Archive for: blue-ray
- December 15, 2009 4:08 pm
Increasing reports of broken, defective, and all out f’d up 27″ iMac display problems aside, sometimes we just want to use that 2560 x 1440 of super hi-def goodness for things other than your typical computing needs. For starters, Blu-ray on such a screen would be a great start. Don’t have a hi-def TV or are tired of looking at two different screens — one for TV one for computing? Thankfully Apogee will soon be debuting their own HDMI to mDP adapter that will allow you oh so lucky 27″ iMac users to fully make use of that brothel of pixels waiting for a good flogging.
A few things worth knowing such as price and availability are for now unknown. But come on, do you really need to even think about buying this? With the big uptick in functionality added to your iMac, you can’t afford not to pick this up. Why have both a computer and TV when your iMac now serves as computer, blue-ray player, gaming screen, etc. etc.?
The only caveat I can find at the moment is that support is limited to the current gen 27″ iMac. While the 21.5 incher as well as the previous iMac generations would love to benefit from such an adapter as well, the focus of most of everyone’s lust is aimed solely at that 27″ behemoth is it not?
Electronista
- December 10, 2009 12:24 pm
Attention all big media exec’s and content owners: This is how you need to continue conducting business….
The digital hipsters and modern age, forward thinking individuals have come under fire the last several years from big media corporations and content owners for their disdain for physical products and embracing of digital counterparts. Going the digital route means companies shouldn’t be charging the same due to much lower distribution costs and practically non-existent shipping costs. But that’s an argument for another time for today the big story is Amazon’s “Disc + On Demand” offering. The concept is simple, and frankly, I’m shocked that it’s taken this long for someone, anyone to market such a deal. For Amazon’s Disc On Demand service, whenever you purchase a supported Blu-ray or DVD, buyers are also able to immediately stream a digital version of their just purchased movie via Amazon Video on Demand. If you don’t feel like streaming it and don’t have the time to rip the physical copy yourself, you can always download the digital copy for playback on your PC, Mac, or TiVo.
See, simple and effective. This should have been breaking news years ago. But I stopped hoping for change from the likes of Hollywood studios and other media entities long ago. Could this be the sign that they are finally waking up to the digital world? So Disc + On Demand is a big step in the right direction. But it isn’t quite perfect.
- Amazon Disc + On Demand is being marketed as a “limited time offer”. If Amazon or the supporting studios were intelligent at all, they’d make this permanent. One other thing to take into consideration is that the “limited offer” verbiage could simply be there to spur more sales — especially with the holiday shopping season in full swing, such a conclusion isn’t too hard to fathom.
- Currently, the selection of titles that feature Disc + On Demand are but a pittance of Amazon’s overall video catalog
Not deal breakers but certainly things to consider and keep a watchful eye on. Think it’s a good deal — one that could even make you buy more movies than normal?
[Amazon
Mashable > NewTeeVee
[Image Source]
Remember high school and all of the various fads and gimmicks that flowed like water out of dam? Ya, it was that evident. Such a comparison can be made with the latest digital rip off titled (politically correct title that is) “Blu-ray Managed Copies”. Essentially it is another way movie studios and labels somehow get away with controlling how we use our purchased content. The way this service works is when copying a Blue-ray disc, the player sends out a signal to the “mother ship” via the internet. That mother ship/server will then relay back to your player the specifics to make the copy and authorize it. Sounds like a legitimate solution that should appease both sides right? Wrong. Epic failure in fact.
No, I didn’t misplace a zero. The simulation racing game that has spanned the ages of video gaming time packs a wallop in the latest installment, Gran Turismo 5. $60 million is a lot of money, especially considering it was spent on a single video game. Now I’m not to deep in development costs for other big gaming titles, but I’m surprised to say the least. I’ve been playing Gran Turismo since v2 and have loved every minute….and then Forza came along. In order to keep a Forza vs. GT flame war, I must stress that each game has it’s pro’s and cons. Gran Turismo 5 is graphical eye candy at it’s finest. No game on any platform has ever come away looking so realistic (relative to the time period of course) than GT. Boundaries and hardware are constantly pushed to the limit. Forza on the other hand has the one up with real physics/damage modeling that brings a completely different level of realness that GT has lacked. Though several months back, shots of GT running with damage modeling inside surfaced leading many GT enthusiasts to finally have something to compete with their Forza frenemies. In the end, both games are worth of a spot in your collection. I wonder just how much Forza 3 cost to develop. Anyone care to wager a guess?
What would you do with $60 million?
Geek
No this isn’t some sly Pizza Hut advertisement or reference as JVC’s latest player to get announced literally has everything under one roof — VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. I stopped watching VHS movies a long, long time ago. Heck, getting spoiled day in and day out with 1080p HD means whenever I do happen to stumble upon a VHS viewing I’m left wanting so much more. But not everyone loves all HD or simply loves those golden oldies that have never made the crossover to digital. For that, VHS is still your medium of choice. Since pretty much all major manufacturers abandon VHS players recently, thrift stores and refurbs were the only channels left to pick up such a player. Not wanting to miss a marketing opportunity nor alienate a fairly large customer base that JVC realizes still exists, the JVC Trifecta player was born. While not the real name (which is the DR-BH250 — see, mine is better), it’s fitting as this new mashup from JVC features the three main physical video formats in use today, again, VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. No matter what type of movie you have in your collection, if you have this player, you should be set.
I’ve been playing on this whole trifecta thing (hey, I like the word) but there’s one more gem tucked away inside. A 250GB hard drive comes as back up giving you umpteen options to defy movie labels and make every kind of physical and digital copy of your movies that you want. Whether you want to go from VHS -> HDD or DVD -> to Blu-ray etc. your options are covered. Other specs that might tickle your fancy include 1080/60p/24p HD support, BD-Live w/ BONUSVIEW, and AVCHD support. As far as actually connecting all of this tom foolery to your display, you’re presented with a few options: 1 USB port, HDMI CEC interface, and an SD/SDHC card slot. Whataya think? $1,400 + the cost of traveling to Japan to purchase one too much? Ooooh yeah. About that. Release in Japan is scheduled for next month, Novermber. Other countries are left out in the cold as for now there aren’t any exporting plans. Bummer. Better start booking those tickets.
CrunchGear
Great jumping Jehoshaphat. HD Wii! Hear that? Oh you missed it? That’s because it was the sound of a single, tiny grain of salt hitting the floor. Which signals how you should treat this rumor. According to a “very reliable source” of Logic-Sunrise (Google translated), the 2nd gen Wii, for now cleverly named “Wii 2″ will debut in 2010.
The main rumored feature that stands out is the Blu-ray support and hardware support for both 720p and 1080p. Sweet. Finally some HD. I know the Wii is still more popular than the Xbox 360 or PS3, but I’m just not into video games made in 2009 that still feature characters with blockheads ala late 90′s games. The whole jumping around and waving my arms like a mad man doesn’t strike my fancy either. I want eye candy and graphical power.
We know Nintendo has to embrace modern graphics and technology at some point unless they plan on jumping out of this whole gaming business all together. But somehow I just don’t think that’s on their future projection charts littering HQ do you?
CrunchGear
Remember that bit of Steve Ballmer loose lip that went down many hours prior to this very second? During an interview, Steve was quoted as saying not specifically saying that Xbox 360 hardware was to see Blu-ray add-on accessories, but that if the Xbox were to get Blu-ray, it would be via external forms. Many including myself took this as a sort of admission by omission if you know what I mean. Side stepping hot topics often leaves the Balms in a stuttering incoherent state, this wasn’t anything new.
Well, I’ve got a spoiler for ya. According to Major Nelson, during the now infamous interview, Steve Ballmer was apparently referring to Blue-ray accessories for PC’s. Case closed. No Xbox/Blu-ray love. Though Major Nelson does go on to highlight the importance of the Xbox platforms upcoming support for 1080p HD streaming — a first I believe.
So are you broken hearted? Or did you give up physical media years ago?
Major Nelson
Image Source
**Update: Ya, not so much. ‘ol Stevie was off his rocker and was probably confused. That’s what Major Nelson is saying anyway.
Thank you Mr. Steve “The Balms” Ballmer for your clownish persona and loose lips. You may have just given us some hope for ways of enjoying HD content other than Xbox live. In an interview with Gizmodo’s Wilson Rothman, Steve Ballmer says the following when questioned about the potential for Blu-ray support coming to the Xbox line:
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.
Well, cat’s outta the bag on that one. While PR is busy with damage control and trying to hopelessly conceal any Xbox Blue-ray support by way of the typical “we have no plans excuse”, we can simply turn to Steve Ballmer for any undying questions we have. The Balms speaks no lie.
Of course, Ballmer isn’t exactly the most eloquent speaker nor does he seem to always have a firm grasp on internal operations. This revelation by Ballmer could also be a simple statement taken the wrong way. For example, claiming that we’d have to have an external Blu-ray drive could simply mean that there is absolutely “Zero” chances of every seeing the most requested feature offered internally.
Clearly there is plenty of room for interpretation and speculation. I would love to see a Blu-ray drive as I have a growing collection. Though being a digital person myself, the digital only method makes more sense. Who wants to be tied to a physical format? Of course, if I’m to truly embrace going completely digital, companies and “content owners” are going to have to stop being the assholes they currently are and allow to copy my legally paid for digital content. In reality, I do it anyway. So they don’t have to let me. Though doing so without fear of prosecution might help me sleep at night.
Gizmodo
- September 21, 2009 7:07 am
PS3 owners, have you experienced any issues with your console, specifically an illuminated yellow light that signals your unit is as good as dead? If you do, you’re not alone according to BBC and apparently even Sony, though the latter will beg to differ. After a BBC Watchdog program investigating the (increasing?) number of “Yellow Light of Death” occurrences on Sony’s PS3 went live, Sony naturally responded not so lovingly strongly denying the claims. First off, what exactly is the problem? The reason the show highlighting this YLoD even went on air was because over 150 PS3 owners had contacted BBC on the matter stating that their unit stopped working after a yellow light on the PS3 lit up rendering their console a big fancy paperweight. BBC goes even further in their documentary stating that of 2.5m PS3′s sold in the UK since March 2007, up to 12,500 PS3′s have been returned because of this so called YLoD. While not as widespread as the Xbox 360′s RRoD that made it’s rounds a couple years ago, the YLoD appears to be a legitimate problem. Or is it?
