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OWC takes quad-interface Mercury Pro external BD burner to 12x
Pioneer's BDR-205 may not be hitting shelves in retail form until early next year, but those who desperately need a Blu-ray burner that outpaces the optical media currently available still have an option. OWC has today updated its long-standing Mercury Pro external BD drive -- which boasts FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA connection options -- with Pioneer's latest, giving it the ability to toast BD-Rs at up to 12x. Of course, you'll need lady luck on your side to actually find any media that'll support said rate, but hey, there's always the future. It's available today for $349.99, or $449.99 if you want Roxio Toast Titanium PRO bundled in. [Via Macworld]
Leaked Walmart ad reveals Xbox 360 Arcade with $100 gift card, $300 HP G60 laptop
It's not quite a $99 Xbox 360, but if this apparent Walmart scan via Kotaku is to be believed, that $199 Arcade version is getting a $100 gift card promotion going into effect this Saturday. In real terms, that boils down to a $234 Xbox 360 Pro for first-time buyers, seeing as you'll be needing that $135, 120GB hard drive, too. Also listed are a Sony Blu-ray player for $148 (we're guessing the currently-MSRP'd $199 BDP-S360), and a $298 HP G60-519WM, which touts a 2.2GHz Intel Celeron, 15.6-inch HD display, Windows 7 Home Premium, 3GB RAM, and a 250GB HDD -- not a bad followup at all for that Compaq CQ60. Some interesting spy shots from the Slick Deals forum seem to give credence to the scan, although we're still playing wait-and-see -- that $100 gift card with the Xbox 360 arcade is almost too good to be true, even if it is just a clever tactic to clear shelf space in the lead-up to Black Friday. Update: Sure as the sun, an official ad has popped up on Yahoo's front page. Screenshot after the break. [Thanks, just4onepost]
Blu-ray releases on November 3rd 2009
October is over and before you know it Black Friday will be here, and so all the studios are preparing their holiday selection. Although this mostly consists of classics like It's A Wonderful Life, Forrest Gump and others, there are also some okay day and date titles like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Next week Disney makes things much more interesting for animated feature fans though as both Monsters Inc. and UP will be released on Blu-ray for the first time. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount) Forrest Gump (Paramount) It's A Wonderful Life (Paramount) The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (Sony) Aliens In The Attic (Fox) I Love You, Beth Cooper (Fox) Say Anything... (Fox) Two Girls And A Guy (Fox) The Answer Man (Magnolia) Christmas Vacation (20th Anniversay Edition) (Warner) Star Wars: The Clone Wars (The Complete Season One (Warner) North By Northwest (Warner) Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (Warner) Command Performance (First Look) Direct Action (First Look) Earth 2100 (MPI) Food, Inc. (Magnolia) Howards End (Criterion Collection) Wings Of Desire (Criterion Collection) Love Actually (Universal) Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (Image) The Narrows (Image) Not Forgotten (Anchor Bay) Rocky: The Undisputed Collection (MGM) Witchblade: The Complete Series (Funimation)
Poll: What's the biggest Blu-ray disc still due to arrive in 2009?
After seeing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen blow up the charts, is there a bigger Blu-ray release left for '09? Peep the possible responses and let us know which one is your most highly anticipated release for the rest of the year. Thanks for all nominations submitted to our Twitter (@Engadgethd) if you don't see yours give us a follow so we can get your opinion next time, and leave a note in the comments. %Poll-36331%
Transformers 2 tops chart, best selling Blu-ray of all time?
The first week numbers are in and they're pretty good -- Michael Bay's latest movie moved 500,000 Blu-ray Discs in one day and a total of 1.2 Million for the week. Now we didn't go back and compare that to previous years, but that is without a doubt the best week any Blu-ray title has had this year, so we'd assume its safe to say this is the best selling Blu-ray title of all time -- in its first week anyways. Love it or hate it, there were plenty of people willing to run out the first week and buy this movie. This has to ease the minds of Paramount execs at least a little bit. Too bad for Hollywood that this will probably be as good as it gets this year, although we admit the movies we're looking forward to on Blu-ray still remain unreleased.
JVC joins the sub-$200 Blu-ray player game with ultrathin XV-BP11
Sub-$200 Blu-ray players certainly aren't new -- heck, some guys have been doing it since the year 2008 -- but you'll never catch us kvetching about a little more competition. JVC has today introduced (in the briefest way possible, might we add) its newest Blu-ray player just ten months after deciding to play the BD game here in the States. The ultrathin (and "now available") XV-BP11 should slide into just about any AV rack, bringing Blu-ray / DVD playback, AVCHD support, HDMI 1.3, a USB socket and compatibility with a slew of audio formats. Curiously enough, the outfit doesn't bother to mention if this thing is Profile 2.0, but we're guessing (read: hoping) that it wouldn't do something as ludicrous as charge two bills for a Profile 1.1 deck in late 2009. Then again, we've seen zanier things go down... Update: Ouch -- this thing is only Profile 1.1. Dud. [Thanks, Aaron!]
Toshiba's BDX2000 Blu-ray deck hits Best Buy for $199, sour grapes also on sale
Man, poor Toshiba. The company's already sucked up its pride and started putting Blu-ray drives in its laptops, but here's its first stab at a proper standalone player, the BDX2000, on Best Buy shelves a bit early for $199 -- or $50 less than its announced price. Sure, that makes sense given the falling prices of Blu-ray decks as the holidays approach, but even at that price it's not super competitive with the slew of other decks out there that can do Netflix streaming. We'll see if Tosh's next efforts are a little more interesting than this, or if this is just more heartbreak than its worth. [Thanks, Alex]
Blu-ray releases on October 27th 2009
So the biggest movie of the year has come to Blu-ray and is behind us, but there are plenty of hot new releases left on the docket this year -- just not this week. This week we are planning on getting a couple of movies for our kids as well as checking out the latest Battlestar Galactica movie, The Plan. Other than that we're looking forward to checking out Larry David in a Woody Allen movie, we mean how could that not be funny? Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (Universal) Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (Fox) Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (Walt Disney) Night of the Creeps (Sony) Whatever Works (Sony) Orphan (Warner) Nothing Like The Holidays (Anchor Bay) Stan Helsing (Anchor Bay) Beast Stalker (Tai Seng) Expedition: Africa (A&E) The Prisoner (A&E) Il Divo (MPI) The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue (Blue Underground) Look For A Star (Tai Seng) Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (Cinevolve) Monty Python: Almost The Truth - The Lawyer's Cut (Vivendi) Stargate: 15th Anniversary Edition (Lionsgate)
Netflix coming next month to PlayStation 3
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/Netflix_coming_to_PlayStation_3'; What a coup. After we've been hearing all along that Xbox 360 had a game console exclusivity to Netflix streaming, Sony just announced it, too, will be joining in on the fun. Timeframe? Sometime next month. Press release after the break. [Via PlayStation blog]
Poll: What is the best Blu-ray player?
With Christmas right around the corner and the CEA predicting that consumers will spend more on electronics this year then last, we have to wonder what our dear readers think is the best Blu-ray player. Of course the PS3 is the most obvious answer since it pulls double duty as a gaming device, but movie lovers might prefer a standalone with other streaming features like VUDU or Netflix. At the same time, home automation nuts might prefer a player with discrete IR codes or maybe an RS-232 port. So keeping everything include the price in mind, which is the best Blu-ray player? %Poll-35872%
Microsoft: 'We have no plans for Blu-ray on Xbox 360'
A recent Gizmodo sit down with Steve Ballmer led with a headline exclaiming a Blu-ray add-on for Xbox was coming. See, when Ballmer was asked about making the Xbox a home theater companion of choice and where Blu-ray might fit in, the Windows 7 wild man said, "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there -- you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories." He then added that on-demand is the future of movies, not physical media. Now our bud Major Nelson, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, has stepped up to lay the conflation to rest. The Major says that Ballmer was referring to Blu-ray accessories for the PC and reiterated Microsoft's focus of bringing instant-on 1080p streaming movies to the Xbox 360. So... that should end speculation of Blu-ray on Xbox right? Not if history serves, nope.
Digital Entertainment Group reports disc revenue's down, transactions up
The latest DEG numbers reporting the 3.2 percent decrease in disc revenues this year over last, weren't really that interesting to us. Sure some might argue that is actually good considering overall consumer spending, but what is really interesting is that the number of transactions (sales and rentals) are up 6.6 percent. This should probably be interpreted as rentals are up while sales are down, but the bottom line is that more people then ever are still watching movies on round discs. All of this added together with the latest DRM technologies coming, makes us wonder what the home media landscape will look like in a few years. One thing is for sure, it seems Blu-ray has given packaged media the life extension that the studios had hoped for.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray review roundup
It's pretty hard to miss this week's premiere Blu-ray release, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may not be as well regarded as the first movie, but the hype train has continued to roll. Still holding out on a possible purchase? A slew of reviews of the Blu-ray edition are available to help you make a choice, so dig in and see what there is. The Dallas Morning News says FX can't turn a bad film into a good one, but were still impressed by the Blu-ray special features, while Blu-ray.com's reviewer had perfect scores the video, audio and supplements of the IMAX edition, calling it "THE one to own" (reports on AVSForum.com also point to a volume difference between editions) Our friends at Cinematical actually preferred the flick at home to the theater experience, citing the thrill of checking out the preparations entailed in making such an explosive movie, plus the ability to pause and take in each set piece individually. DVD Town actually split up review duties between tow people with one on the quality of the flick, and the other on audio, video and extras, finding this flick "the kind of sonic spectacular one can use to impress friends and neighbors who haven't bought into Blu-ray yet." Read - DVDTown.com Read - Blu-ray.com Read - The Dallas Morning News Read - Cinematical.com Read - AVSForum.com
Netflix, Best Buy deal brings Watch Instantly streaming to even cheaper Blu-ray players
Though they've been floating around retail channels for a few weeks, Best Buy and Netflix have finally made official a partnership bringing streaming to the latest Insignia Blu-ray players. The NS-BRDVD3 runs $179, while the NS-WBRDVD edition tosses in WiFi for $20 more, while they won't stream out of the box, a firmware update just made available should add all that Watch Instantly goodness. These two keep the (we'll be nice and call it plain) styling of earlier models, and likely live up to the family reputation of "basic Blu-ray playback at a bargain" reported on the second generation of players. Of course, the BD-P1600 offers more features and a nicer reputation at about the same price, but Reward Zone members may want to think twice, with AVS Forum posters mentioning the NS-BRDVD3 can be had for just $99.99 through the 24th. Decisions, decisions. Read - Best Buy and Netflix Announce Partnership to Instantly Stream Movies Over the Internet Via Latest Models of Insignia Blu-ray Disc Players Read - Save $50 On Select INSIGNIA® Connected Blu-ray Disc™ Players with Netflix [Via AVS Forum]
Blu-ray releases on October 20th 2009
Oh man do we just love this time of year, not only are the super hot days of summer over, but Football is here and now the big blockbuster movies are hitting Blu-ray. And of the big movies for 2009, none is bigger than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which hits Blu-ray tomorrow -- actually if you really can't wait, you can go to Best Buy at midnight tonight and pick it up. We can't say we blame 'em, but the rest of the studios pretty much let Paramount make this Transformers week as there really isn't anything else out there to get excited about. That's ok though, because in the next 12 weeks there should be plenty to choose from. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount) UFC 100: Lesnar vs. Mir (Starz/Anchor Bay) Waterworld (Universal) Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (Fox) Blood: The Last Vampire (Sony) Easy Rider (Sony) The Crew (Image) Ichi the Killer (Tokyo Shock) Monsoon Wedding (Criterion) The Secret of the Nutcracker (BFS)
Poll: Where do you buy your Blu-ray discs now, if you buy them at all?
With Blu-ray disc adoption continuing to grow, we're wondering if your buying habits have changed. Last year Amazon ran away with the results, but it's 2009 now, Wal-mart has expanded its focus on Blu-ray (even nabbing the exclusive on TDK-style IMAX scenes for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen release next week), Circuit City no longer exists and that weird guy in the white panel van even has a much better selection than he used to. So, where are you buying Blu-ray movies? %Poll-35693%
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray debuts October 20, check out one of the special features now (Video)
You'll have to wait until October 20 to get a good look at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's IMAX sequences, but you can see an exclusive clip of one of the behind the scenes segments featured on the disc right now. Check the behind the scene pre-vis breakdown after the break along with a list of Blu-ray exclusive specs for this 2 disc set, with Blu-ray fanboy Michael Bay at the helm we have high expectations to this followup to a movie that blazed trails on two different high definition disc formats. even that case at the right is getting in on the augmented reality packaging trend, letting webcam owning users access a special website with even more adventures involving, surprisingly enough, ridiculously large transforming robots from outer space. Check the Transformers ROTF official website for more info.
Samsung rolls out Amazon, Blockbuster video store access across HDTVs, HTIBs and Blu-ray players everywhere
Just as promised, the (still SD only) Blockbuster OnDemand service is now available on a slew of Samsung hardware via firmware update, while the Internet@TV lineup (LCD and Plasma HDTVs Series 650 and above and LED HDTVs Series 7000) has a brand new toy with the Amazon VOD Yahoo! widget (which does support HD.) Both services offer a slew of rental and/or purchase options for the digital delivery fanatic, though we still hunger for the audio and quality of VUDU plus the all you can eat goodness of Netflix Watch Instantly, of the millions of TVs out there, there's surely someone willing to sift through those menus for the ease of viewing Ghosts of Girlfriends Past without resorting to cable VOD -- or getting up from the couch. The "convenience" goes both ways, since they'll also be able to pick up compatible Samsung blu-ray players at Blockbuster stores, right next to the TiVo section -- check for exact model #s supported in the PR after the break.
BluFocus gets BDA official stamp as the first U.S. movie player testing center
The unglamorous but so-necessary job of making sure all those Blu-ray discs and players work nicely together has long been the aim of BluFocus, which has most recently become the first and only BDA approved site in the U.S. for Movie Player Verification. While certification and compatibility testing is usually the kind of thing we only consider when something doesn't work, it's always good to know this on someone's mind. Any recent Blu-ray compatibility complaints? Let the folks at BluFocus know on their website.
ATI Radeon HD 5750 brings HDMI bliss to HTPCs for $110
We knew that video cards that could bitstream all the latest HD codecs wouldn't always cost $380, but we certainly didn't expect a cheaper alternative in two weeks. Of course price and HDMI audio capabilities aren't the only factors when choosing a video card for your HTPC, so you might want to keep waiting -- you know another few weeks -- for a version that doesn't take up two of your card slots for a fan that is no doubt anything but quiet. Anandtech is predicting you might have to wait another year for the perfect HTPC video card in the way of the 5600 series.[Via Missing Remote]