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Kaleidescape DVD servers granted a temporary stay
Things have been looking bleak for Kaleidescape's DVD servers since a Judge ruled against them on appeal, and earlier this month issued an injunction that was to have taken effect on April 8th. We say was because CEO Michael Malcolm is now saying the California 6th District Court of Appeal has issued a temporary stay of that injunction. The court is still deciding whether or not to stay the injunction during the entire process, a decision Malcolm says could affect whether or not the company survives or has to lay people off. While the current case does not affect Kaleidescape's tethered Blu-ray servers, it's tiring to hear about all this from the DVD CCA over a DRM scheme that was cracked wide open so long ago, and a case that had appeared to be over.
Netflix snags DVD.com domain, invests in the future of optical media
Looking for a shortcut to Netflix's home on the web? Try hitting up DVD.com -- it'll take you there, for now. The latest address to join the family of Netflix redirects actually brings you to a subdomain -- dvd.netflix.com -- suggesting that the company could once again be planning to split its streaming and physical media services, at least from an access perspective. A shareholder letter lists the company's U.S. DVD subscriptions at 11.17 million at the end of Q4, bringing in a total of $370 million in revenue, with a profit of $194 million. Compare this to domestic streaming, which represents $476 million in revenue with a mere $52 million profit, and it's clear that the DVD rental market is still quite strong. So what could this latest domain acquisition mean for snail mail subscribers? DVD-only customers may soon have a new site to call home, with focused content and perhaps an upsell opportunity or two. At the very least, it certainly can't hurt when it comes to SEO.
Digiboo kiosk video service launches, opts for USB drives instead of DVDs
Judging by its quirky name, you'd think Digiboo is anything but an à la carte video service hoping to fight it out with the famed Redbox, or even Qwikster Netflix. The outfit's kiosks allow you to grab a two-day rental from a 700-plus film menu for $3.99, while $14.99 makes any title yours to own. Here's the interesting part -- rather than getting a DVD for your cash, though, you'll insert a flash drive to download your movie in as little as "30 seconds." Digiboo's setting up shop at airports in Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul to start, but mum's the word on its plans for expansion. Taking a trip over to P-Town anytime soon? Be sure to let us know your results if you happen to try it out.
Panasonic prices 2012 Blu-ray lineup, high-end units due in May
Panasonic has officially priced-out its 2012 Blu-ray player lineup announced back at CES, and it includes no fewer than six boxes (and price-points) for you to choose from. Four of the new players -- ranging in price from $150 to $350 -- are capable of playing your favorite Blu-ray flicks in 3D and come with Panasonic's Viera Connect service, which provides access to online content from Amazon, Hulu and Netflix and a host of applications including Facebook, Skype and Twitter. The 2D models -- which range from $90 to $120 -- aren't left out in the cold when it comes to connectivity, and include IP VOD support for streaming web-content. What's more, the entire 2012 lineup is DLNA-enabled, can be controlled via a smartphone app and, with the exception of the DMP-BD77, has WiFi built-in. Four of the six units are available for purchase immediately, but you're going to have to wait until May if you're interested in the two higher-end models. Mosey on past the break to view the full press release.
Redbox notches its second billion rentals, offers freebies Thursday to celebrate
It took six years for Redbox to cross the one billion discs rented mark, but clearly the pace is picking up as it's taken only 18 months to duplicate the feat. Sure, two billion is no 25 billion, but at least the red kiosk company isn't only going to share the love with the milestone maker who just wanted to check out Ryan Gosling in Drive. Thursday, all customers can pick up a free DVD rental (Blu-ray and videogame rentals will just be discounted by the price of a DVD) courtesy of a promo code that can be found on the company's Facebook page, hit the giveaway link below to snag it.
Redbox deal with Universal keeps DVDs, Blu-rays on 28-day delay through 2014
So far, Redbox has maintained that it's only willing to delay rentals of new releases a maximum of one month, but while Warner pushes for a longer window the rental kiosk chain has reached an agreement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The new deal keeps the delay window at 28 days, and promises to keep the discs flowing through August 2014. Despite Redbox's threat to start offering Warner movies day and date due to their dispute, so far it's still taken a couple of weeks for new releases like Harold & Kumar and J Edgar to make their way into kiosks. So far there's no word of other studios backing Warner's push for a 56-day delay between the date movies go on sale at retail and the earliest budget renters like Redbox and Netflix will offer them, which is a good sign. Not mentioned in the press release? Whether or not this deal could affect the availability of content for Redbox's internet streaming service that's on the way with Verizon.
Currys launches 'Knowhow Movies' VOD service / money-pit
Today, Dixons Retail plc (Currys, PC World) and Rovi launch a UK-based VOD service under the retail giant's Knowhow paid-support brand (think: Geek Squad with more overcharging). You'll be able to buy and download movies and TV to your Windows PC or stream them to a Mac using Rovi's DivX technology with adaptive streaming. The platform is promised to swell to include smart TVs, Blu-Ray players, tablets, consoles and smartphones through 2012. You'll be able to register up to five devices with the service and switch between them as you wish, as long as everything's connected to the internet. Selected movies are available to rent for around £3 ($5), or can be bought in SD/HD for £13 ($21) / £18 ($29). Just as an FYI for consumers planning on signing up: most of the titles are available to buy on DVD for around two-thirds of that price, if you can bear to wait a couple of days.
Dragon Age: Redemption hits DVD on Felicia Day; er, Valentine's Day
Let's skip the formalities and just say it: BioWare wants you to buy Felicia Day for Valentine's Day. No, not buy something for her, but purchase Felicia Day herself. And no, not in any illegal or gross sense of the word -- Dragon Age: Redemption, the six-part webseries available on Machinima's YouTube channel since October, is coming out in DVD form on February 14, complete with behind-the-scenes extras, a commentary track and blooper reel.Dragon Age: Redemption parallels the story in Dragon Age 2's digital add-on, Mark of the Assassin, which features Day as an elf who assassinates things. Or, as Flatiron Film Company describes both forms of media, Felicia Day cosplaying!
Latest Kaleidescape tentative judgement could mean the end of untethered disc servers
The thing about the American civil court system is you can almost never stop looking over your shoulder, even when you thought you won. Things get appealed and what was a favorable ruling can become your worst nightmare five years later. That's what the folks at Kaleidescape are facing if the latest tentative judgement in its case vs the DVD Copy Control Association, which licenses DVD's defunct copy protection, CSS. Last time around Kaleidescape was on the other side of the ruling with the Judge agreeing that there was no violation of any terms of service. This time around? Not so much. It would mean a shift in legal DVD servers, but we'd imagine Blu-ray takes up most of the market by now anyway. Currently Kaleidescape's Blu-ray products authenticate the disc is in the vault before playing, and its CEO has testified modifications could be made to the DVD products within a few months. So with Managed Copy being DOA and UltraViolet being anything but disappointing to anyone, days without keeping track of discs to watch the movies you own seems like a fairy tale -- legally anyways.
PowerDVD 12 brings syncing and transcoding for mobile devices
It's been less than a year since CyberLink revealed PowerDVD 11 and now along comes PowerDVD 12. Among the new features in 12 is the ability to sync media -- we can only assume this excludes protected content -- to PowerDVD Mobile for Android as well as automatically transcode videos for most of the popular mobile devices. Said mobile clients are only free, though, if you opt of the $99 Ultra version of PowerDVD. PowerDVD Mobile is available for everyone else for $19.99, as well as PowerDVD Remote for $4.99. Overall it seems like an iterative update that might not hit the spot at $45 (for an upgrade), but there are other new features like OGG and FLAC support that might just push you over the edge.
Redbox refuses to push Warner movie delay to 56 days, will rent flicks as they go on sale
Two years after bending to Warner's demands and delaying its kiosk rentals 28 days in exchange for lower acquisition costs and a steady supply of Blu-ray discs, Redbox announced the agreement has expired. This comes as a result of Warner's desire to extend the delay between the time movies are available for purchase to the time they can be rented in kiosks or by subscription to 56 days, and instead Redbox will go back to buying the studio's movies at retail -- coincidentally, it has renewed its lease agreement with Walmart for 3,700 retail locations for three more years. While that means more expense and possibly unsure supply for Redbox -- we'll wait and see if retailer interference is an issue again -- the good news for consumers is that for the time being, they'll have the choice of renting as soon as movies go on sale. The first flick affected by the new reality is A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, so until Warner backs off, or Redbox blinks once its streaming service comes into play, then go forth and enjoy those $1.10 rentals freely.[Thanks, Stephen]
Hitachi to halt domestic production of Wooo LCD and plasma TVs, Mitsubishi to axe optical discs?
Hitachi's line of domestically produced Wooo TVs is coming to an end, now that the manufacturer has confirmed plans to close a major plant in central Japan. In an announcement issued today, Hitachi said it will shutter its factory in Gifu, where some 100,000 LCD and plasma TVs are produced each month. Citing industry-wide price competition as the deciding factor, the company went on to clarify that the facility will shut down by September of this year, and that it will instead be used to manufacture projectors and chips. Hitachi will, however, continue to offer non-Wooo TVs manufactured by non-Japanese contractors. Japan's Asahi Shimbun, meanwhile, is reporting that Mitsubishi has decided to terminate domestic production of DVDs and Blu-Rays, due to declining sales of each. From now on, optical disc manufacturing will instead be outsourced to partner companies in India and Taiwan. For more details, check out the post-break press release.
Warner Bros. pushing movie delays from 28 to 56 days for Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster?
While HBO is reportedly not supplying DVDs directly to its rival Netflix, Warner Bros. is apparently flexing its muscle by working out agreements that will keep new release movies away from Blockbuster, Netflix and Redbox renters. This news comes from anonymous sources dropping a dime in the ear of AllThingsD's Peter Kafka, who reports the arrangements will be announced at CES, not long after Warner extended the window for Blockbuster to match the other two. This news comes at the same time Time Warner's CFO John Martin remarked upon "alternate" distribution channels as a way for it to move through a more challenging home video market. That means the company is focusing on things like day-and-date VOD releases with disc which it's seeking to protect from competition by cut-rate rental services like these three, likely by leveraging their desire for content to feed streaming movie offerings. According to Home Media Magazine, he believes the industry has "got to embrace these higher margin opportunities" -- which is probably going to leave just the older flicks in its 7,000 movie deep library for the rest of us trying to watch via subscription or $1~ rentals. Update: Bloomberg reports Redbox has denied reaching any revised agreement, and that its deal with Warner still calls for a 28-day delay only. We'll likely find out what the deal is in a few days, so stay tuned.
HBO to Netflix: you'll need to buy our DVDs elsewhere, pal
Netflix has made no bones about the fact that it's competing (hard) with HBO, and it seems that the sentiment is the same on the other side. According to CNET, HBO has stopped providing Netflix with DVDs of its shows. Of course, the freedom to purchase from other legitimate resellers has enabled Netflix to keep the discs flying, but it's no longer able to source 'em directly from the Box Office's warehouse. The deal supposedly went into effect at the start of this year, but it's unlikely that you'll ever notice; as the story goes, Netflix will have to pay slightly more to procure them elsewhere, but it's mostly a symbolic move by HBO to ruffle the feathers of Reed Hastings and co. Oh, and if you thought the same luxuries found in HBO Go would ever find its way to Netflix's streaming department, we'd ask that you share a little of your optimism with the rest of the world.
Pioneer unveils world's smallest and lightest external Blu-ray burner
When describing the current fleet of BD burners on the market, one word that certainly doesn't come to mind -- sleek. Pioneer is aiming to change all that, though, with the BDR-XD04. What it lacks in a catchy name it makes up for with a slim and light clamshell design that doesn't make too many sacrifices in the features department. At just under 8.5oz and 0.55 inches thick, it puts most of its competitors to shame. Now, it settles for just a 6x write speed and skips USB 3.0 in favor of the more common (and slower) 2.0, but it is capable of drawing power entirely from your machines peripheral ports. (Though, you'll have the option of hooking up an AC adapter if you wish.) And don't worry about format support -- the BDR-XD04 will handle everything from quad-layer 128GB BD-Rs to old-school CDs with aplomb. The slim new burner will start shipping in the middle of this month for $150. Full PR is after the break.
VidaBox Media Servers add metadata support for XBMC, Popcorn Hour and others
We wouldn't expect for upper-crust aimed media server setups like the ones offered by VidaBox to play nicely with the common rabble, but apparently that's just what is going on. With the click of a check box, its "Drop-n-Rip" Blu-ray and DVD archiving now includes cover art and other metadata compatible with third party streamers including Popcorn Hour, HDI Dune, TViX, XBMC, Sage TV and others. This probably won't drop the cost of a custom installed setup by much, but if you have one and want to bring your own extender hardware (similar to its recent iPad support) into the mix, it should be a simple upgrade.
Gamers spending more time streaming video to their consoles, Nielsen finds
Nielsen, the purveyor of all things statistical and demographic, published a new study this week on game console usage within the US. According to the report, released on Wednesday, gamers this year spent notably more time streaming video to their consoles than they did in 2010, due in large part to the growing availability of services like Netflix, Hulu, MLB Network and ESPN3. Xbox 360 users spent 14 percent of their console time streaming video this year (compared with ten percent last year), PlayStation 3 owners devoted 15 percent (nine percent in 2010), and Nintendo Wii users spent a whopping 33 percent -- a 13 percent increase over last year's study. Each console, moreover, seems to appeal to different functions. Xbox 360 users, for example, devoted 34 percent of their time to online gaming, Wii owners spent 55 percent of their console time on offline gaming, and the PS3 was the device of choice for DVD and Blu-Ray viewing, comprising 22 percent of usage. Overall, Nielsen found that usage increased by seven percent over the last year across all three platforms, which suggests that streaming may be keeping us glued to our consoles for even longer. Read more at the source link below.
Samsung SE-208BW SmartHub packs DVD writer, we ask why then take it for a spin (video)
Is there any better way to ring in 2012 than to drop 129 bills on a shiny new wireless-enabled DVD burner? Absolutely. But if your New Year's resolution includes archiving smartphone pics to optical media and steaming DVD flicks over WiFi, Samsung is prepared to make those nostalgic dreams a reality, with its SE-208BW SmartHub. The premise here is quite familiar -- little black box takes content from an attached storage device and streams it to connected devices over WiFi, or over the Web. Samsung's twist on the traditional model brings optical media into the equation, however, with a CD/DVD burner enabling music and movie playback, along with remote file archival. You'll need to wait until late January (or perhaps early February) before introducing Samsung's shiny streamer to your wired or wireless network, but we got an early look at the new DLNA-enabled gadget today. If you've used an external DVD burner made in the last decade, you're already familiar with the form-factor employed here -- there's a slim disk tray up front, with full-size and mini USB connectors, Ethernet and a DC input on the rear. This is strictly a streaming device, so there's no HDMI or other AV connectivity -- you'll need to use an Android, iOS or smart TV app, along with Samsung AllShare or an FTP client to access content. We tried steaming 720p video and a few photos using the Android app and the AllShare application included with most recent Samsung devices, and everything worked as expected, with content loading quickly without any hiccups. You can access files on a connected HDD or USB flash drive remotely from the built-in FTP server, but you'll need to use Samsung's apps to stream DVDs and music CDs from that built-in optical drive, or to burn smartphone pics or other remote files to a blank disc. You can view content directly on your smartphone or tablet, or on a connected TV, using the former device to control playback. The hub also serves as an internet bridge, so you won't lose web access when connected directly over WiFi. There's nothing groundbreaking here, unless the absence of an optical drive has been keeping you from adding such a device to your collection, but jump past the break to see it in action.%Gallery-141063%
Blockbuster Express kiosks hike rental rates to keep offering new movies
In a continuation of the worst fad ever, it appears NCR's Blockbuster Express kiosk biz is the latest to come down with a case of price hike-itis, following competitors Redbox and Netflix. Of course the cause behind this is the studios, who are pushing for higher rates on new release movies or delayed windows. The 3-2-1 pricing structure it has been testing kicks in on "Hot Movies" in the first month they're available (sound familiar?), renting for $3 the first night (additional nights are still just $1 each, Blu-ray discs still cost $1 extra the first night), dropping to $2 after a month and then to $1 after 90 days. Expect the squeeze to be continually and evenly applied to your video rental options as long as Hollywood believes it increases sales.
Lego CD / DVD ripper lets you drop your physical media -- literally (video)
If the only thing standing between you and a full abandonment of physical media is the tedious task of ripping all of your CDs and DVDs, boy have we got the Lego-based gadget for you. Paul Rea whipped up this little beauty -- it's an Arduino-powered Lego arm that swings to pick up a disc, deposit it in the drive and then drop it (perhaps a bit too literally) into a finished pile. It's not quite perfect -- the arm is a bit loud as it moves, and anyone who's ever owned CDs or DVDs may likely grimace as the thing tosses finished discs into a pile, but it's an entertaining break from what can ultimately prove an arduous task.
