Sony made a number of announcements at E3 this week. Along with a new 80GB PlayStation 3 priced at $399, the company unveiled its new video delivery service. The service will offer standard and high definition videos from studios like Disney, Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros. Once downloaded, the videos can also be transferred from the PS3 to the PSP.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today launches the company’s new video delivery service on PLAYSTATION®Store for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) systems in the United States. Consumers will have the ability to download full-length movies, television shows, and original programming accessible through the PLAYSTATION Store on PLAYSTATION®Network. With nearly 300 full length movies and more than 1,200 TV episodes, many available in both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD), PLAYSTATION Network’s video delivery service makes PS3 the ultimate entertainment platform and enhances PSP’s status as a portable entertainment marvel. PLAYSTATION Network’s video delivery service will become available later this evening.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) will initially make available to consumers content for video rental and electronic sell-through from top movie studios including: 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate Entertainment, MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros. Entertainment as well as titles for rent from The Walt Disney Studios and a wide-ranging menu of popular titles from a variety of television partners.
Consumers who rent a movie from the PLAYSTATION Network’s video delivery service have 14 days to watch the content. Once playback has begun, they have a full 24 hours to watch their rental. Pricing for rental movies ranges from $2.99 to $5.99, and pricing for purchased movies ranges from $9.99 to $14.99. If you'd like to read more, Sony's entire announcement can be found here. Add a comment

Pioneer Japan has announced two new 20x DVD writers, the DVR-A16J (PATA) and DVR-S16J (SATA). Along with support for Labelflash, the two drives feature 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD-RAM and 12x DVD±R DL writing speeds and Pioneer's new Optimal Write Speed function. Here are some of the specs:


Writing Speeds:
DVD+R: 20x, 18x, 16x, 12x, 8x, 6x, 4x, 2.4x
DVD-R: 20x, 18x, 16x, 12x, 8x, 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x
DVD+R DL: 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x, 4x, 2.4x
DVD-R DL: 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x, 4x, 2x
DVD+RW: 8x, 6x, 4x, 3.3x, 2.4x
DVD-RW: 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x
DVD-RAM: 12x, 8x, 6x, 6x, 3x, 2x
CD-R: 40x, 32x, 24x, 16x, 10x, 4x
CD-RW: 32x, 24x, 20x, 16x, 10x, 4x

Read Speeds:
DVD-ROM (Single): 16x Max
DVD-ROM (Dual): 12x Max
DVD±R: 16x Max
DVD±RW: 13x Max
DVD±R DL: 12x Max
DVD-RAM: 12X Max
CD-R/ROM: 40x Max
CD-RW: 32x Max

Buffer: 2MB

The DVR-A16J and DVR-S16J will ship in mid-July and are expected to cost about 10,000 Yen ($95US). More information on both drives is available on Pioneer Japan's website. Add a comment

While Blu-ray won the format war, consumers have been slow to go high-def. One of the biggest reasons is the the high costs associated with the format. Players are still very expensive and Blu-ray titles usually cost $10 or more than the standard DVD release.

Warner is trying to rectify this somewhat through its new Blu-ray Disc promotion. According to Video Business, Warner will be launching a point-of-sale rebate program where retailers will be able to get catalog titles for around $11. With this rebate, consumer pricing is expected to fall somewhere between $17 and $20.
In this program, retailers will buy the titles at their present pricing but obtain rebate money back upon the sale of each unit. That should ultimately amount to a relatively inexpensive $11 cost for retailers.

Additionally, Warner will offer rebates, although less extensive, for newer Blu-ray releases, including 300, The Departed, I Am Legend, Ocean’s 13 and We Are Marshall. This layer of the Blu-ray program also will run from early September to the first quarter, according to store sources.

The consumer price for these titles is likely to fall somewhere between $17 and $20. That would still represent a deal for shoppers, as titles such as 300 are now falling between $24 and $30 at outlets such as Amazon and Best Buy.
This is great news for consumers who are looking to pick up older Blu-ray titles for their library. Hopefully, other studios will follow Warner's lead and offer their own discounts. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Microsoft announced this week at the E3 Media & Business Summit that it has formed a partnership with Netflix that will give Xbox 360 owners the ability to instantly stream movies and TV shows to their television via the console. The service will launch this fall and will be available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers.
An exciting new home theater experience is coming to living rooms this holiday season. At E3, Microsoft and Netflix, the world's largest online movie rental service, today unveiled an exclusive partnership to offer the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to your television via Xbox 360®.

Xbox 360 will be the only game system that lets you instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix. This movie-watching innovation will be available to Xbox LIVE® Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers, and will let those users enjoy streaming movies from Netflix on Xbox LIVE at no additional cost.

A growing library of more than 10,000 movies and TV episodes will be available from Netflix when it launches on Xbox LIVE in late fall, with more choices added over time. Through this agreement, along with the existing Video Store, Xbox 360 will be home to more movies and TV shows on demand than any other device connected to the TV. Xbox LIVE quickly and easily connects you and your friends to the entertainment you want—with no PC required for viewing.
With the recent price cut and this partnership with Netflix, its becoming harder not to buy an Xbox 360. Now if they'd just offer a Blu-ray add-on... If you'd like to read more, Microsoft's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

Futuresource Consulting recently released the results from its new home copying consumer research study. Sponsored by Macrovision, the study asked more than 5,000 people whether or not they made copies of pre-recorded DVDs. According to the results, one-third of the respondents made a copy of a DVD in the last six months. This is up from just over a quarter of respondents in 2007. Here are some of the highlights from the study:


  • Around one third of all respondents in both countries admit to making copies of pre-recorded DVDs in the last 6 months, up from just over a quarter of respondents in 2007.
  • As in 2007 it is 18-24 year old males who are most likely to be copiers.
  • Copiers of DVDs are using both analogue and digital copying methods, with the two being of almost equal importance.
  • In both territories, the most common way of copying is either from a DVD player to a DVD recorder, or using a single PC software application for burning DVD copies.
  • In the last 6 months, the average number of movies copied in the UK was 13 new release and 9 catalogue; in the USA the figures were 7 and 6 respectively.
  • Although the majority of people are copying from their own purchased DVD in both the UK and USA, a significant proportion of people are copying from rented and borrowed titles.
  • The majority of UK and USA respondents would most likely buy these movie titles new at sale or promotional price.
  • From a list of 40 recent blockbuster movie titles supplied to respondents, more than half of all DVD copiers in the USA and more than one third in the UK had successfully made copies of the titles on the list

Keep in mind that this study was sponsored by Macrovision and is being used to show that movie studios are losing revenue due to home copying. Personally, I'm not surprised by the number of people making copies. What does surprise me though is the the number of people making analog copies. It makes you wonder where they found the people in this study. Anyway, if you'd like to read more, the details from the study can be found here. Add a comment

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