Archive for the ‘HD’ Category

Yeah, HD is the new thing on everyone’s mind. It’s hit the networks, internet, gaming and plastic media like a storm. Too bad you can’t just purchase an HD only package from your cable provider. They want you to have basic and extended and digital before you can add HD to the mix. I call that milking the digital cash cow. It’s why I don’t pay for any TV services anymore. All the networks play their shows in HD for free on demand, on the internet. That’s enough of that…check out the release from SNL Kagan: Read the rest of this entry »

The beautiful thing about having a PS3 is that you get all the current BD shit over the wire. It’s too bad they didn’t enforce this with all BD players. And people wonder why HD-DVD was technically better than Blu-Ray. Here’s the full release from Sony: Read the rest of this entry »

Word comes directly from Microsoft on the whole Blu-Ray integration issue. As of today, Microsoft’s stance is that they have no plans whatsoever to include Blu-Ray into the Xbox 360. Here’s the quote:

“In case you were wondering, Microsoft is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Disc Association regarding integrating Blu-ray in to the Xbox 360 experience. Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest and best library of blockbuster games available.”

It was announced today that the projector division of Panasonic will be sponsoring Tsquared. He checked out their latest PT-AX200U projector and says, “This is the only projector I’ll ever need to use. I practice on it at home before tournaments, use it for casual gaming and it’s great for watching sports with my friends.” On the one hand, this just further adds to the legitimacy of gaming as a competitive arena. On the other hand, I think that we are going to see an update to Jerry Maguire soon, because I think some of these guys are going to start selling out real fast.
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You’ve been keeping up with The Bitbag coverage on the high-definition format wars and the end has finally come. Sorry, HD-DVD fans . . . Toshiba has thrown in the towel. Wal-Mart is truly a powerful force and it seems to have dropped the final straw on the camel’s back by announcing last Friday that they would drop sales of HD-DVD players in June. In a Q&A session, Toshiba tried to downplay the situation, by referring to it as a “so-called” format war, and announced they have no plans to continue development for the HD market in the near future. They have quickly denied the possibly of developing Blu-Ray players at this time. Read the rest of this entry »

According to TG Daily, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Samsung for incompatibility issues with their BD01200 player. Read the rest of this entry »

So, I’ve been reading different forums and media, and it’s no surprise that the ongoing high-definition format war is at an all time high. With different studios and companies backing HD-DVD and BD, it can be an overwhelming choice for the consumer to decide which medium to go with for their hi-definition needs. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft just announced a HUGE lineup for the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. One of the shockers was the inclusion of the James Bond films in HD. As you know, these MGM films are owned by parent company Sony. It’s quite interesting that they are allowing these titles to appear on Xbox Live Marketplace knowing that video downloads for PSN are around the corner. Here’s the release with the full list of new shows and movies.

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While browsing the HD-DVD petition for funny signatures I came upon Ken Kutaragi’s.  Now it’s probably not real but it’s pretty funny.

Steve Jobs announced today that iTunes will finally be getting HD downloads.  The downloads will feature full Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.  They will be available for $4.99 and have a 24hr watch time after the first viewing.  Here’s the full details of the announcement from arstechnica:

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I told you this was coming.  Today Steve Jobs announced the new Apple TV 2.0 spec.  This new version will sport a $229 price tag and support HD movies in full 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround.  This coupled with the HD iTunes announcement is the news we’ve been waiting to hear from Apple.  Here’s the full skinny taken from arstechnica:

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Warner Bros. dropped a huge bomb on Toshiba before the CES last week. They made the move to Blu-Ray exclusivity. Warner stated that they were pro-actively trying to end the format war. Yes, it is bad for consumers, but when the market split is this deep, how bad is it? The only consumers in this war are early adopters and gadget heads. The result of Sony putting a Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 is a huge conglomerate of 8 million Blu-Ray pundits. How can a small force of HD-DVD enthusiasts fight the force of Blu? There are many ways to fight for your format or join the other side. I’m here to highlight some of them. Read the rest of this entry »

I spoke with some representatives at Toshiba about the current status of HD-DVD. I expressed my discontent with the format war and then asked them what their plans were for the format. They basically stated that they are going to continue supporting and marketing the HD-DVD product. Paramount and Universal have no plans on switching to Blu-Ray at this time. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s so nice to log into Xbox Live and get surprises like this.  It’s not even Wednesday and these 2 gems just appear under the new movies column.  I was expecting to see Terminator or something in the wake of the MGM announcement.  The best part of this is that they are both in HD.  Dragonslayer is one of my favorite films and I have yet to see even a DVD transfer of it.  I’ll be downloading both of these after the CES.

Variety is reporting that New Line has made an exclusive switch to Blu-Ray in the wake of Warner Bros. announcement. However, no official statement has been made by New Line as of yet.