Home Media Magazine - July 29-August 4, 2007 - (Page 8)

HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com TiVo Debuts New HD DVR Unit costs $299, $500 less than the previous high-def model By Chris Tribbey iVo’s new high-definition digital video recorder will retail for $299 and should be available in stores next month, according to the company. The TiVo HD DVR is $500 less than the company’s first HD DVR, and has a 160GB hard drive, capable of storing 20 hours of HD video, or 180 hours of standarddefinition video. The TiVo HD DVR has four output modes, 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i, and includes two USB 2.0 ports and an Ethernet connection. It does not support satellite services. For HD service, customers must own a multistream CableCARD decoder or two single-stream CableCARDs. “Designed as a universal cable box replacement that works seamlessly with any cable provider, the TiVo HD DVR also includes exclusive TiVo service features such as movie and TV downloads through Amazon Unbox, home movie sharing and universal Swivel Search, delivering the best broadband video directly to the television set,” read a TiVo statement. Razor Digital Goes Blu By Chris Tribbey azor Digital Entertainment, which specializes in fitness DVD but also offers sports, horror and Imax products, among others, has announced it will street four Blu-ray titles in November. “When you get your Blu-ray machine, you want to show it off,” said Mitch Perliss, Razor Digital EVP. “The Imax stuff is already such great quality.” Razor Digital will release four Blu-ray Imax titles Nov. 13 (prebook Oct. 19) at $19.99 each: Africa: The Serengeti, Alaska: Spirit of the Wild, Australia: Land Beyond Time and Antarctica: An Adventure of a Different Nature. More will come if they do well, Perliss said. Perliss also said Razor Digital was going with Blu-ray only because they “wanted to go worldwide [with the product] and couldn’t afford to do both.” But if HD DVD player household penetration catches up with the PlayStation 3 and Blu-ray, Perliss said his company might consider doing both. “You have to respond to the marketplace,” he said. T The company is takmate media centerpiece ing preorders for the for the living room with set-top box now, and it the broadest selection will be available at of broadband conBest Buy, Circuit City tent, right alongand Amazon.com. side your favorite “TiVo HD extends broadcast and cable the TiVo experience to programs, giving an even wider audience HDTV viewers more than ever, giving sports choice and control than and entertainment enthey’ve ever had before. thusiasts the ultimate And it can be used in place companion to their of the customer’s existing HDTV set,” said Tom Rogers, CEO cable box.” and president of TiVo. “It is the ultiMichael Greeson, president of The Diffusion Group, a consumer technology think tank, said of the deal: “With close to 30% of U.S. homes now owning at least one high-definition TV, the market is ready for an HD-enabled platform that combines the best in DVR technology with the best of both traditional and Web-based video entertainment. TiVo HD sets the standard in terms of non-PC Internetenabled set-top platforms, not to mention providing the seamless interface to which TiVo users have become accustomed.” R Report: 1080p TVs Fuel Sales By Erik Gruenwedel onsumer interest in higherresolution 1080p flat-panel televisions helped spur HDTV unit sales 1% in May compared to April, according to new market data. The report from Menlo Park, Calif.-based Pacific Media Associates found that one-in-three flatpanel TVs sold in May featured 1080p resolution, compared to low- C er-resolution 1080i and 720p units. Despite a 5% price drop in 45-inch to 49-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) HDTV units, revenue in May increased 4% due to increased overall sales of pricier (compared to plasma) LCD units. “Revenue increased for the month because there was a distinct shift in what consumers bought,” said Rosemary Abowd, VP of Pacific Media Associates. She said Sony LCD units emerged No. 1 in May with 22% of the unit market share and more than 28% of revenue. Samsung finished second with 16.7% unit market share and Pioneer Electronics took second in revenue market share with more than 23%. Pioneer’s Elite Pro-1140HD remained the top-selling HDTV in May with a retail price of $2,800, which is 7% lower than in March. TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS H I G H-D E F S E LLE R S Week ended July 22, 2007 TITLE FORMAT LABEL INDEX H I G H-D E F S E LLE R S Aggregate by Title Week ended July 22, 2007 TITLE FORMAT LABEL INDEX 300 H I G H-D E F TH I S WE E K STREETING THIS WEEK 300 BD & HD DVD Warner Street Date: 7/31 Blue Planet BD & HD DVD Warner Street Date: 7/31 Darkman HD DVD Universal Street Date: 7/31 Hot Fuzz HD DVD Universal Street Date: 7/31 Roving Mars Blu-ray Walt Disney Street Date: 7/31 Shaun of the Dead HD DVD Universal Street Date: 7/31 Shooter BD & HD DVD Paramount Street Date: 7/31 PREBOOKING THIS WEEK Face/Off BD & HD DVD Paramount Pre: 7/31, Street 9/11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Premonition Casino Royale Planet Earth: The Complete Series Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead… The Fifth Element Ghost Rider Planet Earth: The Complete Series Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse … Apocalypto Resident Evil: Apocalypse Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray HD DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Sony Pictures 100.00 Sony Pictures 60.41 BBC Video 56.41 Disney 48.55 Sony Pictures 45.24 Sony Pictures 42.94 BBC Video 39.62 Disney 39.39 Disney/Touchstone 38.97 Sony Pictures 31.79 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Premonition Planet Earth: The Complete Series The Fifth Element Casino Royale Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead … Ghost Rider Blood Diamond Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse … Apocalypto The Departed Blu-ray BD; HD DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray BD; HD DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray BD; HD DVD/DVD Sony Pictures 100.00 BBC Video 96.03 Sony Pictures 61.20 Sony Pictures 60.41 Disney 48.55 Sony Pictures 42.94 Warner 42.20 Disney 39.39 Disney/Touchstone 38.97 Warner 37.29 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data TOP 5 HIGH-DEF B LU-R AY D I S C Week ended July 22, 2007 LABEL INDEX TOP 5 HIGH-DEF H D DVD Week ended July 22, 2007 LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE 1 2 3 4 5 Premonition Casino Royale Planet Earth: The Complete Series Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest The Fifth Element Sony Pictures Sony Pictures BBC Video Disney Sony Pictures 100.00 60.41 56.41 48.55 45.24 1 2 3 4 5 Planet Earth: The Complete Series Batman Begins Blood Diamond Troy Breach BBC Video Warner Warner Warner Universal 100.00 49.96 46.39 35.29 31.21 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 8 Home Media Magazine July 29–August 4, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - July 29-August 4, 2007

Contents News News News News Commentary TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - July 29-August 4, 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.