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1. Dead discs: Blu-ray’s failure to launch signals end of spinning media

   (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Opinion)

   Analyst Opinion - As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t help but think the era of spinning discs is coming to a close.   Analyst Opinion - As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t help but think ...

2. Blu-ray sales surge as player prices drop

   (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

   A report by the NPD Group indicates that Blu-ray video technology has moved "further into the mainstream." Indeed, first quarter (Q1) sales of stand-alone Blu-ray players in the US increased by 72 percent ...

3. HP dv2: Better than a netbook?

   (Mobility/Mobility Opinion)

   Opinion – Question: If you need a notebook for travel, and just don’t care for one of those 17” monsters that should not be called notebooks anyway, which one would you choose? I have been trying to ...

4. Warner offers Blu-ray alternative to desperate HD-DVD owners

   (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

   Warner Home Video has announced a new $4.95 trade-in program (not including shipping) in the hopes of enticing desperate HD-DVD owners to purchase Blu-Ray movies. Los Angeles (CA) - Warner Home Video ...

5. Blu-ray gets simplified licensing

   (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

   Occasionally it just takes a lot of time to get something right. Blu-ray is not quite where we would've expected the now sole high-definition video format at this point in time, but it seems at least ...

6. UPDATED: Blu-ray sales quadrupled in 2008

   (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

     Late last week at CES, Andy Parsons, president of the Blu-ray Disc Association announced that 2008 was a banner year for Blu-Ray sales. Surpassing the adoption rate of DVDs, CDs and HDTVs (as well as ...

7. Do we actually need a disc? Blu-Ray's future uncertain

   (Hardware/Hardware Features)

     At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last January, Warner Brothers made the decision to withdraw support for the HD-DVD video disc, thus delivering the future of at-home entertainment ...

8. Can a Blu-ray/DVD hybrid disc save Blu-ray?

   (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

     While Blu-ray player and disc sales apparently are climbing, movie executives repeatedly said that the Blu-ray has been a rather disappointing business so far. HD DVD may be dead, but movie streaming is ...

9. DVD sales plummet, last chance for Blu-ray this Christmas

   (Trendwatch/Trendwatch Features)

     Hollywood studios released recent movie sales data that indicate that DVD sales have dropped in 2008 again. The decline is estimated at about 4%, which may not sound much, but is significant when ...

10. Microsoft reportedly ready to ship Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

      Microsoft still denies that it will be offering a Blu-ray extension for its Xbox 360 game console and gave every indication that it might skip the Blu-ray trend altogether and focus on movie downloads. ...

11. Digital downloads, DVDs and DVRs slowing Blu-ray growth

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

      Blu-ray is strangling itself with high prices and an old fashioned distribution system.  That’s the conclusion we came up with while listening to industry analysts and executives at the DisplaySearch/NPD ...

12. Blu-ray has only five years left – Samsung

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

      A Samsung representative has made a bold prediction that Blu-ray only has five years left.  I’m sure that comes as a shock to most of you since the format only recently won its battle against ...

13. Not everyone ready to buddy up to Blu-ray

    (Trendwatch/Trendwatch Features)

    The forces behind Blu-ray disc may have won the battle against rival HD-DVD earlier this year, but they still have yet to win the war for the hearts, and dollars, of consumers. This seems to be the ...

14. Blu-ray on track to surpass DVD sales in 2012

    (Trendwatch/Trendwatch Features)

      High-definition video saw substantial growth in 2007, but it will take four more years until consumers will spend more money on Blu-ray discs than on DVDs, the Entertainment Merchants Association ...

15. Blu-ray Disc sales swell by 351% year-to-year

    (Trendwatch/Trendwatch Features)

    The first quarter of 2008 was a huge success for Blu-ray, as sales grew by 351 percent over the same period last year, reports trade publication Home Media Magazine.  According to Home Media, increased ...

16. Consumers largely willing to pay higher prices for Blu-ray

    (Trendwatch/Trendwatch Features)

    Pricewatch - Over the past month we have been reporting on the pricing trend of Blu-ray Dusc players.  As HD DVD faded away, prices of BD devices began to slowly creep up, to where they have now ...

17. Analysts project 29 million Blu-ray homes by end of year

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

    Strategy Analytics, a London-based research firm, said that it expects 29.4 million households to own a Blu-ray player by the end of the year.  That number, it says, will mushroom to over 132 million ...

18. Best Buy stores clearing out HD DVD inventory

    (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

      Best Buy is apparently aiming for a quick transition to Blu-ray, as a reader has informed us that select Best Buy stores have begun get rid of their HD DVD movies with massive price cuts. Other ...

19. Digital Playground: Consumers accepting Blu-ray faster than DVD

    (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

      In the end, it was not the adult film industry that decided the high-definition format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD. However, this segment faces appears to be taking a lead role in the promotion ...

20. Recent writer’s strike may force Blu-ray prices down

    (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

      A weekend spent in Hollywood can greatly help to learn about trends in the Consumer Electronics industry. Of course, Blu-ray was one of the main discussion topics and if you are currently frustrated ...

21. Surprise: No Blu-ray for the Xbox 360

    (Opinion/Opinion Features)

      Opinion - Microsoft squashed speculations that there is a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360 in the immediate future. But is the announcement really a surprise? Is there an immediate need for a Blu-ray ...

22. Surprise: Amazon.com supports Blu-ray

    (Business and Law/Business and Law Features)

    Perhaps it was the long holiday weekend that slowed down Amazon.com’s PR department: The company today announced that it now supports “Blu-ray as the digital format of choice for customers.” Seattle ...

23. HD DVD’s rise and fall: A timeline

    (Hardware/Hardware Features)

    The end of the HD DVD format may have come faster than many of us would have expected. And despite the outcome of the format war has long been unclear, there have been several reports that correctly ...

24. Sony, Sharp offer free Blu-ray players, sorta

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

    The Blu-ray camp has responded to the rather dramatic HD DVD player price cut from last week this weekend: If you purchase certain LCD TV models, Sony and Sharp are throwing in a “free” Blu-ray ...

25. MacWorld is disappointing? Yeah right.

    (Opinion/Opinion Features)

    Analyst Opinion - I’m typically the last person to come to Apple’s defense but in this case while I was covering the event for Bloomberg TV and watching Apple’s stock price drop even ...

26. Spider-Man 3 sets record for Sony Blu-ray

    (Games and Entertainment/Games and Entertainment Features)

    Over 130,000 copies of Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray Disc were sold in its first week, marking a new record for a Sony Pictures title. Hollywood (CA) - Over 130,000 copies of Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray Disc were ...

27. Sub-$500 Blu-ray player to hit stores this month

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

    A second generation Blu-ray Disc player will make its way to stores this month as the first to carry a list price of under $500. Foster City (CA) - A second generation Blu-ray Disc player will make its ...

28. Blu-ray player breaks $500 barrier at Amazon

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

    For the first time, Amazon has marked down the price of one of its Blu-ray Disc (BD) players to less than the price of a PS3. For the first time, Amazon has marked down the price of one of its Blu-ray ...

29. Blu-ray edges out HD DVD in February

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

    For the second month in a row, Blu-ray Disc (BD) sales were about double that of HD DVD, according to recently released February sales data. Columbus (OH) - For the second month in a row, Blu-ray Disc ...

30. Sharp develops technology for cheaper Blu-ray

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

    With Blu-ray Disc hardware notoriously more expensive than the competing HD DVD players, Sharp has developed a new technology to bring down the cost of BD recorders. Osaka (Japan) - With Blu-ray Disc ...

31. CES 2007: HD DVD slams Blu-ray, talks innovation

    (Trendwatch/Trendwatch Features)

    Strategically scheduled right after the Sony press conference, which for all intents and purposes was the main Blu-ray event, the HD DVD conference wrapped up a long day of major press events. Talk about ...

32. HD DVD outsells Blu-ray at lower revenues

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Features)

    HD DVD players posted a more successful launch than its Blu-ray rival, at least in terms of the number of players sold. HD DVD players posted a more successful launch than its Blu-ray rival, at least ...

33. Sony to ship Blu-ray writer in August for $750

    (Hardware/Hardware Features)

    Sony confirmed that it will be shipping its first Blu-ray burner "on or around" 18 August. The model BWU-100A will sell as an internal drive for $750. New York (NY) - Sony confirmed that it will be ...

34. Hollywood reportedly in agreement to delay forced quality downgrades for Blu-ray, HD DVD

    (Consumer Electronics/Consumer Electronics Brief)

      As the DVD format welcomes two potential heirs to its kingship as the commercial video medium of choice, there are mounting concerns that these new heirs are nothing but pretenders. As the DVD ...