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iControl and uControl engage in home automation merger, domestic disputes seem inevitable
Come one, come all -- we're guessing you won't want to miss the most comical business arrangement since the latter part of 2007, when ROK acquired a majority share of Rock. Believe it or not, iControl and uControl have somehow put their selfish ways aside to come together as one, but it's pretty clear who's really in control. The merged company will forge ahead as iControl Networks, leaving u with nothing but fading memories and half a bottle of Jack. In all seriousness, this melding of minds could definitely give the home automation world a boost it's badly in need of; fragmentation and a lack of universal compatibility (not to mention stratospheric pricing) has severely hindered adoption in the consumer universe, and we're hoping that these guys can somehow make ZigBee, Z-Wave and your ZR1 talk to each other sans any hoop jumping. 'Course, we wouldn't expect any sort of quick collaboration -- these two have to get on speaking terms before any magic happens, you know?
Hellboy director chats with Blu-ray fans live Sunday
Hellboy II: The Golden Army director Guillermo del Toro (and avowed Blu-ray fan, take that Michael Bay) is the first to connect to viewers (as suggested by a particular EHD ed at the last CES) and chat live while watching the movie on Internet-connected players November 23. Exactly how "live" the chat will be remains to be seen, as questions will be submitted ahead of time on UniversalHiDef.com, before the event commences Sunday at 6 p.m. PST, but an opportunity to hear the director's responses in real time is not to be missed, and finally scratches the potential for Blu-ray's online capabilities. Still holding out hope for BD-Live? Make sure you're close to your PlayStation 3 this weekend, and think of a different question than "Here's my 10 suggestions on how to make The Hobbit totally awesome" 'cuz we already submitted that.
King Kong gets additional features for Blu-ray release January 20
One time Xbox 360 HD DVD player pack-in King Kong is finally making its Blu-ray debut, complete with U-Control interactive features and some additional bits we'd missed the first go round. Apparently Universal has seen fit to replace the previous edition's Dolby Digital+ 5.1 soundtrack with a 5.1 DTS-HD MA version, as well as the Extended Edition footage (on an already 3 hour+ movie?) that was missing from the HD DVD. Making the jump from HDi to BD-Live is online My Scenes sharing, just in case you still needed a reason to pay the $29.98 MSRP for this disc January 20.
Universal's Blu-ray release plans uncovered, details later today
We won't have to wait long to find out Universal's plans for Blu-ray, Reuters just noted that later today the studio will announce plans to release about 40 movies on the format in the second half of the year, including Doomsday. The only studio to support solely HD DVD from the beginning will come out with all three of its Mummy films: The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Scorpion King July 22 (sounds like someone's bitter about HD DVD and taking it out on Blu-ray owners to us), with catalog releases jumping over from red like Miami Vice, Knocked Up, American Gangster and others before the year is out. Keep an eye out for specifics later on, like whether those U-Control and community features from the HD DVD versions will make the jump intact
