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Home Entertainment

12 July 2007

HD DVD is apparently doing well in Europe. According to Reuters, the European HD DVD Promotional Group recently stated that HD DVD players are outselling Blu-ray players by a 3 to 1 margin.

HD DVD video players have outsold rival standard Blu-ray players by a three-to-one margin in Europe's main markets so far this year, according to a lobby group.

The European HD DVD Promotional Group claimed it had 74 percent market share in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland for stand-alone players, citing sales figures it commissioned from market research group GfK.

Keep in mind that these numbers are spun heavily in HD DVD's favor. The HD DVD Promotional Group is only looking at stand alone players, the one area where HD DVD does have the advantage. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

09 July 2007

For the last week or so, its been rumored that Sony would be lowering the price of the 60GB Playstation 3 by $100. Earlier today, Sony confirmed the rumor, stating that the 60GB model will now be priced at $499. To fill the $599 price point, the company will be releasing a new version of the console that includes an 80GB hard drive and a copy of the game MotorStorm.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Inc. today announced a new 80GB model of its PLAYSTATION3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system. Beginning in August, the new PS3 model will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of $599/$659 CND and will be sold with the popular online-enabled racing game MotorStorm(TM). In conjunction with this news, the company also announced that effective immediately, the current 60GB PS3 model will be available in North America for $499/$549 CND, or $100 below the original launch price.

By featuring an expanded hard disk drive (HDD), the new 80GB PS3 is designed to appeal to the online gaming and entertainment enthusiast, providing ample storage space to download more games and other entertainment content from PLAYSTATIONNetwork. There are currently more than 60 playable games and game-related downloads available through PLAYSTATIONStore, with expanded entertainment content coming soon. The new model features the million-selling game MotorStorm in the box, allowing up to 12 players to play online at one time, hitting the dirt in this visually-arresting, fast-paced racing title.

If the $100 price cut isn't enough, remember that you can also get five free Blu-ray movies by mail. Full details on Sony's price cut and the 80GB PS3 can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

11 July 2007

DigiTimes has reported that Samsung will introduce the Duo HD BD-UP5000 during the 4Q of this year. According to industry sources, this combo Blu-ray/HD DVD player will be priced at only $545.

Samsung Electronics, at an IFA (Internationale Funhausstellung in German) conference held in Hamburg, Germany last week, announced it will launch the Duo HD (high-definition) BD-UP5000, the world's second dual-format disc player model supporting both HD DVD and BD (Blu-ray Disc) next to the LG Electronics BH100. The device will be initially introduced in the European market at a tentative price of 400 euro (US$545) in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

It will be interesting to see if Samsung can deliver the BD-UP5000 at this price. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes.

Update - Apparently, DigiTime's "sources" got the price wrong. According to heise online, the BD-UP5000 will cost about 400 euro more than their single format Blu-ray player, putting it in the same ballpark as the LG BH100. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

06 July 2007

While companies like Blockbuster have thrown their weight behind Blu-ray, Video Business has reported that most major retailers are still supporting both high-def formats. With more and more people buying Blu-ray and HD DVD players, retailers have also started to devote more floor space to high-def titles and promote them in their weekly circulars.

Retailers are going mainstream with their marketing and merchandising efforts for high-definition discs as the number of titles released across the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats approaches 1,000.

Amazon.com, Best Buy, Trans World, Virgin Megastores and others are promoting both formats, unwilling to potentially snub a portion of their early adopter consumers.

“Our feeling is that we should continue to supply both until the customers tell us that we shouldn’t,” said Jim Litwak, president and chief operating officer at Trans World. “Blu-ray is outperforming HD DVD in stores, but the customer is still telling us they want HD DVD.”

While most retailers are deciding to support both high-def formats, I wouldn't be surprised if some eventually decided to sell only Blu-ray titles, at least in their stores. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment