Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - (Page 24) NEWS CEDIA Presenters Tout Blu-ray Growth and Hardware Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com off the Netflix movie-streaming Blu-ray player at CEDIA. “We like to do a lot of homework before we bring any product to market, and that’s especially true here,” said Allan Jason, VP of sales and marketing for LG’s digital media and new products division. “It’s not a matter of if Blu-ray takes over at some point, it’s a matter of when.” The BD300, which will be available this month with a price tag of $399, will stream 12,000 Netflix movies with more being added every week, according to Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey. Those who don’t yet have a Netflix account will be offered two weeks free if they buy the new Blu-ray player. The player streams as fast as 2.2MB per second, depending on the connection. Streams are near-DVD quality, according to Jason. Both widescreen and full-screen videos will be available. “At LG we considered what, when and how consumers want to watch movies and television episodes,” Jason said. “The result is the ultimate convergence of home theater entertainment and functionality. With intelligent features and access to an ever-growing library of movie and television titles, the BD300 is the next step in a truly personalized entertainment experience.” The player only streams Netflix movies and does not have the internal memory necessary to store them. HD DVD didn’t keep representatives of Toshiba from having a good time during their event. While last year they dressed in “Star Trek” garb, Toshiba communications director Maria Repole and Scott Ramirez, Toshiba’s TV marketing VP, came out dressed as rock stars to the appropriate music. During their presentations, neither said the words HD DVD or Blu-ray, and no questionand-answer session was held for the media. Instead the pair used the theme of innovation to describe the company’s current direction. “Rolling with the changes isn’t what it’s all about,” Ramirez said. “It’s about innovation. We have to roll ahead of the changes. … Companies can find themselves irrelevant if they don’t change.” The change Toshiba has in mind isn’t Blu-ray, however. The company is sticking to its guns with its upconverting XDE DVD players. XDE, or eXtended Detail Enhancement, offers three different mode selections. The first model, the XD-E500, ships this month behind an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign and retails for $149.99. “Consumers can take home entertainment to a new level … and maximize their current DVD collection,” Repole said. “This offers a bridge between standard-definition and highdefinition.” Behind Samsung and Sony, Toshiba holds the third-largest market share in the LCD HDTV market, and the company showed off a dozen new models from four new series of HDTVs. All feature the company’s new Super Resolution Technology, which upconverts standard-definition content to highdefinition. A Very Blu Year The hints were subtle, but those paying attention at Sony’s event saw and heard a couple of jabs at high-def format war loser HD DVD. A slide comparing Blu-ray’s growth this year to last year included a note at the bottom indicating a 100% drop in high-def competition. Sony’s Waynick noted that Sony’s high-def product is true high-definition. “I’m not talking about upscaling,” he deadpanned, earning laughter from the crowd. Not surprisingly, Sony made a very large Bluray splash, showing off two new Blu-ray home theater systems, a new standalone player and three Blu-ray desktop PCs. “Years ago we knew that HD was far more than TVs,” Waynick said. “We’ve experienced a significant lift in all our HD [products].” Sony executives also talked about the company’s Bravia line of HDTVs and its Internet video link, which will give users access to the summer blockbuster Hancock ahead of its release on DVD and Blu-ray. Sony also announced that soon more than 40,000 Amazon.com video-on-demand movies and TV shows would be on the Bravia system. “This is an industry first,” said Jeff Goldstein, VP of TV marketing for Sony. Chris Fawcett, VP of home video for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, added that Sony believes that one-quarter of all HDTV households in America will have Blu-ray players by the end of the year. Sony executives also shared that more than 300,000 people have accessed BD Live features, many downloading new content. Sony is also launching a Blu-ray club this fall, rewarding those who buy Sony Blu-ray Discs. Lastly, Fawcett said that in 2009 Sony will release a 400-disc Blu-ray mega-changer. “We’re not entirely ready to take the wrapping off it yet,” he said. 12,000 Movies at Your Fingertips Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, LG and Netflix finally showed CLASSIFIED SHOWCASE B R O W S E R D I S P L AY CO M P U T E R S O F T WA R E Xbox 360 Price Cut to Draw Buyers Continued from page 1 USED TAPES & DVDS BUSINESS SERVICES PA C K A G I N G REDUCING YOUR INVENTORY? We Buy VHS, and also DVD & Video Games xtreme deo E 733-7370 (203) Vi This makes Xbox 360 the first nextgeneration console to hit $200. Microsoft also now holds the honor of having the most affordable game console on the market, $50 less than Nintendo’s still hard-tofind Wii. Microsoft is also cutting the prices of its other hardware by $50. Its bestselling Xbox 360 Pro, which comes with a 60GB hard disc drive, will retail for $300. The Xbox 360 Elite, which has a 120GB hard disc drive, will sell for $400. Sony currently sells its 80GB PlayStation 3 for $400. The U.S. price cut follows Microsoft’s moves in Japan and Australia to attract a larger audience. Microsoft currently holds a narrow lead over Sony in the global hardware race. Nintendo leads all consoles with 30 million Wiis sold since November 2006. Although Microsoft and Sony introduced their hardware in fall 2005, they trail Nintendo with 20 million PS3s sold and 14.4 million Xbox 360s sold globally. Billy Pidgeon, video game analyst for IDC, believes when all is said and done Microsoft will edge out a second-place finish in the current console battle, leaving Sony alone in third place. Microsoft made these cuts early as some of its key games for this holiday, including such exclusives as Fable 2, Gears of War 2 and Banjo Kazooie, are nearing completion. Microsoft gets a short window of exclusivity with Rock Band 2 in September before Fable 2 the music game migrates to competing platforms. Ben Schachter, video game analyst for UBS, said that when Microsoft cut prices on the Xbox 360 in August 2007, total unit sales increased 35% that month versus its prior seven-month average in the United States. He said consoles have seen an overall average unit increase of 53% in the month of or directly after a price cut. Schachter said he believes this cut aims to slow Sony’s momentum before first-party PS3 releases such as LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 and SOCOM hit stores. “Sony is unlikely to cut in response, though, in the unlikely event that PS3 sales significantly slow, Sony might have to reassess,” Schachter said. 24 Home Media Magazine September 7–13, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://zon.com http://www.rapidrental.com http://www.corporate.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 News Tweens Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Tweens (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Tweens (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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