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Sony and Box extend BFF status, offer 50GB free storage to Xperia owners through 2013
When Sony and Box came together last year to offer Xperia owners a tantalizing deal of 50GB of free storage for life, the promotion was only set to run for a year. Now that shopping season is upon us once more, however, the holiday spirit must've moved them to extend the partnership for yet another year -- that, or Sony needs any edge it can to move those Xperia devices to consumer hands. Just as with the prior promo, Xperia and Sony tablet users can snag 50 gigs of cloud storage completely gratis just by signing up or tapping into existing Box accounts on their devices before December 31st 2013. However, do note that the offer doesn't extend to the Xperia X10 mini, the X10 mini pro and anything that has firmware older than Android 2.1. Now that Sony has this going for two years straight, maybe they should extend this to a lifetime scenario, or as long as Box sticks around to offer up that sweet storage in the sky.
Samsung and Dropbox offer Galaxy S III users up to 50GB of extra storage
Samsung has partnered with Dropbox to offer extra storage for Galaxy S III owners. Once you've registered the newly minted handset, your current pre-loaded allocation will be topped up to a maximum of 50GB, not matching but doubling HTC's allowance. And just like Sense 4's offering, the free storage will remain valid for two years but there's no indication if there will be discounts for those who've become hooked on all that online real estate -- we hear it's very moreish.
LG launches LG Cloud, blows raspberries at S-Cloud
Four days before the purported launch of Samsung's cloud service, Korea's other technology giant has unveiled LG Cloud. The eponymous service offers 5GB free space as standard, while owners of LG's Smart TVs or smartphones will get 50GB free for six months. It'll push content between your devices, appropriately compressed for the medium, so high definition images on your TV will be slimmed down to save your phone's data cap. The free beta begins in South Korea and the US from May 1st, with a global rollout pencilled in for next year -- but don't worry, the company made it clear you'll be able to use it on your holidays, if you can find a signal.
Box.net befriends Android, will offer Sony Ericsson Xperia phones 50GB of free cloud storage (update: LG phones too)
How much cloud storage space do you need? 2GB? 5GB? Pah! Box.net scoffs at your puny storage needs, and plan to offer a substantial 50GB of free storage (again) for anyone packing a Sony Ericsson Android phone. While the plans have leaked ahead of schedule, the fine details haven't been hammered out just yet; the official blog tells us that the company's "working to provide this offer very soon to all Xperia customers." When the offer does go live, logging in to (or creating) a Box.net account on any Xperia handset will open the floodgates to 50 gigs of intangible internet storage fo' life. If this keeps up, it shouldn't be long till we're looking at gratis terabytes and are freed of our not-exactly-crippling USB stick addiction, right? Update: Sony Ericsson's not the only one getting gratis cloud storage -- LG owners can snag 50GB for life, too. PR's after the break.
Planet Earth Special Edition Blu-ray set coming to the US from BBC America
Last year, BBC revisited its acclaimed Planet Earth series of nature documentaries with a Special Edition Blu-ray set, and now BBC America shop has revealed the set will also be released on this side of the pond. While the discs shipped last fall in the UK and were region free, they were encoded in a 1080i50 format that most US Blu-ray players (most notably the PlayStation 3) don't support. The new special editions fix one of the quirks of the original releases by opting for two 50GB BD50 discs instead of four 25GB platters, and adding new high definition extras including audio commentaries and options to isolate either the music or sound effects. There's still more to see however, with content from Planet Earth's Greatest Moments, Snow Leopard: Beyond the Myth and a sneak peek at the upcoming Frozen Planet project on the discs. The set also includes the standard def extras omitted from the original high definition releases, that consists of several Making Of featurettes and a three part Planet Earth - The Future documentary, and two new standard definition extras. There's no word on a release date or pricing, but if you've been drooling over the UK rereleases (which apparently suffered a problems on a couple of the discs in initial runs but have since been fixed) a little patience should pay off nicely -- if you've forgotten how amazing the footage is or somehow missed out the first time around, check out the original trailer after the break.
Don't forget: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes to Blu-ray January 25th
Come January, if your recollections of 2010 leave you wishing for a full brain reformat, unfortunately science -- at least in its legal incarnations -- can't help you. Universal's decision to release Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Blu-ray this coming January though will at least let you live vicariously through the trippy shenanigans of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Available for pre-order now from Amazon for just shy of $20, the 1080p version will ship as a single 50GB dual-layered Blu-ray disc and feature a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack along with a host of extras, like interviews with the cast and short documentaries on the film's production. Now that you've been alerted, if you try to pull the I don't remember card come January, we'll know Frodo, Kirsten Dunst and Mark Ruffalo stopped by your crib in the middle of the night.
Verbatim releasing the first 6x LTH BD-R discs this fall
Blu-ray discs aren't getting bigger just yet, but cheaper & faster we might be able to help you with now that Verbatim/MKM is ready to deliver 6x BD-R LTH (low to high) recordable discs. A manufacturing process more similar to CD-R and DVD-R discs makes them easier to produce and this upgrade brings the max speed up from the current 2x LTH discs. Expect them to launch this fall along with compatible drives, so if you have something that needs 25GB/50GB of optical storage and don't like waiting, be on the lookout.
Sony to boost the PS3 with game / movie combo Blu-ray discs this year
With the PS3 not quite the slam-dunk Blu-ray player choice it once was for many due to cheaper competition, Sony's new strategy to move units will include hybrid game / movie releases. Citing a significant sales bump with The Dark Knight release, director of hardware marketing John Koller told Video Business that we can expect to see as many as two or three releases here this year. Of course, we can just imagine the reaction when (insert high profile release here) packs a demo for the game tie-in instead of a lossless audio soundtrack or other extras, but otherwise we'll have to wait and see what positive effect this has for the movie or gaming crowds.
Spielberg makes HD debut with Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Blu-ray
One of Steven Spielberg's classic films will finally make its HD debut, on Blu-ray, not HD DVD, when Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition is released simultaneously with the DVD November 13th. Sony Pictures announced this release puts the original 1977 theatrical version, re-edited 1980 special edition, and a special 1998 Director's Cut on one 50GB Blu-ray disc, using "seamless branching" technology and the power of BD-J -- using "the robust processing power available on second generation players" (it's been done on DVD before) -- to identify different versions of the film and select scenes accordingly. The 2-disc (special features on the second disc) Blu-ray release will get a couple of exclusive special features, including Storyboard-to-Scene Comparisons", the original 1977 featurette and theatrical preview. All that special carries an MSRP of $49.95 and should leave Blu-ray fans salivating, with HD DVD owners wondering when Universal will provide their HDTVs with E.T., Jaws and Jurassic Park.
Sony: Casino Royale first HD release over 100k shipped
Sony just announced that Casino Royale has become the first high definition release to ship over 100,000 units, with over 50% of those sold through to consumers. Apparently its success surprised even Sony, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it only shipped 50k initially, resulting in a complete sellout after only a few days. Following up on its quest to not only surpass rival HD DVD, but supplant the existing DVD format, Sony Pictures counts only 9 months since Blu-ray's launch to the first 100,000 unit shipped mark, compared to eleven months for the first DVD to hit that number (Air Force One). With a 700 percent increase in disc sales since the PlayStation 3 launched, and all of its just-announced upcoming releases on the once rare 50GB discs, Sony sees all this as a clear sign Blu-ray is pulling away in the format war, not only in the U.S. but worldwide, as the U.K. release of Royale sold 10,000 in the first week despite being the PS3 pack-in bonus. Blu-ray was a slow starter last year, and now with one big title under its belt, we'll see if the format war is as close to being over as the BDA keeps telling us it is. Read - SPHE press release Read - Hollywood Reporter
Sony Pictures reveals first quarter Blu-ray release schedule
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has revealed its first quarter Blu-ray lineup, and the studio is putting the new Bond front and center right away. A Blu-ray player was featured in the movie as a result of the close ties so we're not very surprised, but new Bond Daniel Craig is actually hitting Blu-ray twice in one day. The studio is releasing another film of his, the previously delayed Layer Cake, the same day. Both are on dual-layer 50GB discs and feature uncompressed soundtracks, which make up a large part of SPHE's early 2007 lineup, while Casino Royale is encoded in MPEG-4 AVC. Also of note is Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the second Blu-ray movie featuring Blu-Wizard technology to custom select special features that can then play during the movie. Hopefully this combination of high profile movie and 50GB disc works out better than on the universally panned transfer of Talladega Nights. Check the press release for complete special features details or after the break for a list of movies and release dates.
BenQ's BW1000 Blu-ray Disc recorder for PCs hitting Japan: writes 50GBs for less
It's well past August but we're finally seeing the release of BenQ's Blu-ray Disc recorder for PCs. Well, in Japan anyway where this much heralded, dual-layer (50GB) SATA player/recorder built by Philips is set to hit before the month is up. Your ¥89,900 (about $760) -- reduced from the $1000 originally quoted -- buys you a trio of tricks: read/write BD, DVD, and CD media at speeds up to 2x BD-R/RE, 1x dual-layer BD-R/RE, 12x DVD+/-R, and 32x CD-R -- and that's just a smattering of media supported. Bundled PowerDVD 6 software allows you to play back studio Blu-ray Disc flicks at a full, 1920x1200 resolution under Vista, you know, just as long as your video card and monitor support HDCP. But then you know that by now, right? Expect to hear about these popping for the US and beyond any day now.[Via Impress]
Sony DADC 50GB Blu-ray production underway
The last time we checked in on Sony's Terra Haute, IN-based Blu-ray plant dual-layer 50GB discs were still nowhere to be seen, but the company announced recently it now has 6 50GB production lines up and running and is ramping up to produce 60,000 discs per day. According to the Executive Vice President production is "meeting expectations", and not a minute too soon. With the PlayStation 3 finally here and the BDP-S1 coming... some day if Blu-ray is going to win the format war they'll certainly need more than 25GB discs to do it. With over 130 BD titles mastered, including some dual-layer releases even though 50GB is late to the party, it's earlier than some anticipated.[Via HDBlog.net]
Fox confirms more 50GB, BD-J and MPEG-4 movie releases for December
Fox already announced it is kicking off its support of the Blu-ray format with several enhanced titles timed to hit at the time of the PlayStation 3 launch, now it's announced more extras for several titles scheduled for the following weeks. From Hell will be a dual-layer BD-50 50GB release, authored in Blu-ray Java and using MPEG-4 (AVC) compression. It also features several commentaries, a lossless soundtrack, a trivia pop up feature and 21 deleted scenes. Flight of the Phoenix, as well as the rest of the releases, is authored using standard HDMV, includes a DTS HD Master Audio lossless soundtrack as well as commentaries and HD trailers. Rising Sun comes to Blu-ray using MPEG-4 compression, the only extras mentioned are lossless soundtrack and HD trailers.The Devil Wears Prada and Transporter 2 both use MPEG-2 compression and will include DTS HD Master Audio lossless soundtracks as well as HD trailers. The Devil Wears Prada is still set for a day-and-date release with the DVD December 12th, behind From Hell, Flight of the Phoenix and Rising Sun December 5th. Transporter 2 brings up the rear with a Boxing Day release of December 26th. All of the announced movies share a $39.98 MSRP. We've been complaining about the lack of extras on many HD releases, while Fox may be a little late to the party, it appears the company is ready to give customers the advanced features -- not to mention (hopefully) enhanced PQ with better compression/bigger discs -- once titles do hit the streets.
Buena Vista reveals plans for 50GB Blu-ray movies
Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment added to its enhanced winter Blu-ray release slate today, as Invincible and Pearl Harbor were joined by Touchstone Pictures' Enemy of the State and Flightplan. The company revealed the latter three will all be on dual-layer 50GB discs, as Buena Vista joined Warner, Fox and Paramount in announcing plans for the much-delayed discs this winter. Invincible will include a Blu-ray exclusive HD extra, "Recreating the Vet", while the three others mirror their DVD counterparts, plus an exclusive "Blu-ray Showcase". Flightplan will also add a Blu-scape short "Jet Stream". The two Disney movies are due December 19th, while Enemy of the State and Flightplan will still be released November 21. We're not sure what took them so long, but the Blu-ray camp is obviously trying to make 50GB releases a regular part of the high-def landscape. All of these titles have been added to our Google Release CalendarsHD DVDBlu-ray
Paramount reveals World Trade Center Blu-ray, HD DVD extras
Paramount is releasing Oliver Stone's epic World Trade Center on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD simultaneously on December 12th. The flick will also be Paramount's first on a BD-50 disc, and they plan to make the experience worth it with lots of HD extras. Still no word on any potential differences between the HD DVD and Blu-ray releases, it appears they will have the same content and MSRP ($39.99). Both have the same 1080p 128-minute film and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks, plus all the extras of the two-disc DVD set, with certain ones available in HD. The high-def extras include a three-part making of, Q&A with the director, the original theatrical trailer and more. These are the type of extras we expect to see on many new movies going forward, settling for only 480i DVD content isn't very next-gen at all.This title has been added to our Google Release CalendarsHD DVD:Blu-ray:
Sony Pictures first three 50GB titles officially announced
Sony Pictures has made it official, they will be the first studio to release a movie on dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray disc, as Click hits shelves October 10th, followed by Black Hawk Down on November 14th, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby hits December 12th. As we mentioned yesterday, all will include HD special features; for Click the extras are the same as the standard DVD, but in HD. Black Hawk Down includes Blu-wizard, described as a "unique playlist technology which lets consumers customize the way they watch special features". That doesn't sound quite as interesting as the BD-J powered experience we were hoping for, can it match with Fast and the Furious 3's U-control? HD DVD has been well received by reviewers while Blu-ray has struggled at times, some of which was attributed to the lack of 50GB discs. Whether you believe the PS3 is crucial to the success of Blu-ray or not, Sony is providing the biggest push for the format on many levels, next week we'll start to see whether if it pays off. Continue on for a list of the special features on each disc.
Sony Pictures' first 50GB Blu-ray releases coming soon
Blu-ray supporters will be getting a shot in the arm next week when Click becomes the first Sony Pictures Home Entertainment movie released on 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray discs. We got tipped by an inside source at Sony to expect announcements tomorrow regarding Click's release on October 10th -- with all the features of the standard DVD plus bonus HD features -- followed by Black Hawk Down November 14th and Talladega Nights on December 12th. Black Hawk Down is said to include "Blu-wizard" technology that will allow viewers to customize how they see special scenes. The high-def DVD war really begins in November, between the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, Black Hawk Down & Fox's Blu-ray Java releases plus a little something called the Playstation 3, that magnetic strip on your credit card may be the first casualty.
Report: 50GB, dual-layer Blu-ray discs WILL play
So check it: intrepid optical media journo Bill Hunt -- the same man who told us with some confidence that 50GB Blu-ray discs would definitely NOT work on currently-configured BD-P1000 players -- is now reporting that dual-layer movies WILL actually play on the Samsung machine, no firmware update required. Hunt was at an unnamed Hollywood studio the other day before a taping of Attack of the Show when he had the privilege of watching one of the first production 50GB discs playing in an unmodified P1000, even observing the seamless switch from one layer to the next. According to Hunt, the previous compatibility problems were restricted to BD-R discs only -- media that was being used to test authoring -- and that the final production BD-ROMs should work just fine on your existing hardware. In all honesty we're kind of disappointed at this revelation, as were just about to snatch up an HD DVD player, and now once again we're hopelessly torn between the two formats. Bah, maybe we'll just cave in and settle for whatever low-res fare we can dredge up on Unbox and iTunes.
Fox announces first Blu-ray releases: 8 titles, BD-J, MPEG-4 AVC, 50GB
Fox has announced they are jumping into the Blu-ray market in a big way this fall, with eight titles scheduled and the debut of many of the advanced features we've been expecting to see from Blu-ray since launch. Slated to launch just ahead of the Playstion 3 in Japan November 10th followed by North America, Europe and Australia release on November 14th, all of the movies will carry an MSRP of $39.98 and appear to be well worth it. Also announced today is the day-and-date with the DVD release of Ice Age: The Meltdown on Blu-ray November 21st. The rundown of the titles and their features is as follows: Behind Enemy Lines: BD-J authored, DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and MPEG-4 compression. Includes several director commentaries and HD trailers for coming BD releases. Fantastic Four: DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, HD Trailers, HDMV authored. Kingdom of Heaven (Directors Cut): 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray disc to accommodate the 3 hour 42 minute movie DTS HD Master Lossless Audio, HDMV authored. Kiss of the Dragon: Director commentaries, HDMV authored, HD Trailers. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: BD-J authored, MPEG-4 AVC compression, special features including search index by actor/character/location and more, a first-person shooter game, up to 99 bookmarks, pop up animated trivia game and HD trailers. The Omen (666): DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, director commentaries plus BD-exclusive pop-up trivia track The Devils Footnotes exploring the history of 666. Speed: BD-J authored, DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, 56 category search index, Speed: Take Down Java game with six play modes and HD trailers. The Transporter: DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, HDMV authored, director commentaries, HD trailers. Twentieth Century Fox is obviously going the extra mile to show what Blu-ray can do in these initial releases, with features even Sony Pictures has put off until 2007 like BD-J. As the press release states, these titles and features have been chosen specifically to appeal to buyers of the Playstation 3 and Blu-ray early adopters. While you may be familiar with Blu-ray's advanced Blu-ray Java features obviously present in the BD-J authored releases, if you're unfamiliar with HDMV, that is the term for discs authored with simpler menus more reminiscent of traditional DVDs. While HD DVD has undoubtedly outclassed Blu-ray up to this point, it looks like the BDA's first strike back will come in November.
