Details

• Print

Home Entertainment

18 June 2007

Thanks to Blu-ray.com, we've learned of a new Blu-ray Disc player from Hong Kong based manufacturer, GoWell Enterprises. While details are a bit sketchy, the G875 appears to support HDMI 1.3 and wireless networking and will have 1G of NAND flash memory. Here are some of the player's specs:

· Support Blu-ray driver · USB 2.0 interface(high speed) & card reader · Support SD/MMC/MS/XD card · Support 1G NAND Flash · DISC Playable: Blu-ray disc/H.264/MPEG4/DivX/XviD/DVD/SVCD/VCD/CD/MP3/Kodak Picture/Photo CD/WMV9 · Support: DivX 3.11/4.02/5.02/5.03/5.05 and later, DivXPro, XviD, Nero digital · PAL/NTSC/MULTI TV system compatible · Full function remote control · Support 4:3 & 16:9 TV mode · High Definition video(HDMI V1.3) output · 10/100M BaseT Ethernet (RJ45) · Mini PCI interface, Support wireless home networking · SATA HDD socket · Building in HDD

At this point, its unknown when GoWell's player will be hitting store shelves or how much it will be. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, you can read all about the G875 on GoWell's website. Add a comment

Details

• Print

Home Entertainment

12 June 2007

While Toshiba's promotions has helped HD DVD capture 60% of the HD set-top market, sales are still coming up short of expectations. According to Reuters, Toshiba has had to lower its U.S. sales forecast. Instead of 1.8 million units, the company now expects to sell 1 million players by the end of 2007.

Japan's Toshiba Corp. has slashed its sales target for high definition DVD players and recorders after disappointing sales in the U.S., putting a damper on prospects for one of its growth businesses.

"Sales in the U.S. have been slower than expected, and we are going to have to lower our U.S. sales forecast," said Yoshihide Fujii, head of Toshiba's digital consumer business.

The electronics group now expects to sell 1 million next-generation optical disc players in North America by the end of calendar 2007, down 44 percent from its previous estimate of 1.8 million unit sales, a Toshiba executive said on Tuesday.

While the price of HD DVD players have come down considerably, most consumers are still holding off, waiting to see which format wins. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Details

• Print

Home Entertainment

18 June 2007

Since late last year, Blockbuster has been testing the waters, renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 of their stores. The company recently announced plans to increase this number to 1700. However, with 70% of the high-def rentals going to Blu-ray, Blockbuster has decided not to offer HD DVD titles at these new locations.

Blockbuster Inc. will rent high-definition DVDs only in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores when it expands its high-def offerings next month, dealing a major blow to the rival HD DVD format.

The move, being announced Monday, could be the first step in resolving a format war that has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players until they can determine which format will dominate the market.

Blockbuster has been renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year and found that consumers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time.

This isn't good news for HD DVD fans. With Blockbuster going Blu-ray, it probably won't be long before smaller video rental services do the same. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Details

• Print

Home Entertainment

11 June 2007

As most of you know, Blu-ray has been dominating the next-gen DVD market since the beginning of the year. To help give HD DVD a boost, Toshiba has been offering various promotions, including a $100 price drop on many of their players. These promotions have apparently paid off. According to the HD DVD Promotional Group, consumers have purchased more than 150,000 players, giving HD DVD 60% of the HD set-top market.

Three weeks into its aggressivespring retail and marketing campaigns, the North American HD DVDPromotional Group today announced HD DVD is significantly ahead in thededicated consumer electronics player market with 60% of all highdefinition set-top players sold. At the same time, high definition moviesales for HD DVD reached an all time high for the month of May, exceeding75,000 movies the last week of May alone.

Overall high definition sales hit a record last week as well, hitting$5.2 million in actual consumer spending, which was 31% higher than theprevious record for the two formats. This highlights the growing consumerappetite for HD content across the board.

Sales of dedicated consumer electronics players are a criticalindicator in the adoption of the high definition formats, given the highattach rates to these players. With the successive price drops by Toshiba,weekly player sales doubled in April when the price dropped from $499 to$399, doubled again during the first week of the latest promotion in lateMay, and increased again last week.

While these numbers are impressive, its going to be interesting to see what happens when Blu-ray backers respond with their own price cuts. If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment