ifa 2009
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Videociety VOD service uses Blu-ray players with BD-Live
German production house Enteractive is readying its Blu-ray Java disc powered service Videociety that turns any BD-Live enabled Blu-ray player into an Internet delivered VOD box. Still unknown is what resolution movies will be offered in and which ones, although h.264 compression (with Dolby Digital 2.0 or 5.1 soundtracks) is confirmed, and the company has access to 400 films from sister companies Splendid Film, Polyband and WVG Media and negotiations with other major and independent studios are ongoing. Just like Netflix's Watch Instantly, movies are queued from a PC or iPhone, then streamed to the Blu-ray player once the disc is inserted. Anyone else hoping that if this works well it gets picked up outside of Germany after the official launch at IFA in September?[Via Blu-ray.com]
Sony to finally unveil larger-screen OLED TVs at IFA?
We've been waiting for what seems like ages for the next iteration of the XEL-1 to dash in and swoop us off of our feet, but frankly, we're growing anxious. As the world waits for a commercial-ready OLED TV that's larger than a standard sheet of paper, industry insiders down at the IFA briefings in Malta this past week believe that Sony could be gearing up to make all sorts of hopes and dreams come true this September. Jens Heithecker, executive director of Messe Berlin, which organizes the IFA trade fair, noted that "IFA is a trade show which is focused more on market-ready technologies," hinting that anything we see in just a few short months will be prepared for release into the wild. We're also told that more "ultra-widescreen" 21:9 sets -- like Philips' masterpiece -- could be on display, not to mention scores of internet-ready HDTVs and a Samsung set with refresh rates of 400Hz. Needless to say, IFA's shaping up to be quite a show for the television sector, so you may want to think twice (or thrice, if necessary) about snagging a new panel on August 31st.[Via OLED-Info]
