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CES: All Quiet on the Universal Front

Wed Jan 09, 2008 at 01:12 PM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Universal (all tags)

Amidst mounting speculation that it is soon to shift alliances, Universal Studios has confirmed that it will not be making any new HD DVD title announcements at this year's CES.

Though previous years have seen a cavalcade of title announcements from HD DVD-supporting studios at CES, this year's deafening silence from Universal and Paramount/DreamWorks has only fueled speculation that one (or both) of the studios are plotting a move to format neutrality or perhaps even Blu-ray exclusivity.

While Universal is issuing a terse "no comment" in response to the persistent rumors, a studio spokesperson did confirm for us that they will not be making any new title announcements at this year's CES.

Paramount similarly declined to make any new title announcements at CES, but as we first reported Monday, the studio is shooting down reports that it plans to abandon the format

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Paramount/DreamWorks: "Still Supporting HD DVD" (Jan 07, 2008)

BDA: 10 Million Blu-ray Players In 2008

Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 01:50 PM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Industry Forecasts (all tags)

The Blu-ray camp says that by this time next year, the format's installed base could be nearly three times its current size.

That was the headline out of last night's Blu-ray Disc Association press conference at CES.

Still riding high on Warner's announcement last Friday that it would exclusively back Blu-ray, format backers told a packed room of tech reporters that roughly 3.5 million Blu-ray players have now been sold through to consumers, including three million PlayStation 3 consoles and 500,000 standalone Blu-ray players.

The group says things are looking even more rosy for 2008, with research showing that by year's end the format's installed base will have swelled to ten million, with software sales topping the one billion dollar mark.

"It should be a year of very strong, explosive growth," said Danny Kaye, executive vice president of research for 20th Century Fox, who stated that the Blu-ray Disc business should start to see dramatic gains sometime in the middle of this year.

Though format backers stopped short of declaring immediate victory over rival format HD DVD, they said their marketing message would now shift away from the format war and instead focus on convincing mainstream consumers to make the leap to high-def disc.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Blu-ray software could hit $1 bil in '08 [Hollywood Reporter]

CES: Marantz BD8002 Blu-ray Player Due This Spring

Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Marantz (all tags)

This isn't the first time we've seen this "ultimate-quality" Blu-ray player from Marantz, but the pricey deck has a new release date.

First unveiled at CEDIA last summer, Marantz says its $2,099.99 player (yes, you read that right) is now due to hit stores in the second quarter of this year.

So what do you get in a $2,100 Blu-ray player? According to a company press release, the Profile 1.1 player features full 1080p output and decoding for all current high-resolution audio formats, including Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and uncompressed PCM, outputting both 7.1-channel analog signals and PCM audio via HDMI.

An apparent re-badge of Denon's DVD-3800BDCI Blu-ray Player, the deck is also slated to include the Realta HQV video processor, which allows for advanced video clean-up of even the best high-def signals

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Related links:
Marantz to Debut New BD8002 Blu-ray Player at CES [Press Release]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Denon Announces Flagship DVD-3800BDCI Blu-ray Player (Jul 24, 2007)

CES: Fox Touts BD-Live, Previews 'Alien vs. Predator: Requiem' Blu-ray

Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 06:22 PM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Fox (all tags)

With an eye toward merging the Blu-ray format's BD-Live capabilities with social networking, Fox touted the message "The Future is Blu, the Future is BD-Live" today at CES 2008.

Taking part in a Blu-ray interactivity conference held earlier today, Fox showcased a number of BD-Live features it plans to bring to Blu-ray in 2008, as well as hinting that the company's ownership of MySpace may play a part in expanding the networking possibilities of the format.

Fox VP Danny Kaye took the stage to show off various BD-Live-based interactive features the studio is currently developing, including the ability for users to store and retrieve information online via MySpace.

Kaye then showed how a user could download a picture from a site like MySpace, and "insert" it into a Blu-ray disc.

The exec also demonstrated the forthcoming "Alien vs. Predator vs. You" BD-Live interactive game, which can be played by multiple players across a network, and is set to be included in the forthcoming 2008 Blu-ray release of 'Alien vs. Predator: Requiem' (street date TBA).

"The whole idea is to extend the movie experience from two hours, to ten more hours of fun," said Kaye.

Fox was joined in the interactivity conference by Sony, which pushed its own BD-Live plans for 2008.

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Earlier on High-Def Digest:
CES: Sony Highlights Blu-ray BD-Live Interactivity (Jan 07, 2008)

Paramount/DreamWorks: "Still Supporting HD DVD" [UPDATED]

Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 04:33 PM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Paramount, DreamWorks (all tags)

UPDATE: We have received word from Paramount/DreamWorks that although they continue to support HD DVD, they will not be making any new high-def title announcements at CES 2008.

Paramount/DreamWorks responded to Warner's shift to Blu-ray exclusivity today, saying that the studios have no plans to abandon the HD DVD format.

Following Warner's shocking defection to Blu-ray last Friday, and the subsequent cancellation by the HD DVD Promotions Group of its planned CES media event Sunday night, speculation has run rampant regarding Paramount's next move, as well as the fate of any HD DVD title announcements they had originally planned for CES.

High-Def Digest contacted Paramount for comment, and we were told by a spokesperson that despite the events of the past few days, "we are still supporting HD DVD," and that neither Paramount nor DreamWorks had any further statements on the matter at this time.

As for any Paramount HD DVD title announcements originally planned for CES, at press time any such plans were "up in the air." Needless to say, we'll keep you posted.

Watch this space for continuing coverage....

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Earlier on High-Def Digest:
HD DVD Promo Group Cancels CES Press Conference
Warner Goes Blu

CES: Sony Highlights Blu-ray BD-Live Interactivity

Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 03:22 PM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Exclusive HD Content, Disc Announcements, Sony (all tags)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment today kicked off its CES assault by highlighting a slew of planned BD-Live interactive features coming to Blu-ray in 2008.

During a Blu-ray interactivity demo currently underway on the show floor, Sony has unveiled a series of interactive features that will mark the studio's full-fledged support of the format's BD-Live networking capabilities.

Among the features previewed is one that would allow viewers to send ringtones to their mobile phone, including content directly from the movie itself (such as an audio excerpt or line of dialogue).

The studio said it is also planning select Blu-ray titles that would included a version of the film encoded for its PSP handheld gaming device, making for portable movies, though it stopped short of naming specific titles or street dates.

Also highlighted was Sony's first BD-Live interactive game to be playable across a network, a trivia challenge from the upcoming 2008 release of 'Men in Black' (release date TBA). The studio also previewed extras from its upcoming Blu-ray release of 1998's 'Godzilla,' which will include the participation of filmmaker Dean Devlin, who attended the demo as a guest.

Finally, Sony says it also plans in 2008 to make additional exclusive content available on select future Blu-ray titles via BD-Live.

We'll continue to keep you posted of further Sony announcements as CES continues...

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CES: Funai's Sub-$300 Blu-ray Player

Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 11:00 AM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Funai (all tags)

Funai has announced that it will unleash its first Blu-ray player for the North American market sometime this spring.

The discount manufacturer (which is a leading supplier to Wal-Mart) distributes products under its own name as well the brand names of Sylvania, Symphonic and Emerson.

Specs for the company's NB500 series Blu-ray player were still sketchy at press time, but a company press release promises 1080p output via HDMI 1.3, Profile 1.1 support and 5.1 Dolby Digital.

Funai says it will begin production in the first quarter of 2008, and plans to begin selling the player at retail stores during the second quarter. The retail price is projected to be under $300.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Funai to Introduce Blu-ray Disc Player to North American Market [Press Release]

CES: HD DVD Press Release Recaps "Breakthrough Year"

Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: CES 2008 (all tags)

A new CES-themed press release from the HD DVD Promotional Group offers a glimpse of what we might have seen had the group gone ahead with its Sunday press conference.

The just-issued press release recaps a "breakthrough year" for HD DVD, reporting almost one million dedicated HD DVD players sold through to consumers, and software sales for the format that grew at nearly twice the rate of Blu-ray during the five week holiday selling period.

"Our focus from day one has been to deliver the highest quality hardware and the best, most immersive home entertainment experiences for consumers at affordable prices," explained Jodi Sally, vice president of marketing, Toshiba's Digital A/V Group. "With nearly one million dedicated players in the market in North America, and a leading position in the PC market worldwide, we're seeing software growth follow suit."

According to the group, there are now more than 400 HD DVD titles available in the US and more than 1,000 titles available worldwide.

As we've previously reported, the HD DVD Promotional Group scrapped its planned CES press conference following Warner's announcement late Friday that it planned to drop its HD DVD support in favor of rival format Blu-ray.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
HD DVD Rallies Consumer Audience in 2007 [Press Release]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
HD DVD Promo Group Cancels CES Press Conference (Jan 04, 2008)

CES: Sharp Unveils Second-Gen Blu-ray Player

Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 07:54 PM ET
Tags: CES 2008, Sharp (all tags)

Emphasizing its commitment to the Blu-ray format , Sharp today announced its second-gen Blu-ray player, the BD-HP50U.

According to the company, the new player will be Profile 1.1 compliant and it may even support BD-Live (the fact that Sharp's press release seems to suggest that "Profile 1.1" and "BD Live" are synonymous doesn't inspire a lot of confidence on that last point).

We do know that the player will support both Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD via 7.1 channel HDMI digital output, and that it will boast Sharp’s proprietary Quick Start feature, which takes viewers from disc loading to viewing in less than 10 seconds.

Sharp says its BD-HP50U player will hit stores in May at an MSRP of $699.99.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Sharp Announces BD-HP50U Blu-ray Player [Press Release]

CES: Philips Intros $349 Blu-ray Player

Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 06:57 PM ET
Tags: Philips, CES 2008 (all tags)

Philips has announced its latest Blu-ray player, the BDP7200, which it says will retail for the value price of $349.

The first Profile 1.1 compliant player from Philips, the deck boasts full 1080p/24 and Deep Color support, and the ability to control connected devices using the EasyLink HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) protocols.

Although the company's press release makes no mention of audio codec support, the eagle-eyed folks over at Engadget snapped this pic from behind the demo unit, which would seem to indicate a lack of 7.1 audio support through analog.

Philips says the BDP7200 will hit store shelves this April.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Related links:
Philips expands high-definition home entertainment with new Blu-ray Disc player [Press Release]
Hands-on with the Philips BDP-7200 Blu-ray player [Engadget]


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