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Format War
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blu-ray
Paramount's First Blu-ray Flicks Hit May 20, Will Blow Your Face/Off (Sorta)
Even though Paramount has taken longer to announce their Blu-ray slate than the other former HD DVD lackey, they're getting 'em out the door quicker, surprisingly. The first three BDs (I hate the acronym, but let's go ahead and digest it) from Paramount arrive May 20: Face/Off (yes!), Bee Movie and Next. Then it gets kinda sparse, with intermittent releases through the rest of the summer, though its first simultaneous new release w/ DVD will be The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24. Not the hot roster I was looking for (Woo's opus excepted), but at least the Blu ball for every major studio is finally rolling. Update: We just did one better and got Paramount's press release with the full list (which confirms HR's report), check it out below. More »
hd dvd
HD DVD Fallout: Nukes 95 Percent of Toshiba's Profits
"Toshiba Corp. said its profit plummeted 95 percent in the January-March quarter due to costs of its exit from next-generation video HD DVD business." $12 million profit, down from $251.57 million last year. Ouchies. [AP]
hd dvd
Microsoft: Your Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Is Still Awesome
Game Daily had a chat with Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim about the Xbox 360, and one of the topics that came up was the defunct (but cheap!) HD DVD player, which you might still be tempted to eBay for $1.25. But you shouldn't! Kim effuses sentimentally about why you should hang it onto it, which is odd considering how nonchalantly other Microsoft execs have been brushing it off: More »
blu-ray
First Universal Blu-ray Discs Hit July 22, But Where's The Big Lebowski?
Five months after converting to Blu-ray, former HD DVD diehard Universal will finally release its first Blu discs: The Mummy trio on July 22. The Mummy was already on HD DVD, so they're firing off re-releases from the get-go. All told, Universal plans to drop about 40 discs by the end of the year. Appropriately starting with Doomsday, all new flicks will go out on Blu, with a smattering of older movies like Knocked Up. But no sight of the The Big Lebowski in the release, which is the only Universal flick we really care about. Okay, there are some other cool releases coming up, like Heroes: Season 2, The Incredible Hulk (hopefully not shitty) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. More »
hd dvd
Amazon Handing Out $50 to HD DVD Victims
Following up Best Buy's $50 pledge to HD DVD victims, Amazon is also doling out a $50 credit to anyone who bought Toshiba's folly before Feb. 23, 2008. Naturally, they're encouraging you to use it on a shiny new Blu-ray player, but you could use it to take advantage of their HD DVD fire sale. Unfortunately, they're not doing trade-ins, so this is all you're gonna get. Check out the email below for all the fine print. More »
hd dvd
Wal-Mart Refunding HD DVD Players Bought On or After Nov. 1
Wal-Mart is a little late to the HD DVD pity party, finally deciding to offer tokens to suckers who threw in with the dead format. Until April 30, they'll refund any HD DVD player bought after Nov. 1, as long as you've got the original receipt, though you don't need the original packaging. More »
hd dvd
The HD DVD Promo group was dissolved today, its ashes scattered on the Island of Dead Formats. After a moment of silence, make your way to Best Buy to claim your $50 and trade in your obsolete plastic—or soak up the cheap HD goodness—if you haven't already. [HD DVD Promo Group, Thanks Mack!]
HD DVD Officially No Longer Exists
The HD DVD Promo group was dissolved today, its ashes scattered on the Island of Dead Formats. After a moment of silence, make your way to Best Buy to claim your $50 and trade in your obsolete plastic—or soak up the cheap HD goodness—if you haven't already. [HD DVD Promo Group, Thanks Mack!]
dealzmodo
Dell Marks End of Format War with $880 Blu-ray-Equipped Inspiron 1525
Dell is commemorating Blu-ray's victory by offering a Blu-ray playback (not read-write) drive in its cheap, many colored, 15.4" laptop, the Inspiron 1525, and for a decent price. Starting at $880, you can watch BD movies on its screen (at 720p resolution) or send the video to HDTVs via HDMI. In case you're wondering how decent playback would be on a PC with integrated graphics, Dell mentions that it's using a built-in Broadcom Media PC accelerator located in a mini-card slot. See details after the jump. More »
ps3
As expected, the PS3 will become fully Blu-ray 2.0, or BD-Live, compatible with its next major software update, slated for "late March." The functionality will give upcoming movies the ability to go online for downloads—games, ringtones and bonus audio and video. No other Blu-ray player on the market has this capability, and only a few due out this year will, so PS3 is still your best bet, Blu-ray-wise.
More »
Coming Blu-ray 2.0 Update Makes PS3 Best Player Ever
As expected, the PS3 will become fully Blu-ray 2.0, or BD-Live, compatible with its next major software update, slated for "late March." The functionality will give upcoming movies the ability to go online for downloads—games, ringtones and bonus audio and video. No other Blu-ray player on the market has this capability, and only a few due out this year will, so PS3 is still your best bet, Blu-ray-wise.
More »
format war
Best Buy Pledges $50 For Each HD DVD Buyer; Trade-Ins, Too
Apparently, the cost of Best Buy declaring Blu-ray the winner is $10 million—at least, that's how much it plans to give away when it issues a $50 gift card to everyone who bought an HD DVD player or HD DVD Xbox drive before February 23. (So, BB sold at least 200,000 HD DVD players in 2006 and 2007?) And it's not even something you have to fight for: If you are in the Reward Zone program, bought it with a Performance Service Plan or just made the transaction on BestBuy.com, the company will send you a card by May 1. If you paid cash at a store, though, you'll have to dig out that receipt. The company, like its competitor Circuit City, is also offering trade-ins for players and discs, regardless of where you bought them, through BB's online trade-in center. Make the jump for extra details.More »
format war
Batman Begins First HD DVD Movie Rereleased as Blu-ray?
Batman Begins will be released in Blu-ray July 8th, making it the first (or one of the first) movies we can recall being rereleased from HD DVD to the not dead format. The disc'll come in a standard and special edition format that includes storyboards, a comic book and $7.50 in movie credit towards Dark Knight, which hits theaters on July 11th. To Warner: Good job picking a movie to flip. [Home Media Magazine via High Def Digest]
format war
Don't Miss the Format War's Bloody Aftermath
We popped this feature last night, but wanted to remind you so you didn't miss some key explanations:• Why there won't be a $199 Blu-ray player this year
• Why BD-Live online won't take off quickly
• Why Paramount and Universal's biggest blockbusters will suffer most this year due to the studios' HD DVD alliance
For that and more, read: Whole Blu World: The Format War's Bloody Aftermath
blu-ray
The format war. It's over. Done. Break out the blue victory hats and Curaçao, right? Wrong. There won't be a Blu-ray victory party. Don't take my word for it? How about Sony Electronics CEO Stan Glasgow's? "From our perspective, the battle really begins now." Now that HD DVD is dispatched, the members of Team Blu-ray can start fighting standard-def DVDs, digital downloads, consumer apathy, the Chinese and—of course—each other. Here's the current state of Blu-ray, post-war edition:
More »
Whole Blu World: The Format War's Bloody Aftermath
The format war. It's over. Done. Break out the blue victory hats and Curaçao, right? Wrong. There won't be a Blu-ray victory party. Don't take my word for it? How about Sony Electronics CEO Stan Glasgow's? "From our perspective, the battle really begins now." Now that HD DVD is dispatched, the members of Team Blu-ray can start fighting standard-def DVDs, digital downloads, consumer apathy, the Chinese and—of course—each other. Here's the current state of Blu-ray, post-war edition:
More »
rumor smashed
Xbox Blu-ray Drive Rumors Finally Fatally Smashed
Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, told Reuters that Microsoft isn't exploring any kind of Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360.Microsoft, which has stopped making an HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, would continue to invest in its Xbox Live online service that already lets users rent hundreds of movies, including ones in high-definition.And even though I don't believe the studios will go whole-hog into HD downloads very soon, our studies show that if anyone can pull together a decent library of so-called HD content, it's Team Xbox. [Reuters]
format war
Toshiba Takes $1 Billion Hit on HD DVD (Still Turns a Profit)
The Nikkei business daily is reporting that Toshiba will take a $986 million hit this year for its ill-fought HD DVD campaign, though somehow the manufacturing supergiant will manage to post a roughly $2.5 billion profit nonetheless, down from a projected $2.9 billion or so. The estimated cost of HD DVD for the company this year was supposed to be closer to half a billion, but the halt in production means costly line changes and "other charges." Toshiba itself isn't saying a word yet, but damn if there ain't truth to this. [Reuters; Bill Image Source]
samsung
Samsung Killing Second-Gen BP-U5500 Dual Format Player Before It Sees the Light of Day
Samsung just cancelled their $599 second-gen dual format Blu-ray/HD DVD player, the BP-U5500, which was due out soonish. Looks like LG gets the dual player market for HD DVD flotsam all to its self. We bet they're thrilled. [PC World]
nuclear
