[wco81]

Universal announced plans to offer an iPhone app. which would be used to control extras content on upcoming Universal Blu-Ray discs, via Wifi, kind of like their version of Remote.app.


Besides controlling the interactive features of the content on discs, it would download content to take on the go. Not digital copies of movies but extras content.


(As an aside, Sony should have put together their own iPhone remote remote app. to control the PS3 XMB via Bluetooth).


So is this possibly an application made possible by BD-J but not something that iHD would have supported, for technical or political (MS technology interoperating with a strategically important Apple product) reasons?

 

[jvillain]

If it is over wifi then it needs a profile 2.0 player and if it is specific to Universal then it will be a DB-J app. My guess is HD-i wouldn't support it unless the functionality was allready in the HD-DVD firmware but I can't say for sure.


It seems stupid to me for Universal to be spending development money and adding code that can potentially go wrong to their movies for such a small subset of consumers. My guess is Apple threw a whole bunch of money at them.


But really who wants to have to pay iPhone prices to watch a dang move. If your remote isn't getting the job done then either your application sucks or the remote does, in either case fix the problem don't add complicated bull ____.

 

[wco81]

Well you can use it on the iPod Touch too.


In about 2 years, they've moved 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches.


Which is the subset, the number of iPhone/iPod Touches or the number of Blu-Ray players, particularly profile 2.0 players?


Wasn't Universal a big time booster of HD-i/iHD back in the day?

 

[jvillain]

Your missing the point where only super geeked out people are going to want to have to use an iPhone to watch a movie. What if the guy with the iPhone isn't home? Just because you can do some thing does not mean that you should do it.

 

[wco81]

You don't have to use it. Obviously they're not going to require people to own iPhones or iPod Touch in order to access all the content on the disc.


Just as you don't have to look at any of the extras to enjoy the discs.

 

[amirm]



Quote:
Originally Posted by wco81 /forum/post/16859943


So is this possibly an application made possible by BD-J but not something that iHD would have supported, for technical or political (MS technology interoperating with a strategically important Apple product) reasons?

There certainly would have been no political issues. This title is not from Microsoft but a studio and they certainly would have had no issue with this. Nor was HDi a Microsoft controlled specification (it was owned by DVD Forum).


Technically, I see nothing special here that would limit it to working with BD-J. All one needs is a network API which HDi obviously had.


Keep in mind that the code that runs on iPod/iTouch is completely outside of the scope of Blu-ray. So what it does, it can do regardless of what is at the other end.