HP's MediaSmart Connect gets reviewed
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Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray players start to see the light of day
[Via Blu-ray Stats]
Blockbuster CEO to Studios: Make more copies of Blu-ray films
Now that Blu-ray is almost running full steam ahead with all the studios on board and full profile stand-alone players right around the corner, this holiday season is going to prove to be an important one for the adoption of Blu-ray. Blockbuster's CEO Jim Keyes wants to help out and says "We think the rental model can help Blu-ray." He believes that Blu-ray can help extend the packaged media model another five to ten years, but to make it work the studios need to get serious and make more copies of Blu-ray films. He goes on to explain that if the studios don't speed up the mass-market product, that the entire industry could lose out to digital downloads. While we love the idea of digital downloads, we are not willing to sacrifice any quality just to save us from handling a shinny round disc, but at the same time we don't have any problems renting or buying just about any Blu-ray movie we want.
DivX 7 to officially support MKV
Like anyone else, we can't get enough video formats -- not -- but unlike H.264, DivX, XviD and MPEG-2 the latest rage is Matroska (aka MKV) is not a codec, but a container. It is the format which holds other formats, so you should be wondering, what's so special about it? It is special because it can hold new combinations of codecs and it is open for anyone to use. The most popular new feature is its ability to contain x.264 video, DTS audio, and at the same time subtitles in multiple languages, all in the same file. It is quickly becoming the replacement for AVI, and has the best chance of becoming the mp3 of video, than any other container has before. The problem of course is support. As usual Windows is covered, but thanks to Perian, Macs have support now too. And of course the most universal player in the world, VLC does too. But now it appears it has warranted some commercial support and the next version of DivX will play nice too. This of course doesn't mean that any hardware vendors will join in -- other than the Popcorn Hour that is -- but it's a step in the right direction.
Verizon rolls out 23 new FiOS TV HD channels in Fort Wayne
Right on schedule, Verizon's FiOS TV gets with the HD program and over doubles its lineup in at least one market, as the lucky devils in Fort Wayne IN get access to 23 new HD channels today. Now usually Verizon likes to roll out national channels nation wide on the same day, but because it is in the middle of shuting off all the analog channels, the lineups are being realigned market by market. Ironically, the new channels seem to be rolling out in the opposite order of the intial Verizon FiOS TV rollout, in which the initial two markets to get the service, are the last to get the upgrade. But even those poor souls in Tampa FL and Keller TX can expect all the HD goodness within the next 60 to 120 days.Blu-ray releases on July 1st, 2008
We have fourteen new titles for Blu-ray this week and believe it or not it is a slow start to the biggest Blu month to date. The biggest week is at the end of the month, when twenty four new releases hit the streets thanks to some help from Universal's first Blu-ray titles. Although there are plenty of new titles this week, there really isn't much to talk about. The biggest title is easily Vantage Point, but that isn't saying much as one of the only other day-and-date releases up against it was Meet the Browns, which with its IMDB rating of 2.2 puts it at number seventy on the list of all time worst movies. There are a few good catalogs this week though, like In the Line of Fire, there are also a few concerts. Next week doesn't have as many new releases with only eight, but it is Batman week as the nine month wait for a Blu-ray version of Batman Begins is finally over. Now Warner, about The Matrix...Blu-ray
- Batman: The Movie (Fox)
- Batman: The Movie (Limited Edition) (Fox)
- Ganges (BBC)
- Gangs of New York (Walt Disney)
- Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control, (Warner)
- In the Line of Fire (Sony)
- Korn: Live at Montreux (Eagle Rock)
- Mad Men: Season One (Lionsgate)
- Meet the Browns (Lionsgate)
- Point Break (Fox)
- Sex and Death 101 (Starz)
- Vantage Point (Sony)
- War, Inc. (First Look)
- Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Concert (Sony BMG)
Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending June 22nd, 2008
This week's Nielsen VideoScan numbers are pretty late. This was mostly because last week's Home Media Magazine was delayed because of the Home Media Expo, which completly threw us off. The other thing that threw us off this week was the fact that this week's edtition of HMM didn't inlcude a top 20 Blu-ray title chart. This really only leaves us the market share to discuss which is understandably down. The fact that both DVD and Blu-ray sales were down that week is no surprise since there just weren't that many new releases and the ones that were released weren't anything to call home about. We expect next this week's numbers to be delayed as well because of the 4th of July. When the charts do finally come out there should be more to talk about though, as we will be interested to see how well 10,000 BC does against DVD, as well as The Spiderwick Chronicles. Luckily the month of June is behind us and July looks to be a fun ride, so we can't wait to see if Blu-ray manages to pick up any speed before the holiday season in the coming months.
Weinstein to finally go Blu in August with The Mist
The Weinstein Company is the big studio that everyone seems to forget. Back when HD DVD vs Blu-ray was really cranking, it was common to create tables listing which studios were on what side, and somehow despite a pretty good selection of movies, everyone always forgot about Weinstein. Weinstein started out all Red all the time, but later its titles went MIA from the HD media world completely, which has left many wondering how long it would take before every major studio was releasing titles on Blu-ray. Now with less than thirty days to go until Universal goes Blu, we've learned that on August 5th, when The Mist is released, HD fans everywhere should finally have access to movies from every major studio in Hollywood for the first time ever.
Poll: What's the best HTPC Blu-ray software?
NFL Network to become ESPN 8, THE "OCHO"?
We first heard that ESPN believed it had the solution to the NFL Network's carriage problems last week, and today the analysts at SNL Kagan believe they may know what the two sports power houses have in mind. The theory goes that ESPN would take over the network and merge it with another mediocre success, ESPN Classic. Then the two could be offered to providers under a new name -- we're thinking ESPN 8, THE OCHO. Providers would be happy to kill two birds with one stone, since the viewership of ESPN Classic is so low and the NFL Network costs so much, and customers would finally have access to the rest of the NFL games. Makes sense to us.
Blu-ray releases on June 24th, 2008
After last week's abysmal lineup, it is good to see a few good titles this week as we count down the last month before every major studio is releasing Blu-ray movies. But while we wait for Universal to get on board, we still have a good selection coming our way. This also happens to be the very last week with an HD DVD new release, but the last title from a major studio were about a month ago. 10,000 B.C. is probably the biggest title on this week's slate, but The Spiderwich Chronicles and Persepolis aren't slouches either. These titles help round out a pretty good month, but July should be the best yet -- but it does get off to a slow start.Blu-ray
- 10,000 B.C. (Warner)
- House of Fury (Tai Seng)
- National Geographic: Sea Monsters (National Geographic)
- Persepolis (Sony)
- The Spiderwick Chronicles (Paramount)
- Step Into Liquid (Lionsgate)
- ZZ Top: Live in Texas (Eagle Rock)
CableLabs states the obvious, tru2way is open to all
Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending June 15th, 2008
There are mixed results for Blu on this week's Nielsen VideoScan charts, courtesy of Home Media Magazine, because while revenues are up 27% over last week, when compared to DVD, Blu lost two percent. The big difference this week is The Bucket List which was easily number one on the DVD charts, but the Blu version didn't even managed one third the sales as the number one title, Jumper. The other explanation for the drop in share is while last week there were only five DVDs on the top twenty that didn't make it to Blu, this week there is seven thanks to HBO and Sony not bringing a couple new TV shows to Blu. Getting back to Jumper, it killed the rest of the Blu releases this week, forcing everyone else way down -- but somehow we doubt it'll have any legs. Next week both DVD and Blu-ray should be way down thanks to the weakest releases in some time, and we expect to see Blu-ray back to five or six percent.
ESPN and NFL Network, working on a deal
The NFL Network's strategy to gain carriage on the biggest cable company's most popular tiers, caused quite a ruckus last year when many subscribers almost missed the biggest game of the year, in what ended up being a reverse preview of the Super Bowl -- and a perfect setup for the biggest choke in NFL history. It appears now that with some help from ESPN, we may not be in store for a repeat this year. Although no details have been revealed, it is being reported -- by the journal that require a subscription -- that the four letter network is in talks that may lead to it helping resolve the fledgling network with its struggles to obtain carriage.Versus and Golf HD get their own channel, and E! HD on the way
Versus and the Golf Channel have been sharing an HD channel for some time and both have evidently graduated to the point that they're getting their own channel. This seemed like a pretty good combo to us, as we don't see much golf on at night, but we suppose some want to watch bicycle races during the day. What isn't very clear is if the current carriage deals will need to be reworked, of if everyone who has the combo now will automatically get the two dedicated channels when launched. On a who cares note -- E! is getting the HD treatment which we'll file right up there with Lifetime HD, but hey, at least maybe it'll help some poor sap talk his wife into a new HDTV.
