As always we bring you this week’s ad prices for Blu-ray movies and players from major retailers.
Circuit City has the cheapest prices for new releases Starship Troopers for $22.99 and Starship Troopers 3: Marauders for $27.99. Best Buy has a 2 for $30 deal when you buy any two of the following titles: Hellboy, The Patriot: Extended Cut, Black Hawk Down, and The Fifth Element. Finally both Circuit City and Best Buy will give you John Mayer: Where The Light Is for free with the purchase of the Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray player for $399.99
See all of this week’s prices after the jump
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Tags: Blu-ray Deals
It looks like Netflix users will have to pony up an extra dollar or two to be able to rent Blu-ray movies as the rental company’s CEO mentioned earlier this week would happen really soon. EngadgetHD is reporting some Netflix members have been notified of a $1 per month charge (plus taxes) while others say they’ve been notified the charge will be $2. Regardless of which two amounts is correct, this change will come within a month and we really don’t the see this increase as reason enough to cancel a membership.
[EngadgetHD]
Tags: Netflix
We just can’t seem to get enough of LG’s BD300 since it was introduced just yesterday. First we got pictures, now Crave gives us their hands-on impression of the new Blu-ray player.
Among their impressions, they note that the Netflix functionality is identical to that of a standalone Roku Netflix Player. You load up an “Instant” queue on your Netflix account, pair the LG player to your account, and then begin watching the movie or tv show as it streams using your broadband connection. Other features includes the ‘home’ button on the remote that give you instant access to the most common features such as Netflix, as seen in the picture above. The LG BD300 will also stream music and pictures from networked PCs or flash drives plugged into its front panel USB port.
Click the link below to see more details.
[Crave]
Tags: Blu-ray Players, LG, LG BD300
According to a new consumer survey by ABI Research, over half of the 1000 respondents said they had ‘other priorities and have no plans to purchase a Blu-ray player in the near future; about 23% said they would likely purchase one in 2009.
According to ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson, this response can be attributed to consumer’s perception of the value propisition that Blu-ray holds. Wilson notes that with DVD technology, consumers did not have to purchase a new TV as most do with a Blu-ray player, namely an HDTV. Additionally he says, “While half of the respondents to our survey rated Blu-ray’s quality as ‘much better’ than standard DVD, another 40-percent termed it only ‘somewhat better,’ and most are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players”
Wilson expects the price of entry-level Blu-ray players to remain at the $300 price point, with retailers using Blu-ray movie bundles to attract potential buyers. Just like we reported a couple days ago, he points out the success of the PS3 and notes that owners purchase just as many movies as those with standalone Blu-ray players.
[MarketWatch]
Tags: ABI, Blu-ray News
Yesterday we brought you the news of LG’s BD300 Blu-ray player that will be capable of streaming Netflix movies. Today Gizmodo has the first pictures of this new player. We also get a glimpse at the interface where you’ll be able to select your Netflix movie streams. The itself is slim and comparable in size to other Blu-ray players. The LG BD300 is one sweet looking player!
Check out all the pictures after the jump
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Tags: Blu-ray Players, LG, LG BD300, Netflix
The X-Files: I Want to Believe has just hit theaters but producer and co-writer Frank Spotnitz along with director Chris Carter are still exploring the capabilities of the Blu-ray format as they work on the movie’s planned Blu-ray release.
Spotnitz said, “I had no idea what Blu-ray could do. I thought it was just a higher-definition picture, but it’s much more than that. We are trying to think of every possible way to exploit the Blu-ray medium. Those discussions are still continuing. We’ve been working on the Blu-ray and the DVD release for months already. It’s going to be packed with a lot of bonus features.”
Although, Spotnitz said details will be confirmed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, he did share some some of the extras that will be included. “There will be a gag reel; a making of, as there always are; multiple commentaries; both audio and video that you can access in a unique way because its Blu-ray,” Spotnitz said. “We are going to take advantage of the online feature in a way we haven’t determined yet.”
[HomeMediaMagazine]
Tags: Blu-ray Movies, X-Files
According to Asia Pacific VP Tim Meade for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE), market reports in the US show that the worldwide sales ratio of Blu-ray movies to DVDs will reach an estimated 40:60 in 2010. Furthermore he says this indicates sales volume of Blu-ray movies may surpass DVD by 2011.
Meade is basing this on rise of Blu-ray’s market share among all formats from 9% at the end of 2007 to 25% by the end of this year. Meade noted the sales volume of Blu-ray players in the US and Europe increased on year by four times and six times respectively, during the first half of 2008.
It’s great to see Blu-ray’s market share increase so drastically in such a short period of time. Looks like Sony’s marketing strategies are working nicely.
[DigiTimes]
Tags: Blu-ray News, Sony
DISH Network announced today they’ll begin offering 1080p Video-On-Demand in addition to 114 national HD channels beginning in August. The most interesting part of the announcement is that DISH says 1080p VOD service will be ‘the same as Blu-ray quality’. More about that in a minute. To celebrate ‘this new era in the high definition viewing experience’, DISH Network will begin offering I Am Legend in 1080p as a pay-per-view offering.
Now, DISH Network’s claim that their 1080p VOD will be the ’same as Blu-ray quality’ must be clarified. Satellite companies such DISH Network and DirecTV, who will also add 1080p programming this year, need to conserve broadcast space. Therefore, 1080p broadcasts will have a video bitrate that’s less than half of what a typical Blu-ray title requires for perfect video reproduction, resulting in pixelation during scenes with a lot of movement. On the audio side, while Blu-ray titles offer PCM, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Audio while satellite broadcasts only use 5.1 Dolby Digital for audio soundtracks.
Fact is that satellite broadcasts can not compare to the true high-def experience of Blu-ray. DISH Network is trying to use Blu-ray’s name for their own benefit that will undoubtedly cause further confusion for consumers. DishNetwork has not responded to requests for clarification on their statement.
[DishNetwork] via [Blu-ray]
Tags: Blu-ray News, Dish Network, VOD
Taiwanese distributor, Deltamac, has sold over 25,000 Blu-ray movies in Taiwan from their 120 available titles. With additional titles available and the expected price drops of Blu-ray players, sales volume may reach 100,000 Blu-ray discs in 2009, Deltamac pointed out. Asia Pacific vice president Tim Meade for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment pointed out that 5.64 million Blu-ray movies have been sold worldwide in 2008, adding up to 11 million sold since the format’s inception.
[digitimes]
Tags: Blu-ray News, Detamac
LG Electronics and Netflix have announced the first Blu-ray player that allows Netflix members to stream more than 12,000 standard definition movies and television shows. The price of the BD300 will be “well under $500″ when it’s released this September.
Netflix members will not be charged any additional fees, apart from their monthly paid subscription. Members will add movies to their individual instant queues through the Netflix website. When selected from the TV, movies will then begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. Using the BD300’s remote control, users can browse, make selections, read synopses, rate movies, and fast-forward / rewind video streams. The BD300 will support BD Live and LG’s SimpLink technology to integrate with LG TVs and AV products.
[AkihabaraNews]
Tags: Blu-ray Players, LG, LG BD300, Netflix
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