Just last night (or this morning) I posted about word that DTS-HD MA (and the lesser DTS-HD HR) support would be coming to the PlayStation3 in a future release. Well, now comes word that that ‘future release’ will be the next release, 2.30. DTS themselves has confirmed the inclusion of DTS-HD MA in the next PS3 firmware update, to be available April 15, 2008. Again, it is almost certainly going to be internally decoded and output as PCM – no bitstreaming.

The 2.30 update will also include a major overhaul to the PlayStation Store, and it looks a lot better. Joystiq has images of the new store, and PlayStation.Blog has a walk-through video and also confirms the inclusion of DTS-HD MA and DTS-HD HR. Hey, Ben Drawbaugh, would you recommend the PS3 for Blu-ray now?

Picked up from EngadgetHD.

AV Watch managed to sit down with the PlayStation3 firmware developers and came away with some interesting information. Two of the features that are in the works are 1080 deinterlacing and DTS-HD MA support on Blu-ray. DTS-HD MA is the only BD audio codec not currently supported by the PS3, so support for it would make the PS3 the most comprehensive Blu-ray player available. Now, due to the HDMI hardware limitations it will almost certainly be handled like Dolby TrueHD, internally decoded and output as PCM. There are a number of other details about the current and future software, the Beyond3D Forums and PS3 Fanboy both have summaries (in English).

Picked up from EngadgetHD.

PlayTeeVee has posted a video to YouTube which previews the free games they make available to TiVo owners:

Picked up from TiVo Blog.

Well, that was fast. Less than a week ago Sony announced that the PlayStation3’s 2.20 firmware would include BD-Live support, amongst other things, and it is now available. So gentlemen, and ladies, start your upgrades!

Via EngadgetHD.

This issue of Home Media Magazine has an article, ‘Battle of the Boxes‘, which compares the four main options for watching broadband downloaded video on your TV: TiVo, Apple TV, VUDU, and Xbox 360. Overall the article is kind of down on the download services in general:

“Not a consumer interviewed wants to buy another set-top box,” said Richard Doherty, research director for research firm The Envisioneering Group.

I certainly can’t argue with that, I’m loathe to add another STB to my stack. And I’ve said so repeatedly. I think that gives TiVo and the Xbox 360 an edge – people buy them for other functions (DVR & gaming, respectively), and the downloads are kind of a bonus. And when it comes to HD, I have to agree with this as well:

Richard Bullwinkle, chief evangelist for Macrovision, predicts a layering effect. Macrovision has looked at TiVo, Xbox 360, Vudu and Apple TV.

“The best experience on a large TV is Blu-ray,” he said. “None of the download boxes gives you the same experience.”

But I thought what they said about TiVo in particular was unfair.

But download times are long, nothing is available in high-def, and the 24-hour rental period once the movie has started can be problematic.

The download times are roughly comparable to other services – but it, of course, will vary a lot. The TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD have had progressive download since 9.2 – which means they can start playback once enough of a buffer has built up, with no need to wait until it is all downloaded. I’d expect the Series2 to get the same in the next update. (They’re still on 9.1.) And the article makes the 24-hour window sound like a problem unique to TiVo when it is common to all of the download rental services. They don’t mention it when talking about the three other products, so readers who don’t know what will think this is a TiVo limitation. But there is more:

However, Bullwinkle said, TiVo offers the worst quality of any of the movie downloading options he’s tried, and the number of TiVo owners who download movies is small.

Ouch. That especially stings given who it is coming from. Why? For those who don’t know, once upon a time Richard Bullwinkle was known online as TiVolutionary. He was one of the early TiVo employees and their primary online evangelist on forums like TiVoCommunity.com. Back in May of 2002 he left TiVo and went to work for ReplayTV. And now he’s with Macrovision.

The quality issue is largely subjective, so I’ll leave that as may be, but how does he know how many users download movies? I don’t believe TiVo or Amazon release those numbers. Did they do an independent survey of TiVo owners? Where is the data to back up the claim?

But TiVo isn’t the only one to get a little heat in the article. All four products get what I consider to be fairly poor reviews, highlighting their shortcomings. But read the article for yourself.

TiVo also got another mention in this issue, with a small article on the roll-out of TiVo Desktop 2.6. (And I apologize for not having my review of said up yet, the behind-the-scenes work on the renaming took a lot more time than I expected.)

Buy.com is running a few Blu-ray specials. The first has 40 Blu-ray titles starting at $15. The second has 21 Blu-ray titles starting at $17.50. They’re also having a sale on the PS3 Blu-ray remote, and other accessories.

Microsoft announced, via their Gamerscore Blog, that the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive is being discontinued:

As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market.

See their post for the full announcement. This isn’t surprising, of course, as everyone is pulling out of the format at this point. But it clears up the uncertainty over timing, as well as laying to rest the rumors about pricing changes, etc, with continued sales. At this point the drives will probably end up on clearance soon. If you have an HD DVD collection the Xbox 360 drive could be a good buy as an insurance policy against future player failures. Even if you don’t have an Xbox 360, the add-on drive also works as a PC USB drive.

Via Engadget.

Real-world advertisements have begun to appear in virtual environments, like video games. And it looks like Sling Media is one of the companies out in front, running ads within Burnout Paradise. Dave Zatz, of Zatz Not Funny and Sling Media, posted a picture of one of the ads, as well as a video:

Dave Zatz spotted another PS3 deal from Sony. This time around you get $100 back if you apply for a new Sony Card and purchase a PS3 at any authorized retailer. Actually, if you read the fine print it looks like you don’t necessarily have to purchase a PS3 – though Sony would clearly like you to. It looks like the $100 card credit applies to your first single purchase with a total of $299 or higher, even though the promo material repeatedly stresses the PS3.

Your first single sales receipt purchase equal to or greater than $299 (”Qualifying Purchase”) will automatically qualify you for a $100 card credit and will be posted to your Sony Card statement within 8-12 weeks from Qualifying Purchase.

They’re also offering 12 months of no interest financing on all purchases over $299 made within the first 45 days the account is open. Be sure to read all the offer details and fine print if you’re interested.

I’ve seen this in so many places I can’t even remember where I spotted it first yesterday. It seems Toshiba isn’t the only brand-name trying the deep-discount approach to move HD DVD products. Microsoft just slashed the MSRP on their Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive from $179.99 to $129.99. And it comes with the HD DVD of King Kong, and the (now pretty much standard) mail-in offer for five free movies. Amazon has it for $119.99.