Sony’s next generation Blu-ray player is now in stores. The BDP-S350 is the first new Blu-ray player since the fall of HD DVD. Its main features are:
- BD-Live (and thus Ethernet) and USB (for external) storage
- PiP (BonusView)
- TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus
- AVCHD and xvYCC color support
- 1080 60/24p

It is now available for about $400 at Sony Style retail outlets, sonystyle.com and other authorized Sony retailers.

The S350 will hit for $400 this summer, while the S550 will run you $500 this fall.

More details on EMediaLive.com.

At the inauguration ceremony “AXIOM GOES BLU” on 18 July 2008, the Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. George Yeo, was the Guest-of-Honor and along with Mr. Bernhard Goh, Managing Director of Axiom (AXIOM) they took the opportunity to praise Blu-ray technology and its advantages in the S.E.A. region.

Mr. Goh stated: “We are proud to be the pioneers for Blu-ray in our region, and will certainly promote this competitive advantage. Each adopter of this new technology will further nudge the optical business towards the 3rd generation formats and HDTV. The decision to buy a production system from SINGULUS is the right insurance for us to achieve this target.”

“With this first step, we are helping to develop the Southeast Asian Blu-ray market, and in particular to set the course for future SINGULUS business activities,” added Ms. Sylvia Hitzel, Vice-President Sales and Marketing at SINGULUS.

View full press release here.

So Sony’s got a $399 Blu-ray player on the market now, huh? Really blasting away at that price point, huh Sony? Really keeping on your toes now that HD DVD is dead and gone, giving you zero competition in the physical format space, yeah? Oh, we forgot, you’re using a blue laser, and those require blo……

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Saying that Samsung's new BlackJack IIs are pink and blue is really only telling part of the story. Unlike the originals, the stylish new models feature contrasting white fronts with color-coordinated keys and fancy designs on the back — perfect for that fashion-conscious Windows Mobile nerd in your lif……

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Samsung kicks out new Blue Wave firmware updates for the YP-P2 PMP faster than we can keep up with 'em, but we've honestly never even seen in the wild. Still, we'll give Sammy credit for releasing free feature updates (cough), and Blue Wave 4 delivers basically what we'd heard about a couple m……

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DreamStream announced today that they have developed a media encryption and distribution system that is poised to eliminate digital piracy.

“We are very excited about our breakthrough technology. For the first time, digital content can be distributed without fear of piracy. This is a tremendous step for copyright and licensing security,” said Ulf Diebel, CDO of DreamStream.

DreamStream’s media system is based on their 2048-bit encryption algorithm, which has never been compromised by hackers or online pirates.

“Our security is unparalleled,” said Diebel. “We offer military strength encryption in a system that is commercially viable for music and video companies.”

Annually, digital piracy costs the entertainment industry billons of dollars in damages, according to the International Federation of Phonographic Industry’s Digital Music Report for 2008. The IFPI report also notes that the ratio of illegally to legally downloaded music tracks is 20 to one.

“Piracy has had a chokehold on the entertainment industry. Now that can change. DreamStream can restore property rights to their owners and restore the commercial success of music and video recordings with a solution that benefits both producers and consumers,” said Chris Franke, media accounts coordinator of DreamStream.

In recent years, current media distribution systems, such as Apple’s iTunes, have continually fallen prey to online piracy. DreamStream claims to have the solution to this dilemma.

“The existing systems are broken,” said Franke. “If studios and artists want to confront the problem of piracy they must embrace a comprehensive restructuring of their distribution methods.”

DreamStream’s media encryption system differs from existing products and services in several ways. Most noteworthy, DreamStream’s system operates via online streaming and not file downloads. As such, purchased content cannot be stored on users’ hard disks, which eliminates the possibility of copying or redistributing the digital files.

Music files streamed with DreamStream’s system are able to play up to a full 320 KBps, which provides nearly professional quality audio. Programs such as iTunes operate at only 96 KBps. Video files can also be offered at a similarly higher quality than is currently being offered by DreamStream’s competitors.

The DreamStream system is able to transmit media files at such higher qualities because the content does not have to be downloaded.

Unique to DreamStream’s technology is the instant availability of the digital content offered. While most media systems require download or processing delays, DreamStream’s system is able to offer its users instant access to digital content.

DreamStream’s system also features encryption that greatly exceeds current standards. While existing online media distribution systems are typically secured using only a 128-bit encryption. DreamStream touts a full 20 round, 2048-bit encryption, which is the strongest in the industry.

“To win the war on piracy, the industry needs DreamStream’s military grade capabilities,” said Franke.

DreamStream’s media encryption system is one of the many uses for the company’s technology. DreamStream’s 2048-bit encryption can be imbedded into any online or computer-based system.

MCE Technologies has introduced its 6X Blu-ray Recordable Drive for Macs. It’s natively compatible with Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later and works inside the Mac Pro and Power Mac. It’s priced starting at $499.

While Macs can support Blu-ray Disc drives as data drives, the Mac doesn’t yet ship with a Blu-ray Disc drive option — “SuperDrives” capable of burning DVDs are still standard issue on Apple’s pro models. Blu-ray Disc is a High Definition (HD) optical drive standard that can store much more data per disc — up to 50GB on dual-layer BD-R media.

The drive can record data to Blu-ray, DVd and CD media directly from the Finder without needing additional software. If you want to burn Blu-ray movies, you’ll need Roxio’s Toast 9 Titanium and HD/BD Plug-in, which MCE bundles for an extra $100. MCE also provides software to enable Boot Camp-equipped Mac Pros also running Windows XP or later to play back Blu-ray and HD DVD movies (movie playback is not currently supported on the Mac).

At 6X, the drive can burn single-layer BD-R media at 27MB/sec. It burns dual-layer BD-R media at 4x (18MB/sec), and BD-RE discs at 2X (9MB/sec). It’s also capable of recording DVD±R media at up to 16X (22MB/sec), DVD±R DL at 4X, DVD+RW and 8X, DVD-RW at up to 6X, DVD-RAM at 5X, CD-R at up to 40X (6MB/sec) and CD-RW at up to 24X.

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to experience Walt Disney’s 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Disc, which will debut in September. My daughters, on the other hand have moved into the Hannah Montana/Jonas Brothers stage of life, and are waiting eagerly for the Best of Both Worlds 3D concert film to debut from Disney in August. I’ve written so much about the manufacturing of Blu-ray, but really, up to now, had taken very little time to think about actually authoring these discs, and whether or not the challenges are extreme for studios making the transition from high-end DVD authoring.

http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13855

Buried under predictions that 2012 will bring dominance for Blu-ray over DVD and breaking news that the PS3 just may have had a hand in winning the format war the Entertainment Merchant's Association 2008 Annual Report on the Home Entertainment Industry holds survey results showing 87% of PS3 owners repo……

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Blu-ray recorders have been on the scene for a while now, but now that the format war's over, it looks like more companies are starting to commit to BD-R devices — like Pioneer, which announced today that it'll have a Blu-ray recorder out in Japan by the end of the year. The company didn't say wh……

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