Through 10/20, several retailers are running a sale on select Disney Blu-ray titles – buy one, get one free!
Amazon has a special page
You should also be able to get this in physical Best Buy and Circuit City stores. But act now, it seems the sale ends Saturday, October 20.
From High-Def Digest via EngadgetHD.
Panasonic will be releasing a 4x Blu-ray burner, which will compete with a recently announced Sony 4x burner. It will burn single-layer 25GB and dual-layer 50GB BD-R at 4x, BD-RE at 2x, DVD±R at 16x, DVD±R DL at 8x, DVD-RW at 6x, CD-R at 40x, and CD-RW at 24x – comparable to the Sony. The Panasonic LF-PB271JD comes out in Japan on November 10th for Â¥55,000 (roughly $468), a good bit less than the Sony drive.
Meijer, a regional retailer with 180 stores in IL, IN, MI, OH, and KY, has decided to drop HD DVD from the Meijer.com website. They were seeing Blu-ray outsell HD DVD 4 to 1, and so decided to drop HD DVD and instead to expand their Blu-ray Disc offerings. They now offer 300 titles, nearly all of the Blu-ray titles released to date.
Speaking of BD titles, while Warner Bros. has officially supported both HD DVD and Blu-ray, are release most HD titles on both formats, there have been some high-profile titles released only on HD DVD – such as Terminator 3 and The Matrix Trilogy. These titles took advantage of HD DVD’s HDi interactive features and support for PIP-style bonus features and commentary. Now with Blu-ray players supporting Profile 1.1 hitting shelves soon (all new players released after October 31 must support 1.1), it looks like Warner is going to play catch-up. The first catch-up title has been announced – Terminator 3. T3 will be hitting Blu-ray on December 4th, with all of the high-def bonus features found on the HD DVD release (from September 2006) intact.
And finally, the Blu-ray Disc Association, the consortium which controls the BD specifications, has overhauled their website. They’ve added a lot of consumer oriented information to help educate consumers who come looking for answers to their BD questions. It is a lot more consumer-friendly than the old site, which was aimed more at industry.
The collection of standards formerly known as the OpenCable Application Platform, or OCAP, and now known simply as the OpenCable Platform, has long been at the center of a war between the cable industry and the consumer electronics industry. And while that war still rages on, cable STB manufacturers have started to produce OCAP (yes, I’m going to keep using that) set top boxes. Time Warner Cable has already deployed 150,000 OCAP STBs, from Samsung and Scientific Atlanta. Motorola’s 3400/6400 boxes support a ‘precursor to OCAP’, which is the platform for TiVo’s cable software, and will be upgraded to full OCAP t some point.
By the end of 2008, Time Warner Cable expects to have deployed OpenCable technology in all its divisions, as do Comcast, Cox Communications, Cablevision Systems and Bright House Networks. That group of operators represents 91 million households in 145 designated market areas, according to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
Leddy described Time Warner Cable’s OpenCable deployments at a roundtable discussion for reporters hosted by the NCTA to provide operators’ perspective on the two-way cable issue.
The spread of OCAP compliant STBs is a good thing for TiVo – each OCAP compliant box is a potential host for the software TiVo has developed for Comcast and Cox. OCAP provides a common programming platform, so the actual hardware brand shouldn’t matter.
Picked up through EngadgetHD.
Seven Network, who will be bringing a TiVo HD-based DVR to Australia in early 2008, has ‘blitzed’ the competition by launching the high-definition ’7HD’ network six weeks ahead of the previously announced December date.
“This is the first salvo from the Seven Network of a much wider competition against all other channels plus Foxtel,” Mr Mitchell told BusinessDaily.
“We’ll see much more aggressive programming, a fight for more audience share and greater advertising revenue.”
Seven is getting aggressive, this is just the start of a push which will include deploying TiVo in the run-up tothe 2008 Olympics – which Seven has the broadcast rights to down under.
Via EngadgetHD.
The migration to digital television is clearly in full swing now. Best Buy has stopped selling analog televisions. Best Buy is the largest retailer of consumer electronics in the US, so it is significant when they drop an entire category of product. Best Buy will also be participating in the NTIA DTV Converter Box Coupon Program, with eligible converted boxes in stores in early 2008.
“We are committed to helping people understand the digital television transition, and exiting the analog video business is one way we can help avoid confusion,†said Mike Vitelli, senior vice president of electronics for Best Buy. “Customers can now be sure that any television they purchase at Best Buy will be fully compliant with the digital television transition. And for customers who aren’t in the market for a new television, we can help you find the best solution to meet your needs.â€
Via EngadgetHD.
