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Sony Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said movie studios are starting to favor the company's Blu-ray DVD, which can store high-definition films and other media, because its capacity is higher than rival formats...Greater capacity or not, the price of Blu-ray players isn't winning over consumers. Of course, this will probably change with the introduction of the PS3. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
..``This capacity, which seemed too luxurious a year ago, suddenly seems absolutely necessary,'' said Stringer, 64. ``Studios that went with HD DVD assumed they would have enough bandwidth,'' he said. ``Now more studios realize they will need two-language versions and multichannel audio,'' on movie discs, favoring Blu-ray's bigger capacity, Stringer said today in Tokyo at a meeting with reporters.
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Toshiba is subsidising its HD-A1 HD DVD player by at least $175 in a bid to buy the next-generation optical disc format success. So claims market watcher iSuppli, which took the machine to bits and totted up the cost of all the parts.So why is Toshiba willing to lose this much when Blu-ray players are going for $1000? Reg Hardware speculates that this is due to Sony's PS3, which will ship with a Blu-ray drive. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Available in the US, the HD-A1 is priced at $499. iSuppli's assessment of the cost of the players' components puts the product's bill of materials at $674 - and that's before the cost of assembly, packaging, peripherals, distribution, advertising, software development and so on. Oh, and that $499 is the retail price - Toshiba will be charging resellers even less for the player.
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The RD-A1 also comes with a hefty price tag of 398,000 Yen (~$3,436US). If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Toshiba Corporation today unveiled the future of home video entertainment in an age of digital, high definition content: the world's first digital hard disk video recorder integrating a recordable HD DVD in combination with a 1-terabyte (TB) hard disk. The new "RD-A1" can record and store up to 130 hours of high-definition (HD) broadcasts on its high capacity hard disk and record up to 230 minutes of HD content to a single HD DVD disc. In addition to superb image and sound recording and playback, the new recorder also offers an extensive range of advanced functions made possible by the versatility of HD DVD, including optimized navigation and menu displays. The RD-A1 is scheduled for roll out in the Japanese market from July 14.
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The first Blu-Ray player from Sony, the BDP-S1, has been pushed back to an October 25th release date - meaning that the firm's consumer Blu-Ray product line will not appear until only weeks before the arrival of the PlayStation 3.I can't imagine too many people rushing out to buy a BDP-S1 when they can pick up a PS3 for considerably less. Then again, in some twisted way, that may be Sony's intentions. Anyway, if you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
The BDP-S1 had most recently been scheduled for a mid-August launch date, and the new delay of over two months puts the release of the player curiously close to the PlayStation 3 - which will be appearing only weeks later in mid-November.
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Samsung is already working on a drive that handles both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, said Kim Du-Hyon, an assistant manager in Samsung's home-platform product planning division, in a briefing with reporters at the company's headquarters in Suwon, South Korea.If you'd like to read more, head on over to Digit magazine. Add a comment
"We don't have a plan to make an HD DVD-only player but are considering a universal player," he said. "We are preparing HD DVD [support] now and if we launch a universal player it will be the end of this year or early next year."
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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) launches the first slate of Blu-ray Disc (BD) titles today. The delivery of the first seven BD titles, timed to coincide with the first commercially available BD player from Samsung Electronics and BD compatible VAIO PC from Sony, marks the beginning of a new era in home entertainment that will forever change the way consumers look at, listen to and play movies, music and games.With the launch of Samsung's BD player still 5 days away, I don't see too many people running to their local Best Buy today. If you'd like to read more, Sony's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Titles available at retail today from SPHE include: "50 First Dates," starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore; Luc Besson's visually stunning "The Fifth Element"; the hit blockbuster comedy starring Will Smith, "Hitch"; "House of Flying Daggers" from director Zhang Yimou; "XXX," starring Vin Diesel; "The Terminator," featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and the follow-up to the hit action-thriller "Underworld," from director Len Wiseman and starring Kate Beckinsale, "Underworld Evolution."
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If you have an extra $999.99 laying around, you can preorder a BD-P1000 today. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced today that the industry's first Blu-ray disc player has been shipped to retailers in the U.S. market for availability on June 25th. The Samsung Blu-ray disc player (BD-P1000) has been eagerly awaited by consumers anticipating the opportunity to view High Definition discs on their existing HDTVs. Blu-ray is the next generation disc format which offers close to five times the resolution of conventional DVDs making it the highest picture quality available on the market. The format is supported by many of the leading movie studios, including Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) and LionsGate Pictures which will release Blu-ray content this month. The innovation marks the latest technology breakthrough brought to market by Samsung and further underscores the brand commitment to offering consumers the ultimate home theater experience.
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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) will launch the first slate of Blu-ray Disc (BD) titles in just one week, on June 20, 2006. The delivery of the first seven BD titles, timed to coincide with the first commercially available BD player from Samsung Electronics and BD-compatible VAIO PC from Sony, marks the beginning of a new era in home entertainment that will forever change the way consumers look at, listen to and play movies, music and games.With the Samsung BD-P1000 hitting store shelves on June 25th, its going to be up to VAIO owners to buy these initial titles. If you'd like to read more, Sony's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Titles available at retail June 20 from SPHE include: "50 First Dates," starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore; Luc Besson's visually stunning "The Fifth Element;" the hit blockbuster comedy starring Will Smith, "Hitch;" "House of Flying Daggers" from director Zhang Yimou; "XXX," starring Vin Diesel; "The Terminator," featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger; and the follow-up to the hit action-thriller "Underworld," from director Len Wiseman and starring Kate Beckinsale, "Underworld Evolution."
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Sony has revealed that its BDP-S1 Blu-Ray disc player will now be launching in mid-August, and not later this month as previously suggested - with electronics giant Pioneer also announcing a delay for its own player.Samsung is still scheduled to launch its Blu-Ray player on June 25th. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
According to the Sony Style website, the BDP-S1 will now ship "on or about August 15, 2006." The USD 1000 player was originally given a June 30th launch date, which was later changed to July.
Pioneer has also abandoned the proposed June release date for its BDP-HD1 player, apparently due to interoperability issues. It will now launch in September at a price point of USD 1500 - a drop of USD 300 from the MRP originally suggested.
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Toshiba placed a first firmware update for its Hp-DVD-Player HD-A1 available in the USA and Japan and HD-XA1 finished. The update is to be distributed be able to be downloaded in the countries mentioned by Toshiba on a Disc or shortly on-line. In addition one must connect the Player by its Ethernet interface with the Internet. The update accelerates among other things the start of the operating system of the Players which is based on Linux, eliminates some drive assembly problems and crashes and improves the black value rendition at the HDMI connection. Helvetica, sans-serif,AnnouncementIf your HD DVD player is connected to the internet, you'll be able to download it directly from Toshiba. Otherwise CD's with the update will be available. More information can be found here. Add a comment
