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Lionsgate, Sony readying BD-Live-enabled flicks for January
Nah, BD-Live isn't even close to where it should be, but hopefully the impending stream of BD-Live-enabled films will push the hardware vendors to get with the program. Apparently, both Lionsgate and Sony are readying web-enabled titles for January, even though "hardware that can fully playback BD-Live interactivity has not yet been confirmed." War and Saw IV should both be hitting shelves before February dawns, and while Miguel Casillas didn't elaborate on the former's interactivity, he did note that Saw IV would enable users to "share content through their Blu-ray players' web connections." Furthermore, Sony executive VP of advanced technologies Don Eklund proclaimed that internet-enabled features would "represent a major theme in the studio's 2008 Blu-ray slate." Of course, we're not going to get too riled up until we see this stuff in action, but hopefully a lot more details will be spilled at CES.
Toshiba HD-XA2, HD-A20 HD DVD players to get 24p update
Though we've already waxed rhapsodic about Toshiba's HD DVD players of late, the firm is finding a way to keep the recently discounted standalone players in the news. This time around, the firm is getting official about the rumored 24p output, as we now know that at least the HD-XA2 and HD-A20 will be eligible for a September update that will enable playback of content in 1080p/24. It wasn't insinuated that any other Toshiba players would eventually receive the same upgrade, nor did we get the feeling that HD DVD players on the whole would be refreshed, but here's to hoping (for the latter, primarily).
