blu-ray - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Sony cranks up optical disc storage to 3.3TB

  Optical discs like Blu-ray are losing favor, but Sony and Panasonic don't seem to care. The companies have cranked up the storage capacity on optical media to a stunning 3.3TB.

• Sony announces first 3D Blu-ray Disc players

  Sony took a lead in pushing 3D movies to homes, announcing on Wednesday a new Blu-ray Disc player and upgrades to existing players so that they will be able to show high-definition 3D movies too.

• Blu-ray tanks in PCs

  Despite a rapid rise in the sale of consumer Blu-ray Disc players due to a drop in prices and an increase in high-definition movie content, Blu-ray players in PCs are not seeing any significant increase in sales, according to iSuppli Corp.

• Toshiba will sell Blu-ray player this year

  Exactly a year and five months after Toshiba brought an end to the high-definition disc format war, the Japanese consumer electronics company confirmed its plans to produce its own Blu-ray Disc player. Previously, rumors trickled in about Toshiba considering such a move; Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun this weekend reported that Toshiba will adopt the format it once battled against.

• First 6X Blu-ray blank media now available

  Imation Wednesday announced the first 6x Blu-ray recordable (BD-R) and Blu-ray recordable double layer (BD-R DL) media for the US retail market.

• Blu-Ray, RIP in five years?

  Sony is betting the PS3/Blu-Ray platform will be enough to drive sales for a full ten-year lifecycle, but don't tell that to Samsung. The South Korean maker of everything from TVs to Blu-Ray players thinks the HD disc format won't survive past five years.

• Acer Gemstone Blue

  Obtain cinema quality at home with Blu-ray Disc technology, with 1920x1080 resolution on a 16:9 screen. The Gemstone Blue has surround sound with Premium Dolby Home Theatre, a Tuba CineBass booster and up to six integrated speakers. The Aspire Gemstone Blue will leave you breathless.

• Blu-ray tech advance integrates iPhone, iPod touch

  The iPod touch and iPhone seem set to enter a special relationship with Blu-ray discs and players, with the imminent launch of new software that networks Apple's devices with Blu-ray technology.

• Wal-Mart adopts Blu-ray, dumps HD DVD format

  Last friday Wal-Mart, the largest US retailer said it would phase out the sales of HD DVD offerings and exclusively offer high-definition Blu-ray hardware and DVDs by the middle of this year.

• Toshiba defiant on HD DVD: It ain't dead yet

  Two days after it lost an important ally in the high-definition format battle, Toshiba put on a defiant face at the Consumer Electronics Show and declared the HD DVD format is a long way from being dead.

• Warner's Blu-ray Disc move has industry buzzing

  The decision by Warner Bros. to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc for high-definition movies has set the electronics industry abuzz. Announced on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, the move put a single question in the minds of thousands of industry-insiders heading to the show in Las Vegas: Could the high-definition format war be over?

• After all the talk, high-def on regular DVDs

  For the last few years most of the world's biggest consumer electronics companies have been arguing over a format for high-definiton video discs. The drama over HD DVD versus Blu-ray Disc has confused consumers and held back adoption and, it turns out, might have been unnecessary after all.

• Powerfile adds Blu-ray to storage appliance

  Powerfile announced that it has added Blu-ray disk technology to the latest version of its Active Archive Appliance, part of an effort by the vendor to move beyond the limits of DVD in scaling the optical-based storage offering.

• PS3 loses neutral player to HD DVD

  Paramount Pictures has announced it will drop support for Sony's Blu-ray high definition format in favour of exclusively supporting the Microsoft-backed HD DVD. The decision further complicates the race between the competing technologies.

• Blu-ray outpacing HD DVD sales

  Sales of Blu-ray high-definition discs exceeded sales of the rival HD-DVD format in the first half of 2007 by a margin of two to one in the US according to Home Media Research.