One of the benefits touted by HD DVD supporters had been the capability of the format to support both HD DVD and DVD content on a single side. Though, with only two layers, this meant a HD DVD15/DVD5 was the result – providing limited capacity on both formats. I repeatedly pointed out that the Blu-ray camp had the capability for the same kind of single-sided hybrid disc, and they had been demonstrated by JVC but not commercialized. Since Blu-ray, unlike HD DVD, uses a different layer depth than DVD it is theoretically possible to have higher capacities – in theory a BD50/DVD9 is possible. JVC demonstated a BD25/DVD9, which provides enough capacity on both formats for a lot of content. However, producing the hybrid discs is more complex and costly, and I didn’t really expect to see them move beyond the lab curiosity phase. What we’ve seen to date are some vendors simply packing a standard DVD in with the BD release to support both formats.

Well, color me surprised. On February 18, 2009 Pony Canyon will release the first BD/DVD hybrid discs, in Japan. It is a box set of the TV series Code Blue. It is a multi-disc set, with the discs being hybrid BD25/DVD9 – a single Blu-ray layer ‘over’ two DVD layers. So it is like having a standard dual-layer DVD and a single-layer Blu-ray disc on one physical disc. The DVD’s red laser sees through the BD layer to see the DVD data, while the Blu-ray’s blue laser reflects from the BD layer and never sees the DVD ‘below’.

The discs are produced by Infiniti Storage Media Ltd. and they’re very similar to the hybrid discs demonstrated by JVC back in 2004. Infiniti is also apparently working on a BD50/DVD5 (2-BD layers, 1-DVD layer) standard with the BDA. A BD50/DVD9 isn’t mentioned, though I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the next step, JVC was talking about that in 2004.

It’ll be interesting to see if this catches on or is just a bit of a gimmick. If it is successful we might see more titles using hybrid discs, which would eliminate the BD vs. DVD purchasing decision. Though I’m not sure it will catch on, since they are more complex to make than BD or DVD alone. Still, as a geek I love the elegance of the solution so I kind of hope it will.

Spotted via Blu-ray Stats News Log, which took me to Electonista, and thence to Impress AV Watch. Images from Impress.

Through January 4th, 2009 Amazon is running a post-holiday Blu-ray sale. 200 titles, up to 65% off MSRP. There are a wide variety of titles and discounts available – there are 71 titles for between $10 and $14.99 alone.

UPDATE: Blu-ray Stats found another Post Christmas Blu-ray Sale with up to 60% off 20 Warner titles.

We first heard of XStreamHD in November of 2007. They’re working on a system to use satellites to delivery Full HD (1080p) video into homes with 7.1 sound (DTS-HD MA) in ‘Blu-ray quality’. More details appeared in December, and then in January to coincide with CES. I managed to visit their booth at CES 2008 and take some photos and gather more info. They popped up on the radar again briefly in October.

Well, it looks like they’re still out there working away, and they’ll be at CES 2009 next month. As will I, so I’ll try to check out their booth again. They issued a press release to announce a successful test of their transport system using the AMC-16 satellite. This confirms that their technology works using existing FSS (Fixed Satellite Services) capacity, which is part of their plan. They’ll use leased capacity on existing FSS satellites to distribute their content to end users.

Their technology and plans are interesting, but it remains to be seen if a new entrant can carve out a piece of the market. The last to try, Voom, didn’t succeed.

Read the rest of this entry »

Amazon VOD is running some specials for your movie downloading pleasure over the holidays. First up there are four rentals available for just $0.99: Fred Claus, Love Actually, Night at the Museum, and Space Chimps. Also, Tropic Thunder is only $2.99.

They also have 64 movies on sale, to own not rent, for just $5.99. You can probably find something in that assortment that you’d like to own.

Another new selection has popped up on TiVoCast, Ocean Force, the second offering from truTV.

It’s real hard-driving action direct from some of the world’s most beautiful, and sometimes most dangerous, beaches. Handling everything from drunken brawls to dangerous open water rescues, see why life’s a beach for the lifeguards who never stop working to make playtime safe.

Subscribe online or on your TiVo via TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> Ocean Force (also truTV -> Ocean Force)

And I found something else which may indicate a new channel soon to land. Over at The Real News Network this page states:

We also have a contract with TiVo that puts The Real News channel in one million households across the USA.

I don’t recognize The Real News channel as one of the existing TiVoCast channels, and that sure sounds like TiVoCast to me. So this may be a channel soon to land on TiVo.

I can’t believe an entire week passed since my last post, well, until the wave of posts I just made. After being offline for three days I was behind on everything, just as things got very busy with work. I’m running three beta programs for Sling, two of which end today (announcement pending) and the third is the BlackBerry beta – which you may have seen that we’re going to public beta on 12/30. It has been one thing after another and the next thing I knew a week had passed…

And during that week TiVo has added a bunch of content to TiVoCast. Let’s dive right in.

Beauty TV describes themselves as:

Welcome to Beauty TV®, the world’s only 24/7 Beauty TV Network and soon a daily syndicated TV show. In order to launch The Beauty TV Network (BTVN), the company has assembled a team with former professionals from the beauty, technology & film industry, Sony, “E!” and EXTRA.

Subscribe online or on your TiVo via TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> Beauty TV

Beyond the Trailer is from Indy Mogul, which has had its own TiVoCast channel since August, 2007. BTT’s blurb is:

First impressions are important – but they can also be deceiving! Nobody sells quite like Hollywood. That’s why it’s important to go “Beyond The Trailer”! Host Grace Randolph covers industry expectations, behind the scenes gossip, and audience reactions so you get the ultimate profile on the latest movies.

Subscribe online or on your TiVo via TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> Beyond the Trailer

KoldCast also joined the lineup, after the news broke earlier this month. KoldCast describes themselves, in part, thusly:

KoldCast is seriously selective about entertainment programming. While YouTube-style videos are often entertaining, and you’ll see some of the very best here, we are confident that you’ll also enjoy watching the very best shows, movies, extreme sports, comedy, music, and no-BS news, all produced at the next level.

KoldCast adds a number of channels to TiVoCast. KoldCast Action Sports currently has one channel. TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> KoldCast Action Sports

KoldCast Comedy has four sub-channels: duder, The In-Betweens of Holly Malone, Poor Paul, and The Sexually. Oddly, the entire KoldCast Comedy lineup seems to be missing from the TiVoCast web page, so you’ll have to sign up on the TiVo: TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> KoldCast Comedy

KoldCast Music currently has two sub-channels, Let It Be Heard and Gemini Rising. TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> KoldCast Music

KoldCast SciFi and Horror also has two sub-channels, TV Face and After Judgment. TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> KoldCast SciFi and Horror (BTW, TiVo has misspelled it as ‘After Judgement’ both online and on the TiVo interface.)

MommyCast is a departure from the above:

MommyCast.com is a unique online audio company by and for women immersed in the fullness of motherhood and life, “holding the world together, one child at a time.”©
MommyCast.com is first and foremost about moms and motherhood, and our shows offer great interviews with thought leaders on the subjects of:
• community
• health issues
• new products for the home
• travel
• food and nutrition
• technology and new music: MommyCast Music Show
• education
• helpful hints, shortcuts and diversions.

So very much not for me. I’m a single guy who doesn’t want kids, and isn’t a big fan of them in general in anything by small doses. But I have friends with kids and TiVo who may be interested.

Subscribe online or on your TiVo via TiVo Central -> Video on Demand -> Browse free videos -> All -> MommyCast

And that’s what has been added this week. Looking back at last week’s post I’ve watched the four available episodes of jPod -and I quite like it. I’m looking forward to more downloads. I looked it up, looks like it is a failed TV series out of Canada with 13 episodes total.

truTV is still limited to just REHAB for content, I wonder when we’ll start to see more content as promised.

I noticed the aspect ratio on some of the podcasts this week seemed to be improved, but I’m still seeing too much 16:9 content squished into 4:3 encodes. Like I said last week, I know full-screen 16:9 encodes are possible, some podcasts do it right, so let’s see more of it. All of the Revision3 shows are 16:9 and nicely encoded – but they’re completely windowboxed, full-screen would be nice.

Also, it looks like 3 Minute Ad Age was glitching again. For most of the week I got two of every episode, but at the end of the week it seemed to correct itself. Hopefully that will stick.

Amazon has a couple of decent smartphones for the AT&T network at significant discounts when purchased with a new two-year service plan.

The AT&T Fuze, which is their branding for the HTC Touch Pro, carries an MSRP of $499.99, but Amazon is selling it for $174.99 plus a $25 rebate, making it $149.99. The Fuze is a Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 smartphone with a 2.8″ 640×480 (VGA) display, full keyboard, 3G, WiFi, GPS, 3.2MP camera, and more.

The AT&T Tilt, aka the HTC TyTN II, launched with an MSRP of $599.99, but Amazon is selling it for just $0.01, and it has a $50 rebate – making it -$49.99. That’s right, you make $49.99 when you buy this phone, with a new service plan of course. The Tilt is a Windows Mobile 6 smartphone with a 2.8″ 320×240 (QVGA) display, full keyboard, 3G, WiFi, GPS, 3MP camera, and more.

And since I work for Sling Media I just have to say it – both of these phones make great platforms for SlingPlayer Mobile.

Through December 29th Amazon is running a special promotion. Buy any one of seven approved Samsung HDTV models and a TiVo HD, and receive an instant $150 off on the TiVo HD when you checkout. That’s $150 off Amazon’s price of $233.18, making the TiVo HD just $83.18! The Samsung HDTVs range from 40″ to 52″ and $936.72 to $2,249.98, all 1080p LCDs. That’s not all, if you purchase a TiVo HD from Amazon through January 15, 2009 you also receive two free movie rentals from Amazon Video On Demand.

If you need to get someone a last minute gift and you’re not sure what to get, consider Amazon gift cards. There are two instant delivery options available, so you can really shop last minute – email a digital gift card right to the recipient or print a physical gift card on your home printer to give to them.

As you might expect, I do just about all of my holiday shopping online. Better prices, better selection, no parking hassles, and no crowds. About the only thing I venture out to buy in person are the cards, I still like giving real cards (e-cards aren’t my thing) and I like browsing the selection to find the right one for each person. I’m a pretty heavy Amazon user.

Sorry I’m a little late in posting this one, I missed it when it came in. Buy Nero 9 for $79.99 and get Nero BackItUp 4 and Nero Move it free! That’s a $110 savings off MSRP. Offer good through December 28, 2008.