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'Mad Max: Fury Road' is an Ultra HD Blu-ray launch title
Ultra HD Blu-ray is finally coming in 2016, and while we'll hear more about its 4K movies this week at CES, Warner Bros. is kicking things off by announcing some of the first movies on the way. Right out of the gate, it's offering Mad Max: Fury Road, San Andreas, The Lego Movie and Pan. They're promised for the "initial launch" early this year, although there's no exact date mentioned. More movies will arrive later this year and Warner says it plans to release over 35 in 2016, although only Man of Steel and Pacific Rim have been named.
Sony's first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray releases will arrive early next year
If you were hoping Ultra HD Blu-ray discs would be here in time for the holidays, you're going to have to wait a bit longer. Well, as far as Sony Pictures content is concerned anyway. The company announced today that its 4K Ultra HD discs will go on sale "in early 2016," missing the end-of-the-year estimate the Blu-ray Disc Association revealed back in August. When Sony's catalog does arrive, you can expect The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Salt, Hancock, Chappie, Pineapple Express, and The Smurfs 2 to be included in the first wave of releases. Newer movies like Fury and Captain Philips are in the works as well, and after being restored from the original film, the likes of Ghostbusters and The Fifth Element will make the leap to 4K, too.
What's on your HDTV: 'That '70s Show,' 'Call of Duty,' 'Master of None'
This week is all about Call of Duty, as this year's edition arrives on consoles Friday with all single player missions unlocked from the start -- unless you're on Xbox 360 or PS3. If you want Black Ops 3 first them you can of course try downloading it, but if you prefer a disc some Amazon is adding midnight delivery as an option next to the standard midnight release. Also this week, Mill Creek Entertainment is releasing the entire run of That '70s Show on Blu-ray, which isn't cropped or zoomed (like The Wire) since it was originally shot in widescreen on film (like Friends and Seinfeld). Better yet? It's currently available via Best Buy and Amazon for $60. Netflix premieres Aziz Ansari's series Master of None, while the first two season of Game of Thrones are being re-released on Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos surround sound -- check after the break for a trailer explaining how important the new audio is. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Marvel's new Cinematic Universe Blu-ray set is up for pre-order
Marvel fans, prepare your wallets for the hefty spending you're going to do this holiday season. The Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection will be available exclusively from Amazon on December 8th, for $220, with pre-orders open starting today. This limited edition, 13-disc box set follows the Phase One - Avengers Assembled Blu-ray box released in 2012, and similarly, you can expect to find a slew of goodies here as well. That, naturally, includes the latest Marvel films: Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. You'll also get exclusive art work from each series, bonus video content like deleted scenes, a 1:1 replica of the Orb and many other rare items. The third round of Marvel Cinematic Universe flicks should wrap up by 2020, so you'll have plenty of time to reflect on these until then.
Here's the world's first Ultra HD Blu-ray player
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-519620{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-519620, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-519620{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-519620").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Samsung has announced the first (consumer ready) Ultra HD Blu-ray player, alongside word that movie studio Fox is already getting its releases ready for the new format. That means 4K movies, yes, but also compatibility for HDR video. Here's a closer look at the curved UBD-K8500 player -- perfect for that new curved Ultra HDTV, right?
Samsung jumps into Ultra HD Blu-ray, as Fox provides the movies
Today Samsung is the first company to announce an Ultra HD Blu-ray player, taking the lead in 4K and HDR video. Following up on its big Ultra HD push at CES and the movie-streaming/download tech that has arrived in the months since, Samsung is ready to push super-high-resolution movies (four times the resolution of Blu-ray, and 64 times as many colors) on discs too. There's not much detail available on its new player, although we expect it will cost less than the $1,000 price its first Blu-ray player commanded nearly a decade ago and it should launch early next year. Joining the tech company on its IFA 2015 stage are Fox execs, with President Mike Dunn proclaiming the studio is committed to releasing its slate of upcoming movies in Ultra HD with HDR day-and-date with the Blu-ray and Digital HD releases. That includes Fantastic Four, Maze Runner, Kingsman: The Secret Service and more.
Kraftwerk takes techno pop into the third dimension
Not to be undone by bands that release artwork via fax machine or by albums released in sheet music form, German electronic mainstay Kraftwerk's next record will be available in a 3D format. It's a fairly unusual approach to making music as you can't really hear 3D (unless you experience synesthesia). This latest collection of tracks will be released on Blu-ray in autumn. Ralf Hutter, the only remaining original member, told Rolling Stone that it will consist of 3D performances with surround sound.
Columbia House owner wants to drop its mail-order business
Believe it or not, Columbia House's mail-order media business is still around -- although it might not be for much longer. Its parent company, Filmed Entertainment, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to "pursue an orderly sale" of the Columbia House DVD Club, the last remnant of a once-great distribution empire (it ditched music back in 2010). You won't be shocked by the reason why, of course: the "advent of digital media" negated Columbia House's reason for being. Why pay for a steady flow of discs when a combination of streaming services and downloads will cover the bases far more effectively? Columbia House will keep running during the sell-off, but we can't imagine that prospective buyers will want much more than the recognizable name and some sales agreements. [Image credit: Classic Film, Flickr]
Ultra HD Blu-ray will have 4K discs here in time for the holidays
After locking down a name, logo and spec, the Blu-ray Disc Association has announced it's just about ready to start licensing the Ultra HD Blu-ray technology. The group anticipates we'll hear about products for the 2015 holiday season (and naturally is revealing this right after Western Digital's 4K movie ready hard drive appeared). Coming around just about nine years after the first Blu-ray players arrived, this upgrade is about more than just high-res 4K (3,840 x 2,160) video -- it also includes support for high dynamic range (HDR), high framerate (HFR) and a "digital bridge" feature that should give viewers more ways to store and play their movies, even while keeping the disc on the shelf.
HBO is selling 'Game of Thrones' S5 downloads earlier than usual
In another sign that HBO is trying to convert some of the numerous Game of Thrones pirates into paying customers, the network announced that season five will be the first one available for downloaders to own before it hits DVD and Blu-ray. It's actually going on sale via download way before the discs, with a digital release of season five due August 31st, just two months after the finale aired. The Blu-ray version is still on deck for next March as usual, but you can pre-order the digital season pass (including extras, listed after the break) from outlets like Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Google Play for $39 (HD) -- unless of course you live in another country like Australia, where season five has been on sale since it finished airing, or are already subscribing to HBO Now. Of course, you don't really need to hurry, as HBO announced during yesterday's TCA panel that it expects the series to last about eight seasons.
Online video poised to outsell DVD purchases this year
Believe it or not, the surge in online streaming options from Amazon, HBO, Netflix, Hulu and others have yet to outsell DVDs. That'll change this year, though. In a new report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, money spent on video downloads and streaming subscriptions in the States will surpass DVD sales and rentals for the first time in 2015. In terms of hard numbers, online video is set to increase 13 percent and rake in $9.5 billion while physical DVD sales are expected to drop to $7.8 billion. What's more, in 2017, the online sales figures are projected to hit the $12 billion mark, which would surpass the US box office tally for theaters. DVDs are hanging tough thanks in part to services like Redbox and Netflix's disc option, but the format stands to meet the same fate as CDs: Music streaming outsold physical CDs last year, and is poised to overtake digital sales within three years.
Ultra HD Blu-ray is bringing high-res movies home soon
After Blu-ray and HD DVD ushered in the age of HD and 1080p movies for the masses, discs were beaten to 4K by streaming services like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon. While the internet is still doing most of the heavy lifting for 4K, the Ultra HD Blu-ray specification is finally complete which means we should see movies and players arriving later this year. Besides being compatible with the 10,000~ Blu-ray discs already out, Ultra HD Blu-ray players will be ready for high-res 3,840 x 2,160 video, "next generation object-based sound formats" (think DTS: X and Dolby Atmos), more colors, high dynamic range (HDR) and even high frame rate video. That's a lot of buzzwords to say movies will have the capability to look and sound better at your home than they ever have before. The BDA also made vague reference to a "digital bridge" setup for extending your movie purchased on a disc to other devices like phones and tablets, but didn't say exactly how that will work, or if it's going to be any better than Ultraviolet.
'The Simpsons' seasons won't be available on disc from now on
If you've been diligently building a collection of Simpsons episodes on disc, you're in for a rude surprise. Show runner Al Jean has revealed that Fox is discontinuing disc releases of the long-running cartoon. As sources confirmed to us and The Hollywood Reporter, the studio doesn't believe there's a point to hard copies at this stage -- now that you can watch The Simpsons online, it "made more sense" to focus on internet services. With the show constantly airing around the world and in heavy rotation on FXX, it's a bit more accessible than other series even though DVD and Blu-ray are still big business.
HBO tries using Blu-ray to hook cord-cutters on new shows
Remember BD-Live? Other than being the reason so many Blu-ray discs take forever to load, it's a way for them to pull in continuously updated content from the internet and HBO's using it to reach people who only watch its shows on disc. The new feature is called "HBO Sampler" and it unlocks full episodes of some of the network's other shows for streaming. Currently that list includes the season one premiere episodes of Girls, Looking, Banshee and Togetherness, while in the future Veep, Silicon Valley, Game of Thrones and True Detective premieres will pop up too. It's only a single episode so it's no HBO Go or even Amazon Prime, but if you already own some of the boxed sets in the last year or so (Game of Thrones S3, True Detective S1, etc.) or will buy any of the ones coming out in 2015 then you can get a peek at what HBO subscribers are watching.
HMV overtakes Amazon to become the UK's biggest seller of physical music
Two years ago, British high-street retailer HMV was staring bankruptcy in the face. It was subsequently picked up by administration specialist Hilco, which immediately set about reversing the company's fortunes. As a result of cost-cutting measures, HMV was forced to sell its iconic Oxford Street store and place a renewed focus on what made it popular: selling music. It certainly seems like it's paid off, because the company has just reclaimed the number one spot as the UK's biggest seller of physical music, overtaking Amazon in the process. CityAM reports that the company's vinyl sales reached their highest level in over 20 years, jumping 170 percent over the past year. And in the two weeks leading up to Christmas, it was responsible for selling one in every three CDs and DVDs in the UK.
4K movies are coming to Blu-ray discs and hard drives
Sure, there are plenty of Ultra HD televisions floating around the Las Vegas Convention Center, but how will you find anything suitably super high-res to play on them? Netflix, Amazon and a few others have started 4K internet delivery, while DirecTV and Comcast also have limited approaches, but sometimes you prefer media you can hold onto. Physical media fans have help on the way in two forms, but the bad news is neither one is ready to launch right now. The Blu-ray Disc Association has confirmed the name of its 4K format (Ultra HD Blu-ray) and many of its capabilities, while the Secure Content Storage Association has its own demo for Ultra HD movies you can download and transfer (almost) at will, with backing from Fox, Warner Bros., Samsung and others.
What's on your HDTV: 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'SoA' finale, 'Marco Polo'
After racking up $771 million at the box office, Guardians of the Galaxy is coming home. It's a little different from Marvel's other superhero collaborations with Disney, but no less satisfying. This is also the week that Sons of Anarchy comes to its conclusion, and for the last time series creator Kurt Sutter explains to us why he thinks the show he wrote is so great. The third highlight is Netflix's Marco Polo, which was formerly intended for Starz but is now coming direct to streaming. With a budget said to surpass any other show outside of Game of Thrones, we'll see if all that money leads to another hit for the service -- if you'd like a reminder when it goes live just check the embedded tweet after the break. That's not all Netflix is planning though, as Parks & Recreation's Nick Offerman will debut a new stand-up comedy special this week. Football fans can enjoy the brief break in college games by tuning in for Miami's second run as a 30 for 30 subject on Saturday night, gamers will dig into Bungie's The Dark Below expansion for Destiny, and movie fans can enjoy a Criterion Collection edition of Time Bandits. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Redbox rentals will get a price hike on December 2nd
If you're looking to snag a DVD or Blu-ray from Redbox while out gathering holiday supplies, you'll soon be paying a bit more for the rental. On December 2nd, the red kiosks will increase rates from $1.20 to $1.50 for DVDs and from $1.50 to $2 for Blu-ray selections. While the allure of Redbox lies in its low prices, even after the increase, its rates will still hit the wallet for sums significantly lower than on-demand or streaming rentals from the likes of Amazon, iTunes and others. In addition to the cost increase, Redbox will launch a recommendation engine -- similar to Netflix -- that will serve up suggestions for your next rental based on previous titles that you enjoyed. Games aren't exempt either, as that nightly fee will increase from $2 to $3 in January.
Barely Related: The Rock is Black Adam, telepathy exists
Today, let's take a moment to stop and revel in how amazing, terrifying and grand the world is. Our lives are composed of dark, light and every shade in between. That's why, when we get serious shade thrown our way, we can absorb it and move on. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
3D Blu-ray support arrives in latest PlayStation 4 update
PlayStation 4's latest firmware is available to download and install now, bringing 3D Blu-ray support to the system as promised. If you're hoping for the same feature on Xbox One, it's due to hit in next month's system update. Today's PS4 update also means users can choose to automatically download "Featured Content" from the PlayStation Store - according to Sony Europe's Chris Owen that includes things like demos and time-limited trials, and no charged content. Also, system messages that were in the top right will now appear in the top left, and most importantly of all, the sound quality on 1.5x DVD and Blu-ray playback is improved. Finally, we can all move on! [Image: Fox]
