Rumors of hybrid HD DVD/Blu-ray players resurfacing
Blu-ray and HD DVD players and movies can now be easily found on store shelves. As expected, sales of the players so far have been less than stellar. Could consumers be holding out for hybrid players? Taiwanese hardware makers think so, as some are once again pushing the concept of players that can play discs [...]
EVD, the Chinese DVD alternative Part 2
After its previously failed attempts at attracting consumers, it was announced yesterday that the EVD, or Enhanced Versatile Disc, is being rereleased in a new massive campaign to promote the alternative Chinese technology.
It was first released in 2003 but, was later later dropped due to a lack of demand from consumers and also [...]
Blockbuster cuts cheapest online DVD rental plan
Blockbuster, the No 1 video rental store chain in the United States, has withdrawn its lowest online-subscription price and is testing a program to allow its online subscribers to exchange DVDs at company stores as well as by mail.
Blockbuster, which has waged a price-cutting war against Netflix and others, decided to end a test plan [...]
Invention: Smart-card DVDs
CDs and DVDs have been around for a while, nevertheless, American-Israeli company Aladdin think it can breathe new life into these formats by creating a disc that combines optical storage capacity with an embedded electronic smart card chip.
The irregularly-shaped “XCD” is the thickness of a normal optical disc and can still play in any CD [...]
Retailers pressure studios on Web deals
National retailers that control the lucrative DVD market are pressuring Hollywood studios to give them the same favorable deals being offered to Web-based download services such as Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes.
The latest expression of concern from retailers was a letter sent to studios by the president of Target Corp.
The letter warned that Target might have [...]
BitTorrent Is Encouraged
The word on the tech-street is that the co-founder of BitTorrent, Ashwin Navin, believes that DRM is not the answer to legal online video services. I completely agree with him on this opinion.
DRM encourages the use of BitTorrent to get your “money’s worth”. Why are consumers being punished and disabled from using the [...]
Patent Sought for Tri-Format DVD
A patent application has been filed for a disc that would play two competing high-definition DVD formats. If successful, the disc could help resolve a battle that has divided Hollywood and confounded consumers.
The patent application was filed by three Warner Bros. employees, two of whom are engineers for the company.
The “multilayer dual optical disk” would [...]
Get Ready For Online Video Price Wars
With Apple and Amazon about to throw their hat in the ring, existing players are looking to fight back with price cuts and content promos that will suck the profits out of the legal video download business.
The first salvo in what will be a brutal price war is being fired by San Francisco-based Guba, which [...]
DVD giveaways signal woes of once-booming format
British newspapers are now giving away free as many DVDs as are being purchased in stores, revealing a stealth contributing factor to the decline of Hollywood’s cash cow format.
The cover-mounted DVD giveaways, which have included “Prizzi’s Honor” and “Donnie Darko,” devalue the format in the eyes of consumers, one-quarter of whom said they would have [...]
Movie transfers to DVDs to become easier
DVD Copy Control Association will expand license to online merchants.
A film industry group is set to remove some of the procedural hurdles that prevented the legal recording of movies onto blank DVDs in a further sign that Hollywood studios are preparing to expand what consumers can do with downloadable movies.
Under rule changes expected to be [...]
