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Consumers looking for a better way to easily store and share photos and videos can turn to Sony’s new Personal Content Station. This wireless home device gives users centralized control over their data, even if it was captured and resides on several devices.
The rise in smartphones and tablets with advanced cameras and imaging capabilities is creating a content storage and management issue for consumers. According to recent industry research, 80% of smartphone users admit to keeping photos on their device, rather than deal with the hassle of transferring them to a PC.
The Personal Content Station addresses this need simply and effectively. It connects wirelessly to a home network to store, view and share photos and videos from a consumer’s different devices including smartphones, tablets, cameras and camcorders.
“Consumer technology is more mobile than ever, and the smartphone now is often a person’s primary camera,” said Viviano Cantu, director of consumer media marketing at Sony Electronics. “The challenge is, what do you do with all that content on your phone, and how do you easily share it with family and friends? This device answers those questions. With 1TB of space, it has enough storage capacity to become the wireless hub of all your personal content.”
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To compliment the electronics industry’s launch of 4K Ultra HD Televisions, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) is proud to leverage its growing 4K asset library to present “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray titles. While maintaining the studio’s commitment to the highest possible quality Blu-ray releases, the “Mastered in 4K” offering takes these efforts even further.
“Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray releases will feature titles—such as The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall, The Karate Kid, Battle: Los Angeles and The Other Guys—sourced from pristine 4K masters and presented at high-bitrate 1080p resolution, with expanded color showcasing more of the wide range of rich color contained in the original source. When upscaled via the Sony 4K Ultra HD TVs, these discs serve as an ideal way for consumers to experience near-4K picture quality. SPHE also plans to utilize available high quality 4K masters for select upcoming new release Blu-ray titles. “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray Discs can be played on all existing Blu-ray Disc players.
“The electronics industry’s groundbreaking launch of 4K Ultra HD TV has given us reason to even further elevate our Blu-ray offering,” said David Bishop, President, SPHE. “This spring, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is excited to deliver a complementing lineup of ‘Mastered in 4K’ Blu-ray titles, offering consumers the best possible picture and sound quality to be experienced on the latest HDTVs.”
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U.S.-based Millenniata (www.mdisc.com) today announced it will offer Blu-ray M-DISCs in the second quarter of 2013, increasing both the storage capacity and the accessibility of the M-DISC.
The announcement, made at the Storage Visions Conference in Las Vegas, marks a major step forward in permanent data storage solutions for businesses and consumers by making the M-DISC available in all the standard optical disc formats.
The other major advance in the growing world-wide acceptance of the M-DISC DVD and the forthcoming Blu-ray M-DISC is the marketing and distribution partnership with Imation Corp. announced at the Storage Visions Conference by Millenniata. Millenniata and Imation, the leading world-wide distributor of data storage products, have agreed to co-brand and distribute both the M-DISC and Blu-ray M-DISC under Imation’s TDK, Memorex and Imation brands.
RITEK Corporation, the leading manufacturer of optical storage media in the world, will produce the new Blu-ray M-DISC as part of its manufacturing agreement with Millenniata. In addition, RITEK has signed a license agreement with Millenniata to distribute and co-brand both the DVD and Blu-ray M-DISCs through its established distribution and reseller channels as a secondary distribution channel for the M-DISC products behind Imation.
The new Blu-ray M-DISCs will be writable and readable on any Blu-ray combo drive – an enormous step for Millenniata and the convenience of this permanent storage technology. The Blu-ray M-DISCs will also offer at least five times the amount of storage as the standard 4.7GB M-DISC.
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Sony Electronics is unveiling an array of new home audio and video technologies which combine style, features and performance to create the perfect multi-faceted home entertainment experience. From Blu-ray Disc players to Home Theater Systems to accessories for the Internet player powered by Google TV, Sony’s newest devices offer something for everyone: 3D, Wi-Fi, Internet connectivity with access to hundreds of apps, near-field communications and more.
Sony is adding three new models to its acclaimed line of Blu-ray Disc players: the BDP-S1100, BDP-S3100 and BDP-S5100. Each model is Internet-connected and packed with apps, and offers stunning performance when playing back Blu-ray Discs or DVDs thanks to a fully encased optical drive and powerful image processors. The S3100 and S5100 players are also equipped with improved Wi-Fi capability offering a stronger signal and excellent range. In addition to giving consumers more entertainment choices than ever before, the new Blu-ray Disc players also incorporate Sony’s striking new premium design.
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U.S.-based Millenniata and Imation, a global, scalable storage and data security company, announced today a strategic, marketing and co-branding agreement. Imation will co-brand and distribute Millenniata’s DVD M-DISC and the newly developed Blu-ray M-DISC. The M-DISC uses a proprietary process of engraving information into a patented inorganic rock-like layer, resistant to light, temperature and humidity, making it an ideal storage solution for valuable digital data such as photos, videos, music and business records.
According to the agreement, Imation, whose optical portfolio includes the Imation™, Memorex™ and TDK Life on Record™ brands, will co-brand the Blu-ray and DVD M-DISCs, which will then be marketed and distributed through Imation’s worldwide sales channels.
“We are very excited to gain Imation as a global partner. Imation is the world’s leading optical media provider and their strength and expertise is unparalleled in the digital storage market,” said Paul Brockbank, Millenniata president and CEO. “This new partnership will be vital in continuing to promote M-DISC as the only permanent storage solution to a growing consumer base around the world.”
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Panasonic, a major developer and contributor to the success of the Blu-ray format, today introduced an expanded Blu-ray Disc Player lineup with two new Full HD 3D models – the DMP-BDT330, DMP-BDT230, and two 2D Blu-ray Disc Players – the DMP-BD89 and DMP-BD79.
Additionally, Panasonic maintains the successes of FULL HD 3D 2012 models – the DMP-BDT500 and DMP-BBT01. All four of the 3D-capable models include Panasonic's proprietary IPTV platform, VIERA Connect, while the 2D models feature IP VOD, a service that offers a limited, though targeted, selection of such sites as Netflix, HuluPlus, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, CinemaNow and YouTube.
"Panasonic is committed to the best in-home entertainment and this year's Blu-ray Players are at the forefront of design, performance and green technology," said Alex Fried , Product Manager, Panasonic Consumer Marketing Company of North America. "With new features including expanded VIERA Connect applications, seamless web browsing and display mirroring allowing interaction with a tablet or smartphone, Panasonic continues to create products with the needs of today's consumer top-of-mind."
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Rovi Corporation, driving digital entertainment innovation, today announced that the DivX digital rights management (DRM) used with the company’s adaptive streaming format, has been approved by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) for streaming use within the UltraViolet ecosystem. With the DivX DRM becoming part of the UltraViolet technology specification, DivX Plus Streaming® may be easily used by UltraViolet retailers to deliver a consistently high quality over-the-top video streaming experience. DECE is the developer and operator of UltraViolet, which is designed to offer consumers unprecedented freedom and flexibility in how they watch and collect home entertainment.
DivX Plus Streaming brings features historically associated with Blu-ray Discs to the over-the-top entertainment experience. The adaptive streaming solution not only dynamically adjusts streams to help deliver maximum visual quality based on available bandwidth, but also offers an advanced feature set with support for 1080p, subtitles, multiple language tracks, and trick-play functions such as smooth fast forward and rewind.
The addition of DivX DRM to DECE’s list of approved stream protection technologies continues the momentum for DivX Plus Streaming, which has been approved by studios and adopted by a range of companies that are helping fuel over-the-top entertainment distribution, including Broadcom, China Mobile, Dixons, MediaTek, MediaMarkt, and MStar.
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Walmart is making it easier and more enjoyable for movie fans to watch their favorite movies when and where they want. Today at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the retailer announced it is expanding its in-store Disc-to-Digital service to provide customers with digital versions of their previously purchased movies from the comfort of their home. Walmart will also be launching a new Facebook app that will give people access to exclusive movie content and the power to influence and shape what movies are sold in-store and online.
"From Smartphones to Smart TVs, our customers are consuming and sharing content more than ever," said John Aden , executive vice president for general merchandising, Walmart U.S. "We see a great opportunity to provide our customers with accessible and affordable tools to help them bring their movie collections into the digital age. In addition to Disc-to-Digital, Walmart's new Entertainment Facebook app will give movie fans a starring role by serving as place for them to share, interact with and choose the movies they want to see in our stores and online – ultimately enhancing the way people watch and enjoy movies."
Walmart Entertainment's Disc-to-Digital Service, Powered by VUDU
Starting this month, watching DVD and Blu-ray movies from compatible Internet-connected devices will get even easier. Walmart's industry-leading video streaming service, VUDU, will soon have the capability to convert previously purchased DVD/Blu-ray movies to UltraViolet digital copies. UltraViolet is a free, cloud-based digital library that gives users greater flexibility with how and where they watch the movies and TV shows they purchase.
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Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory products, today introduced the Lexar Professional 1100x XQD card and XQD USB 3.0 Reader for professional photographers and videographers and advanced photo and video enthusiasts. Available in capacities of 32GB and 64GB, the Lexar Professional 1100x XQD card adheres to the XQD specification for next-generation DSLR camera models backed by Nikon and Sony. The Lexar Professional XQD card delivers a minimum guaranteed read transfer speed of 1100x (168MB per second), allowing users to quickly capture and store high-quality images, 1080p full-HD and 3D video, and up to 100 frames in RAW format in continuous shooting mode. Smaller and more rugged than other card formats, the Lexar Professional 1100x XQD card provides exceptional resilience to water, temperature, shock, and vibration, making it an excellent choice for shooting in extreme conditions.
The Lexar Professional XQD USB 3.0 Reader is a compact and portable card reader that leverages SuperSpeed USB 3.0 technology to provide high-speed file transfers from an XQD card to computer. Its sleek design with smooth contours allows the reader to easily slip in and out of briefcases and photo bags, and an LED activity light lets users know when data is being transferred.
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SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that the ASUS Transformer Book, the world's first notebook with a detachable tablet, uses the SanDisk U100 Solid State Drive (SSD) in the mSATA mini form factor for its blazing fast storage.
The innovative ASUS Transformer Book offers the features of an ultra-thin notebook and the convenience of one of the thinnest, most powerful tablets currently available on the market running the Windows® 8 operating system. The incredibly responsive and powerful 128GB capacity SanDisk U100 SSD included in the ASUS Transformer Book significantly enhances the computing experience with quick boot-up, rapid application launching and improved data transfer. In its mSATA mini form factor, the SanDisk U100 SSD enables the ASUS Transformer Book's amazingly thin, detachable form factor.
Featuring sensitive touch-capability, the display of ASUS Transformer Book can easily be detached from the machine's base, allowing users to move from a notebook experience to a tablet experience in seconds. This revolutionary design is aided by the compact size of the SanDisk U100 SSD. The small SanDisk U100 SSD is installed in the narrow space behind the display of the ASUS Transformer Book - enabling it to provide high-performance storage to the ASUS Transformer Book whether it is being used as a tablet or a notebook. The SanDisk U100 also works seamlessly with the ASUS Transformer Book's hard-disk drive (HDD), which rests below the keyboard and offers additional storage when the machine is used as a notebook.
