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DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIVX), a digital media company, today announced that the latest Blu-ray Disc player from DENON, the high-end audio/video brand owned by D&M Holdings Inc., has achieved DivX(R) Certification. The DivX Certified(R) DENON Blu-ray Disc Player (model: DVD-3800BDCI) will go on sale in the Japan and U.S. markets at the end of this month. This is the second DENON Blu-ray player to receive DivX Certification, joining a family of DENON DVD players that also guarantee reliable playback of high-quality DivX(R) video files.If you'd like to read more, DivX's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
"DENON is a world leader in high-quality home theater systems and audio products. By extending the DivX standard into next-generation Blu-ray devices, we're further delivering on our strategy to provide consumers with a high-quality video experience on any kind of device, from the PC to the living room and on the go," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "DivX is just as relevant as a feature on a Blu-ray player as on standard DVD players and we expect more and more Blu-ray players to incorporate DivX technology."
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DTS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTSI), a digital audio technology company dedicated to delivering the ultimate entertainment experience, is showcasing its acclaimed industry-standard DTS Digital Surround sound audio codec (mandatory for inclusion in all next generation Blu-ray Disc standard products) at the 2008 Intel Developers Forum (IDF) in Shanghai, China. The company will also demonstrate its DTS-HD Master Audio technology which delivers high definition lossless audio for home theater and PC applications. In addition, at IDF, DTS will unveil -- for the first time in China -- its new DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC technology, delivering immersive simulated surround from stereo and 5.1 source material over two-channel audio systems (stereo speakers or headphones).If you'd like to read more, DTS's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
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The HD DVD Promotion Group was dissolved as of March 28, 2008, and the website was closed accordingly.If you'd like to read more, the entire statement can be foundhere. Add a comment
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.
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The Blu-ray Disc victory in its recent format war with HD-DVD will propel this technology into 29.4 million homes worldwide by the end of 2008, according to the latest research published by the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices service. According to, “Blu-ray Devices: Forecasting Sales and Ownership,” Sony’s PS3 games console will continue to drive the Blu-ray market until 2009, after which stand-alone Blu-ray players will become the dominant segment. By 2012 more than 132 million homes worldwide will own at least one Blu-ray device...More information on Strategy Analytics' report can be found here. Add a comment
...This Strategy Analytics report predicts that global sales of Blu-ray devices will reach 18.8 million units in 2008, including 4 million stand-alone players, 13 million consoles and nearly 2 million PCs. By 2012, annual sales of all BD devices will reach 57.4 million units. The largest market will be in Europe, with 26.4 million, followed by the US (22.6 million) and Japan (8.4 million).
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Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment's "No Country for Old Men" realized 9.8% of its total sales from Blu-ray Disc its first five days in stores, according to an analysis of Nielsen VideoScan First Alert numbers conducted by Home Media Magazine's market research department.It's good to see that Blu-ray's market share is slowing growing. Nevertheless, they still have a long ways to go if they hope to take on internet downloads. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Fox's "Hitman," also released March 11, fared even better, generating 12.6% of its total unit sales from Blu-ray.
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Sony ComputerEntertainment America (SCEA) today announced that the next system softwareupdate for PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system, slatedfor release in late March, will add Blu-ray Disc(TM) (BD) Profile 2.0 orBD-LIVE, enabling PS3 owners to experience interactive features, such asdownloadable video content, ringtones, games, and more. In addition toBD-LIVE, the system software update (v. 2.20) will enable photo and musicplaylists on PS3 to be copied to PSP(R)(PlayStation(R)Portable) handheldentertainment system, among other new features. These updates demonstratehow PS3 continues to evolve as a home entertainment hub with theflexibility to deliver the newest technology innovations that benefit PS3owners.This update is coming just in time for Sony's first BD-Live enabled titles, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The 6th Day, which will be released on April 6th. If you'd like to read more, Sony's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
"With Blu-ray established as the high-definition optical disc standard,more consumers are ready to jump in and take advantage of everything theformat offers," said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president, product marketing,SCEA. "Whether you want to download movie extras, send ringtones to yourphone, or play interactive games, BD-LIVE will offer exciting new ways toenjoy a Blu-ray movie. With these regular firmware updates andfuture-proofed technology, SCEA is making the 10-year lifecycle of PS3possible."
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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.Best Buy will be proactively sending out cards to members of the their Reward Zone program and to customers who purchased Performance Service Plans (PSPs) or who made their purchase online. Other customers will need to call (888) BEST BUY and provide a proof of purchase through a credit card or their Best Buy receipt.
“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.”
If you'd like to get rid of your HD DVD player altogether, you're in luck. Best Buy is also launching a new program on March 21st where you can trade in used electronics for gift cards. Full details on this program can be found here. Add a comment
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Interest among standard DVD consumers likely to buy HD packaged media increased to 10.8% for the week that ended Feb. 20, compared to 9.4% for the week that ended Feb. 13 and 8.9% for the week of Feb. 6. HD DVD interest, not surprisingly, dropped to 8.8%, from 10.6% (Feb. 13) the week before and 10.9% the prior week.The study also found that the high cost of Blu-ray players and consumer satisfaction with standard DVD is slowing growth. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Comparative percentages for Blu-ray late last year ranged from 5% to 6.8% through Christmas.
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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.Take not that Greenberg is only denying the rumor about Blu-ray being integrated into the Xbox 360. There is no mention here of the addon player. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
"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.
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The new DivX Certified DVD models join the world’s best-selling Blu-ray playback device, the Sony PLAYSTATION 3, which has been capable of DivX playback since December, 2007. The growth of DivX technology in the emerging Blu-ray market demonstrates growing traction of the Company’s licensing business into new product categories. DivX technology has already become a de facto standard on standard definition DVD devices, with an estimated 41 percent penetration in the global market as of the end of 2007.If you'd like to read more, DivX's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Thanks to the superior compression and high visual quality of the DivX format, consumers can take advantage of Blu-ray technology to store and playback over 25 hours of DVD-quality video on a single Blu-ray disc. Newly certified DVD players include devices from Panasonic (Model: DMP-BD30EE), Philips (Model: BDP7200) and Denon (Models: DVD-2500BTC1B, DVD-3800BDC1B, DVD-3800BDSP and DVD-2500BTSP).
