a victim of an overcrowded fourth quarter and the raging high-definition format war. But studio chiefs are heading into 2008 hopeful that growth in high-def will finally make up for losses in the maturing DVD format.

Balance of article at:

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6524463.html

Taking the next step in its transition to Blu-ray exclusivity, Warner has extended its three-week delay on HD DVD releases to include catalog titles.

This move comes only days after the studio announced similar plans for the HD DVD editions of its new release titles, starting with 'The Invasion' and 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.'

At the time, it seemed that catalog titles would continue to be released concurrently on both next gen formats through May, but the studio now tells us that it's expanding its strategy to include catalog titles too, with the HD DVD versions of all of its remaining titles through the June 1 cut-off also receiving a three-week release delay.

The first two titles to officially receive new dates are 'Twister' (with the HD DVD edition pushed back from May 6 to May 27), and 'Bonnie & Clyde' (which sees a bump from March 25 to April 15). The Blu-ray and standard DVD editions will remain unaffected.

Tech specs and supplement details for 'Twister' remain as originally announced, as does the HD DVD's $28.98 list price.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Street_Date_Changes/Warner_Extends_HD_DVD_Release_Delay_to_Catalog_Titles/1386

Paramount Blu-ray movies spotted on Amazon.co.uk
"Coming soon" titles of wrong colour fuel format switch rumours
by Amy-Mae Elliott
22 January 2008 10:45 GMT - Despite Paramount's official statement that they are sticking with the flagging HD DVD format as their next-gen disc of choice, rumours still abound online that the company will go Blu-ray in the not-too-distant future.

Adding fuel to those particular flames of rumour is the recent discovery of some "coming soon" Blu-ray-flavoured Paramount discs on Amazon.co.uk.

The three releases, due on 10th March 2008, according to info on the e-tailer's site, are "Trading Places", "Coming To America" and "Anchorman".

Although the two Eddie Murphy vehicles did get a US Blu-ray release before Paramount's switch to HD DVD last summer, it seems Anchorman did not, leading to speculation that this is a slip from Amazon, rather than an admin error.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/12372/13396/parmount-blu-rays-spotted-on-amazon.phtml

Paramount Germany denies Amazon's Blu-ray announcements

Paramount Germany said that these announcements are untrue. The Amazon-listings are utterly wrong. There is no declaration of intent from their holding company, to release henceforth on Blu-ray.

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/102242

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35721/117/

Burbank (CA) - Warner Home Video announced this week that it will continue to release titles on HD DVD for three weeks longer than it originally anticipated.

Earlier this month, Warner said that it is going to stop supporting HD DVD in May. However, it has now decided to push that deadline back a few weeks to be able to release more of its upcoming titles on both formats.

Despite Warner's Blu-ray exclusivity announcement, over a dozen Warner titles are still slated for release on HD DVD over the next four months. The extension of HD DVD support confirms that Twister and Bonnie & Clyde will come out on both formats instead of being Blu-ray exclusives.

Some other notable Warner titles that will still be released on both formats include Justice League: The New Frontier, I Am Legend, and August Rush

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35741/98/

Amazon's Blu-ray Paramount listings posted erroneously
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/23/amazons-blu-ray-paramount-listings-posted-erroneously/

As has become quite the norm for Amazon, it seems that the trio of flicks it proudly listed as Blu-ray titles just two days back were in fact listed erroneously. A new report over at Heise -- and a quick click back over to the exact same Amazon links -- shows that the films are indeed HD DVDs. So yeah, we wouldn't take any of Amazon's listings from here on out as a sign of the format war getting even crazier, but who knows, try clicking back tomorrow and see if they're scheduled to debut on HD VMD.

Blu-ray's hardware market share jumped to a record 93% of players sold for the week ending Jan 12. That's up from 51% in the week prior. Industry observers attribute the jump to Warner's announcement on January 4th that it would exclusively back the Blu-ray format beginning this June.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Industry_Trends/High-Def_Retailing/Blu-ray_Commands_93_Percent__of_Weekly_Hardware_Sales_Post-Warner_Announcement/1398

From Greg Tarr of TWICE:
http://www.twice.com/article/CA6524995.html?desc=topstory

NPD attributed the results largely to promotions run by several Blu-ray supporting manufacturers, and said they were not necessarily the result of reaction to the news that Warner Bros. would be dropping support of HD DVD to go exclusively with HD DVD in May.

“We’ve been doing weekly data for a long time, and we often times will see big shifts in sales for one week that doesn’t necessarily determine a trend,” said Stephen Baker, NPD Group industry analysis VP, told TWICE. “There were some promotions in the marketplace during that week with Sharp and Sony bundling Blu-ray players with televisions — it seems to me unlikely that consumers would have made that kind of a choice that quickly based on new reports of Warner Bros. shifting from Blu-ray and HD DVD to Blu-ray exclusively.”

Typically, Baker emphasized, big swings in market share are the result of major promotions.

In other news:

The Samsung BD-UP5000 to be discontinued in May (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/23/the-samsung-bd-up5000-to-be-discontinued-in-may/)

Major Chicagoland retailer drops HD DVD support (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35721/117/)

Update on Samsung BD-UP5000

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/23/the-samsung-bd-up5000-to-be-discontinued-in-may/

While we've become accustomed to Blu-ray players being released every six months, it's a little ridiculous when we're forced to wait for a new player longer than it's on the market. Eventually we expect the cycle to slow down -- like when BD Live players are out for example -- and many believed that the Samsung BD-UP5000 could be one of those players based on promises when announced. Once you have an Ethernet port for internet content, REON video processing, internal decoding and bitstream support for every codec, discrete analog output, as well as HDMI 1.3, what else could possibly warrant a mid year revamp? We suspect the problem is that the player isn't delivering, and on top of that, we don't think it's Samsung's fault. You see, just like the LG BH200, the BD-UP5000 is based on Broadcom's Reference design BCM97440, and the word on the street is that it isn't ever going to deliver. So it'd make sense that Sammy would change the platform for one that's actually able to get the job done. So yeah, this Broadcom bit is just speculation, but we did contact the outfit to figure out what the deal was, and while it was very responsive at first, as soon as we asked about the troubles with the BCM97400, it must'a lost our email address (or maybe its servers have been down for a week). The good news is that Samsung doesn't see the BD-UP5500 as a replacement, and promises a suitable replacement for the high-end dual-format customer in the second half of '08.

**Update** Samsung says that the date it'll be discontinued is subject to change.

At CES a couple of weeks ago Samsung announced that the BD-UP5500 will be shipping in May 2008. In addition they stated that they plan to introduce the BD-UP6500 before Christmas 2008.

Samsung BP-U5500: $599 Hybrid Blu and HD DVD Dual Player
http://gizmodo.com/341077/samsung-bp+u5500-599-hybrid-blu-and-hd-dvd-dual-player

The Bottom Line: The Samsung BP-U5500 follows up their BP-U5000 which just started to roll to stores recently. The fuctionality remains similar: Blu-ray and HD DVD playback along with CD and DVD support in a single box. The news is the $599 MSRP which might even break the $500 barrier once discounted.
The Catch: The BP-5000 is having some issues with audio format support, that Sammy hopes to fix by software soon. Hope this set ships cleaner.

News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only News Only

Jeff Zucker was interviewed on CNBC Squawk Box this morning from Davos Switzerland, and Becky Quick asked him about Blu Ray and Hd Dvd and he indicated he/they remain committed to Hd Dvd.

From Greg Tarr of TWICE:
http://www.twice.com/article/CA6524995.html?desc=topstory

NPD attributed the results largely to promotions run by several Blu-ray supporting manufacturers, and said they were not necessarily the result of reaction to the news that Warner Bros. would be dropping support of HD DVD to go exclusively with HD DVD in May.

“We’ve been doing weekly data for a long time, and we often times will see big shifts in sales for one week that doesn’t necessarily determine a trend,” said Stephen Baker, NPD Group industry analysis VP, told TWICE. “There were some promotions in the marketplace during that week with Sharp and Sony bundling Blu-ray players with televisions — it seems to me unlikely that consumers would have made that kind of a choice that quickly based on new reports of Warner Bros. shifting from Blu-ray and HD DVD to Blu-ray exclusively.”

Typically, Baker emphasized, big swings in market share are the result of major promotions.

BetaNews posted this today in relation to the NPD Group data:

http://www.betanews.com/article/print/NPD_Free_Bluray_player_deals_led_to_boosted_sales_this_month/1201203983

NPD: Free Blu-ray player deals led to boosted sales this month

By Nate Mook, BetaNews
January 24, 2008, 2:46 PM

A report from NPD Group claimed Blu-ray standalone player sales accounted for 93 percent of the high-def market for the week ending January 12, but NPD itself won't stand behind the numbers, saying they were leaked and that weekly sales data is not a long-term indicator.

According to Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD, the data "came from an NPD subscriber" and "wasn't approved for release from NPD." He added that the firm typically sees big fluctuations in sales volumes each week, and never makes long-term judgements based on weekly data.


"It reflects what was going on during that week," Baker said, adding that it wasn't smart to "extrapolate that out for six months."

So what went on the week ending January 12 that led to such high numbers in Blu-ray standalone player sales? Bundling deals with HDTVs, explained Baker. Sharp Blu-ray players accounted for over 30% of sales, as they were offered free to buyers of the company's LCD televisions.

Sony -- also accounting for one-third of sales -- had a similar $400-off deal for Blu-ray players when buying a Sony HDTV.

Panasonic, like Sharp, offered a free Blu-ray player and made up for the remaining third of units sold. Samsung Blu-ray sales were almost non-existent, as the company did not offer any special deals to TV buyers.

The NPD figures did not include Sony's PlayStation 3 or Microsoft's HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 -- only standalone players.

Baker wouldn't get specific -- since NPD normally never even comments on weekly sales data -- but said there was some drop in HD DVD player sales. For its part, the HD DVD Promotional Group told BetaNews the weekly sales data was from before the HD DVD player price drop Toshiba announced last week.

Baker did provide BetaNews some insight as to how NPD counts sales. It receives its data from point-of-sale systems from a number of retail outlets across the United States. He would not say how many retailers send data to NPD, but said it was "double digits."

NPD's numbers do not include online sales from the likes of Amazon, where Toshiba's HD-A3 HD DVD player is the number one seller in the DVD player category and number 14 in all of electronics. By contrast, standalone Blu-ray players do not make the

I thought the addition of a digital copy was an interesting development:

Taken from http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/

'Hitman' Blu-ray to Include First-Ever "Digital Copy"
Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 01:00 PM ET

Fox has released final specs for the March Blu-ray debut of 'Hitman,' promising a fully stocked supplements package and a format-first "digital copy" of the film.

As we first reported last week, the studio will bring an unrated version of the $100 million-grossing 'Hitman' to Blu-ray on March 11, day-and-date with the DVD.

Full specs are now in, with the set boasting a wealth of additional content. Extras shared between the Blu-ray and DVD versions include four making-of featurettes ("In the Crosshairs," "Digital Hits," "Weapons of Destruction," "Settling the Score"), deleted scenes, an alternate ending and a gag reel.

In a high-def first, the 'Hitman' Blu-ray will also come with a bonus second DVD disc, which contains a standard-definition Digital Copy of the movie, enabling viewers to watch it on portable devices, such as a PC, iPod or iPhone.

Previously announced tech specs include 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video and audio flavors in DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround (48kHz/24-bit) and French and Spanish dubs in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.

Finally, Fox has revealed a first look at the title's high-def box cover art, which touts both the unrated cut and the digital copy:


As previously announced, Fox has set a suggested $39.98 list price for 'Hitman.'

You'll find final specs for 'Hitman' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under March 11.

We've also set up a dedicated thread for Fox's latest in our Forums area -- click the following link to discuss the 'Hitman' Blu-ray release.

Sony announces new Blu-ray module (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/sony-announces-new-blu-ray-module-should-drive-down-costs/), should drive down costs
Posted Jan 25th 2008 12:05PM by Evan Blass


Sony has announced the development of a new Blu-ray reader / writer module that is not only smaller than previous components, but promises to be cheaper as well due to a simplified manufacturing process. The new laser housing is less than three millimeters thick, according to the Japanese manufacturer and co-developer Nichia Corporation, enabling it to be incorporated into smaller devices such as portable players. Sony predicts that we'll first start seeing 9.5-millimeter laptop BD drives which employ the module later this year.

Sony announces new Blu-ray module (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/sony-announces-new-blu-ray-module-should-drive-down-costs/), should drive down costs
Posted Jan 25th 2008 12:05PM by Evan Blass

fixed link

Folks, there's a difference between "news" and "commentary". This thread is for "news" and "announcements".

larry

Sales figures articles, opinion pieces and pricing articles are not news. Those posts have been removed. We have special threads for sales figures discussions and special deals.

Larry..

JINX!! :D

http://www.woolworthsmediacentre.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=33

Woolworths backs Blu-ray format over HD-DVD

Monday, 28 January 2008

Woolworths, one of the biggest retailers of DVDs in the UK, has become the first major retailer to solely back one of the new high definition DVD formats.

The high street firm has announced that it will only stock Blu-Ray high definition DVDs from March, with HD-DVDs being dropped from stores to be sold online.

The move comes after Blu-Ray DVDs outsold HD-DVDs by ten-to-one in Woolies stores over Christmas.

From March Woolworths stores will have a Blu-Ray DVD chart in all 820 stores and a Blu-Ray DVD back catalogue section in larger stores.

Since launching high definition DVDs in October last year, Woolworths has become the biggest retailer of the new DVD format in the UK. Sales are growing fast, typically rising by over 40 per cent a month. This compares to a relatively flat DVD market.

“Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD,” says Woolworths DVD buyer Steven McGunigel. “The main reason is the success of Sony’s PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-Ray discs, there are over ¾ million homes in the UK that can view the new high definition format. There is no where near that number of HD-DVD players around.”

“Switching to Blu-Ray only will provide one clear offer to customers in the format they want to watch high definition movies in.”

Disney’s Ratatouille is expected to be the first Woolworths Blu-Ray DVD chart topper. Other big release films coming in the Spring on Blu-Ray DVD are I Am Legend and Sweeney Todd.

Blu-Ray, backed by Sony, versus HD-DVD, backed by Toshiba, has been likened by commentators to the battle between Toshiba’s VHS and Sony’s Beta-Max in the 1980s.

The new format war has split the electronics and entertainment industries. Blu-Ray has been backed by Samsung, Sony, Warner, Dell, Apple, Disney and 20th Century Fox. HD-DVD has been backed by NEC, Microsoft and Universal.

The real winner will, of course, be decided at the tills with Blu-Ray already streets ahead according to Woolworths.

Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs offer much better quality audio and video than DVD and the additional storage means that more time and extras can be packed into one disc.

This is from the Woolworth's corporate website...

German Retailer takes your old HD-DVD Player when you buy a Sony Blu-ray Player

http://www.i4u.com/article14341.html

The HD DVD camp does not have it easy these days. Saturn, one of the largest consumer electronics chains in Germany now offers a 150 Euro rebate (~$221) when you bring your old HD DVD player and buy a new Sony Blu-ray player.

So for instance if you buy the Sony BDP-S300 you pay 349 Euro instead of 499 Euro. If you compare prices you can get the BDP-S300 already for 380 Euro on German Internet shops, but Saturn also throws in 8 Blu-ray movies. This deal is nice, but of course more importantly is really bad PR for HD DVD.
From the exchange program only Xbox 360 HD DVD drives and PC HD DVD drives are excluded.

Dolmen Video and Mikado go HD DVD only (Italy) (http://areahd.dvdtiefpreise.com/?p=217)

Sales figures articles, opinion pieces and pricing articles are not news. Those posts have been removed. We have special threads for sales figures discussions and special deals.

Where is this? I can't for the life of me find it. TIA!

Broadcom's Media PC Technology Enables Toshiba to Feature High Quality HD DVD Playback for Mid-Level Mobile Personal Computers (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-29-2008/0004744780&EDATE=#linktopagetop)

Sonic's Professional Products Group to Fuel Growth of Blu-ray Disc and Digital Distribution

http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13449

No suprise here.

National Geographic Makes Move to Blu-ray Exclusivity (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/National_Geographic/Industry_Trends/National_Geographic_Makes_Move_to_Blu-ray_Exclusivity/1417)

Another former HD DVD exclusive indie goes neutral:Indie distributor Surround Records has announced it will begin rolling out Blu-ray editions of its previously-issued HD DVD titles this Spring.

The previously HD DVD-exclusive label has issued a half a dozen multichannel audio releases since making its high-def debut this past summer with 'Uncommon Bach.' It now says it will expand its high-def disc support to include Blu-ray in addition to HD DVD.

Though multichannel audio releases (sans any significant video material) are fairly common on standard-def DVD, Surround Records is currently the only label actively releasing titles on the two next-gen disc formats.

As press time there was no word on which of Surround's titles would be first to hit Blu-ray, nor had an exact timeframe for the Blu-ray releases been set.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Industry_Trends/Surround_Records/Surround_Records_Announces_Dual-Format_Format/1411

CyberLink Patent Included in HD DVD Essential Patent Portfolio (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20080131005481&ndmHsc=v2*A1199192400000*B1201839999000*DgroupByDate*J2*L1*N 1000837*Zhd%20dvd&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view)

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW) today announced it is participating in the formation of a joint HD DVD patent license based on its ownership of a patent determined to be essential to the HD DVD standard.

CyberLink’s patent relates to the specifications for interactive content over a network for prerecorded HD-DVD Discs, for playback according to the DVD Specifications for High Definition VIDEO (HD DVD-Video).

“Innovation is the key to CyberLink delivering leading products to our customers as well as sustaining long-term business success,” said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. “We're extremely proud be a part of a group of essential HD DVD patent owners who have come together voluntarily for the purpose of forming a joint license, as this is testament to the strength of our core technology.”

Essential HD DVD patent owners that include CyberLink participate in an effort to form a joint patent license facilitated by MPEG LA LLC.

More information about CyberLink’s support for the HD DVD format, and the complete range of CyberLink software, is available at www.cyberlink.com.

Gateway Enables Customers to Play both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD Movies via its Hybrid-SuperMulti Drive on New GM Series Desktop (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20080130005472&ndmHsc=v2*A1199192400000*B1201839999000*DgroupByDate*J2*L1*N 1000837*Zhd%20dvd&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view)

From EngadgetHD:Being Bonus View (or Profile 1.1 like we used to call it back in the old days) enabled has gone from theoretical to actual for users of Cyberlink's PowerDVD Ultra. Also enhancing BD-J compatibility with certain movies, the 71.8mb download brings users to build 3730 and should provide the seamless PiP quality observed at CES -- if your PC can handle it of course. No charge for supporting more of Blu-ray's features, so get to downloading.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/31/cyberlinks-powerdvd-ultra-blu-ray-profile-1-1-update-now-availa/

Singulus Shares Rise on Blu-Ray Unit Purchase From OC Oerlikon (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=auMpiuu9ThWw&refer=germany)

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Singulus Technologies AG, the German maker of machines that replicate compact discs and DVDs, jumped in German trading after agreeing to buy the Blu-ray DVD business from OC Oerlikon Corp.

Singulus shares rose as much as 1.37 euros, or 16 percent, to 10 euros and traded at 9.85 euros as of 10:07 a.m. in Frankfurt.

Oerlikon, the world's biggest maker of spinning machines for textiles, will sell the business to focus on other units. Financial details weren't disclosed. Singulus shares rose the most in almost seven years on Jan. 7 after Time Warner Inc., the world's largest publisher of DVD titles, abandoned the HD DVD format to adopt Blu-ray technology. Singulus's machines produce discs in both formats.

``This step is surely positive'' for Singulus as it will help the company to increase market share for Blu-ray, said Malte Schaumann, an analyst at SES Research in Hamburg. Schaumann rates the stock ``hold.''

The largest distributor of anime (Japanese animation) in the US has chosen to release exclusively on Blu-ray:ICv2 has learned that ADV Films has chosen the Blu-ray high definition format and plans to begin releasing high def versions of some titles as early as this spring. A hghly placed source at the company told us that "frontlist is more important than catalogue right now," so the first high def releases will be the company's newest titles. The move to begin releasing Blu-ray versions of some new titles may have an impact on ADV's release schedule, as high def transfers will have to be prepared.
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12015.html

IMATION SCRAPS HD DVD BLANK MEDIA production, will back Blu-ray exclusively under its TDK brand.


http://www.warren-news.com/

well seeing this is the news forum

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6526968.html?nid=2705



"HD DVD hardware totaled about 33% of all high-definition set-top unit sales for the week ended Jan. 19, according to NPD Group data, still far behind Blu-ray Disc’s 63%, but a significant bounce from the prior week when Blu-ray commanded 90% of high-def player purchases and HD DVD just 7%."

"Rubin noted that consumers continue to overwhelmingly choose upconverting standard-def DVD players over more expensive Blu-ray or HD DVD set-tops. Collectively, high-def set-tops, including dual-format models, encompass less than 10% of overall DVD player sales."

Toshiba to Keep Aloof from Chinese HD-DVD Player Sector (http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1059124/)

Toshiba Corporation, a backer of HD-DVD, will keep aloof from the Chinese HD-DVD player market when Sony-branded Blu-ray DVD players are in hot sales in the Chinese market, said Toshiba China Co., Ltd. on January 31, 2008.

By doing so, it is intended to give its rival - the Blu-ray DVD group - a blow by encouraging more companies to produce HD- DVD players in the nation, said sources.

As a matter of fact, plenty of domestic companies in the China High Definition DVD Industry Association are preparing to rollout HD-DVD players in the Chinese market during 2008, said Lu Da, an official of the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center. Some of the products, priced at no more than CNY 3,000, will be available in the market in the coming March.

Therefore, the largest HD-DVD player supporter is not going to make a foray into the Chinese market in order not to affect the sales of the Chinese manufacturers, citing sources.

The production costs of the to-be-launched HD-DVD players by domestic companies will be lower than the imported Sony and Pioneer-branded Blu-ray DVD competitors, thanks to the Chinese HD-DVD companies' efforts to adjust the international HD-DVD standard.

However, the HD-DVD player market still faces an unclear prospect in the year due to some uncertainties, citing Lu. The association is now studying about the Audio and Video Coding Standard (AVS) application in the HD-DVD player decoder chip, in a bid to decrease the production costs. But the association has not gained material progress currently. In addition, there is not enough film supply for HD-DVD player in the market.

In fact, Toshiba has wet its feet in the Chinese HD-DVD market in the past year. Toshiba, together with some global HD- DVD backers and Chinese companies set up the China High Definition DVD Industry Association on September 7, 2007, in an attempt to promote the mass production of China High Definition DVD (CH-DVD).

Since January 24, 2008, the first CNY 4,990 Blu-ray DVD player catering for the Chinese customers, launched by Blu-ray backer Sony Corporation, has been available on the shelves of the leading Chinese household appliance retailers such as GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. (SEHK: 0493), Dazhong Electronics Corporation and Suning Appliance Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 002024).

In fact, Pioneer-branded Blu-ray DVD players have been provided to the customers in the nation in the past year. However, the pricy CNY 14,800 scared the potential buyers away.

http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Dvd-News-Reviews/Stallones-Rambo-Blood/800032359

Today I'm thrilled to have learned, and be the first to tell you, that the second and third films are making their way to Blu-ray Disc! Lionsgate hasn't officially announced these yet, but thanks to my industry contacts I've recently had a look at their upcoming schedule of releases for April and May, and noted that it includes Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III with a planned street date of May 27th.

From MEDIA-TECH E*News (http://www.media-tech.net/fileadmin/templates/direct_mail/enews/enews_26.pdf) (PDF file, page 9):In the course of 2008, Sony DADC will expand
its Blu-ray Disc (BD) production and achieve a
yearly production capacity of 200m units
worldwide. For its Austrian sites, Sony DADC
will be recruiting at least 100 additional
employees. The investments are fuelled by
Warner Bros. Entertainment’s decision to
release High Definition movies exclusively in
the Blu-ray Disc format.

"US and European consumers have chosen
decisively for Blu-ray as the High-Def format when
doing their Christmas shopping. Blu-ray’s revenue
was at least twice as high as that of the
competitive format, for both players and storage
media. Warner’s announcement is a logical
reaction to this consumer choice” explains Dieter
Daum, Chief Executive Officer at Sony DADC.

Over 110 million Blu-ray Discs
produced at Sony DADC

Since April 2006, Sony DADC has already produced
more than 110m Blu-ray Discs worldwide, of which
more than 20m are BD50 (50 gigabyte
Blu-ray Discs). In Salzburg alone, over 40m BDs
have been produced.

Double capacity and more than 100
new employees

"In response to this strong demand, we are expanding
both our Salzburg facilities -
Anif and Thalgau - within the coming months.
Our team will be expanded by 100 highly qualified
and motivated people" Dieter Daum says. "In 2008,
Sony DADC will be doubling its BD capacity,
achieving a yearly production capacity of 200m
units worldwide.”

There's more about Singulus and Oerlikon (although at least one quote was taken before the sale), as well as indie replicators.

From Home Media Choice Magazine (http://blog.homecinemachoice.com/page/homecinemachoice?entry=is_onkyo_planning_to_abandon):Based around Toshiba’s HD-XE1, Onkyo’s DV-HD805 almost went unnoticed by many in the UK due to the limited numbers of machines brought to the UK market and the fact that, according to the company, the vast majority of these were sold through pre-orders. And it looks like that will be the lot. A spokesperson close to the company has revealed that no further stock will follow, stating, ‘given the current, multiple uncertainties surrounding the Blu-ray vs HD DVD issue Onkyo has decided against bringing any further DV-HD805s to the UK’. This isn’t particularly good news for a format struggling to demonstrate industry support in the wake of recent desertions to the competing Blu-ray format.

But the bad news for the HD DVD camp doesn’t stop there. Toshiba’s strategy throughout the winter of slashing player prices has had a series knock-on effect for other manufacturers. It appears that it is this, more than any other situation that is causing Onkyo to re-evaluate its position in the hi-def format war. Speaking exclusively to HCC, a representative of the company claimed that ‘Onkyo brings its talents to bear where it thinks it can add value to a given product category. If a category becomes commoditised – as this sector shows signs of becoming – there’s less reason to commit huge resources to it when they may be better employed elsewhere’. So it seems that Toshiba’s desperate attempts to drive sales of its HD DVD players to customers by reducing retail prices are also driving hardware manufacturers away from the format, as they see less opportunity to make money in the sector.

The only real silver lining for HD DVD is that, while it might seem unlikely, the company refuses to completely rule out the possibility of another Onkyo player hitting shelves during 2008. All the company will do is tease that it will ‘unveil a new HD source later this year, but cannot confirm at this stage whether it will be a HD DVD, Blu-ray or combi device’.

Manga Films Goes Blu-ray

http://www.planetahd.com/blu-ray/manga-films-exclusiva-de-blu-ray/

Manga Films Goes Blu-ray

http://www.planetahd.com/blu-ray/manga-films-exclusiva-de-blu-ray/

Actually, 4 EU studios went Blu-ray today:

Manga
MK2
Highlight (exclusive in March)
BAC Films

And another (Dutch Film Works) is possibly dropping all announced HD DVDs.

Kaleidescape to Support Blu Ray (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=989549)

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=22437

Plextor announced today the new the PX-B920SA 4x Blu-ray DVD ReWriter drive as well as a combo DVD- Rewriter that also plays Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies - the Plextor PX-B300SA.

Plextor PX-B300SA

The new Plextor PX-B300SA is a dual-layer internal DVD drive for PCs and uses a SATA connection. Available from end of February, the competively priced, the drive combines high definition playback with support for all the DVD standards.

In addition, Plextor has included LightScribe technology to enable custom text and designs to be printed/burned onto discs.

The PX-B300SA plays the latest Blu-ray (6x) and HD-DVD (3x) movies, while as a dual-layer DVD drive, it combines multiple formats - DVD R/RW and RAM - into one. Write speeds: 16x DVD+R/-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 4x DVD+/-R DL, 5x DVD-RAM, 40x CD-R and 24x CD-RW.

The retail package includes Intervideo WinDVD8, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5.5, Ulead Burn.Now 4.5.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/images/uploaded/PX-B300SA_PX-B920A.jpg

Plextor PX-B920SA

Plextor PX-B920SA is a new 4x Blu-ray DVD ReWriter drive using the SATA interface. The internal dual-format drive is capable of writing Blu-ray discs at 4x (BD-R) and also plays HD-DVD ROM discs.

In addition, Plextor has added extra convenience by including LightScribe technology.

The drive can accept both 12cm and 8cm discs (in the horizontal position) and has a 4MB buffer. Write speeds: 4x BD-R, 2xBD-RE, 16x DVD+R/-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 4x DVD+/-R DL, 5x DVD-RAM, 40x CD-R and 24x CD-RW.

Bundled software includes Intervideo WinDVD8, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5.5, Ulead Burn.Now 4.5.

The Plextor PX-B920SA will be available from end of February 2008.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/02/06/xbox-360-hd-dvd-player-price-drop-now-us-129-99.aspx

This just in: The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player price has dropped from $179.99 to $129.99 (U.S. MSRP.) This new price is effective immediately in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Combine the new price with the 5 free HD DVD offer and it’s a pretty good deal.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Disc_Announcements/Warner_Previews_2008/2009_Blu-ray_Slate/1439

SAN FRANCISCO — At an ISSCC session yesterday afternoon, IBM announced details of a smaller, lower-power version of the Cell BE processor that powers Sony's PlayStation 3. The Cell BE is currently fabricated on IBM's 65nm SOI process, but IBM will soon move the console chip onto the company's much-ballyhooed, next-generation 45nm high-k process.

The 45nm Cell will use about 40 percent less power than its 65nm predecessor, and its die area will be reduced by 34 percent. The greatly reduced power budget will cut down on the amount of active cooling required by the console, which in turn will make it cheaper to produce and more reliable (this means fewer warrantied returns). Also affecting Sony's per-unit cost is the reduction in overall die size. A smaller die means a smaller, cheaper package; it also means that yields will be better and that each chip will cost less overall.

All of these chip- and unit-level savings may or may not get passed on to gamers in the form of price cuts any time soon. It all depends on whether Sony wants to boost its margins and show a profit in its gaming unit, or attract new gamers to the console by lowering the price. Eventually, the cost savings will get passed on to users; it's just a question of when.

Speaking of Cell and sales, the presentation suggests that, despite IBM's promise that Cell could see widespread adoption outside of the console realm, Sony is still far and away IBM's main customer of Cell. Specifically, IBM states the following in the paper digest: "To guarantee the proper operation of existing gaming software, the exact cycle-by-cycle machine behavior, including operating frequency, must be preserved."

In other words, IBM's Cell shrink was made with Sony in mind; the chipmaker didn't take advantage of the shrink to make any performance-enhancing tweaks, opting instead to preserve the exact performance characteristics of the 65nm version, which itself preserved the performance characteristics of the 90nm version.

Now, I'll admit that a member of Intel's Itanium team is the person who highlighted this part of the paper for me, but I still think he has a point. This process shrink is all about making cheaper PlayStation 3's, with IBM's narrow but profitable Cell-based blade business taking a back seat to the needs of the volume console market. So IBM may have suckered Sony into buying a supercomputing coprocessor disguised as a gaming chip, but it looks like Sony could get the last laugh.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080207-ibm-shrinks-cell-to-45nm-cheaper-ps3s-will-follow.html

From The Digital Bits:08Q1
* Bonnie and Clyde: Ultimate Collector's Edition (also in HD DVD)

08Q2
* Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector's Edition Box Set (Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, Dead Pool, and Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows)

08Q3
* An American in Paris
* Batman Anthology
* Batman Begins: Limited Collector's Edition Box Set
* Gigi
* How the West was Won
* The Dark Night

08Q4
* A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector's Edition
* Otis: Uncut

2008
* The Adventures of Robin Hood
* Casablanca
* Clash of the Titans
* Excalibur
* Forbidden Planet
* Heat
* Grand Prix
* The Matrix
* Mutiny on the Bounty
* V for Vendetta

2009
* Ben-Hur
* Gone With the Wind
* North by Northwest
* The Wizard of Oz
* Woodstock

Note: Formatting from Blu-ray.com (http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=937).

You must read the full article. Too many titles to list.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

"It's Warner's goal (by mid to late summer) that going forward, EVERY TIME they issue a new catalog special edition on standard DVD, the title will also available day-and-date on Blu-ray Disc as well. George wanted to stress Warner's absolute commitment to Blu-ray, not just on the new release front but with catalog material too. They don't want situations where people have to wonder, "Should I buy the DVD now or should I wait for a Blu-ray version?" of a classic title. They intend for that choice to be available day-and-date with every new restoration/special edition release they do. Warner doesn't want there to BE a wait."

Guys: I don't think this area's intent was for release schedules. We have an existing thread on this topic in the BR software forum. Please take future information to that thread...or if it justifies start a thread in the BR software forum for a specific title. Let's try to focus on news relating to changes in the format. Hope I not clear as mud?

Thanks
Ron

Samsung Sued Over Defective Blu-ray Players (http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/02/samsung-sued-ov.html)

February 08, 2008 | 4:47:57

A class action lawsuit filed earlier this week (.pdf) against Samsung claims the company has knowingly sold defective Blu-ray players to the public since June 2006.

The lead plaintiff in the case, Bob McGovern, says he purchased his BD-01200 Samsung Blu-ray player last summer and was subsequently unable to view "numerous Blu-ray disc titles," a fact he attributes to the player's "defective design and/or manufacture."

Lead attorneys in the case also note that there have since been a number of similar complaints levied against the company concerning the inoperability of certain Buy-ray disc titles. In some cases, Samsung has also verified that it does not intend to provide future firmware updates to correct these issues…and hence the lawsuit.

Neither Samsung nor McGovern's attorneys immediately responded to our request for comment.

At this point, the lawsuit sounds like it may have something to do with last year's BD+ fiasco. BD+ is an anti-copy DRM technology that caused considerable headaches for consumers with Blu-ray players last October. It's effectively a small virtual machine embedded in authorized players that lets content providers include executable programs on Blu-ray discs. Those programs can monitor to see if a player has been tampered with and, if necessary, execute native code to patch an otherwise insecure system. After hackers successfully cracked the AACS DRM protection scheme last year, BD+ was rushed out to titles shortly after the spec was finalized.

As Ars Technica previously reported, two Blu-ray titles in particular, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Day After Tomorrow, failed to play on a number of Blu-ray players, including Samsung's BD-P1200.

After following a long list of URLs and redirects provided by Samsung, owners discovered there was simply no new firmware to download for the player.

It should be noted that other players seemed to have no problem with the above mentioned Blu-ray discs. The PS3 as well as various other Sony and Panasonic models were able to play the titles without incident, but only after owners downloaded a firmware updates provided by those companies.

The underlying problem in all of this is that because players, specs and DRM schemes are constantly evolving, manufacturers are increasingly reliant on firmware updates. As the Samsung lawsuit seems to indicate, not all of them seem to embrace this state of affairs.

When compatibility issues arise, manufacturers often blame the movie studios. Movie studios, in turn, blame the manufacturers. It's a nice little circle of finger pointing that in the end, only serves to piss off consumers and promote lawsuits.
..............

New NGP Study on consumer intrest in HDM

http://www.tvpredictions.com/blustudy020808.htm

------------------

News
Study: Consumer Interest In Blu-ray Growing
But both high-def formats still lagging behind standard DVDs.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (February 8, 2008) -- Consumer interest in Blu-ray players is growing while interest in HD DVD is flattening.

That's according to a new study from the NPD Group, as reported by Video Business.

NPD notes that consumers' desire to buy Blu-ray players has risen since Warner Bros. announced last month that it would endorse the high-def disc format. The decision has given Blu-ray a 5-2 advantage over HD DVD among major studios.

The research study found that 8.1 percent of consumers said they "intended" to buy a Blu-ray player, compared to 6.3 percent late last year.

The consumer intent to buy HD DVD is still slightly higher than for Blu-ray, but NPD says it has declined since Thanksgiving.

Despite the improvement for Blu-ray, NPD also says that less than 10 percent of consumers say they plan to buy a player in either format in the next six months.
----------------------------

http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=265

Netflix, Citing a Clear Signal From the Industry, Will Carry High-Def DVDs Only in Blu-ray Format

From the official press release (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20080211006384&ndmHsc=v2*A1200142800000*B1202791267000*DgroupByDate*J2*L1*N 1000837*Zbest%20buy%20blu-ray&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view):MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is taking a step forward in addressing consumer confusion about high-definition formats. Beginning in early March, the leading consumer electronics retailer will prominently showcase Blu-ray hardware and software products in its Best Buy retail and online channels in the United States.

“Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We’ve listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format,” said Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s president and chief operating officer. “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.”

Dunn continued, “Best Buy has always believed that the customer will benefit from a widely-accepted single format that would offer advantages such as product compatibility and expanded content choices. Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products.”

“With the explosion of HDTVs, customers are hungry for quality, high definition content. We believe our move to feature Blu-ray should help consumers feel confident in their hi-def content choices,” said Mike Vitelli, Best Buy’s senior vice president, Home Solutions. “Best Buy is excited by the next generation of digital products and we know our customers are too. We are excited about helping customers find the right mix of products and services to make the next generation of high definition entertainment technology come alive for them. We believe that Blu-ray is the right solution for consumers.”

Best Buy currently carries a wide array of Blu-ray hardware and software products. The company noted that it will continue to carry an assortment of HD-DVD products for customers who desire to purchase these products.

Spain's Tripictures goes Blu-ray exclusive:

http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11153

Swedish retailer Hi-Fi Klubben has announced that from this point forward they will no longer support the HD DVD format, and now focus all their resources on providing their customers with the best Blu-ray experience. Among other reasons, including the announcement of Warner Brothers going Blu-ray exclusive, Hi-Fi Klubben cited a lack of response from the HD DVD Promo Group as a major factor in them going Blu-ray exclusive.

"We can not remember ever seeing such an immediate and clear-cut reaction from all actors in the market. Consumers and retailers in the US almost instantly put their focus on the Blu-ray format and the bigger retail giants in the US started to clear out their inventory of HD DVD players."

The retailer has placed all HD DVD players on clearance in order to clear out stock, and has begun to recommend Blu-ray to their increasing number high definition customers. Currently, they have Blu-ray players available from Sharp and Samsung, with the new Denon models set to arrive in the summer.http://www.hifiklubben.se/nyheter/hi-fi_klubben/2092.htm

Philips Details Blu-ray and HD DVD Licensing (http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=22477)

Philips released new guidelines related to the licensing procedures for Blu-ray and HD DVD media and hardware.

The Dutch company has been involved in research and development of optical storage technologies for the past thirty years, resulting in many patents essential for the CD and DVD and more recently also for the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats. Philips has always shared its technologies in the optical storage area by licensing its essential patents to third parties, enabling those companies to enter into new markets. In line with this policy Philips will, in the course of 2008, introduce licenses for media and hardware products under its patents essential to the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats.

For optical formats such as Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, Philips is in favor of joint licensing as it offers a one-stop shop for interested manufacturers. However, as joint licenses are not yet available, the company decided to publish the terms and conditions for Philips' licenses to create clarity for companies that wish to manufacture Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD products.

... More at www.ip.philips.com

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. - Summary of Royalty Rates for Blu-ray Disc & HD DVD (http://www.ip.philips.com/download_attachment/6328/Royalty_Rates_Blu-ray___HD-DVD_WEBSITE_31_Jan_2008.pdf)

CDA producing the 3X DVD (http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13476)

CDA producing the 3X DVD

As released by CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH the Thuringia-based company has started production of the first 3X-format DVDs thus expanding its range by another innovative product. "The 3X-DVD is a lower-cost alternative for our customers to replicate video content in HD quality ", said Dr Nicolaus Hettler, Managing Director of CDA.

The 3X-DVD is a DVD in the physical sense, but the file system and the data structure are that of a HD DVD. This format is compatible with commercial HD DVD players. Its memory capacity of up to 9 GB makes it highly interesting for HD short movies, HD movie trailers or corporate presentations of HD quality.

CDA is capable of producing all DVD formats as 3X-DVD. The advantage of a DVD 10 in 3Xformat is that the medium can be played back both as DVD and 3X-DVD. On request CDA adds the AACS copy protection.

Contact: CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH
Dr Nicolaus Hettler
Telephone: +49-(0)3681-387 - 0
Fax: +49-(0)3681-387 - 216
Email: Nicolaus.Hettler@cda.de

......

CableLabs(R) Establishes OpenCable(TM) Project on Java.net

LOUISVILLE, Colo., Feb 12, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- In order to expand resources for tru2way application developers, CableLabs has established the OpenCable Project on Sun Microsystems' Java.net site.

Cable operators are delivering on their promise to deploy tru2way interactivity to consumers' homes in the form of tru2way-enabled set-top boxes which utilize Java-based applications. Time Warner Cable already has deployed nearly 600,000 tru2way set-top boxes and Comcast has made the commitment to deploy support for tru2way devices system-wide by the end of 2008...

... The tru2way brand is the cable industry's marketing identification of interactive applications for consumers. The tru2way term succeeds OpenCable Platform which will continue as the term describing the underlying set of technical specifications that support tru2way applications. Tru2way has foundations in MHP (Multimedia Home Platform) and is similar to Blu-ray Java (BD-J) both of which are also based on Sun Microsystems' Java platform. "Having such common standards allows application developers to draw from their existing knowledge base while providing cross-platform application development opportunities going forward," stated Mark
Coblitz, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning for Comcast....

Full article at:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/media/article/cablelabsr-establishes-opencabletm-project-javanet_476400_15.html

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6531274.html?industryid=47213

"It’s unfortunate to see a valued partner like Best Buy make the decision to push consumers toward Blu-ray," Jodi Sally, marketing VP for HD DVD camp leader Toshiba, said in an email. "We’re also aware of the NetFlix decision to only stock Blu-ray movies for rental going forward. Given these developments, Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players."

It's day two here at the Harman Kardon product launch in Munich, and the company this morning confirmed it will release a standalone Blu-ray player at the IFA Show in Berlin this September, priced at £450-£500.

Details are still under wraps, but a spokesman for the company said it will also add further Blu-ray players to its line-up, including its all-in-one AV systems, next year.

Harman Kardon is also working on a Blu-ray/HDD recorder that can record up to eight channels of TV. The DVC 600 digital video entertainment centre (above) has a 1 Terabyte hard drive, twin built-in digital TV tuners and can record up to eight standard- or high-definition TV channels simultaneously.
http://whathifi.com/hi-fi/archive/2008/02/13/news-harman-kardon-to-back-blu-ray.aspx

Here's a picture:
http://whathifi.com/csfiles/blogs/hi-fi/DVC%20600.jpg

Japan’s Sharp is introducing a new generation of blue-violet laser diodes with output boosted to 250mW, enabling recording on dual-layer Blu-ray discs at 4-6x speeds.

Maintaining the same 3.3mm diameter of its previous package, the new GH04P25A4G is intended for notebook drives. In addition, the new 5.6mm diameter GH04P25A2G is intended for PC drives.

The lasers are shipping now in sample quantities for ¥50,000 (about $462). Mass production should start in April, at a maximum monthly capacity of 700,000 units. Blu-ray drives featuring the new 250mW lasers should enter the market in second-half 2008.
http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2008/FEB/SHARP_140208.htm

PARAMOUNT BEKRÆFTER RYGTE

Den er god nok: Steven Spielberg har betinget sig, at Indiana Jones 4 kommer på high definition i Blu-ray version. Hvorvidt den simultant vil udkomme på HD DVD forlyder der ikke noget om.

På Paramounts nordiske præsentation i Göteborg i sidste uge fastholdt administrerende direktør Magnus Hollo, at Paramount eksklusivt supporterer HD DVD, og at alle film i år vil komme på dette hi def format. Det blev vel at mærke understreget umiddelbart efter en præsentation af Alison Casey fra Understandings & Solutions, hvor hun gentog analysebureauets vurdering fra sidste år, nemlig at Blu-ray bliver vinder af formatkrigen. På hendes prognoser forsvinder HD DVD i 2009. Hun antydede, at det kan ske hurtigere endnu.

Source: http://www.he-videotraileren.dk/efter_deadline.htm

Quick translation:

PARAMOUNT CONFIRMS RUMOR:

It's true: Steven Spielberg has determined himself to releasing "Indiana Jones 4" in a Blu-ray High-definition version. There was no information regarding a simultaneous release coming to HD-DVD. No release date was given.

At Paramount's Northern Presentation in Goteborg last week managing director Magnus Hollo confirmed that Paramount is supporting HD-DVD exclusively and that all movies this year will be coming to this format. Immediate after a presentation from Alison Casey from the analysis bureau "Understandings & Solutions", she repeated the assessment made last year that Blu-ray will win. Her projection says HD-DVD will vanish in 2009. She indicated that it might even happen sooner.

Blu-ray is not only started to show dominant in CE fields, I have a feeling that future releases in PC industry will focus more on sole Blu-Ray recorder than the combo drive with HD-DVD. Take Buffalo for example, they will roll out three new Blu-Ray burners late of this month, one external with USB and two sata-internal drives. Yes, they have announced a combo drive back in CES with ability to read HD-DVD as well, but that was the beginning of HD-DVD downfall.
http://www.slashgear.com/buffalo-rolls-out-three-blu-ray-burners-external-and-internal-drives-1410267.php

Short translated summary of the French article on the Sigmatek SBR-1000 Blu-ray player (http://www.presence-pc.com/actualite/Sigmatek-SBR-1000-27803/):

Sigmatek will release the Sigmatek SBR-1000 for the European market in April with an expected MSRP of under 250 Euro. For comparison the Sony BDP-300 has an MSRP of 369 Euro and the Samsung BD-UP1400 has an MSRP of 378.99 Euro. The Sigmatek SBR-1000 will be capable of 1080p24 output, has an HDMI 1.3 output, and can decode Dolby TrueHD.

Hitachi Maxell, Mitsubishi Unveil First HD DVD-RW, HD DVD-R DL Media (http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=22499)

Hitachi Maxell will release the first 2x HD DVD-R/RW media by the end of the month, while Mitsubishi Chemical Media made a step further with the announcement of the first HD DVD-R DLs.

Hitachi Maxell's HD DVD-R and HD DVD-RW support the 2x burning speed and will be available in Japan end of February in both variations for data and video.

The company's HD DVD-Rs (15GB) feature a track pitch of just 0.40μm as well as an organic dye. The new media also support the LTH (Low to High) recording mode.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/images/uploaded/Maxell_HDDVDR.jpg

Hitachi Maxell has also developed a new phase-change recording material for the new HD DVD-RW discs. Called "Bismuth Coupling Material" (BCM-HD), it allows for fast and accurate recording (low S/N ratio) while it maintains high erasability. The same technology had been also applied to the first 5x DVD-RAM media in 2004 as well as to the latest 12x DVD-RAMs.

In addition, Japanese optical media pioneer Mitsubishi Chemical media Ltd announced today its first HD DVD-R and HD DVD-R DL media, scheduled to retail in Japan later in February and March, respectively. They come in versions for video and data and feature printable surfaces compatible with inkjet printers.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/images/uploaded/MKM_HDDVD-R_RDL.jpg

The HD DVD-R (15GB) discs feature a highly sensitive recording layer that allows burning at 2x, by applying the power that was previously used for burning at 1x. Mitsubishi claims it has managed to offer a playability of 100 million times.

The new HD DVD-R DL 30GB discs (1x) offer storage space for up to four hours of film material in HD quality. Their proven AZO recording layer technology ensures a high degree of laser sensitivity and error-free reading of the data. Mitsubishi also uses the DVD-R DL 2P manufacturing process in the production of the HD DVD-R DL. With this method, the two layers are produced one after the other on one side of the HD DVD. Precise stampers and precision molding equipment ensure perfectly flat HD DVDs that comply with all the standards for high recording quality.

The new HD DVD-R SL and HD DVD R DL conform to the "HD DVD-R Specification ver.1.1" and "HD DVD-R for DL Specification ver.2.1" respectively, as they are defined by the DVD Forum. Maxell's HD DVD-RW offer the essential characteristics as they are defined in the HD DVD-RW "DVD "Specifications for High Density Re-recordable Disc Ver.1.1".

Mitsubishi has no plans to release HD DVD RW media, at least for now.

Japanese manufacturers of optical disc media seems to be ready to support Toshiba's effort to establish the HD DVD format as a recordable medium on both CE and PC recorders, despite the strong pressure the format receives from the Blu-ray camp. Until now, Toshiba has been conservative to release HD DVD drives for the after market (retail), focusing in the OEM market. The company delivers its slim-type HD DVD drives through its Quosmio notebooks. Currently, Toshiba plans to release Half Height HD DVD burner drive for both OEM and retail, starting from mid of this year.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20080214125009_Warner_Bros_Talks_About_HD_DVD_Releases_After _Mid_2008.html

"Warner Bros. Talks About HD DVD Releases After Mid-2008.
Warner Bros. Plans to Release HD DVD Titles According to Demand

Category: Multimedia

by Anton Shilov

[ 02/14/2008 | 12:50 PM ]


Warner Bros., a major movie studio in Hollywood, said that it would still release its movies on HD DVD format even after May 31st, 2008, when the company is supposed to start releasing movies on Blu-ray disc (BD) and DVD only and cease making HD DVD. But Warner Bros. will only launch HD DVD if there is demand.


“There may be isolated instances that an HD DVD title will be created, but as a general rule our titles will be out in SD and BD only after May 31,” said Ronnee Sass, vice president of publicity and promotion, in an interview with DVDTown web-site.

Time Warner-owned studios, including Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, announced in early January that starting from mid-2008 they would only release high-definition movies on Blu-ray discs, a competing format for HD DVD. It is also projected that Warner Bros. will cease not only to release new titles on HD DVD, but also cease manufacturing of already available HD DVD movies. Apparently, Warner not only plans to create new HD DVD titles, but also to continue selling existing HD DVDs too.

“If there is product available in HD DVD and there is a request from a retailer, we will provide,” said Mr. Sass.

It is interesting to note that the forthcoming release of I am Legend movie from Warner Bros. will have more exclusive high-definition media (HDM) only features on Blu-ray: the BD version will also sport gallery of documentary vignettes dubbed Creating I Am Legend as well as the featurette Cautionary Tale: The Science of I Am Legend. Therefore, it is not completely clear whether newly created HD DVD titles will have as many HDM-only features as Blu-ray. Still, with over one million of HD DVD players installed in the USA only, the amount of potential customers for HD DVD titles that is hard to ignore.

It is noteworthy that Warner Bros. talks about possibility to release HD DVDs about a month after proclaiming Blu-ray exclusivity. For example, Disney has not released a single HD DVD yet, although it voted for approval of HD DVD 51GB standard; whereas 20th Century Fox does release only Blu-ray titles in the U.S., but in Europe its partners make them available on HD DVD.

Blu-ray and HD DVD formats compete for replacing the DVD standard. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 25GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce. The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, Sanyo as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, LG, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung, and Sony, which are among the world’s largest makers of consumer electronics."

Holy cow. This is no blog post, this is coming from the Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib77125d96b22e86027d0bfb0c25aa58d):The format war has turned into a format death watch.

Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometime in the coming weeks, reliable industry sources say, after a rash of retail defections that followed Warner Home Video's announcement in early January that it would support only the rival Blu-ray Disc format after May.

Officially, no decision has been made, insists Jodi Sally, vp of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products. "Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings," she said.

But she hinted that something's in the air. "Given the market developments in the past month," she said, "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players."
But in the end, sources say, the substantial loss Toshiba is incurring with each HD DVD player sold -- a figure sources say could be as high as several hundred dollars -- coupled with a series of high-profile retail defections has driven the company to at last concede defeat.

"An announcement is coming soon," said one source close to the HD DVD camp. "It could be a matter of weeks."

Toshiba UK offers up a "No Comment" when asked about the speculation of dropping support of HD DVD:
http://whathifi.com/home-cinema/archive/2008/02/15/news-toshiba-uk-refuses-to-comment-on-speculation-that-the-end-is-nigh-for-hd-dvd.aspx

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873029-7.html

http://www.walmartfacts.com/articles/5673.aspx

Bentonville, Ark., Feb. 15, 2008 – Wal-Mart Stores, U.S. today announces that its 4,000 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores will move forward this year with one hi-definition movie and hardware format: Blu-ray. The change will take place quickly over the next several months whereby the retailer will phase out HD DVD offerings and reorganize shelf space. By June, Wal-Mart stores, Sam’s Clubs, www.walmart.com and www.samsclub.com will offer only Blu-ray movies and hardware machines, as well as standard definition movies and DVD players, and up converts.

"We’ve listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases," said Gary Severson, senior vice president, Home Entertainment, Wal-Mart, U.S. "With the customers best interest in all we do, we wanted to share our decision and timeline with them as soon as possible, knowing it will help simplify their purchase decision, increase selection, and increase adoption long term. We anticipate enhancing our selection with continued great values in hi-definition Blu-ray products, so our customers can further enhance their entertainment experience at home."

Wal-Mart will continue to sell through remaining HD DVD product, but in less than 30 days customers will see a more predominant move toward Blu-ray in stores, clubs and online. As the nation’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart thoughtfully reviewed all areas and impact in making its decision, and is excited to move forward with one format and share its future plans with customers.

High-def discs lag standard, but gaining momentum

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6532685.html?nid=2705


High-definition software sales are trailing standard-definition by half in the formats’ first two years on the market, according to Adams Media Research.

High-def discs, introduced in 2006, sold 8.3 million units by the end of 2007. That compares to 16.3 million units for standard-definition in their first two years at retail, according to Adams. No such gap exists in hardware, where high-def DVD players are on about the same sales pace as were standard DVD set-tops. Due to holiday retail price wars, high-def set-tops even spiked well above standard DVD players in the last weeks of 2007.

However, studios see high-def saddled with some adoption disadvantages that standard DVD avoided.

By standard DVD’s year two in 1998, there were nearly 100 million TV households ready to plug in players, according to Nielsen Media Research. In contrast, just 26.5 million households in 2007 had the required high-def TV set for Blu-ray or HD DVD hardware, according to DisplaySearch.

Taps for HD DVD as Wal-Mart Backs Blu-ray (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/technology/16toshiba.html?ref=business)

Analysts do not expect Toshiba to pull HD DVD off the market.

The New York Times
by MATT RICHTEL and ERIC TAUB
Published: February 16, 2008SAN FRANCISCO — HD DVD, the beloved format of Toshiba and three Hollywood studios, died Friday after a brief illness. The cause of death was determined to be the decision by Wal-Mart to stock only high-definition DVDs and players using the Blu-ray format.

The format war confounded and frustrated consumers in Tokyo, above, and elsewhere. There are no funeral plans, but retailers and industry analysts are already writing the obituary for HD DVDThe announcement by Wal-Mart Stores, the nation’s largest retailer of DVDs, that it would stop selling the discs and machines in June when supplies are depleted comes after decisions this week by Best Buy, the largest electronics retailer, to promote Blu-ray as its preferred format and Netflix, the DVD-rental service, to stock only Blu-ray movies, phasing out HD DVD by the end of this year.

Last year, Target, one of the top sellers of electronics, discontinued selling HD DVD players in its stores, but continued to sell them online.“The fat lady has sung,” said Rob Enderle, a technology industry analyst in Silicon Valley. “Wal-Mart is the biggest player in the DVD market. If it says HD DVD is done, you can take that as a fact.” One significance of this particular article is the declarative nature of it in the NYT.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL1627196120080216

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp is planning to stop production of equipment compatible with the HD DVD format for high-definition video, allowing the competing Blu-Ray camp a free run, public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday.

Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business, Japan's NHK said on its website.

No one at Toshiba could be reached for comment.

The format war between the Toshiba-backed HD DVD and Sony Corp's Blu-Ray, often compared to the Betamax-VHS battle in the 1980s, has slowed the development of what is expected to be a multibillion dollar high-definition DVD industry.

Toshiba was dealt a blow on Friday when Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it would abandon the HD DVD format, becoming the latest in a series of top retailers and movie studios to rally behind Blu-ray technology for high definition DVDs.

Toshiba plans to continue selling HD DVD equipment at stores for the time being but will not put resources into developing new devices, NHK said.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne, editing by Mike Peacock)

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/02/123_19049.html

Sounds like we may not hear "when" for awhile

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iTHHXJdHiSuq8n1753HbYdPYHbKwD8URS5400

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese electronics maker Toshiba might withdraw its HD DVD next-generation video format, Kyodo News agency reported Saturday.

The report cited unidentified individuals from the industry as saying Toshiba Corp. is reviewing its operations, with the timing of the withdrawal to be decided later, depending on U.S. demand for its HD DVD products and other factors.

Or not (emphasis mine):We've reached out to a few sources to find out what's going on. Here's what we know, starting with the most recent information gleaned from a source close to the HD DVD camp. Surprisingly, our source tells us that exit plans for HD DVD were already in the works before the Netflix announcement this past week. The loss of Warner Brothers demoralized the HD DVD camp, and when it was clear that deep price cuts weren't going to give HD DVD a second wind, the writing was on the wall. The only question, pre-Netflix announcement, was how to gracefully shutdown while liquidating existing product. Now that retailers and rental joints have turned their back publicly on the format, there's nothing graceful about the shutdown plans. There's little face to save on the consumer side.

What's more, our source says that Netflix and Wal-Mart were aware of HD DVD's impending official death, and rather than allow a long and drawn out withdrawal from the market that could burn customers, those companies chose to broadcast their intentions to the marketplace immediately. This puts pressure on Toshiba and its partners to exit the business without spending months trying to unload product that's essentially already obsolete.

At this stage, the hold-up on an official announcement, according to our source, is the need for a definitive shutdown plan that can be announced at the same time Toshiba officially gives up HD DVD. Toshiba and its partners are concerned to show that they have plans that can minimize the financial damage resulting from the shutdown, presumably to keep shareholders happy. But the damaging announcements from Best Buy, Netflix and Wal-Mart have forced an acceleration of the company's plans. An announcement could come as early as Tuesday, and will be most certainly made by the end of the week, our source indicated. At the top of Toshiba's list is how to maintain investor confidence in the face of factory shutdowns that will cost the company and some partners dearly.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080217-official-hd-dvd-obituary-a-matter-of-days-not-weeks.html

http://ap.google.com/hostednews/img/ap_logo.gif?hl=en (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJLtQXIpLKjQ1isNuyFH1SbFNkOgD8USGOQO0)

Toshiba May Pull Plug on HD DVD Format

By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO (AP) — Toshiba may pull the plug on its HD DVD business, the Japanese electronics maker said Monday, in what would signal the almost certain defeat of its next-generation video format to rival Blu-ray technology.

Toshiba Corp. said that no decision has been made but acknowledged it had started a review of its HD DVD business strategy. The company statement was issued after weekend reports from Japanese media, including Kyodo News, that Toshiba is studying a possible withdrawal from HD DVD.

A company official, speaking on condition of anonymity as she is not authorized to speak on the matter, said a board meeting could be held as soon as Tuesday, where a decision is likely.

HD DVD has been competing against Blu-ray disc technology, backed by Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, five major Hollywood movie studios and others.
Only one high-definition video format has been expected to emerge as the winner, much like VHS trumped Sony's Betamax in the video format battle of the 1980s.

Despite the reports, Toshiba's stock soared 6.4 percent in morning trading. The gain underlines how the market is welcoming the relatively quick decision as lessening the potential damage in losses in the HD DVD operations, despite the blow to Toshiba's prestige.

The news of the possible demise of HD DVD also prompted Nikko Citigroup analysts to raise their rating on Toshiba to Buy from Neutral, noting that Toshiba was making a smart move.

"On the earnings front, its operating profit will likely gain by 20 percent from the next fiscal year," said analyst Hiroyuki Masuko.

The reasons behind Blu-ray's apparent triumph over HD DVD are complex, analysts said, as marketing, management maneuvers and other factors are believed to have played into the shift to Blu-ray's favor that became more decisive during the critical holiday shopping season.

Recently, the Blu-ray disc format has been gaining market share, especially in Japan, where studies showed more than 80 percent of the purchases were Blu-ray.

On Friday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, said it will sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware and no longer carry HD DVD offerings.
The announcement came five days after Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in HD DVD. Several major U.S. retailers have made similar decisions, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.

The decision of movie studios was also key.

Last month, Warner Bros. Entertainment decided to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format, becoming the latest studio to reject HD DVD.
That left only Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures and General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures as exclusive supporters of HD DVD.

In addition to Warner Bros., Blu-ray is now backed by Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox.

Both formats deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound, but they are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players.
HD DVD was touted as being cheaper because it was more similar to previous video technology, while Blu-ray boasted bigger recording capacity than HD DVD.

Adding to Blu-ray's momentum was the gradual increase in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 home video-game console, which also works as a Blu-ray player. Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 machines worldwide since the machine went on sale late 2006.

But PS3 sales have trailed the blockbuster Wii machine from Nintendo Co., and the game machine wasn't widely seen as that critical to the video format battle.

Its predecessor PlayStation 2 was instrumental in helping spread the popularity of old-style DVDs, but there was no comparable format rivalry at that time.

Toshiba is expected to focus its resources on its other businesses, including computer chip production, such as flash-memory, which are used in digital cameras and cell phones.

The Nikkei, Japan's top business newspaper, reported in its Monday's editions that Toshiba plans to invest as much as 1.8 trillion yen ($16.7 billion) in two plants in Japan for its flash memory business for fiscal 2008, starting April 1. Toshiba said no decision has been made.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJLtQXIpLKjQ1isNuyFH1SbFNkOgD8USGOQO0

Above article is from the AP. Here is the other wire service's, (Reuters), version for Monday publication.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKT34593320080218

Reuters
Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:43am GMT
By Nathan Layne

TOKYO (Reuters) - Consumers and investors cheered an impending end to a format war for next-generation DVDs on Monday, with share gains for both Toshiba, on the verge of abandoning its HD DVD discs, and Sony, the leader of the rival Blu-ray camp.

Toshiba Corp shares jumped 6.3 percent as analysts praised its move to cut its losses, while Sony Corp, whose technology is set to become the industry standard for high-definition home DVDs, rose 2.1 percent.

"It doesn't make sense for Toshiba to continue putting effort into this," said Koichi Ogawa, a chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments. "It needs to cut its losses and focus its resources on promising businesses."

Both formats have the space to hold high-definition movies, but growing support from Hollywood and big U.S. retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores has given Blu-ray a crushing lead.

However, overall sales so far have made up only a small portion of the $24 billion (12.2 billion pound) home DVD sector, as shoppers, faced with machines that played only one type of disc or the other, have held back.

"I was expecting Blu-ray to win but I was kind of waiting it out," said Masahiro Taniwaki, a 26-year-old systems engineer shopping for a Blu-ray recorder at electronics retailer Bic Camera in Tokyo.

Toshiba said on Monday that no decisions had been made on HD DVD, but a company source told Reuters on Saturday that the company was in the final stage of planning its exit.

An end to the war means consumers can now be sure they won't be stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax -- Sony's videotape technology that lost out to VHS in the 1980s -- and should help accelerate the shift to the new DVD.

..."The two formats, though both were good, have confused consumers and prevented them from moving into the high-def future," said Stephanie Prange, editor in chief of Home Media Magazine.

HOLLYWOOD FAVOURS BLU-RAY

The defection from HD DVD in January of Warner Brothers and its huge film library brought the tally of Hollywood movies in the Blu-ray camp to a commanding 70 percent.

Recent sales figures show many consumers had already written off HD DVD, which was also backed by Microsoft Corp

Blu-ray accounted for 93 percent of next-generation DVD hardware sales in North America in the week after Warner's announcement in January, data from the NPD Group showed.

Blu-ray recorders from Sony, Matsushita and Sharp made up about 96 percent of the Japanese market in the last quarter of last year, researcher BCN said.

LOSSES NOW, PROFITS LATER

At the core of both formats are blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than red lasers used in current DVD equipment, enabling discs to hold up to five times as much data.

Toshiba had billed its format as less costly for the industry as it allowed some existing DVD-making equipment to be reused, but Blu-ray allowed for more content to be packed onto each disc.

...Toshiba will likely suffer losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to scrap production of its equipment and other steps to withdraw from the business, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

But analysts gave high marks to Toshiba's quick move to pull the plug on HD DVD just two years after launching its first players. It took Sony more than a decade to quit Betamax.

Nikko Citigroup raised its rating on Toshiba to "buy/high risk" from "hold/high risk". JP Morgan maintained an "overweight" rating while predicting the elimination of sales promotion costs would add 30 billion yen (142 million pounds) to Toshiba's operating profit in the next business year from April.

Shares of Toshiba hit 837 yen, their highest since late December but still down nearly a third in the past six months.

Sony shares hit 4,980 yen as the benchmark Nikkei average was up 0.6 percent.

While Toshiba was still officially silent on the fate of its technology, pundits and consumers were clear the war was over.

"Blu-ray won. It's fantastic and I trust Sony," said one customer, William, as he browsed DVD player aisles at the Best Buy Co Inc store on New York's Fifth Avenue.

(Additional reporting by Yoko Kubota and Elaine Lies in Tokyo; Steve James in New York and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Rodney Joyce)

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Console/J7L7H2R4?page=1

^^^ Might want to add "rumored" to that.

BRT to Pull HD-DVD Lines from Pressing Plant, Not Waiting for Toshiba Announcement

Spokane, WA (PRWEB) February 18, 2008 -- The only indie multi-format high definition disc pressing plant, Blue Ray Technologies, will drop its HD-DVD lines without waiting for the widely-reported and anticipated announcement of Toshiba's retreat from HD-DVD.

"This is a victory for the consumers, who can now move in to the stunning high def disc world and build collections with confidence," said industry expert Erick Hansen, a DVD pioneer and chairman of Blue Ray Technologies. "Toshiba can take heart in that there is no shame: it was a battle well-fought and that they have several adaptable technologies and backup plans."

In fact, no orders had come in to the full-service disc manufacturer for HD-DVDs, even partial orders along with Blu-ray clients looking to service both markets, since November. The indie film companies that BRT serves had seen the death of the HD-DVD format long before last week's announcement that Walmart, Blockbuster and Netflix were dropping the format - and even before Warner Bros. announced in January at the CES show they were going Blu-ray only.

"This week we will dismantle our HD-DVD lines and will be adding new equipment to bolster our Blue-ray manufacturing," said Hansen explaining, "Despite our name and preference, we always offered HD-DVDs as a service to our customers. Now we will reconfigure part of that equipment to make DVDs and CDs," said Hansen. "The indie film companies moved quicker than the studios and gradually stopped mixed orders in favor of Blu-ray late last year."

Hansen explained "They preferred the larger capacity and full 1080p quality of the Blu-ray discs going forward. We saw this but since I have been saying HD-DVD was DOA for four years, we still had to wait for the industry to catch up to the inevitable. HD-DVD is dead, all that is left is the burial."

He said "We are waiting this week for the other shoes to drop from Universal and Paramount/DreamWorks, the last studios to support HD-DVD over Blu-ray -- and word from Microsoft, who used the now-obsolete format as an add-on to their Xbox game console."


http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/02/prweb704763.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120321618700574049.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

not sourced from AP or Reuters but new reporting in this mornings Wall Street Journal


Toshiba Set to Cede DVD-Format Fight

Move Positions Sony As HD-Player Victor; Studios' Big Stake

The Wall Street Journal
By YUKARI IWATANI KANE in Tokyo and SARAH MCBRIDE in Los Angeles
February 18, 2008

Toshiba Corp. is expected to pull out of the HD DVD business early this week, people familiar with the situation said, marking the end of one of the biggest and most-expensive format battles in the electronics industry since the VHS format's defeat of Betamax nearly three decades ago.

The decision makes Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray technology the de facto standard for high-definition DVD players, which can show movies with crisp images on big, flat-panel digital televisions. Sony declined to comment.

Since Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. decided last month to support Blu-ray exclusively, sales of Blu-ray players and movies have gained momentum, putting pressure on Toshiba.

"Sales have been hurt since Warner's decision, and we are considering different options," Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Oomori said, though he added that nothing had been decided at this point.

If Toshiba withdraws from the HD DVD business, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures and General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures, both of which support the format exclusively, would be immediately released from their commitments, one of the people familiar with the situation said. Warner Bros., which is obligated to sell HD DVD movies through May under its contract, would also be freed from those terms. All three studios couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Over the past five years, supporters of HD DVD and Blu-ray have been engaged in a fierce war over the high-definition DVD market as each side launched major campaigns to woo movie studios, retailers and ultimately consumers to their side. Neither side will disclose how much they have spent, but industry observers believe it to be hundreds of millions of dollars by each.

For consumer-electronics makers, winning the format war had meant big potential returns in licensing fees and sales of players and disks for years to come. Setting the standard for high-definition DVDs is also a matter of engineering pride, an important factor for Japanese manufacturers such as Sony and Toshiba.

The studios also have a big stake in the battle because they see next generation technology as a way to get customers back into stores to buy movies. DVDs had been a cash cow for studios for a long time, but the market started slowing in 2006, catching the industry off guard. Last year, sales fell by almost 4%, to $16 billion, according to Digital Entertainment Group. The studios are eager to find ways to jump-start the category.

Toshiba, a sprawling electronics conglomerate that also makes semiconductors, appliances and nuclear reactors, is a small player in the consumer-electronics industry, but winning the next-generation format war would have allowed the company to significantly increase its presence.

Toshiba was particularly aggressive with price cuts during the past holiday season, with some of its older models selling for as little as $99, and it had been buoyed by solid sales of its players by the end of last year. But though the players were selling, HD DVD software wasn't. According to Adams Media Research, HD DVD software sales amounted to just $90million, compared with $186 million for Blu-ray software in 2007.

The Blu-ray side also benefited from a pickup in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 videogame console, which comes with a Blu-ray player. After the introduction of a lower priced model in November, PS3 sales tripled in the October-December period from the previous quarter. PlayStation 3 is expected to reach cumulative sales of more than 13 million units by March, an additional boost for Blu-ray.

These factors contributed to Warner Bros.'s watershed decision in early January to back Blu-ray, leaving HD DVD with just a 25% share of the high-definition video market. That meant that consumers who bought HD DVD players would have far fewer movie titles to choose from. Faced with declining DVD sales, Warner Bros. was eager to end the format war quickly, hoping that would kick-start sales of high-definition DVDs, people familiar with the decision said.

Toshiba made a last-ditch effort last month to save its HD DVD business by slashing prices on its players by as much as 25% in the U.S. But Blu-ray players still outsold HD DVD players by more than two to one, according to analysts. Movie sales figures have been even more telling. Nearly 80% of high-definition software sales were for the Blu-ray format in January, analysts said.

Given Blu-ray's recent momentum, analysts had speculated that Toshiba would quietly phase out the HD DVD business over the next few years, just as Sony did with its Betamax format, in an effort to save its corporate pride. That its executives are considering a complete withdrawal shows how grim the situation has become.

Over the past month, retailers, which had been relatively neutral, began successively expressing their support for Blu-ray, in the hopes that a decision would persuade consumers who have been cautious about buying high-definition players and movies while the format battle was continuing.

In the past week, major retailers such as consumer-electronics giant Best Buy Co. Inc., online video rental company NetFlix Inc. and Wal-Mart all sided with Blu-ray.

A person familiar with the situation said a complete withdrawal from the HD DVD business is likely to result in a loss in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars for Toshiba, in addition to the losses that it has already racked up.

The person also said Toshiba will likely continue to provide customer support for HD DVD players that it has sold, but it had no compensation plans in mind for consumers who have already purchased them.

Forbes aso picking up on the news, rehash of AP story


http://www.forbes.com/markets/commodities/2008/02/18/toshiba-hddvd-sony-markets-equity-cx_jb_0218markets1.html

Toshiba May Fold HD DVD Business
Forbes

A Toshiba spokesman told Forbes.com that no decision had been made on the HD DVD issue, but the company has been assessing its options since Warner Bros. Entertainment announced Jan. 4 that it would no longer issue movies in Toshiba's HD DVD format. "HD DVD sales have decreased worldwide since then," said Toshiba's Keisuke Ohmori. "We have been watching market conditions worldwide and considering what next step we should take."

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUST35733920080218

"a company source told Reuters on Sunday Toshiba would concede defeat to the rival Blu-ray format"

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINT34913420080218?rpc=44

http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2008/02/18/557448.aspx

The War is Over: Toshiba Gives Up on HD DVD (www.dealerscopetoday.com/story.bsp?sid=91234&var=story#91234)

article from Dealerscopetoday.com dated 18 Feb

Despite Red's inability to make any real public statement, Japanese publication Nikkei has it that Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida will be announcing the final discontinuation of HD DVD tomorrow, as well as halted sales of hardware and media by March (as in days from now). Apparently Toshiba will pull its units from retail shelves, but has no intention to give burned early adopters any refunds (no kidding?); it sounds like the ceasefire will include the bare PC drives as well, so those hoping to keep using HD DVD as a personal data storage medium probably won't have much luck. Apparently the announcement will come alongside Toshiba's plans to build new semiconductor fabs, which we're sure they'll try to spin as an advancement that far overshadows the hill of beans (read: hundreds of millions) they've lost in the format war.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/18/toshiba-expected-to-announce-death-of-hd-dvd-tomorrow-stop-sale/

Please, no more links about Toshiba until something new happens, like a press release from them. Thanks.

larry

This is of COURSE IF toshiba does indeed pack up and go home.....

so take it for what it is worth

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23225024/


SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft Corp. does not expect sales of its Xbox 360 game console to suffer if Toshiba Corp. discontinues HD DVD technology, Microsoft said in a statement on Monday.

(MSNBC.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)

"We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace," the company said. "We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player."

Xbox 360 supports a plug-in HD DVD accessory that allows customers to view high definition DVDs produced only with this Toshiba technology.

Toshiba sources said on Saturday that the company is preparing to exit the HD DVD business, thereby surrendering a two-year battle to control the format of next-generation DVDs.

Customers would be left to buy high-definition DVDs produced with Blu-ray, an alternate technology controlled by Sony Corp.

The Microsoft statement pledged that Xbox 360 customers would continue to be able to consume high-definition movies, television programs, and DVDs they already own.

In January, a Microsoft executive said the company would be open to supporting Blu-Ray technology for its Xbox 360 machine.

TOKYO, Feb. 19 Kyodo
Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it will completely withdraw from the
HD DVD business due to recent sales setbacks and a grim outlook for
the format.
The move will allow the rival Blu-ray format, promoted by a
group of electronics makers led by Sony Corp., to become the industry
standard for next-generation DVDs.
Toshiba said it will immediately stop producing and developing
HD DVD equipment and terminate sales by around the end of March after
buying back HD DVD equipment in inventory at retailers.
-0- Feb/19/2008 7:59 GMT

And this would be the Toshiba press release:

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2008_02/pr1903.htm

Marcel J. Dumeny

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/live-from-toshibas-hd-dvd-press-conference-in-tokyo/

Pictures of Toshiba's press conference.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080219005651&newsLang=en

"Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses."

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba’s commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.

"Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses."

5:00PM - Right on time, Toshiba's president, Nishida-san, takes the podium. He is talking about how great and advanced HD DVD was. WAS. He is also speaking about how Toshiba shared a good partnership with Warner. "There was a difficult decision. Multiple standards have a huge impact on consumers."

5:15 - Now he's just reading from the release, more or less. They're on to bigger and better things: two new NAND factories in Japan, one will be jointly-operated with SanDisk.

5:21 - Q&A time!

Three part Q: what was the cause of HD DVD's failure? What is Toshiba doing with its Aomori HD DVD factory? And what about the timing of the announcement?
A: From an objective, fair point of view, we were clearly in a good place until last December and January. So we were very, very surprised by Warner's announcement. As for the Aomori factory, nothing is final at this moment.

Q: Any plans to adopt Blu-ray?
A: No plans at all, not at this moment.

Q: Are there no plans at all for next gen optical discs?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Japan-Toshiba.html

NYT Article based on AP reports

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120321618700574049.html?mod=blog

New WSJ Journal article not based on previous wire service articles

Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/paramount-and-universal-to-publish-films-on-blu-ray/):Not a whole lot to go on right now, but German site HDTV Praxis has it that both Paramount and Universal will now make the obvious choice and publish their films on Blu-ray. Notably, this follows hints seen in certain Circuit City databases as well as word that we've received noting that both studios would indeed make things easy on everyone and simply support the one format still standing. Interestingly, DreamWorks isn't mentioned in the linked article per se, but we've all ideas it'll be following suit shortly.
And here's the linked article:Toshiba has just the end of the HD-DVD announced. The delivery of all HD-DVD-based Toshiba products is set to the end of March, the support for all equipment sold to date remains.

Update: The wording of the German press release you after calling the news herein. In the same breath, told us, Paramount and Universal now publish their films on Blu-ray.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=12118

At least one of the two studios exclusive to HD DVD is already gearing up to join the other team.

"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," said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

"The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for hi-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate."

Sony U.S. shares rise on PS3, Blu-ray optimism

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. shares of Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research)(SNE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose as much as 5 percent on Tuesday on optimism about sales of its PlayStation 3 video game consoles and Blu-ray DVD players after Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) pulled the plug on its rival HD DVD system.

Sony's PS3 machine has a built-in Blu-ray disc player, the dominant high-definition home movie disc technology now that Toshiba has conceded defeat.

"We believe Blu-ray's victory could drive market share gains for the PS3, as we believe consumers will now be more willing to pay up (versus 360) for the standard Blu-ray player," William Blair analyst Ralph Shackart wrote in a note to clients, referring to Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) rival Xbox 360 game device.

Sony U.S. shares rose to a session high of $47.07 in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange before easing to $46.30, up $1.52, or 3.4 percent from the Friday close. On Monday, markets were closed due to the U.S. President's Day holiday.

Toshiba surrendered in the next-generation home movie war on Tuesday, after losing the support of key movie studios and retailers -- most recently, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research). Toshiba said it will aim to end its HD DVD business by the end of next month.

The Blu-ray win means consumers no longer have to choose between rival, incompatible formats and run the risk of being stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax, Sony's videotape format that lost out to VHS in the 1980s.

Sony shares in Tokyo earlier Tuesday ended up 2.2 percent, spurred by the company's plans to spend 22 billion yen ($203.5 million) to develop the production technology for making medium to large organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSN1925691620080219

Toshiba After HD DVD: What Lies Ahead?
What's next for Toshiba and for HD DVD consumers? The answers may be hidden in Toshiba's own words.
Washington Post/PC World
Tuesday, February 19, 2008; 1:19 PM

By now Toshiba's decision tono longer develop, manufacture, or market HD DVD players and recorders is public knowledge. What's next for the company, and for consumers who bought into the format it supported? A close look at Toshiba's press release reveals some answers.

"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called next-generation format war and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," says Atsutoshi Nishida, Toshiba president and CEO.

There's irony here, for sure: After all, Toshiba forged ahead with its technology two years ago, at a time when a format war could have been averted before products went to market and consumers were dragged into the mess. Perhaps this is the company's way of apologizing for the whole debacle.

Nishida continues, "while we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped."

That Toshiba still sees the market opportunity for high-definition content is no surprise. This is a company that makes HDTVs. What will you play on those enormous HDTV screens if not high-definition content?

But will Toshiba enter the Blu-ray Disc player market? It's doubtful. In part thanks to the format war, prices have deteriorated so quickly that the margins just aren't there. Plus, the market is fast moving toward commoditization. Give it another two years, and we'll see Blu-ray Disc players being sold for under $200.

At the same time Toshiba announced its withdrawal from HD DVD, the company said it would increase its focus on high-capacity NAND flash memory and small hard drives. Toshiba also said it would work on maximizing next-generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies.

Shortly after making its HD DVD announcement, Toshiba revealed that it haspartnered with SanDiskto build a new flash memory chip factory; the companies will share the output from the factory. Toshiba is also launching another chip factory of its own for NAND flash memory.

If Toshiba could get costs down and capacities up on its portable hard drives, the company could pursue another market: high-definition recording to hard disk for DVR-like networked media players. Converged devices such as these could be attractive to network-savvy users who want everything networked throughout the home, including their high-definition content.

That said, Apple's foray into the field--Apple TV--didn't exactly get consumers humming. For Toshiba to make a go of it, the company would have to make its product easier to use and better than the solution that cable and satellite operators currently provide: high-def DVR boxes that require few cables. Toshiba could offer a premium high-definition DVR that also supports streaming media around the home network; years ago Toshiba had prototype designs for such a concept (sans the high-def). Toshiba has already dipped into media streaming with its Network NAVI interface introduced on theRD-XS54 DVD recordera few years ago.

Toshiba says it intends to "maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD."

Translation: The company plans to maintain good relations with its current partners.

However, this may be an oblique reference to the HDi interactivity initiative Toshiba and Microsoftbegan in 2007, which involved expanding the advanced interactive layer used in HD DVD media authoring. As recently as late January Microsoft was pushing its HDi technology at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. And Toshiba and Microsoft have revealed that the larger vision for HDi included a universe where multiple devices--including portable media players, servers, and content stored on the Internet--would use HDi to talk with one another.

It's quite possible that Toshiba plans to continue exploring HDi--assuming Microsoft plans to continue pursuing the technology in light of HD DVD's demise.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021901511.html

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/02/19/toshiba.hdd/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7252506.stm

CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3845998n

and

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3841728n


NBC News
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23242788#23242788

ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4305763
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=4312842

PBS Newshour
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/technology/index.html

Fox
N/A

CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/19/toshiba.html

Kosty, you may want to double check the CBS link! :eek:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3845998n

and

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3841728n

fixed

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUST28617520080220

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it will sell its microchip production facilities in western Japan to Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) for 90 billion yen ($835 million), in their latest move to focus on their core businesses.

The equipment will be used by their semiconductor joint venture that will make high-performance Cell chips and RSX graphic chips, both used in Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, as well as other microchips that go into Toshiba products.

The venture will be established on April 1.

Sony, which is focusing on image sensor chips for digital cameras and pulling away from heavy investments for cutting-edge chip production equipment, said in October it would sell production facilities for making key microchips used in the PS3 to Toshiba, but the price has been unavailable.

The announcement on the selling price comes on the heels of Toshiba's decision on Tuesday to abandon its HD DVD high-definition DVD format, ending a prolonged battle with the Sony-led Blu-ray camp.

Toshiba twinned the HD DVD exit with an announcement that it and partner SanDisk Corp (SNDK.O: Quote, Profile, Research) would spend $16 billion on two new flash memory plants.

Shares in Sony were up 2.8 percent at 5,150 yen in afternoon trade while Toshiba fell 2.8 percent to 801 yen. The Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index was down 2.1 percent.

Microsoft's response to Toshiba's announcement. (http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2008/02/18/557448.aspx)

We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we’ve long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry. We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

Mr Zoid

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/retail/article/media-alert-best-buy-canada-acknowledges-bluray-winner-highdefinition-player_485806_7.html

Best Buy stores in Canada are a division of Burnaby, BC-based Best Buy Canada Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY). Best Buy is Canada's fastest-growing retailer and e-tailer (www.BestBuy.ca) of consumer electronics, computers and entertainment products and also operates the Geek Squad (www.GeekSquad.ca), a technology service provider specializing in computer support and home theatre installation. There are over 50 stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

Best Buy offers consumers a unique shopping experience with the latest technology and entertainment products, at the right price, with a no-pressure (non-commissioned) sales environment. The Company is committed to kids and their local communities and has a comprehensive community relations program described at www.BestBuy.ca/community.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/article/media-advisory-future-shop-moves-bluray-highdefinition-hd-products-exits-hddvd_485711_1.html


Future Shop, Canada's largest consumer electronics retailer and e-tailer, announces that it will move to Blu-ray as the format for next generation high-definition (HD: 27.31, -0.21, -0.76%) home theatre and entertainment technology. Future Shop will offer the largest selection of Blu-ray hardware and software in Canada.

Future Shop is exiting the HD-DVD market. Future Shop will liquidate its inventory and offer great deals on HD-DVD players for customers looking for quality branded DVD players.

"Future Shop recognizes that recent changes in the industry have placed Blu-ray as the next generation high-definition format. As a result Future Shop is now recommending Blu-ray software and hardware products to customers. This decision is great news for our customers as it now allows Future Shop to focus on Blu-ray technology exclusively, said Eric Stockner, Director of Home Theatre Merchandising, Future Shop."

Future Shop's Product Experts are available to help customers in-store and in our online Community Forum (at http://futureshopforums.ca) with product and technology questions.

About Future Shop

With 131 stores across the country and the nation's premier web store (www.futureshop.ca), Burnaby, BC-based Future Shop is Canada's largest national retailer and e-tailer of consumer electronics.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-02-19-toshiba-quits-hd-dvd_N.htm

By David Lieberman, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — The future of high-def DVDs became a lot clearer Tuesday after Toshiba said that by March it will stop making players for its HD DVD format, leaving Sony's (SNE) Blu-ray as the champion of the three-year format war.

But while that eliminates a big source of confusion for some consumers, others will still struggle to see how the change benefits them. "Consumers are the losers in the short term," ABI Research said in a report. Reasons include:

TECHNOLOGY LIVE:Toshiba switches focus

•Price cuts for Blu-ray players may become less frequent and steep without competition from HD DVD. The cheapest Blu-ray player costs more than $300

•Different kinds of Blu-ray players will confuse some. For example, only upcoming models have the Internet ports needed for interactive bonus features on some new discs.

•Limited capacity to produce Blu-ray discs could frustrate consumers who expect to see a flood of titles from all studios.

"We definitely need to see more manufacturing capacity out there if we're really going to make a go of this," says Lionsgate (LGF) President Steve Beeks.

Universal and Paramount, which supported HD DVD, may have the hardest time. Their disc orders likely would come behind those of Blu-ray supporters Disney (DIS), Fox, Lionsgate, Sony and Warner Bros. (TWX)....
....It wasn't consumers who chose Blu-ray over HD DVD. It was the industry," says Toshiba's Jodi Sally.....Meanwhile, "A lot of consumers are still satisfied with their current DVD player and plan to continue using it until it breaks," says Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group.

That's one reason Blu-ray backers and retailers are weighing deals to help HD DVD buyers switch.

"You don't want consumers to feel like they were burned by making the wrong choice," Beeks says. "I'd expect to see some programs announced."

Selected quotes:Onkyo announces that they decided to drop the sale of the mainly in North America sold HD DVD player 'DV-HD805'.
"From now on, our approach to next generation disc systems is to plan a new high definition audio and video home theatre environment based on the Blu-ray Disc developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association in April 2005."

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/19/onkyo-pulling-the-plug-on-future-hd-dvd-development/

Press Release (Japanese, PDF) (http://www.jp.onkyo.com/ir/ir.nsf/2E067072B67D7809492573F500099406/$file/20080220_JQPR_release.pdf)

And now, the end of the war made The Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/hi_def_format_war_over

:D

Official press release:SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In an effort to help demystify high-definition entertainment for consumers, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced its support for Blu-ray as the digital format of choice for customers. As part of this announcement, Amazon.com will more prominently promote Blu-ray hardware and software products on its website.

“The high-definition landscape is rapidly changing, and consumers are looking for guidance on how to make the best high-definition buying decisions,” said Peter Faricy, vice president of movies and music at Amazon.com. “Our customers have clearly voiced their support for the Blu-ray format. Blu-ray titles have increased from just over half of our high-definition sales to over three-quarters of our high-definition sales since early January. In order to best serve our customers, Amazon is recommending Blu-ray as the preferred digital format and will continue to carry the ‘Earth’s Largest Selection’ of Blu-ray products.”

Amazon.com currently carries a wide array of Blu-ray hardware and software products including players, Blu-ray discs, and the Sony PlayStation 3. For the hundreds of thousands of HD DVD owners who may still wish to purchase products for that format, Amazon will continue to carry a wide assortment of HD DVD products, including the broadest selection of HD DVD movie titles.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080220005406/en

They even quote "analysts" suggesting people wait a year or more to buy a BD player.

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BLU_RAY_TRIUMPH?SITE=WIMAR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-02-19-18-06-38


I hope J6P doesn't have to read stuff like this over and over. There is a big difference between 1080P on disc and the other stuff mentioned.

Oppo Digital Early in Blu-ray Player Development Phase
Oppo, which has made a name for itself on quality and affordable upscaling DVD players, appears headed into the Blu-ray fray. (http://www.electronichouse.com/article/oppo_digital_early_in_blu_ray_player_development_phase/)

February 20, 2008 | by Arlen Schweiger
Though it is apparently very early in the development stages, we can expect to see a Blu-ray player from Oppo Digital.

If you don’t know about Oppo, it manufactures very affordable universal, upscaling DVD players that have garnered much critical recognition for producing quality images that rival those of four-figure upconverting players.

...

Word comes from Engadget HD, via a post by a “super moderator” in a forum over at DBSTalk.com who spoke to Oppo VP of product development Jason Laio, who told the moderator that Oppo is definitely working on a Blu-ray player but is early in the development cycle.

That’s good news to those who are already fans of Oppo, and keeping fingers crossed that the company will bring its qualities of affordablility and high performance to the Blu-ray market.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080220/147732/


In fact, the Blu-ray supporters group also prepared a measure to compete with Toshiba's strategy of providing low-priced products to Wal-Mart, namely the partnership it formed with Funai Electric Co Ltd, which has strong ties with Wal-Mart.

At International CES 2008, Funai revealed it will release itsB "N500 series" Blu-ray Disc player in the second quarter of 2008. Street pricing is expected to be US$300. Some even said, "Street pricing might fall up to US$199 by the time of year-end sales season in 2008."

Funai's Blu-ray player features Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd's 45nm-process UniPhier LSI and Sony Corp's optical head for Blu-ray. It shows a glimpse of the Blu-ray group's ulterior motive for competing with Toshiba's price reduction strategy by lowering pricing for Blu-ray Disc players from products of Funai, which is well-known for the development of low-price products.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/electronics/hddvd.html

The (high) definition of 'buyer beware'

With Blu-ray declared the winner of the next-generation DVD format war, HD-DVD owners say they've learned a thing or two from the ordeal

Despite title, story interviews HD DVD buyers and all interviewed are not bitter, say they understood and accepted the risk of the format war, thought HD DVD players were good value and most importantly are prepared to move to Blu-ray once prices drop.

Hope most consumers are like this.

Discussion here:

[link pending CBC News story - HD DVD buyers prepared to move on to Blu-ray once prices drop]

Excellent article on the Blu-ray /HD-DVD battle:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/20/two-years-of-battle-between-hd-dvd-and-blu-ray-a-retrospective/

Paramount last studio to adopt Blu-ray
Paramount has become the last studio to drop HD DVD, the company quietly said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. The movie house said it would begin releasing movies on Blu-ray in the near future and claimed it was "pleased" that the industry had chosen a single HD movie disc format. This should help the end user, Paramount claims. The company follows previous HD DVD holdout Universal in switching to Blu-ray and came more than a day after Toshiba halted HD DVD production, leaving both studios with virtually no alternative but to opt for Blu-ray.

Paramount's choice of HD DVD exclusivity was considered controversial when it surfaced in August, coming as the result of a $150 million payout that saw the studio turned from a dual-format approach in an attempt to provide HD DVD with a studio advantage that it had lacked until that time. Transformers director Michael Bay criticized the move both for its artificially limiting the market for his movies as well as making claims that Microsoft was responsible for the deal in an attempt to push viewers towards direct-download services.

Microsoft has typically denied the claims and frequently stood to benefit through sales of its HD DVD attachment for the Xbox 360, which remains on sale but is likely to be phased out in favor of a Blu-ray replacement.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/02/21/paramount.adopts.blu.ray/

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer's triumph over Toshiba Corp. may not be enough to prevent earnings growth from slowing.

Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. say they don't plan to raise forecasts for Sony after Toshiba, the leading promoter of the HD DVD format, on Feb. 19 said it will shut the business for high-definition video players, surrendering to Sony's Blu-ray. Sony's profit will rise 3.7 percent in the 12 months ending March 2009 after almost tripling this fiscal year, according to the average of 20 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

While Stringer will try to capitalize on winning the entertainment industry's biggest technology competition in two decades, analysts say a stronger yen and weakening U.S. demand may hinder earnings gains. Blu-ray player makers led by Samsung Electronics Co. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. may challenge Tokyo-based Sony's ability to dominate in the $22 billion market for DVD machines.

Full article here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aSqWqCkwB48s&refer=home

AVS Forum Celebrates Peace in the Format War (www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=997907)

Blu-ray Trumps HD DVD: The Aftermath

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/12764/blu-ray-trumps-hd-dvd-the-aftermath

Want a refund from Toshiba now that it's pulled the plug on its own format? Good luck. Also: HD DVD prices plummet, Universal and Amazon go Blu-ray, and more.

Toshiba nixes refunds: So, HD DVD early adopters - think you deserve a refund now that Toshiba has killed the format? Think again. Valleywag reports that the company (and big-time HD DVD backer) won't be accepting refund requests (although it will continue to support existing HD DVD players). Here's the quote: "There is nothing wrong with the products so we aren't accepting returns from customers ... [Customers] understood that there were two competing formats and understood that one of them would probably prevail ..." Good point, actually. In my case, I bought the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive knowing full well that I was taking a gamble. I lost. End of story.

Universal goes Blu-ray: Not a shock, but Universal went ahead and made it official: The studio (the only one to exclusively support HD DVD from the beginning) announced that it will start churning out Blu-ray versions of its new releases and catalog titles. No word on how long it will continue to press HD DVD discs. The move leaves Paramount and its subsidiary, Dreamworks, as the final HD DVD-only studios. Neither movie house has made any official announcements, but expect that to change shortly. Update: Paramount just got official about going Blu-ray.

Onkyo drops HD DVD: Confirming pretty much a foregone conclusion, Engadget HD reports that Onkyo, one of the few manufacturers besides Toshiba to make HD DVD players, has followed suit and dropped the format.

LG stays with HD DVD: Or at least with dual-format Blu-ray/HD DVD decks, according to High-Def Digest. The manufacturer, which was the first to release a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player, said that "at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer." Very true, although it's not clear whether LG will produce more combo players, or will simply continue to support its existing players (its latest, the BH200, arrived in stores late last year).

Amazon hearts Blu-ray: The giant online retailer just went the way of Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Netflix, announcing that it will now "more prominently promote Blu-ray hardware and software products on its Web site." Amazon will continue to sell HD DVD products, however. Indeed, I'm waiting for a mega HD DVD fire sale in the wake of the 50 percent discount offer that began last week.

HD DVD prices plummet: Sharp-eyed readers at Engadget HD found Toshiba's HD-A3 HD DVD player on sale at Circuit City for $99, including 7 free movies. Of course, it's just the beginning of sharp price cuts across the board for HD DVD. Taking a quick look at eBay, I found HD DVD players going for well under $100, with the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on selling for about $50.

For those who own HD DVD players, Paramount and Warner aren't just flat out abandoning you:

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/12789/last-hd-dvd-only-studio-goes-blu-ray

As expected, Paramount—the final big movie studio to exclusively support the defeated HD DVD format—has jumped to Blu-ray. That said, several new HD DVD titles are still on tap for the coming months.

Paramount, the studio that released such blockbusters as "Transformers" and the "Mission: Impossible" movies, told the Hollywood Reporter (via High-Def Digest) that it will "look to (begin) releasing our titles on Blu-ray" and that "we will monitor consumer adoption and determine our release plan accordingly." Vague words, although Reuters notes that both Paramount and newly-Blu Universal will probably begin cranking out Blu-ray titles by "late spring or early summer."

Paramount's move represents quite a reversal for both the studio and the HD DVD format itself. The movie house initially supported both Blu-ray and HD DVD; last August, however, Paramount and its subsidiary, Dreamworks, surprised the industry by jumping to HD DVD exclusively, a maneuver that evened up the format war and dealt a major blow to the Blu-ray camp. But in January, Blu-ray regained the lead by wooing format-neutral studio Warner Brothers, and the rest is history.

While all the big movie studios are now aligned with Blu-ray, that doesn't mean that there aren't any HD DVD titles left in the pipe. Indeed, Warners has confirmed that it will continue pressing HD DVD movies through May, and a quick look at the HD DVD release schedule shows upcoming titles such as "Beowolf," "The Assassination of Jesse James," and "The Brave One" this month, "Into the Wild," "No Reservations," "Michael Clayton," "Bee Movie," and "In the Valley of Elah" in March, and "I Am Legend" in April. Not exactly an avalanche of movies, mind you, but hey—for those of us stuck with HD DVD players, it's something.

This was already posted above but here's more. Press Release (http://www.gspr.com/onkyo/hddvd_announcement.html).

ONKYO WILL DISCONTINUE THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION OF HD DVD PLAYERS

Onkyo Corporation has decided that Onkyo will discontinue the development and production of HD DVD players.

Onkyo has distributed and sold approximately 2000 units of the HD DVD players in the selected markets due to the growth of the large screen display market and high demand for home entertainment media. Onkyo has reached its decision to discontinue the development and production of HD DVD players after thorough review of Toshiba’s public announcement “Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses” on February 19, 2008. As Onkyo manufactures HD DVD players with core parts supplied by Toshiba, it will be difficult for Onkyo to continue its further development and production of HD DVD players. Despite this decision, Onkyo will continue to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Onkyo HD DVD players.

Regarding Onkyo's prospective marketing of home theater products, Onkyo continues to provide innovative home theater products with high definition sound and images that are compatible with next generation disc formats such as Blu-ray.

While Onkyo has been an enthusiastic supporter of the HD DVD format, it was not an exclusive relationship. Onkyo's research and development teams have maintained a parallel development program for the competing Blu-ray technology.

AVS Forum Celebrates Peace in the Format War (www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=997907)

Rochester, NY, Feb 21, 2008 – AVS Forum has always been a neutral and open forum for discussion of the consumer electronics hobby, even through recent tumultuous times. However, with announcements by Toshiba and Universal, the conflict of the latest format war is at an end. AVS Forum now looks forward to reduced consumer confusion and increased adoption of High Definition content on discs.

AVS Forum, at its core, is a community based on enthusiasts helping one another. More experienced members have freely shared their insights and recommendations to those new to the consumer electronics hobby. However, the battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray cast its shadow even here. Member’s debates over benefits of each format would often end in senseless bickering based on their personnel choice of next generation disc formats. Well, no more.

With previous announcements by Warner Bros, Netflix, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Blockbuster all putting support behind Blu-ray, the writing appeared to be on the wall. Now with Toshiba declaring an end to HD DVD player production and Universal Studios stating their support for Blu-ray, the shots fired during the format war have been silenced.

AVS Forum paraphrased Abraham Lincoln, “An industry divided against itself cannot prosper! – We have always maintained that enjoying home theater is about watching the best quality picture and sound, regardless of what color case the movies come in. Content is king and we hope the manufacturers have learned that, lest we repeat this format war in the future. There should be one and only one next generation disc format; and time has proven that to be Blu-ray. Now we can all be excited about our movies without wondering which type of player to buy.

AVS Forum will maintain specific sections of the site dedicated to the set up and connection of both HD DVD and Blu-ray as long as they are needed, but sections focusing around the debate over which format is superior will now be closed.

To visit the AVS Forum log on to www.avsforum.com. For more information about the AVS Forum contact press@avsforum.com.

# # #

About AV Science Forum
AVSForum.com is the premiere on-line community for home theater enthusiasts from around the world. The site offers its members and visitor’s education, support, and advice for anything used in the home for audio and video. Site sections also include the largest collection of DIY theaters photos on the net, member classifieds, and hardware and software reviews.

I take it its this section that will be closed.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=10829

It looks as though Microsoft's Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on is the latest victim of HD DVD's failure in the marketplace. Microsoft announced today through its Gamerscore Blog that the Xbox 360 HD DVD player will no longer be manufactured.

...

Although Microsoft will no longer provide the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, the company is committed to continuing standard product support and warranty support for the add-on. Given the latest bit of news from Microsoft, expect a fire sale on Xbox 360 HD DVD players in the coming weeks as retailers rush to kick them off store shelves.

When it comes to the Xbox 360 platform, Microsoft simply stated, "We do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace."

That's because Toshiba threw in the towel and called it quits on HD-DVD
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080224-120883/RP-electronics-firms-see-more-business-from-Blu-ray-win

So there will be no more Toshiba HD DVD Players produced by late March.
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/5051/toshiba-halts-hd-dvd-production-080218/

DreamWorks waiting for cue from Toshiba on Blu-ray

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN2651290220080227

LOS ANGELES, Feb 26 (Reuters) - DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc (DWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it was locked in an exclusive deal to distribute DVDs on Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) HD DVD format even though the Japanese electronics maker plans to quit the technology.

"We have a partnership with Toshiba and have an obligation to see this through," DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said on Tuesday.

"As you know, we have been well-compensated for our support. It really is in their court at this point to really declare what the next step will be. We're poised either way to jump into the marketplace when the conditions are right to do so," he said

This thread is for posting news items only (w/links). Please do not post comments on the news articles.

From Investors.com

Netflix Dazzles As Competition Thins (http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=17&issue=20080227)


...
Netflix also has a growing list of more than 7,000 movies and TV shows that can be watched instantly on PCs. Netflix offers nine subscription plans, starting at $4.99 a month, which include both DVDs delivered by mail and videos to watch online.

With an eye toward the future, Netflix also is working with consumer electronics firms to get its service on TVs through Internet-connected devices. The first such device is from LG Electronics and is slated for release later this year.

"Netflix's desire is to have our service be available on game consoles, in high-definition DVD players, in dedicated Internet set-tops and directly in TVs eventually," Hastings said. "We're following all of those avenues."

Hastings wouldn't comment on the possibility of Netflix being available through Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360 video game console.

But Pachter, the Wedbush Morgan analyst, says a partnership with Microsoft will happen eventually "because it makes too much sense." Hastings sits on Microsoft's board of directors.

http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/


...Though Toshiba will no longer produce HD DVD players the players that are currently on the market are among the best DVD upconverters available. Not only do they play all available HD DVD discs in high definition, they also upconvert and output the content of standard DVDs in near high-definition picture quality via the HDMI (tm) output and will provide value and enjoyment to their users

The news section now only links to the Toshiba end of HD DVD support press release and their flash intro is no more. Other stuff is still there on releases and features, but it has to be clicked on now.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200802270859DOWJONESDJONLINE000684_FORTUNE5.htm

Long article about semi-conductor and SoC manufacturers who were winners and losers in the format war had this little gem:

An increase in the number of chip building for Blu-ray seems destined to speed up chip commoditization and price declines. And consumers will be the winners.

Sigma Design's Lowe said it's widely expected that new Blu-ray players from China and Taiwan will be in stores at prices near $200 in time for Christmas.

discuss here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13250664#post13250664)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120423644192400923.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo

Time Warner Inc. has consolidated its Warner Bros. Entertainment and New Line Cinema, the studio behind the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, in an effort to cut costs and boost revenue.

New Line Co-Chairmen Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, two Hollywood veterans who have long been the core of the studio, will leave but are in talks for possible future business relationships with the company.

The contracts of Mr. Shaye, 68 years old, and his one-time attorney Mr. Lynne, 66, are up at the end of the year. They said they would explore new entrepreneurial opportunities.

They added, "New Line has been our respective life's work as well as our second family. While we're sad to be leaving, we're enormously proud to have overseen its extraordinary growth. New Line represents innovation, creativity and independent success. We hope that the company can continue to be a leader in creating entertainment that resonates around the world."

Time Warner, New York media and entertainment giant, said New Line will be operated as a unit of Warner Bros., but will maintain separate development, production, marketing, distribution and business affairs operations.

Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes is under pressure to take a more radical approach to managing the media conglomerate in an effort to revive its stock price, which sunk this year to levels not seen since 2003. The shares were flat at $16.02 in after-hours trading.

Mr. Bewkes said, "We are moving quickly to improve our business performance and financial returns. New Line has built a strong franchise of cutting-edge entertainment. We can enhance its value by combining it with Warner Bros."

He noted that with fewer movie releases, New Line and Warner Bros. will have more complementary release slates.

Paramount & Dreamworks HD DVD support ends March 4

Posted Feb 28th 2008 11:11PM by Richard Lawler
Filed under: HD DVD
We don't know if Jeffrey Katzenberg got a text message, fax, e-mail or smoke signal indicating the format war was over, but Video Business has confirmed Paramount and Dreamworks Animation will (rather abruptly) to stop releasing HD DVDs after next week. If you were looking forward to Bee Movie on March 11, Sweeney Todd on April 1 or the just announced There Will Be Blood, those are cancelled. Into the Wild and the appropriately-named Things We Lost in the Fire will be Paramount's last reminders of its exclusive agreement. Not specifically mentioned was Star Trek: TOS Season 2, but don't hold your breath. Blu-ray release plans are still up in the air but we wouldn't be surprised to hear something soon. As far as HD DVD movies still scheduled, that leaves two from Universal (for now) and twelve from Warner Bros, who may have been the first to leave red, but will apparently be the last major studio out the door.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/28/paramount-and-dreamworks-hd-dvd-support-ends-march-4/

Some Highlights:



BD50 has reached mass production status
Increase of yield rates to 80% for BD50
Cost reduction through recycling of lacquer
Productivity increase to 9,000 units per day per BD50 line
Cycle time reduction to 5.9s
BD50 share for video will be at 80% by Fall 2008
Sony DADC has authored more than 150 Blu-ray titles
Currently Sony DADC has a market share in Blu-ray manufacturing in excess of 90%

http://www.singulus.de/fileadmin/media/pdf/bluline/vortraege/03-Singulus_DDaum_SonyDADC.pdf



20 Blu-ray disc lines installed worldwide
2 BD ROM DL Lines installed worldwide
BLULINE BD ROM SL Results: Cycle time 3.9s, Yield > 85%
No results given in the slides for BD ROM DL via BLULINE II

http://www.singulus.de/fileadmin/media/pdf/bluline/vortraege/10-Fascination_Blu_BLULINE_II_080227.pdf


Full content of additional speakers here: http://www.singulus.de/fascination-blu.html

The MPO group has announced that it has selected Singulus as its supplier in its Blu-ray investment programme.

http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13520

http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6537034

Partial Extract from linked article:

Blockbuster demos, 100 new titles among Sony's plans
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 2/29/2008

FEB. 29 | Having knocked down HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc supporters now are positioning their advanced format as the one to beat standard DVD, cable and satellite for high quality video delivery.

New marketing efforts will immediately start cropping up at retail. HDTV/PlayStation 3 demonstration displays have been set up at about 1,000 Blockbuster stores in recent weeks. A variety of BD films will be screened at the displays, which are slated to roll out to all Blockbuster outlets in the next couple of months, studio executives said.

“We need to spend very little time congratulating ourselves on winning the format war. I think the worst thing the industry can do is rest on its laurels,” Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president David Bishop said. “Going forward, the messaging will be that Blu-ray is the best possible experience. It’s six times superior in picture quality to [standard] DVD. And it’s just the flat-out best high-def experience when compared to cable or satellite.”

Sony also is working with retail to offer discounts on Blu-ray product bundles. During the week starting Feb. 24, for instance, Best Buy shoppers could save $700 when purchasing together a 40-inch Bravia LCDTV, a 40GB PS3, professional installation services and a choice of BD and PS3 game titles. The package costs $1889.96.

“Thomson’s Tiger AVC encoder that it has been using in house for the last couple of years, is now available for sale to interested Blu-ray (and HD DVD) compression and authoring facilities. Including Thomson’s film grain adjustment technology among other parts of a ’secret sauce’ Thomson says results in better looking MPEG-4 / h.264 encoded movies. Packaged as the Nexcode HD AVC Encoder, its a full hardware and software solution built to scale to business requirements. No word on who exactly will use this technology, but as long as our HDM is artifact-free, we’re not too concerned how it got that way.”

source:http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/28/thomson-launches-hd-avc-encoding-tools-for-blu-ray/

Interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal how CEO of Toshiba made the decision to pull the plug on HD DVD (requires subscription)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120450428955606405.html?mod=hps_us_editors_picks

Toshiba's Plan for Life After HD DVD
Nishida Says Firm Will Target Consumers
With TVs, PCs and Standard Disc Players

OEM quotes for BD-ROM drives at US$120-130 (http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:iQVkFCz7ZOcJ:www.digitimes.com/news/a20080225PD219.html)&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us)

International PC vendors will start promoting Blu-ray Disc (BD) drives in PCs starting from the second quarter of 2008, with the vendors evaluating BD-ROMs at that time. according to industry sources in Taiwan.

OEM quotes for a BD-ROM drive currently stand at US$120-130, much higher than the US$22-25 price for a 20x DVD burner, but lower than the US$200 price tag for a BD Combo drive (BD player and DVD burner), the sources indicated.

Home Media Magazine Report: Movie Downloads a Tough Sell

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/index.cfm

Report: Movie Downloads a Tough Sell
Author: ERIK GRUENWEDEL
egruenwedel@questex.com
Posted: March 3, 2008

Unlike short-form videos and user-generated content, the nascent market for downloading feature-length movies via Apple TV, Amazon’s Unbox, Movielink and Vudu, among others, appears to be nearly non-existent, according to a new report.

A survey of 1,975 broadband users found that fewer than 9.5% regularly downloaded movies from the Internet onto their personal computers, according to The Diffusion Group.

The Dallas-based research firm found that nearly 54% of respondents were completely unfamiliar with movie downloads and 37% were aware of movie downloads but had not downloaded them.

Delivering movies to the cell phone is not considered “sufficiently desirable” for investors looking to get into the online movie distribution, according to the report.

The report found that delivery and quality of movie content from the Internet to the TV is key to market penetration and acceptance.

In addition, just 28% of respondents considered customization and interactivity of broadband-enabled video important, compared to more than 42% who considered it unimportant.

“Online movie download services should focus first on developing a strong library of content,” said the report. “When it comes to movie rentals and purchases, the quality of content matters.”

Failure to deliver movies to the TV coupled with consumer indifference contributed to Wal-Mart shuttering its movie download service late last year. Both Google Inc. and AOL scaled back video download services as well.

Bankrupt Movie Gallery Inc. terminated its Moviebeam service less than a year after acquiring it for $10 million.

Arvind Bhatia, media analyst with Sterne Agee in Dallas, said at the time the closures underscored the reality that movie downloads didn’t make economic sense.

“People still like to browse in person,” Bhatia said. “Stores are still relevant, DVD by mail is still relevant and kiosks are becoming more relevant.”

He said it signals a “thumbs up” for packaged media at least in the near term.

“The comfort level and technology [for movie downloads] are not there yet,” Bhatia said.

LONGUEUIL, QC, March 4 /CNW/ - D-BOX Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: DBO.A - News) announced today that it has concluded a licensing agreement with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment under which Sony Pictures Entertainment will initially include D-BOX Motion Code(TM) on "The 6th Day" Blu-ray Disc as a beta test. "The 6th Day" is expected to be available on April 8, 2008.

"The addition of D-BOX Motion Code(TM) to the high quality picture and sound of the Blu-ray format will give home theater enthusiasts equipped with the D-BOX motion generation systems, a truly immersive entertainment experience", stated Claude Mc Master, President and Chief Executive Officer of D-Box Technologies. "We are very happy with our decision to strongly support Sony's Blu-ray format and are thrilled to see that it has recently won the support of key movie studios and retailers and is becoming the new high definition disc format standard," Mr. Mc Master added.
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/080304/d_box_blu_ray_sony.html?.v=1

PowerDVD8 announced today

High-Definition Digital Media Entertainment
• HD Movie Playback
CyberLink enriches the high-definition movie experience with brand new PowerDVD 8, featuring support for interactive Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD features, home theater audio formats, and video file formats. New features let users extend the movie experience by building a database of movie info and trivia, writing movie reviews, rating their favorite movies, and creating movie remixes. A newly released web site dedicated to PowerDVD users allows the meeting and making of friends, and the sharing of movie information that can be synchronized with a user's own version of PowerDVD.

http://www.cyberlink.com/eng/press_room/view_1633.html

So at least someone is still supporting HD-DVD!

http://gizmodo.com/364186/sony-ceo-200-blu+ray-players-coming

Per Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics CEO...

The company is "working very hard" on an answer to Apple TV, though it all seems to center around a Blu-ray player one way or another, and doesn't necessarily rely on the ill-fated Bravia Internet Video Link. Sony is "working on many other avenues to deliver downloaded content," like the PlayStation Network which will be "spread that over the next year or so to many other products of Sony."

The Digital Entertainment Group is promising to do for Blu-ray Disc what it did for DVD.

DEG member companies are launching a consumer education, retail training and public relations blitz to break the high-definition format into the mainstream. The group is credited for helping launch the standard DVD format in 1997.

A timeline for Blu-ray promotional plans was not specified. Overall, however, the DEG wants to increase awareness for Blu-ray and market its benefits over standard DVD with a unified voice. HDTV owners especially will be encouraged to upgrade DVD players to Blu-ray hardware.

The DEG plans to act as the primary information source for Blu-ray, spanning consumer education, hardware/software demonstrations and media relations.

“Given our success in promoting new entertainment formats, the DEG is a logical association to underscore the benefits of Blu-ray Disc to consumers, retail and the media,” said Bob Chapek, chairman of the DEG and president of Walt Disney Studios Worldwide Home Entertainment. “As the DEG was the unified front for the support of DVD, we will also be leading the promotion of high-definition packaged media.”
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6538476.html

Consumption of Blu-ray movies in the United Kingdom should increase significantly, considering a new survey ranked watching movies on next-generation disc the No. 1 start-up activity over the next six months.

The comprehensive digital entertainment survey of 1,608 adults, compiled by London-based Entertainment Media Research, found 24% of respondents said they would watch HD packaged media, compared to 7% who plan to stream or watch video-on-demand (VOD) on the Internet.

About 6% said they would stream TV programs, 4% plan to rent a standard DVD movie and 2% said they would watch a pirated DVD. Nearly 40% of respondents own or have access to an HDTV.
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=12224

Glasgow Touts Sony’s Share Gains, Blu-ray, Green Efforts (http://www.twice.com/article/CA6538467.html?desc=topstory)
By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 3/5/2008 9:49:00 AM


...

Format-war aftermath: While the Blu-ray format war may be over, “the battle really begins now to move people away from DVD to Blu-ray,” Glasgow said. “We have a lot of work to do now, so we are not gloating. Upscale DVD players have gotten better and better. We need to explain the additional feature sets, PIP, BD live and other features.” He added that Sony “will build as many Blu-ray decks as we can.”



Blu-ray pricing: Blu-ray prices should hit $299 by the end of the year and probably $200 by 2009. While Glasgow won’t go into Sony’s Blu-ray market share he did estimate that there will be 5 million standalone players sold this year worldwide with 75 percent to 80 percent sold in the United States. And as for HD broadband downloads hurting Blu-ray, he added that the infrastructure isn’t yet available to make a major impact anytime soon in the United States, and “you have the issue of a movie being an overnight rental that you can’t move and don’t own. [Broadband] will happen, but it won’t derail a packaged format for a decade.”


...

After Universal, Warner has now quickly ended their HD DVD commitment. At CES a grace period until the end of May was given, but it appears now that the last film on HD DVD is in March. HD DVDs planned for April and May were removed.
http://www.areadvd.de/news/2008/200803/06_03_2008_06_Warner_HD_DVD.shtml

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006597.html

The company's statement today notes that "now that Blu-ray has been chosen as the next-generation format, the consumer can move forward with confidence and enjoy the incredible experience that Blu-ray offers. Samsung believes that a multi-format player like the current BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player (Duo) offers the best and only solution for consumers that want access to all available High-Definition (HD) titles in the short term. It remains a practical solution, but the window of opportunity is smaller than it was before. In light of recent announcements, Samsung will not introduce the BD-UP5500 Duo HD Player."

This really doesn't make much sense to me as it would seem to compete with Xbox Live downloads, but...


Sony, Microsoft discuss Blu-ray for Xbox 360 (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ca6017de-eba6-11dc-9493-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1)
By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco

Published: March 6 2008 18:50 | Last updated: March 6 2008 18:50

Sony is in talks with console rival Microsoft about offering a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, according to a senior executive.

The Japanese electronics maker has until now touted Blu-ray as an advantage its PlayStation 3 holds over Microsoft’s console. Microsoft has backed Toshiba’s HD-DVD format and offered an HD-DVD drive that can be plugged into the 360.

EDITOR’S CHOICE
Samsung and Sony in flat-screen move - Mar-05World View: Sony seeks screen glory - Feb-26Sony TV link-up with Sharp - Feb-26Sony to miss profit margin target - Jan-31Reality snuffs Sony’s beacon of hope - Jan-31Analysis: Talking cure for Sony - Jan-16But after Sony’s victory last month in the high-definition DVD format war, Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, said the two sides were now talking about Microsoft adopting Blu-ray.

A Blu-ray drive in a 360 would make Microsoft more competitive with the PS3, but it would also mean extra revenues for Sony’s electronics division. It would also add further cost to the 360, meaning a premium edition of the console could be necessary.

The Warner post is apparently incorrect:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Disc_Announcements/Warner_Says_P.S._I_Love_You_on_Blu-ray,_HD_DVD_this_Spring/1543

Warner has announced it will bring the Hilary Swank romantic comedy 'P.S. I Love You' to Blu-ray and HD DVD this May.

Warner will bring 'P.S. I Love You' to Blu-ray on May 6 (day-and-date with the standard DVD), followed by an HD DVD version three weeks later on May 27.

This really doesn't make much sense to me as it would seem to compete with Xbox Live downloads, but...

A Sony exec has reportedly said the electronics giant is in discussions with Microsoft about Blu-ray for Xbox 360, but a Microsoft rep tells Next-Gen that there are "no plans" to bring the technology to its console.

With Microsoft-supported HD-DVD now in format heaven, speculation that Blu-ray will head to Xbox 360 is now as open as ever.

The Financial Times in a Thursday article cited Sony Electronics US president Stan Glasgow, who reportedly said during a media dinner that Microsoft and Sony are discussing Blu-ray for Xbox 360.

But a Microsoft rep said in a phone interview with Next-Gen that that is "not at all" the case, and Microsoft will "remain focused on the games" for the console, not its movie playback capabilities.

"There are no plans to introduce Blu-ray," said the spokesperson.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9445&Itemid=2

The Warner post is apparently incorrect:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Disc_Announcements/Warner_Says_P.S._I_Love_You_on_Blu-ray,_HD_DVD_this_Spring/1543

It obviously bears repeating that:

A) I did say it was Germany

B) Considering the announcements/removal shenanigans of the last 2 weeks from Para/Uni and Warner themselves, we should be taking any HD DVD announcement with a huge grain of salt. As an example, "There Will be Blood" was announced on Feb 20. It was cancelled Feb 25.

Link:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Image_Entertainment/Street_Date_Changes/Image_Cancels_Upcoming_HD_DVD_Slate/1548

All references to HD DVD titles had been removed from Image Entertainment's website a few days ago. Some titles were also already cancelled in Amazon's system.

Microsoft: "We'll Support Blu-ray" (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Microsoft/Microsoft:_“We’ll_support_Blu-ray”/1550)

Presented by Singulus concerning BLULINE II at Media-Tech Conference 2008


Cycle time:
BD SL <4.0s
BD DL <6.0s
Yield:
BD SL >85%
BD DL >65%
Uptime:
BD SL >90%
BD DL >85%
Production per Line:
BD SL: >15.000/24h
BD DL: > 8.000/24h



http://www.media-tech.net/fileadmin/templates/sc08/pdf/keynotes/t_1430_Hotz.pdf - Page 40

Full Program Here: http://www.media-tech.net/sc08/conference-program.html

NB: BLULINE II BD50 figures were not published in previous report from Fascination Blu

Microsoft says no Blu-ray for Xbox 360 (http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN1224707720080313?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0)

Microsoft Corp is not in talks to include Sony Corp's Blu-ray high-definition DVD technology in its Xbox 360 video game console, an executive said on Wednesday.

The comments by Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, poured cold water on recent speculation that Microsoft could support Blu-ray after Toshiba Corp, backer of the rival HD DVD format, gave up when key movie studios and retailers abandoned the technology.

"Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," Greenberg told Reuters in an interview.

Microsoft, which has stopped making an HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, would continue to invest in its Xbox Live online service that already lets users rent hundreds of movies, including ones in high-definition.

"We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content," Greenberg said.

Toshiba faces $986 mln loss on HD DVDs

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp is likely to book a 100 billion yen ($986 million) loss in its high-definition DVD business and post a full-year operating profit of around 250 billion yen, falling short of its outlook, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUST28076020080313

Philips raises the MSRP of their new BD Player...

Philips: $349 Blu-ray Player Going to $399
(http://www.tvpredictions.com/philips031308.htm)

Washington, D.C. (March 13, 2008) -- In January, Philips issued a press release saying its BDP7200 Blu-ray player would be released in April with a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $349.

Scores of print and online publications reported on the Philips announcement, noting that it would be the lowest-priced Blu-ray player on the market -- $50 less than Sony's BDP-S300.

However, late last month, Toshiba announced that it was exiting the HD DVD business, ceding victory to its high-def disc rival, Blu-ray. Since then, no longer concerned about low-cost HD DVD players, Blu-ray makers have increased the price of their players, albeit slightly.

And Philips joined the crowd today, telling TVPredictions.com that its BDP7200 will be $399 next month -- not $349 as stated last January.

However, Philips spokeswoman Katie Bromley said the new price "was not related" to HD DVD's exit.

"(Philips) thought ($349) would be the cost at the time (in January)," she said.

However, when TVPredictions.com first asked about the new price tag, Bromley said the $349 price in the January press release was a "typo."

Bromley was then reminded that scores of publications had written about the $349 price last January -- and that Philips had never issued a correction saying the price should be $399.

After that conversation, she called TVPredictions.com back and said the $349 price was not a typo after all. Actually, she said, the price had changed sometime after it was originally set at $349.

Bromley said she did not know why Philips decided the price had to be raised to $399, but she said it definitely had nothing to do with HD DVD departing.

Best Buy is giving $50 Gift Cards to Customers Who Purchased an HD-DVD

Mar 19, 2008
Best Buy Stands Behind Customers By Awarding More Than $10 Million in Gift Cards to HD-DVD Purchasers

Leading Consumer Electronics Retailer will Send $50 Gift Cards to Customers Who Purchased an HD-DVD Player from Best Buy in the U.S.
MINNEAPOLIS --(Business Wire)-- Mar. 19, 2008 With Blu-ray declaring victory over HD-DVD in the high definition movie format war, Best Buy, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, is giving $50 gift cards to customers who purchased an HD-DVD player or HD-DVD attachment from its U.S. stores before February 23, 2008. Customers will get a gift card for each player or HD-DVD attachment that they purchased. Through this program, Best Buy will distribute more than $10 million in gift cards to customers across the country.

"The DVD format war has divided our customers in a way we haven't seen since Betamax took on VHS more than 20 years ago," said Brian J. Dunn, president and chief operating officer for Best Buy. "At Best Buy, we understood and shared our customers' frustrations as they were being asked to choose one format or the other. Now that the format war is over, we hope these gift cards will reassure our customers that we will help them make a smooth transition into the right technology for their needs."

Most Best Buy customers won't have to do anything to receive their gift card. As a demonstration of its commitment to its customers, Best Buy will proactively mail cards to all customers that the company can identify as having purchased an HD-DVD player. Members of the Best Buy Reward Zone program, customers who purchased Performance Service Plans (PSPs) or who made their purchase on BestBuy.com should look for their gift cards in the mail by May 1. Other customers who may not be easily identified can call (888) BEST BUY to receive their gift cards with proof of purchase through a credit card or their Best Buy receipt.

"The beauty of this offer is that it doesn't require our customers to give up their HD-DVD player," said Barry Judge, chief marketing officer for Best Buy. "We know that many people who purchased these players have HD-DVD movies that they would like to continue to watch. We're telling our customers they can keep their players to play these movies as well as their older DVDs and use the $50 to treat themselves to anything else in our stores."

HD-DVD players can actually deliver greatly enhanced video performance with standard DVDs by upconverting the video resolution.

Beginning on March 21, customers who do want to get rid of their HD-DVD players can visit Best Buy's Online Trade-In Center at http://www.bestbuytradein.com. Visitors to the site will receive instant estimates of the value of their HD-DVD players and movies. Those who agree with the estimates can then ship their goods to the Trade-In Center free of charge by downloading a prepaid shipping label and will receive an additional gift card as payment for their trade-in. This service is open to HD-DVD owners regardless of where they bought their player.

SlySoft's latest AnyDVD HD release strips BD+ from Blu-ray Discs (http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/19/slysofts-latest-anydvd-hd-release-strips-bd-from-blu-ray-discs/)
Posted Mar 19th 2008 12:41PM by Darren Murph

The title pretty much says it all here, folks. Just a few months after SlySoft revealed a beta of its AnyDVD HD software which obliterated BD+, v6.4.0.0 has finally arrived and proudly possesses the ability to "remove BD+ protection from Blu-ray Discs." Among the other changes is an option to enable / disable BD+ removal, a fix for seeing a black display with some BD discs and other minor DVD-related tweaks. Brimming with excitement?

PS3 firmware 2.20 bringing BD-Live interactive Blu-ray this month (http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/20/ps3-firmware-2-20-bringing-bd-live-interactive-blu-ray-this-mont/)
Posted Mar 20th 2008 5:01AM by Thomas Ricker

The Blu-ray 2.0 spec (or BD-Live) is just days from launch. Sony just announced that the next PlayStation3 firmware updated -- v2.20 -- will add the new interactive features to your PS3. As such, PS3 owners should expect downloadable video content, ringtones, interactive movie-based games, and the always intriguing "more" when the software is released in "late March." In other words, in the next 11 days. The update will also allow you to copy photos and music playlists over USB from your PS3 to your PSP.

Corel Launches WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray Software

http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13586

U.S. trade body to probe Sony (http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUST32692520080321)
Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:42am EDT


TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said it would launch an investigation into some 30 companies including Sony Corp on possible patent infringements related to Blu-ray disc players and other products.

...

The move is based on a complaint filed in February by Columbia University Professor Emeritus Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, who is seeking to block imports into the United States of a range of products that she said were infringing her patent.

Besides Sony, companies cited in the ITC announcement include Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research), Motorola Inc (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), and Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research).

...

Vanguard Ends HD DVD Support with 'Disco Pigs,' Makes Move to Blu
Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 01:00 PM ET

Indie Vanguard has confirmed that it will close out its HD DVD support with the June release of 'Disco Pigs,' and that it plans to begin releasing titles on Blu-ray later this year.

Although Vanguard says there will be no official statement to come, the company has released an updated high-def release schedule that confirms they will no longer issue any new titles on the format following the June 24 HD DVD debut of the Cillian Murphy-starrer 'Disco Pigs.'

Also nixed from the company's schedule were two previously-announced HD DVD releases, 'The Low Life' and 'Animal Room.'

When asked for comment on Vanguard's future high-def plans, a company rep told us that a move to Blu-ray is currently in the planning stages for later this year. Initial titles and street date information are yet to be determined, however, so we expect to have additional information in the coming months.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Vanguard/Industry_Trends/Vanguard_Ends_HD_DVD_Support_with_Disco_Pigs,_Makes_Move_to_ Blu/1597

BCI drops HD DVD

27 March 2008

BCI/Eclipse, an indie movie distributor, has announced they have canceled all HD DVD titles and will be moving onto Blu-ray for future releases.

In 2006 BCI became the first indie distributor to announce HD DVD support but delays have slowed distribution to a few select titles. The company says the HD DVD Title 'My Favorite Brunette'/'Son of Paleface' will be the last release in the format and all future support is over.

Any fans of BCI titles can still look forward to seeing the titles on Blu-ray as the company is "planning a more aggressive Blu-ray line-up for later this year, although exact titles and street dates have yet to be determined."

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/13412.cfm

http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/hd-dvd-promotion-group-formally-dissolved/

IR2BT Infrared-to-Bluetooth converter now on sale, PS3 owners rejoice (http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/28/ir2bt-infrared-to-bluetooth-converter-now-on-sale-ps3-owners-re/)
Posted Mar 28th 2008 12:37PM by Darren Murph

Although the PlayStation 3 is quite the lovely Blu-ray player in most respects, one issue has nagged remote junkies from day one: the absence of IR. Now, however, the highly-anticipated IR2BT Infrared-to-Bluetooth converter is on the market, and sure enough, it promises to transmit "all 51 Sony Blu-ray remote codes including the PS button for Power On / Off." The unit itself measures in at 4.5- x 3- x 1-inches, operates on a pair of AA cells or a mini-USB connector and doesn't even require you to own a soldering iron. Ready to control your PS3 via a universal IR remote without getting a degree in electrical engineering? Hit up the read link and hand over your $55, bub.

http://www.hddvdprg.com/jpn/

Dissolution of the HD DVD Promotion Group

HD DVD Managing Members
March 28, 2008

The HD DVD Promotion Group was dissolved as of March 28, 2008,
and the website was closed accordingly.

Please access to DVD Forum for HD DVD formats, and
DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation for format books and its license.
Regarding the HD DVD products, please contact each selling agency directly.

Contact for the subject:　info@hddvdprg.com

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Disc_Sales/Industry_Trends/Industry_Forecasts/Report:_Blu-ray_Disc_Sales_Impacting_DVD_/1602

According to an analysis of Nielsen VideoScan First Alert numbers conducted by Home Media Magazine, Disney's Blu-ray chart-topper 'No Country for Old Men' drew 9.8 percent of its total unit sales from Blu-ray during its first five days in stores.

Faring even better was Fox's 'Hitman,' which saw 12.6 percent of total customers taking home the Blu-ray version during its first five days.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/blulion040408.htm

"The Hollywood Reporter writes today that Lionsgate Entertainment is now making $15 in profit for every sale of an older Blu-ray disc title -- and $21 for new releases like War."

NetBlender Plans to Merge Blu-ray & iPod, iPhone (http://www.electronichouse.com/article/netblender_plans_to_merge_blu_ray_ipod_iphone/)
Rachel Cericola • 02:56 PM, Tuesday, April 08, 2008

[/quote]SpeakerCraft isn’t the only one with iPod/iPhone remote control plans. This week, NetBlender will announce BD Touch, a technology that links a BD-Live Blu-Ray player to any iPhone or iPod touch. Once the network (Wi-Fi or AT&T) is set up, users can tap into either device (literally) as a remote control—as well as possibilities for instant interactivity including e-commerce and…[quote]

Wal-Mart Offers HD DVD Refunds (http://www.electronichouse.com/article/wal_mart_offers_hd_dvd_refunds/)
Rachel Cericola

Wal-Mart doesn’t just roll back prices—they are rolling back the clock, so you can think twice about that HD DVD purchase. The mega-retailer is joining in the HD DVD return frenzy, offering customers money back for any HD DVD purchase made after November 1. In case you don’t remember, Wal-Mart was pretty instrumental in pushing the defunct format, offering Toshiba’s...

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/04/10/firmware-v230-details-and-store-walkthrough/
Playstation3 bluray player gets DTS HD-Master Audio and DTS HD-High Resolution Audio in a next firmware update, possibly released within few weeks.


The technology delivers audio at the incredibly high rate of 24.5 mega-bits per second (Mbps) on Blu-ray disc, which is significantly higher than standard DVDs. DTS-HD Master Audio also offers 7.1 audio channels at 96k sampling frequency/24 bit depths, so you’ll be totally immersed in the sound. The firmware update will add DTS-HD High Resolution Audio as well, which is a similar output technology that requires less disc space.

Company Committed to Being Customers' Blu-ray And Standard DVD HeadquartersCompany Installing Blu-ray Kiosks In Almost 5,000 Stores
April 10, 2008: 08:00 AM EST

DALLAS, April 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beginning this week, in addition to the standard DVDs lining its shelves, Blockbuster Inc. will be offering customers something extra -- Blu-ray movies, for rent and sale in all of its corporate stores in the U.S., as well as in Canada, and select domestic franchise locations. Blockbuster made news last July with its announcement that the company was making Blu-ray available in 1,700 of its stores. Now, less than a year later, the company is positioning itself to become the customer's Blu-ray headquarters for rental and retail product with this national launch.

To highlight the availability of Blu-ray in its stores, Blockbuster is installing Blu-ray kiosks in the center of its stores. Featuring a 42-inch high-definition TV with movies playing via a PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) console, the Blu-ray kiosks will enable customers to experience the movie-viewing advantages of high-definition technology while also driving home the point that PS3 consoles double as Blu-ray players.

As for Blockbuster's by-mail service, in addition to the wide selection of Blu-ray titles it carries online, this week Blockbuster began offering online subscribers a Blu-ray preference setting so they can automatically indicate that they want to receive all available movies in the high-definition format.http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LATH50510042008-1.htm

Xbox 360 HD DVD Update Available

http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/04/08/hd-dvd-update.aspx

Pioneer BDP-LX71 Blu-ray Disc Player Arrives in Europe This Summer

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/content/press/news/bdplx71.html

From One to One online (April 2008, page 28)...

One format, many challenges (http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1H47f4ab44abc60012.cde)

Cedric Collard, group marketing manager, DaTARIUS Technologies, agrees: "The market needs a new format and a clear direction to return to strong growth". Collard adds that the major concern for 2008 is how quickly producers can react and get a good quality BD50 line into the market. This could slow down growth this year. "The demand for BD50 discs is greater than the installed manufacturing capacity at present," he notes, "Quality of finished BD50 discs is, and will remain, a key issue for the success of the BD HD format. This product is very challenging to make and it is unlikely this will become a stable and mature manufacturing process for at least the next two to three years".

We all should know by now that this thread is not meant for commentary on the articles.

News is press releases and concrete announcements . Not commentary with words like "should all become reality", "cautiously predicts", and "similar trend".

larry

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/denon-up-for-sale-best-buy-and-kenwood-bidding :confused:

Denon up for Sale - Best Buy and Kenwood Bidding

Denon is for sale for around $700 million.

Well, D&M Holdings to be exact - and that means Denon, Marantz, Snell, McIntosh, Boston Acoustics, Escient and more... It's not just "maybe" up for sale - 49% of the shares are being offered up for sale by their owner, RJH International. But wait - 49% doesn't make a majority. It does when Phillips Electronics, who owns another 12%, says that it will also offer to put its stock up for sale to the winning bidder as well.

D&M Holdings' stock has sored in the recent wave of bids from the likes of Harman International (maker of the JBL, Infinity and Harman Kardon brands), Bain Capital (who owns Kenwood)...

Wait a second, did we just say Kenwood? ..
Read the link for more details.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN1740482320080417

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Universal Studios, once Hollywood's top backer of the doomed HD DVD video format, will soon release all its new videos on the victorious Blu-ray rival at the same time as its standard DVDs.

The studio is set to announce Thursday that the program will kick off in the summer with the recent box office flop "Doomsday."

Universal's Blu-ray strategy includes plans to release about 40 titles in the second half of the year.

Among them are the studio's five big feature films of the summer, including "The Incredible Hulk," with Edward Norton, William Hurt and Liv Tyler; "Wanted," an action thriller starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie; "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"; "Mamma Mia," the adaptation of the musical starring Meryl Streep; and the sequel "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li.

Universal officially will enter the Blu-ray market July 22 with a trio of films from its "Mummy" action-adventure franchise: "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns," both starring Fraser, and the spinoff "The Scorpion King," with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Also planned for domestic Blu-ray before the year is up are the catalog titles "American Gangster," "Knocked Up," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Miami Vice," "End of Days," "U-571" and "Land of the Dead," among others.

Universal had been HD DVD's biggest studio backer ever since the next-generation optical disc format came to market in April 2006. But when Toshiba pulled the plug on the format in February, the studio wasted no time switching its allegiance to Sony's Blu-ray.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

discussion here
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13662134#post13662134

Official press release from Universal:'Universal Unveils Inaugural Slate of Film and TV Offerings Coming to Blu-ray(TM) Disc Day and Date With DVD


Heroes: Season Two' Will Mark the Studio's First Global Event Release
Lineup to Include Summer 2008's Most Anticipated Films From Universal
Pictures: THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Wanted, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mamma
Mia! and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, As Well as Some of the
Studio's Other Biggest Titles

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Studios Home
Entertainment revealed its initial lineup of film and television properties
arriving later this year on Blu-ray(TM) Disc, day and date with DVD, it was
announced today by Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home
Entertainment and Universal Pictures Digital Platforms. Marking the rollout
of the studio's first global release on Blu-ray(TM) will be the "Heroes:
Season Two," which will debut beginning August 26, 2008.

The highly anticipated premier of the sophomore season of NBC's
"Heroes" will be buoyed by the simultaneous debut of "Heroes Season One" on
Blu-ray(TM). Later in the year and in time for the holidays, five of the
year's most promising feature films will arrive in high definition: THE
INCREDIBLE HULK, the action-packed new chapter of one of the most popular
Super Hero sagas of all time that stars Edward Norton, William Hurt and Liv
Tyler; Wanted, the action-thriller from stunning visualist director Timur
Bekmambetov that stars Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie;
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the epic vision of imagination from acclaimed
director Guillermo del Toro; Mamma Mia!, the musical romantic comedy in
which Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast in the adaptation of the beloved
musical; and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the next installment in
The Mummy franchise in which Jet Li, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh and
newcomer Luke Ford join the returning Brendan Fraser and John Hannah for a
supernatural adventure that shifts the series to the Far East.

"We're thrilled that our preliminary slate of Blu-ray(TM) offerings
comprises such a brilliant collection of high-def centric fare," said Mr.
Kornblau. "As awareness for Blu-ray(TM) continues to grow, consumers will
learn to rely on the superior quality picture, sound, interactivity and
connectivity that only high-definition home entertainment delivers."

The first wave of Universal Blu-ray(TM) releases, which hits U.S.
stores July 22nd, gives fans of The Mummy franchise a chance to relive the
iconic blockbuster films' thrilling beginnings in crystal-clear
high-definition. The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, starring Brendan Fraser,
and the hugely successful action-packed spin-off The Scorpion King,
starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, all will be released on Blu-ray(TM) for
the first time that day.

The first of Universal's new theatrical Blu-ray(TM) releases hitting
store shelves this summer day and date with its DVD counterpart is the
apocalyptic thrill-ride DOOMSDAY, starring Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell
and Bob Hoskins. Other titles on deck for 2008 include American Gangster,
Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Miami Vice, End of Days, U-571 and Land
of the Dead, among others.

Furthering Universal's aggressive rollout of Blu-ray(TM) product
globally, Universal Pictures International Entertainment, the company's
international home entertainment arm, is concurrently announcing its
initial slate of Blu-ray(TM) releases for the international marketplace
today.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-17-2008/0004795045&EDATE=

And there's more from the Hollywood Reporter:Universal's international Blu-ray slate will consist of 29 titles this year, including the five big theatricals as well as such catalog titles as "Gladiator," "Casino" and "The Thing."

"I am delighted that highly anticipated feature films and TV titles from one of Universal's strongest lineups ever will be available on Blu-ray for the first time," said Eddie Cunningham, Universal Pictures International Entertainment president.
He's also firmly committed to BD Live -- which allows Blu-ray Discs to be connected to the Internet for special features, from additional content to real-time chats with fellow viewers -- though the studio is not ready to announce any concrete plans.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/home_entertainment/video/e3icb0afd62b39381d18e81adcbe4f57eb4

BD Live Platform promises savings in time, money

New software helps development of advanced features

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 4/18/2008
APRIL 18 | New Blu-ray Disc development software, dubbed BD Live Platform, promises to save studios time and money in crafting advanced bonus features. The result could be more BD Live titles coming to market with beefed up interactivity this year.

Rather than build BD Live features from scratch with each title project, developers can use the set of simplified encoding instructions to craft various interactive extras, according to the software’s developer, Related Content Database (RCDb).

The technology, which coordinates both hardware memory and information sitting on discs, allows for automatic updating of BD Live titles to include the latest studio online offerings, such as theatrical trailers or game levels. The consumer should see less waiting time for various Web downloads.

“This is a network infrastructure that developers can use to create compelling BD Live features,” said Zane Zeller, president of RCDb. “These early features have been very much like the Web-browser experience. And our focus groups say that people are tired of IT issues in their living rooms. But this platform will allow studios to seamlessly update features, providing consumers with a high-quality, high-production experience without the frustration of connecting to the Internet.”

Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory is utilizing the BD Live Platform for its Blu-ray authoring. The first titles engineered with this software should start streeting during the fourth quarter.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment displayed some of the BD Live Platform technology with upcoming title Alien vs. Predator at CES.

“RCDb has been a valuable partner as we gear up for BD Live and widespread adoption of the Blu-ray format,” said Danny Kaye, executive VP of research and technology at Fox.

Panasonic and RCDb believe BD Live Platform will be crucial for studios to create Web-enabled titles that are meaningful to consumers. Zeller said the platform will particularly help developers build features for social networking and personalized interactivity.

For example, consumers can create buddy lists that will automatically transfer to all of their BD Live discs. That can allow for speedier gathering of multi-player gaming and shared user-generated commentary.

The platform also syncs up BD Live players with other devices, such as cell phones. In this way, a consumer’s BD Live player can notify a friend’s cell phone that a BD Live game challenge is about to start.

“In year one of BD Live hardware, you are going to see advanced features with this summer’s blockbuster movies on” Blu-ray, said Zeller. “When DVD first came out, it took two or three years of studio experimenting. With this [Platform] tool set, we can speed up that evolution of BD Live.”

Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, Panasonic’s VP of corporate development and general manager, added, “This will lower the barrier for entry for advanced BD Live features.”

Studios can either license the platform technology long-term or on a title-by-title basis.
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6552518.html

Netflix gets into the replication biz...

Netflix hires Sonopress exec to head supply chain development (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6551766.html?desc=topstory)

By Marcy Magiera -- Video Business, 4/15/2008
APRIL 15 | Netflix has hired Anna Lee as head of supply chain development and replication, a newly created post in which she will be a key company liaison with studios and disc manufacturers.

Lee joins the retailer from replicator Sonopress, where she was senior VP of global video markets.

“Anna will represent our company’s interests in the complex and dynamic intersection where we come together with studios and replicators,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, to whom Lee reports. “Her experience and technical expertise in the world of physical and digital media will be of great value to Netflix as we continue to drive change in the industry.”

Lee said she will be looking for best practices among the multiple replicators from which Netflix now receives discs.

She also will play a role in Netflix’s expansion of Blu-ray Disc rentals by focusing on technological development and manufacturing of the format and will oversee Netflix’s replication of its own Red Envelope titles.

Before Sonopress, Lee was VP of video acquisition and new product development for Bertelsmann Direct Group and held jobs at Time Warner and Sony Music.

Panasonic to Bolster Tie-up With Samsung in Blu-ray (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/04/123_22828.html)

MAJORCA, Spain ― Japan's Panasonic, a leading player in the next-generation Blu-ray format business, plans to expand the global storage devices market by boosting strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics.

``Now, the discussion is over. We will maintain a healthy relationship with Samsung Electronics for the next-generation computer storage market,'' Peter Weber, manager of Panasonic Corporate Communication Europe, said in an interview with The Korea Times, Sunday, on the sidelines of the IFA 2008 International Press Conference here.

"Panasonic doesn't care about the introducing timing of Blu-ray players. Time is very crucial to step up the marketing for better prospect of such devices,'' he said, adding his company is all set to inject money only for promotion.

The next-generation Blu-ray players [b]will have disk drives and will be able to connect to the Internet, allowing users to download movie trailers or interact with other Blu-ray owners. Samsung Electronics is expected to release a new Blu-ray product to back up the potential business.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37039/113/

The first quarter of 2008 was a huge success for Blu-ray, as sales grew by 351 percent over the same period last year, reports trade publication Home Media Magazine.

Netflix Raising Prices for Blu-ray (http://www.electronichouse.com/article/netflix_raising_prices_for_blu_ray/)

Rachel Cericola • 09:49 AM

From the oh-no-they-didn’t category: Gizmodo is reporting that Netflix plans to raise the price on Blu-ray rentals. The company says it will soon charge a “modest monthly premium” to get that high-def goodness mailed to your house. Cheesy? Perhaps. However, CEO Reed Hastings says that, “Consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content.” Apparently he thinks that makes it…

Samsung Delivers its Fourth Generation Blu-ray Player (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/news/sections/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20080423005461)
As the first company to introduce a stand-alone Blu-ray player, Samsung reinforces its support of the Blu-ray format with the next generation, full HD, BD-P1500.
...
The P1500 has BD Profile 1.1 Bonus View and is BD Live Ready.
...
The BD-P1500 will be available in June 2008.

A few articles about this press release:
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=1237
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9926996-7.html
http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/23/samsung-delays-fourth-gen-bd-p1500-blu-ray-player-adds-bd-live-/

PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT'S FANTASTICAL HIT THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES LAUNCHES DAY-AND-DATE WORLDWIDE ON BLU-RAY
There Will Be Blood, Cloverfield, Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next Also Released in Time for Memorial Day and Father's Day; Focus Remains On Immersive High-Def Home Entertainment Experiences (http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/pressrelease_paramountlaunchesbluray.html)LOS ANGELES (April 29, 2008) -- Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE), a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA), today announced its first day-and-date Blu-ray release, The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24 and rolling out in key international markets beginning in July. Continuing its commitment to offer the best possible movie experiences for consumers, the studio will deliver the highest quality picture, sound and special features available with these upcoming Blu-ray releases. In the U.S., There Will Be Blood, Cloverfield, Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next will begin arriving May 20 to capitalize on Memorial Day and Father's Day. Internationally, The Spiderwick Chronicles will be followed by Cloverfield and the Academy award-winner for Best Picture, No Country for Old Men beginning in August.

"Paramount Home Entertainment continues to focus on the consumer and to explore avenues that allow fans to get more out of their home entertainment experience," said Kelley Avery, President of Worldwide Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures. "We will have a strong slate of titles for Blu-ray release throughout the year worldwide and are enthusiastic about expanding the format's offerings for a broad consumer audience while delivering an experience that goes beyond what viewers love about DVD."

The Spiderwick Chronicles launches PHE's day-and-date new release strategy. Based on the best-selling series of books, The Spiderwick Chronicles takes viewers on a fantastical journey into the unseen world all around us and the Blu-ray disc will include behind-the-scenes featurettes, an exploration of the Spiderwick world, an exclusive peek inside Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide and much more.

PHE's 2008 Blu-ray titles debut on May 20 in the U.S. with two sensational action-adventures: a Special Collector's Edition of Face/Off , the mind-blowing crime-drama starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, with special features such as multiple commentaries, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, the Making Of Face/Off and more; and the sci-fi thriller Next , which stars Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel in an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. The Next Blu-ray includes a Making Of featurette, "Visualizing the Next Move," "The Next Grand Idea" and "Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel."

DreamWorks Animation's smash hit Bee Movie also will buzz onto Blu-ray on May 20. The hilarious animated adventure from renowned comedian Jerry Seinfeld took audiences by swarm and earned approximately $287 million in worldwide box office. The Bee Movie Blu-ray features a wealth of bonus materials including "Barry's Trivia Track" with fun pop-up trivia, changeable menus, a Build-A-Bee feature to allow viewers to create their own avatar, lost scenes, alternate endings and much, much more.

Following the initial wave of titles, Producer J.J. Abrams' monster hit, Cloverfield, arrives on Blu-ray on June 3. Earning over $166 million in worldwide box office to date, Cloverfield thrilled critics and audiences alike with its shocking, first-person video account of a horrifying attack on Manhattan by an unknown -- and seemingly unstoppable -- force. The Cloverfield Blu-ray will include an exclusive feature-length "Special Investigation Mode" with added details about the film. Additional features include a director commentary, Making Of featurettes, deleted scenes, alternate endings with commentary and more.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson's critically-acclaimed epic There Will Be Blood also arrives on Blu-ray June 3. The film was named by more than 200 critics as one of the top 10 movies of 2007 and stars Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and SAG Award® winner Daniel Day-Lewis. The Blu-ray features a slideshow of vintage photos selected by the director and set to the unforgettable score by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, deleted scenes, a featurette on dailies and more.

A few articles about this press release:
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=1252
http://gizmodo.com/385509/paramounts-first-blu+ray-flicks-hit-may-20-will-blow-your-faceoff-sorta
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3iad7629cf5da06c79c1d52af2e489502b

I don't think this has been posted before. MSNBC reported that the demise of HD has not helped Blu-Ray sales. In fact it is claimed that sales have slumped 40% since Jan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24394282/

Exclusive: Universal Talks Blu-ray Audio Plans (http://dvd.themanroom.com/news/Exclusive_Universal_Talks_Blu-ray_Audio_Plans/2651)...
Per Universal, all three Mummy films will include DTS-HD Master Lossless Audio.
...
Universal went on to tell us that the game plan moving forward is for DTS-HD Master Lossless to become the Blu-ray standard at the studio.
...
We'll have more from Universal, including their position on U-Control appearing on Blu-ray, in the near future. Stay tuned!

http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20080506006245/en (and lots of other coverage)

See a video of Neil's JavaOne appearance and disc preview here (http://www.news.com/8301-13953_3-9937142-80.html).

Rock Legend Neil Young Joins Sun Microsystems at 2008 JavaOne(SM) Conference to Announce Career Archive Blu-ray Disc Series

Upcoming Anthology Will Leverage Cutting-Edge Features of Blu-ray and Java(TM) Technology To Produce One of the Most Innovative Releases in Music History

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced a collaboration with Neil Young and Reprise/Warner Bros. Records for the release of the upcoming Neil Young Archive series on Blu-ray Disc, powered by Java(TM) technology. Young will join Sun CEO and president Jonathan Schwartz and Rich Green, executive vice president for Software, on stage during the JavaOne conference opening keynote to announce this revolutionary new project and demonstrate some of the interactive features of his upcoming Blu-ray Disc box set. Visit: http://www.java.com or http://www.neilyoung.com for more information.

Neil Young’s exciting project ties to this year's Conference theme of “Java + You” by highlighting the role Java technology plays in delivering dynamic content, sophisticated services and application mashups across consumer devices. Today, Java technology is the most widely adopted runtime in the world and is now powering compelling content and rich end-user experiences across all the “screens of your life” on billions of devices – from desktop browsers and computers (800,000) and mobile phones (more than 2 billion) to TVs, Blu-ray Disc players and other connected consumer devices.

More than 15 years in the making, the Neil Young Archive will be a complete biography of the artist's career in a timeline format including a chronology of songs released and unreleased. Through Blu-ray and Java technology, for the first time viewers will be able to navigate through Young's music, movies, videos, personal archives, memorabilia, photographs, letters, handwritten manuscripts and more while the high resolution 192/24 audio is playing, giving a chronological insight into the creative process and an opportunity to bear witness to the evolution of Neil Young's musical soul over the course of his life and work.

The Blu-ray format delivers both unsurpassed 192/24 audio quality and high definition video, capturing the quality of the original analog master recordings in the best digital format available today. The first Neil Young Archive release will be a 10 Blu-ray Disc set available this fall from Reprise/Warner Bros. Records, covering Young's career from 1963-1972.

“Previously, there was no way to browse archival material on a Disc and listen to a song in high resolution at the same time. The technology had not yet evolved to that capability,” said Young. “It is important for me that the user experience the high resolution music along with the archival visual material. Previous technology required unacceptable quality compromises. I am glad we waited and got it right. And here is something really new, we will be able to add content to already released Blu-ray Disc archive volumes by downloading it, whether it is music, film or vintage recording sessions, recently found photographs, or other archival materials that were located after the release of that volume. Users will be able to download any of these archival materials and they will automatically be assigned to their place in the Chronology timeline.”

“The Blu-ray format offers superior audio and video quality and, through Java technology, gives the viewer sophisticated ways of interacting with the content. Sun is thrilled to be working with Neil Young on what will surely be the most innovative release of any artist's material and the start of a new genre of content,” said Schwartz. “Through Blu-ray and Java technology, the Neil Young Archive will create a more immersive experience for the viewer and a truly unique experience for his millions of fans around the world.”

Java technology, which is the underlying platform for the new BD-Live capabilities of the Blu-ray format, enables interactive components as well as the ability to update all aspects of a Blu-ray Disc via BD-Live Internet connectivity. For the Neil Young Archive discs this could potentially include content updates such as music, film, adding new photos and providing tour information. It could also provide the ability to support dynamic fan community features such as message boards, concert reviews or even enable fans to use a BD-Live donation mechanism to help support the Bridge School (http://www.bridgeschool.org/). The Bridge School is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative and alternative means of communication and assistive technology applications.

java.com will be featuring the work with Neil Young and the archive project in a special Java + Neil Young segment. Java + Neil Young will include links to Young's appearance at JavaOne, as well as links to more information about the upcoming Blu-ray Disc package.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision -- “The Network Is The Computer”(TM) -- Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, JavaOne and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

A moot point, but the total amount viacom ever got from Toshiba was only $29M for Paramount's exclusive support. Presumably in time more would continue to be paid if Toshiba was willing to continue.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984986.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Theatrical revenues declined 7% to $247 million. That was offset in part by a 22% bump in home entertainment revenue on one-time items including a $29 million payout from Toshiba for Par’s exclusive backing of the HD-DVD. The format lost the DVD war last year to Sony’s Blu-ray. Viacom said homevid revenue would have been down slightly if the payout wasn’t included due to lower catalog sales.

Pioneer Confirms BDP-51FD and Elite BDP-05FD Profile 1.1 Blu-ray Players; "Super-Duper" BD-Live Player Coming This Fall
http://gizmodo.com/387893/pioneer-confirms-bdp+51fd-and-elite-bdp+05fd-profile-11-blu+ray-players-super+duper-bd+live-player-coming-this-fall

From the Criterion Collection newsletter:

Our first Blu-ray discs are coming! We’ve picked a little over a dozen titles from the collection for Blu-ray treatment, and we’ll begin rolling them out in October. These new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions.

Here’s what’s in the pipeline:

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

Alongside our DVD and Blu-ray box sets of The Last Emperor, we’ll also be putting out the theatrical version as a stand-alone release in both formats, priced at $39.95. Our Blu-ray release of Walkabout will be an all-new edition, featuring new supplements as well as a new transfer; we will also release an updated anamorphic DVD of Nicolas Roeg’s outback masterpiece at the same time.

:D:D:D

Funai's NB500 Blu-ray player sliding into Wal-Mart for $298
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/

The new Samsung BDP 1500 BD-Live capable player is also showing up now at Wal-Mart for $399.

Wal-Mart is also giving new guidance for their electronic departments to be implemented in many eastern US locations by this weekend. The Plan O Gram shows increased PS3 and Blu-ray sections for hardware and Blu-ray movie titles.

MPAA dangles early HD VOD releases, in exchange for closing that pesky analog hole (http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/16/mpaa-dangles-early-hd-vod-releases-in-exchange-for-closing-that/)
by Richard Lawler, posted May 16th 2008 at 7:27AM

Moving beyond day-and-date releases via internet and HD video-on-demand, movie studios may be ready to move towards regularly putting movies online ahead of the DVD release date for a premium price -- that surveys say some of us are willing to pay -- but prepare to have your analog hole plugged again. The MPAA petitioned the FCC earlier this month to lift the existing ban preventing cable and satellite providers from remotely disabling analog outputs on their set-top boxes via selectable output controls (SOC). In a bit of ICT redux, the movie studios haven't said definitively that they will use the technology, but insist on having the ability to force anyone wanting to view high definition movies to only see them through an HDCP-protected HDMI output to a compatible TV. The failure of AACS and BD+ to prevent high quality copies isn't a deterrent to the MPAA's push, so while ICT has gone unused on Blu-ray and HD DVD, we're still too fond of our component outs, switchers and homemade cables -- and too wary of a future change in policy -- to support any changes in the law.

New Sharp AQUOS DVR with Blu-Ray and 1TB of HDD
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-16040-New%20Sharp%20AQUOS%20DVR%20with%20Blu-Ray%20and%201TB%20of%20HDD.html

Report: Blu-ray Can't Overcome Escalating Movie Costs (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=12791)
Author: ERIK GRUENWEDEL
Posted: May 20, 2008

Despite the emergence of Blu-ray and projected 14.6% annual growth of electronic media through 2011, spiraling movie production costs threaten studio margins, according to a new report.

Adams Media Research found that while major U.S. studio feature film revenue is projected to grow 6% annually from $34.9 billion in 2007 to $41.6 billion in 2011, film budget expenses are growing 10% annually.

...


“Although we expect continued revenue expansion, the market won't be returning to DVD-era growth anytime soon, so it's crucial that studios pare down expanding costs and wisely manage upcoming film slates to maximize their profitability,” Adams said.

Denon Shows Off 10 New Receivers (http://www.electronichouse.com/article/denon_shows_off_10_new_receivers/)
Denon releases ten advanced A/V receivers with more connectivity, ease of operation and installation features.

May 21, 2008 | by Kim Wilson

Continuing to focus on the networked home, Denon unveiled ten new A/V receivers for 2008 during a line show in Dana Point, CA on May 20th. All models are designed to provide consumers easier and more feature-rich solutions at surprisingly lower prices. Five of the new models are part of Denon’s all-new Retail Home Theater series featuring a new and stylish cosmetic design. The new models will be available at authorized Denon dealers in July.

Every model includes HDMI 1.3a inputs with support for Deep Color. The majority of models offer 4 HDMI ports, with the lesser expensive AVR-689 ($399) and AVR-789 ($599) providing three ports and the AVR-589 ($299) offering a total of 2 ports.

The AVR-2809CI ($1,199), AVR-2309CI ($849), AVR-1909 ($649), AVR-989 ($1,199), AVR889 ($749) and AVR-789 offer 1080p upconversion and scaling from all analog video sources. Additionally, several models provide support for the advanced surround codecs Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. As one of the first manufacturer’s to adopt Audyssey technologies into their AVRs, Denon continues its unwavering support with the incorporation of Audyssey’s MultEQ, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume in all ten new models.

****

Denon Demos Headphones, Soundbar, Lowers Price on Blu-ray Player (http://www.electronichouse.com/article/denon_demos_headphones_lowers_cost_of_bd_player/)
Denon intros its 2008 line of toys, including their first noise-cancelling headphones and second surround bar for space-strapped environments.


May 21, 2008 | by Rebecca Day

...

Denon is sticking to its roots at the same time it’s branching out in new directions to meet the diverse lifestyle audio needs of consumers today. At its 2008 line show this week at the Marriott Dana Point in Laguna Cliffs, CA, Denon gave journalists an earful in demonstrations of its first noise-cancelling headphones and its second surround bar for space-strapped environments. The company also brought down the entry point for Blu-ray Disc players to $749 while packing in many of the features found in the company’s higher end models.


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The DVD-1800BD Blu-ray Disc Player ($749, October) offers full support of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD Master Audio along with a 2-channel analog output. The Profile 1 version 1.1. player packs dual audio and video decoders, giving you access to Bonus View information such as directory commentary without having to leave the movie. Additional features: HDMI 1.3a with Deep Color and 1080p scaling from standard DVDs. The player doesn’t have an Ethernet port to support BD Live, but it has the ability to download additional content (subtitles, audio streams, camera angles, trailers, games, and more) from studio websites, stored to SD card and played back through the player’s SC card slot.

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Panasonic's UniPhier 3 to deliver cheaper BD-Live enabled Blu-ray players

by Richard Lawler, posted May 22nd 2008 at 8:09AM


http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/05/uniphier3_panasonic_052108.jpg

Looking forward to a future full of cheaper, slimmer BD-Live compatible Blu-ray players? Say hello to Panasonic's 3rd generation UniPhier processor, which it claims is the first single chip processor designed to handle picture-in-picture and all other necessary Profile 2.0 features. DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, DivX 1080p, Ethernet controller, laser control, graphics engine, it's all in there. Built on a 45nm process the chip size has shrunk 50% from the previous generation, which should contribute to higher yields and lower prices. Sample shipments start in June, so while it don't expect to see it, at least initially, in the DMP-BD50, this should contribute to significant cost savings in future models. Maybe one day they'll even cost less than a similarly-featured PlayStation 3.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/22/panasonics-uniphier-3-to-deliver-cheaper-bd-live-enabled-blu-ra/

Chinese Companies Authorized To Produce Blu-Ray Products
May 23, 2008

Eleven Chinese disc manufacturers, including TCL, Malata and Desay, have been authorized by Blu-ray Disc Association to produce Blue-Ray discs, CDs, and disc players next year.

According to president of Blu-ray Disc Association, each of the manufacturers have now turned to BD development since Toshiba's withdrawal from the HD DVD camp in February this year and BDA's member number has increased to 187 while that of International DVD Forum has decreased to 163 from 240.

It is estimated that the demand for consumer electronics and computers adopted with BD technology will reach 5.3 million this year and top 11 million by 2009.

http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/05/23/6782-chinese-companies-authorized-to-produce-blu-ray-products/

Borders and Target are among retailers markedly ramping up promotion and merchandising of the Blu-ray Disc format.

Electronics stores, as large providers of hardware and software, took an early lead in offering high-def products to customers. But until the end of the format war, other classes of retailers, such as bookseller Borders and mass merchant Target, had been among those featuring relatively slim BD displays.

Through late last year, a selection of Borders stores sold BD and HD DVD in a few scattered endcaps per outlet, limited to the DVD section. Borders has since completed a rollout of BD titles throughout its 511-store chain in the U.S. in March.

Target has likewise pumped up its in-rack BD displays. At least two Los Angeles-area outlets jumped from 60 BD facings in January to 90 title slots by May. The chain also is devoting more space in its newspaper circulars to the format, notes industry researcher DisplaySearch.

At Borders, each store will feature at least one ‘bay’ or rack fixture full of BD titles on one side. Larger stores can carry up to three bays. Additionally, Borders has created BD displays sitting near its highly trafficked entrances. Going forward, Borders will use these front-of-store displays to feature a BD new release alongside its standard-definition counterpart.

Overall, Borders BD library has at least tripled since last year, taking over floor space previously occupied by CDs and standard DVDs.
http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6563665

Onkyo readies £500 DV-BD606 Blu-ray player for October release
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/27/onkyo-readies-500-DV-BD606-blu-ray-player-for-october-release/

http://blocksandfiles.com/article/5313

Call/Recall is developing one

Call/Recall has announced it is developing a 1TB optical drive and disk, backwards compatible with Blu-ray, in partnership with with the Nichia Corporation of Japan. How realistic is this?

Call/Recall began synthesizing 1TB materials for Nichia’s blue-violet laser diodes in December 2007, with first initial testing successfully completed in March 2008.

InPhase has just this year announced its revolutionary 300GB holographic disk and here is another optical format with more than three times the capacity. How realistic is this?

Call/Recall and Nichia will jointly develop the ultra high-capacity optical disc recording and playback system. It is designed around Nichia's commercially available violet and blue laser diodes and Call/Recall’s one terabyte media.

Understanding Nichia is simple: it co-developed blue-violet laser diodes in conjunction with Sony and they are used in Blu-ray drives.

Understanding Call/Recall is not so simple.

It is privately funded and was founded in 1987 to provide advanced research into optical storage technologies and ultra-high storage solutions for military and commercial customers. The company’s patented, 2-photon 3D optical technology is based on optical storage technology invented by company co-founder Dr. Peter Rentzepis. He is an optical scientist whose work is at the core of many of the world’s top optical technology providers.

This is not fluff. Rentzepis is a former head of Bell Laboratories who has authored approximately 85 patents. These are referenced as existing technology by 45 optical technology providers, who number IBM, Panasonic and Hitachi in their ranks.

One secret sauce is the use of a Rhodamine-type dye in a recording layer. It is excited by laser light and reacts to give off light when excited by another laser at a different wavelength. Such light emission or its absence can be used to indicate binary ones and zeroes.

The dye spots are tiny and can exist in 200-250 layers thus providing the 1TB capacity. The use of a single lens to read multiple layers is enabled by having a fluid-filled lens and increasing/reducing the fluid content and thus the lens' profile and its focal length.

The I/O rate is said to be around 100MB/sec, five times faster than InPhase's holographic drives.

The process is not reversible and produces write-once-read-many (WORM) media. Reversibility is being worked on and there is a generalised roadmap out to 5TB, still on CD-sized 120mm platters.

The use of pretty standard components apart from the lens and recording layer should make for a more affordable drive than InPhase's Tapestry drive which is priced around $12,000.

Call/Recall received an outside capital injection in 2005 and Wayne Yamamoto became its CEO with the goal of commercialising its technology. This deal with Nichia is a first public milestone of its progress toweards that goal.

What about potential markets? Here's what the company says: 'The demand for blue-violet laser-based recording and playback is expected to grow as the US market approaches the hard shut-off of standard analog broadcast on February 17, 2009. Digital High Definition requires more bandwidth and greater storage capacity. Call/Recall anticipates being able to release a Blu-ray compatible disk as well as a backwards-compatible player able to read Blu-ray disks as well as Call/Recall’s higher capacity formats. Call/Recall also intends to use the technology for the enterprise market for the archiving of corporate information.'

Nothing has been said about product availability. Guesstimation suggests 2010or 2011 but there are plenty of potential obstacles to be dealt with.

Dreier LLP settles with Sony, Sanyo, Exceed, Lucky Light over LED patents (http://sst.pennnet.com/news/display_news_story.cfm?Section=WireNews&Category=HOME&NewsID=162172)NEW YORK, May 27, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Four leading consumer electronics companies including Sony Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., Exceed and Lucky Light, have agreed to license patents owned by a Columbia University Professor Emerita that cover basic semiconductor technology used in Blu-ray video players as well as mobile phones, digital cameras and other devices, Dreier LLP announced today.
...
"These latest licensing agreements are important milestones in this case. Professor Rothschild is very pleased that both Sony and Sanyo, and other major electronics makers have recognized her major scientific contributions to LED and LD technology," stated Mr. Jacobs.
...

A few articles about this press release:
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=1330
http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800526243_480200_NT_b487d98e.HTM
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/05/28/sony.settles.blu.ray.suit/
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/146353/sony_sanyo_others_settle_led_patent_complaint.html

DVDPlay Rental Kiosks to Add Blu-ray in June (http://www.themanroom.com/news/DVDPlay_Rental_Kiosks_to_Add_Blu-ray_in_June/2805)DVD rental kiosk operator DVDPlay has announced plans to rent Blu-ray Disc titles alongside DVD at their kiosks beginning in early June. They will be the first rental kiosk operator to offer Blu-ray product.
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Blu-ray titles at DVDPlay kiosks will carry the same $1.49 rental charge as DVDs, leveling the playing field for consumers looking for the best bang for their buck.
...

http://www.ballade.no:80/mic.nsf/doc/art2008052914313262368505

Music on Blu-ray

05/29/2008

The world’s first ever music Blu-ray release is Norwegian.

Yesterday the Norwegian record label 2L released the word’s first ever Blu-Ray record.
“Divertimenti” is a milestone in many ways. It is the label’s 50th record release and it marks the twentieth anniversary of the Trondheim soloist whose concert in Selbu Church is captured on “Divertimenti.” A label always at the forefront technologically, 2L (Linberg Lyd) found the occasion right to make “Divertimenti” a milestone also in format.

The Blu-ray technology makes use of five separate sound tracks, which entails a complex recording and mixing process conditioned by very sophisticated equipment. 2L has cooperated with equipment manufacturers and the record now available is the fruit of a combined effort opening up new vistas of sound rendition. The sound is, as with Blu-ray images, like nothing you’ve heard before. Each instrument is clearly positioned, creating a multidimensional listening experience of utmost clarity. But since very few so far have the proper home equipment to actually play Blu-ray discs, the release also includes a SACD disc, playable on all standard CD players and computers.

Trondheimsolistene –the Trondheim soloists- is one of Norway’s finest orchestras. Under the leadership of Øyvind Gimse they have developed into an ensemble of international renown, and undertaken successful tours all over Europe, in America, Japan and Brazil.

Divertimento (of which divertimenti is the plural) is a musical style characterised by light and playful pieces. The effortless and elegant nature of the style has been defining for chamber music as we know it today.

The repertoire on “Divertimenti” is as follows:

Bejamnin Britten: Simple Symphony
Grazyna Bacewicz: Concerto for string orchestra
Terje Bjørklund: Carmina
Béla Bartók: Divertimento for strings

Blu-ray Awareness Hits 45% in HDTV Owners, Study Says (http://www.cepro.com/article/blu_ray_awareness_hits_45_in_hdtv_owners_study_says/)
NPD Group says 9 percent of HDTV owners will buy BD-capable player in next six months.
By Steve Crowe


06.03.2008 — Forty-five percent of HDTV owners in the United States now say they are familiar with Blu-ray, according to a new report from the NPD Group.

While that number is up from 35 percent this time last year, only six percent of consumers surveyed say they plan to purchase a Blu-ray player.

"The 2008 Blu-ray Disc Report" says 9 percent of HDTV owners plan to buy a BD-capable player in the next six months.


****

Wal-Mart announced today that it has completed a redesign of its consumer electronics department in stores nationwide, adding hundreds of new consumer electronics models and features. In addition to new product assortment, recent design changes intend to help Wal-Mart customers also better understand the uses and options of many new products in the market, such as the addition of a "hi-def Blu-ray experience area" in 1,200 of its stores.

Details about these new enhancements to Wal-Mart's electronics departments include:

-- A more than 58 percent increase in assortment of full hi-def
televisions (1080p) nationwide, with the introduction of new models and
brands, such as Sharp, and an expansion in larger TV sizes;

-- A new display center for computers with an expanded selection of
accessories and ink, along with clear signage and better direction to
showcase the right equipment for the right use -- home, school or
entertainment;

-- A social gaming area of increased floor space for players of all ages
to select their favorite live action rockstar game, and even play their
favorite guitar ensemble right in the store,* plus a select area for
reduced price games;

-- An expanded selection of GPS, including touch screen displays in some
stores and in all stores the addition of Magellan to the current GPS
offerings of Garmin and TomTom;

-- An increased assortment of Blu-ray, adding new players such as
Magnavox, Samsung and Panasonic to its Sony line up, plus an increased
selection of hi-def Blu-ray movies in their own designated area.


With these changes, Wal-Mart is making a commitment to help bring Blu-ray and the hi-def TV experience to families everywhere at unbeatable prices. To start, this weekend Wal-Mart is offering a $100 Wal-Mart gift card with the purchase of any Blu-ray player in its stores, June 8 through June 14.

In addition, the retailer will have select Blu-ray movie titles for only $15 starting June 8, including movie favorites such as 3:10 to Yuma, WAR, Shooter, 300, and The Fifth Element.

"We are excited to be a destination for families looking to create a high quality, affordable home entertainment experience with our new, wider selection of hi-def TVs, Blu-ray players and movies," said Gary Severson, senior vice president, Home Entertainment, Wal-Mart."http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080603/latu076.html?.v=101

LG unveils 6x Blu-ray burners: BE06, GBC-H20L, and GBW-H20L
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/06/03/lg-unveils-6x-blu-ray-burners-be06-gbc-h20l-and-gbw-h20l/

BE06LU10
http://us.lge.com/products/model/detail/computer%20products_optical%20drives_optical%20drives_BE06LU 10.jhtml

Looks like it's not just Wal-mart that's rolling out incentives:
Best Buy has added a $100 discount coupon book to their Insignia Blu-ray Player.

According to the website, the $349.99 player comes with the coupon book in the box.

You can redeem the coupons at your local Best Buy store for $100 in instant savings on a great collection of Blu-ray Disc movies from Disney, Touchstone and Miramax. The coupons can be used in store only.

The player is available online and also at most stores for online ordering for store pick up.http://www.blu-raystats.com/NewsLog/2008/06/04/best-buy-adds-100-coupon-book-to-insignia-blu-ray-player/