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As more and more families transition to high definition, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE) concentrates its efforts on offering consumers unprecedented quality, value and portability in the purchases of their favorite Disney Blu-ray movies with the announcement of its new Blu-ray + DVD Combo Packs.
Disney’s Combo Pack will be extended across an exciting new slate of Disney-branded theatrical and Platinum titles releasing on Blu-ray between February and October of 2009. Some of the upcoming Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack titles families can look forward to include the teen phenomenon High School Musical 3: Senior Year (February 17), Walt Disney’s animated classic Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition (March 10) and all those leading up to the highly anticipated release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Platinum Edition in October.
“These unique Combo Packs provide the opportunity for consumers around the world to take advantage of the quality of Blu-ray with the portability of a DVD disc in a single package,” comments Bob Chapek, President of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. “As always, we are committed to offering our consumers exceptional quality and value when purchasing our products.”
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Amazon announced today that its Video On Demand service will soon be available via the Roku Digital Video Player. Using the $99 Roku Player, consumers will be able to purchase or rent and then instantly watch more than 40,000 titles, including new release movies the same day that they are released on DVD.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that it will offer customers the ability to instantly purchase, rent and watch digital movies and TV episodes from its popular video service, Amazon Video On Demand, via the Roku Digital Video Player. Beginning in early 2009, the Roku Player, which currently supports only the Netflix service, will offer access to Amazon Video On Demand’s more than 40,000 commercial-free movies and television shows, enabling Roku customers for the first time to watch new release movie titles instantly.
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LG announced today that it has expanded the number of online services available to owners of its network-connected Blu-ray players. Along with the Netflix service that is currently available, consumers will soon be able to be able to stream movies, TV shows and video clips directly from CinemaNow and YouTube. LG has not stated whether or not the BD300 will get access to these services. However, they will be available on their 2009 line of Network Blu-ray Disc players.
LG Electronics today announced the expansion of network entertainment options for its Network Blu-ray Disc players through new alliances with CinemaNow and YouTube(TM).
Available on new LG Network Blu-ray Disc Players in the first half of 2009, these new services complement LG’s instant streaming from Netflix and advanced Blu-ray capabilities to deliver consumers an exceptional entertainment experience. (In 2008, LG was the world’s first manufacturer to stream movies instantly from Netflix on a Network Blu-ray Disc Player.)
CinemaNow – an innovator in digital entertainment technology, delivering high-quality movies, TV shows and videos to users through online connectivity – and YouTube – a leading online video community for people to discover, watch, and share originally created videos – will be available in LG’s 2009 line of Network Blu-ray Disc players to be unveiled next week at the 2009 International CES®.
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Earlier this year, Funai acquired the rights to sell televisions under the Philips and Magnavox brands in the United States and Canada. According to the Nikkei Business Daily (via Reuters), Funai will also be taking over Philips' North American DVD and Blu-ray operations. Under the deal, Funai will make royalty payments to use the Philips brand, instead of an outright payment for their audiovisual business.
Japan's Funai Electric Co will take over Philips' North American DVD, Blu-ray and other audiovisual operations, on top of the Dutch firm's TV business in the region that Funai had already acquired, the Nikkei business daily said.
The move, which would combine Funai's expertise in low-cost production and Philips' brand name, is expected to boost Funai's North American sales by 30 billion yen ($332 million), the newspaper said.
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Earlier this month, BTC announced that in was going to shut down its ODD loader business and stop marketing drives under the BTC brand in China and Taiwan. BTC's loader business has apparently gotten a new lease on life as the company now plans to make loaders for Blu-ray Disc (BD) players. According to DigiTimes, BTC has already landed 4-5 clients and expects to have 8-10 in total in 2009.
BTC has adopted a SoC chipset developed by Taiwan-based IC design house Sunplus Technology and Sony-developed pick-up heads (PUHs) to make the BD loaders, and has so far landed four to five clients in China and Taiwan, the company indicated. BTC currently has an R&D team of more than 20 staff, the company noted.
BTC is making efforts to introduce PUHs from other Japan-based suppliers to reduce the production cost of BD player loaders and expects to have 8-10 clients in total in 2009, according to the company.
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A new survey conducted by the NPD Group has found that consumers who have purchased a video on DVD or Blu-ray Disc are enthusiastic about the Digital Copy feature available on many new releases. The survey found that one third of DVD or BD buyers in the U.S. were aware of the Digital Copy feature. Of those who had already purchased a Digital Copy version, more than 80% were interested in buying another with this feature. Consumers also made it clear that they prefer to receive a digital copy on a video they've purchased, rather than downloading it from the Internet.
According to NPD more than half of DVD or BD buyers have watched a full-length TV show or movie on a portable device. One-third of DVD or BD buyers in the U.S. are aware of the Digital Copy feature. Three out of four DVD or BD buyers who view movies or TV shows on a portable device expressed interest in buying a physical disc with Digital Copy. More than 80 percent of consumers who have already purchased a Digital Copy version claimed they were interested in purchasing other titles published with this feature.
“At this point every major studio is offering video buyers the option for a portable, digital copy of films and TV shows,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. “For consumers who don’t have the time or know-how to download full-length movies or TV shows, Digital Copy provides a flexible and safe solution for transferring a legal version from a purchased disc to a portable device.”
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GfK Retail and Technology announced this week that Blu-ray sales have reached record levels in Japan. Their latest sales figures revealed that unit sales of Blu-ray Disc recorders surpassed that of DVD recorders during the first week of November. GfK also reports that Blu-ray Disc recorders are replacing DVD Recorders 1.5 times faster than DVD recorders replaced VHS recorders.
Latest GfK Retail and Technology Japan figures have revealed that in the first week of November 2008, Blu-ray Disc Recorders have surpassed a 50% market share for DVD Recorders in unit terms.
Looking back to October 2007, Blu-ray Disc Recorders accounted for a market share of 10% and have since exhibited rapid growth.
The average sales price has begun to come down in 2008. In the first week of June 2008, the average sales price of Blu-ray Disc Recorders was between 110,000 – 120,000 JPY. By the third week of October, it dropped to between 100,000 – 110,000 JPY.
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Broadcom announced today its third generation Blu-ray chipset solution has been chose by Samsung to power its 2009 lineup of Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems. Along with the BCM7620 optical front-end solution, Samsung plans to use Broadcom's new BCM7601 Blu-ray decoder solution. Building upon Broadcom's proven BCM7440 system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution, the BCM7601 is smaller in size, uses less power and features enhancements such as full HDMI 1.3 support.
Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM - News), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its third generation Blu-ray chipset solution has been selected by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. to power products in its 2009 lineup of Blu-ray Disc® players and home theater systems. Broadcom's newest chipset solution provides all of the processing functionality to enable playback of the Blu-ray optical disc format, enabling Samsung to introduce next generation Blu-ray Disc players based on this technology as early as the first quarter of 2009.
Announced today is the new Broadcom® BCM7601 Blu-ray decoder solution, which builds upon Broadcom's highly successful and proven BCM7440 system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution that has been widely deployed by Samsung in its 2008 Blu-ray Disc players, and the Broadcom BCM7620 optical front-end solution.
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With Black Friday only a few days away, U.S. retailers have slashed the price of entry-level Blu-ray players in an attempt to bring shoppers into their stores. With these players being channeled to the Japanese and American markets, media research firm Screen Digest expects that affordable Blu-ray players will be in short supply in Europe this holiday season. Screen Digest also stated that this shortage, combined with the recession, will slow the adoption of Blu-ray in the European market.
"A shortage of cheaper Blu-ray players means that the sub-$300 machines that are already appearing on U.S. shelves are unlikely to materialize in Europe this Christmas," Screen Digest analyst Richard Cooper said in a report.
"Combined with the recession, this means the format is unlikely to move much beyond the early adopter market this year," he said.
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Blockbuster recently announced the launch of its new MediaPoint digital media player. Manufactured by 2Wire, this set-top box gives consumers the ability to instantly stream thousands of TV shows and movies directly to their television. The player features built in ethernet and Wi-Fi as well as support for HD video content. The MediaPoint digital media player is available now as part of a $99 package which includes the device as well as 25 movie rentals.
Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI, BBI.B), a leading global provider of media entertainment, and 2Wire, a provider of integrated broadband solutions, today introduced the 2Wire MediaPoint(TM) digital media player, an easy-to-use, on-demand video solution that offers movie fans instant access through their television sets to BLOCKBUSTER(R) ONDEMAND content, including thousands of titles from the latest movie releases to classic favorites.
Beginning today, for a limited time, the MediaPoint digital media player is available free with the advance rental of 25 BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND movies for
