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Disney reveals four blockbusters coming to Blu-ray in 2008
While it was only a matter of time before Walt Disney brought one of its famed animated classics to BD, today the company has finally revealed what that first title will be: Sleeping Beauty. The disc will include a "virtual castle and multi-player activities," both of which utilize BD-Live technology, and if that wasn't enough, the studio also announced that it would be bringing Finding Nemo and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe to Blu-ray next year. Finally, National Treasure will be the outfit's "first BD-Live" title to hit the market when it lands next summer, sandwiched between Narnia in the spring and Finding Nemo / Sleeping Beauty in the fall.[Via MovieWeb]
Samsung to introduce its third-gen Blu-ray player August 31
VideoBusiness has got a few more details on what to expect from Samsung's third generation Blu-ray player, the BD-P1400. Look for the player to make its debut on August 31 at the 2007 IFA in Berlin, with support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD audio, as well as a built in Ethernet port. Whether it will meet the new standards for Blu-ray players released after October remains unanswered, as well as how much it will cost. With Sony's BDP-S300 and recently price-reduced PlayStation 3 both already on the market at $499, we'll soon see how much lower prices can get.
Samsung readying a third gen Blu-ray player?
Samsung already shocked us with the announcement of its BD-UP5000 hybrid HD DVD and Blu-ray player, but that doesn't mean they're getting out of the Blu-ray-only player game just yet. While the company's second generation BD-P1200 might have skipped a worldwide debut, rumors recently surfaced of a BD-P1400 model that is "stepped up". Hopefully that step up means BD Live, 1080p/24, PiP and persistent storage support, but in lieu of any specific details, we'll just have to wait to find out what the Blu-ray camp brings our way next.
Samsung looking to hasten BD Live implementation?
It's no secret that BD Live functionality hasn't been the standout feature that we had all hoped for, as a majority of the current players on shelves now don't even sport all the necessary equipment to fully take advantage, but it sounds like Samsung is hoping to change all that by getting serious with interactive niceties. In an admittedly poor translation of Korean, a recent report outlines Samsung's desire to "commercialize" BD Live "by the end of the year," aiming to get downloadable content and internet-enabled services to the end user before we all forget about this once hyped technology. Apparently, the firm is already in talks with major Blu-ray disc producers such as Sony, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Paramount, and there was also hints that broadening the appeal of BD Live could indeed help Blu-ray gain an edge over HD DVD. Now we just hope that its second-generation lineup doesn't do something awkward like not offer up full support of BD Live, alright Sammy?
Samsung to debut first second-gen Blu-ray player at CES
Toshiba and LG have already indicated their plans to wow us at CES, and now the first company to release a Blu-ray player -- Samsung -- has announced it will display the first second generation player next week at CES. The new player is expected to cost 20 percent less than its predecessor (the BD-P1000, pictured above), but contain more interactive functions. We hope that means this will be the first non-PlayStation 3 device to support BD Live features, although we'll have to wait and see. As far as joining LG with a hybrid player like the one it had announced and then denied last year, the company currently has "no plans" to do so, but could if the market remains divided. Other products we can expect to see next week include even larger versions of Samsung's Slim DLP HDTVs, and an all new line of plasmas going all the way up to 80 inches.
Blu-ray / HD DVD "Live" internet functionality still on hiatus
When demos at CES held nearly 12 months ago promised a svelte, online-enabled feature set not available on regular DVD to take the high definition formats to the next level, we were admittedly excited -- unfortunately, we're still waiting to see what the fuss is all about, and it looks like we'll be waiting even longer now. On the Blu-ray front, BD Live was (and still is) supposed to "deliver new content to disc via broadband connections," but it appears that the technology won't actually be seen on retail shelves until "the second half of next year." Additionally, no current Blu-ray player (Sony's PS3 notwithstanding) sports the "interactivity capabilities necessary to download media content onto system hard drives," and this promises to be "remedied" by asking the dear consumers to throw down for a second-generation player in 2007. Notably, the HD DVD camp isn't exactly seizing the opportunity to get a leg up, as "no HD DVD titles featuring connectivity have so far been slated," even though Toshiba's player already touts the capabilities to do it. Furthermore, analysts are suggesting that the vast majority of early adopters either don't know or don't really care about the bonus connectivity features, so long as the "picture and sound" are improved from their old setup, which doesn't exactly bode well for those anxious to see a mass rollout of this here technology in the near future.
Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player reviewed
The Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player isn't on store shelves yet but it's already notable for having something no other Blu-ray player has. What that thing isn't, is a low price, out of the box support for advanced audio codecs or quick load times. HDGuru took a look at the player and found it to be similar enough to Sony's BDP-S1 that they suspect both are in fact being manufactured by Pioneer, with the only differences being the BDP-HD1's Ethernet port and piano black exterior. While it's not clear if BD Live interactivity will ever be supported, users can download the inevitable firmware updates and also utilize Pioneer's new Home Media Gallery feature to stream video, pictures or music from a PC. Despite the $1500 pricetag ($500 more than the BDP-S1 and $1000 more than the PlayStation 3) the reviewer was impressed enough by the picture quality, home media capabilities and extended warranty to recommend purchasing one when they become available by year end.
Someone does a recap for us -- positively stunning
Sometimes this webpage can look like a hodgepodge of news -- random previews, bad news, slighty unrelated articles, and positive press. Well, Thomas Barton has done the smartest thing possible and took every piece of positive press that had been covered here at PS3fanboy and wrote up a feature. The feature covers everything from new pieces of hardware that have been revealed (the PS3mote new eye-toy peripheral), to quotes from third party developers and other big names in the electronics business. It's a very nice read to recap everything we have to look forward to, or to understand that we shouldn't be too afraid -- the PS3 is going to be fine, even if it takes a year or two. Even if it's getting pieces modeled after the Wii or XBox Live, that doesn't mean they are bad ideas. Would you rather have a laser cannon (Wii), an army (XBox Live), or a cyborg army equipped with laser cannons (PS3)? Taking the best from all systems is smooth, though admittedly slightly dirty. Check out the article and remember why the PS3 is worth our casual nod of approval.[Thanks to James for bringing this to our attention!]
PS3 first to support BD Live content downloads?
Interestingly, because Kevin mentioned similar HD DVD functionality during the Major Nelson podcast last night, English website T3 has information that the Playstation 3 will be one of the first first Blu-ray players to support BD Live content downloads. Basically movie studios can incorporate the capabilities to download new trailers, additional behind the scenes footage or even a whole website can be pulled up when you insert the disc in the console. With the included 20GB or 60GB hard drive this could be an interesting feature; however as noted in last night's podcast, apparently this functionality is not required in all Blu-ray players so it remains to be seen how much content providers will take advantage. Also up in the air are if this feature will potentially cost extra and will someone please start the timer for the first Digg front page post calling it spyware?[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Sony and Blu-Ray pull a fast one -- free content!
According to an article over at T3, a leaked Sony document details a few secrets about the PS3 and its internal Blu-Ray player. The Playstation 3 will be one of Sony's first pieces of hardware to use the "BD Live" technology, which allows Blu-Ray players (not limited to the PS3 -- most Blu-Ray players will incorporate this technology given a year or two) to go online and download new content whenever a disc is inserted.Thinking spyware? Adware? Pssh, please. Think more like movie trailers, actor biographies, or exclusive web-sites which can be accessed by the disc and/or saved directly onto your player for viewing later on. Sony says these downloadable contents can "also be shown, at least by the PS3, in a picture in picture window while the main movie is still playing." That doesn't seem really useful, but if you want to surf a secret website whilst a movie plays on, knock yourself out. Still, this downloadable content secret from Blu-Ray is pretty keen. Any ideas of good random content that will magically be downloaded onto your PS3? A movie soundtrack, at least a sample of, would be pretty cool.
