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The Dark Knight features BD-Live chat with Chris Nolan for first 100,000 -- Bat Growl not included
Clearly unwilling to be seen as anything other than the premiere Blu-ray release of the year, The Dark Knight will follow Hellboy II in featuring a BD-Live chat session with director Chris Nolan -- but apparently only for the first 100,000 registered purchasers (regular or Bat-Pod edition). As TheHDRoom points out, with over one million copies headed to shelves for the launch, you may want to grab yours early. Also coming to the Bat-Channel is video commentary sharing, while details like how to submit questions and exactly when the viewing party will take place are still unclear, fans have plenty to look forward to December 9th.
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.
Video Bulletin Board enables mobile-to-Blu-ray player interaction
After seeing what we saw at CEDIA this year, we knew this innovation was only a hop, skip and a jump away. RCDb and Nortel have teamed up to showcase what they're calling the Video Bulletin Board, which is an interactive application that enables cellphones and Blu-ray players to communicate like never before. With it, you can "send a photo or video from your mobile phone to your own or a friend's BD Live-enabled Blu-ray deck and then, using the remote, activate a click-to-call feature that would automatically have your phone call back the mobile user who sent you the photo." It won't be long before you're ordering pizza from your Blu-ray player and watching outtakes on your handset -- at least, we hope.[Image courtesy of Blu-ray.com]
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.
BD-Live-capable Blu-ray players get offered in multi-region form
If you held back from snapping up a multi-region Blu-ray player the last time you had a chance, today's your lucky day. BlurayMods has finally returned to the scene, and it brought along with it some fancy new toys. The ICOS HD mod converts your current BD deck into a multi-region bundle of fun, and if you believe the seller, it's totally easy to install and operate. For those not willing to hand over €69 ($88) for the mod chip -- which functions with Sony's BDP-S350 / BDP-S550, Panasonic's DMP-BD35 / DMP-BD55 and Denon's DVD-2500 -- you can buy a pre-rigged player for quite a bit more. We'd say the euro-to-dollar conversion really rules these out for most Americans, but if things get much crazier, you may find yourself looking at a steal.
Death Race Blu-ray features unique BD-Live contest
Bringing the "look-at-me" Web 2.0 feel to the set-top box, Universal's Death Race Blu-ray will include the ability for users to record a play by play video of themselves, and upload it to be judged and win unspecified prizes. On top of that BD-Live powered treat Digital Copy and DTS-HD MA audio should come home as part of the package. Beyond a December 23 release date (same as the DVD) little else is known for sure but in the meantime we'll need to update our Twitter, Myspace & Facebook statuses while taking oddly-angled cellphone pics in the mirror.
Insignia's $250 Profile 2.0 NS-2BRDVD Blu-ray player emerges at Best Buy
Ah, ha! So that's why the Insignia NS-BRDVD recently stooped below $200. Out of absolutely nowhere comes the successor to the previously mentioned unit, the Profile 2.0 NS-2BRDVD. According to Blu-ray, the newest unit actually does have an Ethernet jack, although you wouldn't know it simply by looking at the specifications on Best Buy's website. At any rate, the new deck checks in a few inches smaller and a few pounds lighter than the old, while still supporting 1080p playback and boasting optical / coaxial audio outputs, a single HDMI socket and a bundled remote. Unfortunately, the NS-2BRDVD trashes the Media Card slot and Energy Star qualification that the previous model possessed, so not everything is actually a step up. Those too impatient to see what Black Friday will bring can expect delivery in one to two weeks (unless you drive to a store) if you plunk down $249.99 right now.[Via Blu-ray, thanks Anthony]
Mamma Mia! to deliver Blu-ray first: shareable video commentary
We're still a little perplexed about this, but The HD Room has it on authority that the Blu-ray rendition of Mamma Mia! will boast a Blu-ray first: shareable video commentary. Trust us, we had the same reaction that you just did. According to the specs, the "My Mamma Mia! Commentary" will allow users to "record their own video commentary while watching the movie and share it with friends," though we suspect you'll have to own a BD-Live-enabled player in order to do so. Additionally, the film will be presented in 1080p widescreen with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track, and it'll offer up on-screen lyrics for 22 songs, the Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! music video and a number of less enthralling extras. Expect the BD to ship day-and-date with the DVD on December 16th for $39.98 (MSRP).
Excess inventory driving Black Friday Blu-ray sales?
Just two weeks ago the Wall Street Journal was telling us that Blu-ray still hadn't arrived, players having an average price way up there at $350 and only 1.7 percent of households owning one. Now the WSJ is telling us to watch out for Black Friday, indicating that retailers have warehouses full of dusty old BD-Live-less players and will be slashing prices to get rid of them. Brick and mortar shops are also said to be cringing at the looming threat of digital distribution, which could be another factor driving low prices this holiday season. The $150 price point, which we've seen predicted elsewhere, is mentioned again, and with units on store shelves around the nation for well under $200 we just might be getting close to mass adoption of the format. Now, if only they could do something about those $30 movies...
Universal lays out specs, box art for Wanted on Blu-ray
Universal already called its shot, with a "What The Matrix did for DVD, this could do for Blu-ray" proclamation before Wanted even hit theaters so we're not surprised by the long list of extras in store. The Blu-ray version gets four U-control exclusive features, with My Chat, My Scenes and commentary maker BD-Live extras to boot. Springing for the Collector's Edition? Expect some collectible postcards and a lenticular scene thrown in, with 1080p MPEG-4 encoded video and DTS-HD MA audio to make sure the viewing experience lives up to expectations. Even with a $135 million box office haul to its name we don't know if all the hype is deserved, but if Angelina Jolie and guns interest you, the package is due December 2, MSRP $39.98 standard, $69.98 CE.
Samsung BD-P1500 update finally enables BD Live
Love it or not, BD Live is the latest must have feature for Blu-ray players. Samsung is finally delivering on its promise today by making a firmware update available for download that turns on the internet magic of your Blu-ray Discs when you load them in a BD-P1500. Of course you'll need internet access behind your TV for any of this to work, but if you prefer, you can still download an image of the update disc if you don't want to use the player's auto-update feature. Now that the BD-P1500 and Sony BDP-S350 do BD Live, can both be had for less than $300, and offer just about every feature you'd want, it combined with Hollywood's impressive slate of titles released on Blu for this season, we can't think of any other excuses that an HD lover could have to not jump on the Blu-bandwagon.
Blu-con 1.0 talks where Blu-ray has been, is going
Billed as a one-day summit for Blu-ray developers, marketers and producers, Blu-con 1.0 will feature "experts" (whether that includes the many people who have so thoughtfully and eloquently shared their opinions in our comments since the start of the format war we have not been able to determine) discussing the various issues and opportunities presented by the format. The $325 ticket price for the December 8 event shouldn't be much of an issue, the conference is only open to DEG members, sponsors and invited guests, we'll wait and see if anyone comes out of it with the secret to lower priced Blu-ray players or more interesting uses for BD-Live.
Are BD-Live download times bogging down your Iron Man experience?
Paramount was more than adamant that absolutely nothing was wrong with its Iron Man discs, but in what's easily one of Blu-ray's biggest releases of the year, folks are still having issues. The bulk of the problems seem to hover around clogged up pipes from everyone downloading BD-Live material at the same time. Users are reporting a handful of issues ranging from the film hanging on a "blue chest loading screen" (affectionately dubbed the Blue Ring of Death) to a muffled TrueHD soundtrack. Some PS3 owners have suggested that manually telling it to bypass the whole BD-Live download circumvents the hangs, but it seems that other players aren't having such luck. So, how has your Iron Man experience been? Do these folks have legitimate beefs, or are these fools just whining for nothin'?[Thanks, Mark]
Sony gifts BDP-S350 with BD-Live via firmware update
Earlier this summer, Sony promised that it would be pushing out a firmware update in the future that would add BD-Live functionality to its BDP-S350 Blu-ray player. Fast forward a few months, and lo and behold, it has kept its word. Available right this very second, the version 010 firmware adds in BD-Live support and improved BD-Java compatibility / improved sensitivity to the Remote Commander signal while in standby mode. Hop on down to the read link and get that 56.23MB download going -- given Sony's typically slow (and by slow, we mean hosted over a 14.4k modem) servers, you could be waiting awhile.[Thanks, Dan and Brendan]Update: Seems as if the URL download has been pulled, though users are reporting that the Network Update directly through the player works fine.
Panasonic's Profile 2.0 DMP-BD55 Blu-ray player gets priced: $399
We've seen it announced -- heck, we even saw it in person at CEDIA -- but until today, we've still had no idea what kind of sticker would eventually be laid upon Panasonic's Profile 2.0 DMP-BD55 Blu-ray player. Thanks to a few sharp eyes and a pre-order page at Amazon, we now know that this puppy will be launching for a respectable $399.95. Granted, this is twice as much as some of the aged units we've seen recently, but the inclusion of BD-Live support could be a strong selling point for some. Yeah, we hear you -- the PS3 is still the better bargain, but at least the days of $699 - $999 starting points seem to be coming to an end.[Via Big Picture Big Sound]
Poll: Are you sold on Blu-ray Profile 2.0?
It's a little strange, really. Profile 2.0, which is currently the most up-to-date Profile in the world of Blu-ray, launched months ago. Even still, deck manufacturers insist on pumping out middle-of-the-road players stuck at Profile 1.1. We know, a lot of that has to do with keeping costs to a minimum, but is there really more to it? Are consumers at large really not into interactive content? Is web connectivity not as amazing as backers would have you believe? Do you, in particular, care if your Blu-ray player supports Profile 2.0 / BD-Live? Let us know just what you think in comments below, and tell us if your opinion would change should a $99 Profile 2.0 player hit the market. %Poll-20007%
X-Files: I Want To Believe is Fox's first BD-Live title
If you plunked down the extra coin to get yourself a BD-Live-enabled deck, you can look forward to having one more BD-Live-enabled title to enjoy come December. Fox Home Entertainment has announced that its very first BD-Live enhanced film will be The X-Files: I Want To Believe, which will take advantage of the web-connected functionality with "exclusive features, games, additional content and connectivity to other BD-Live users and X-Files fans nationwide." The X-Files Dossier will allow users to "create their own Special Agent avatar that can browse through Agent Dakota Whitney's case files on clairvoyance and post their own notes and theories to her files online and download other profiles directly to their BD player memory files." Fun, right? Make your choice on 12/2 when it hits shelves (with Digital Copy, no less) for $39.99 MSRP.
Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray disc fully spec'd and ready for October 7 debut
As the flagship Platinum release, Disney is going all out with its Blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty. Surely you've pored over the BD-Live preview video, but with a fast approaching October 7 release date we finally have seen the full specs, including 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack, full motion PiP commentary, interactive game and "living menu". Fans of the flick and Disney animation should also peep the HD special features, including a walkthrough of the original Sleeping Beauty attraction at Disneyland, deleted songs, alternate opening and "Four Artists Paint One Tree" featurette. Whether this will take BD-Live features mainstream -- especially while hardware prices remain static -- remains to be seen, but with a bonus standard DVD edition packed in with the Blu-ray, that sure-to-be-discounted $35.99 MSRP doesn't look bad at all.
Panasonic's DMP-BD35 / DMP-BD55 Blu-ray players hands-on
Sharp wasn't the only company showcasing a new duo of Blu-ray players at CEDIA, as Panasonic decided to whip up a couple as well just for kicks. The DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55 were made official during IFA, but not until now has Panny shown them off to the wide-eyed public. As with the aforementioned Sharp duo, this pair is also hard to distinguish from one another at first glance. Unfortunately, neither are really worth sweating, but you can have a look below if you just refuse to believe that. %Gallery-31219%
Dreamer, L2Digital team up to bring interactive TV, VOD to BD-Live Blu-ray players
While we haven't seen many truly inspired uses for BD-Live yet, we'll see if Dreamer's partnership with disc authoring house L2Digital can turn that around. L2Digital plans to use the Biddle platform to deliver video on-demand, social networking and "interactive TV" to any BD-Live enabled Blu-ray player. We're not sure if the company's envisioned end-run around your cable or satellite provider will be realized but we'll be happy to see someone try.
