Panasonic is releasing the first Blu-ray Recorder outside Japan, in Australia, hitting store’s shelves later June. The Panasonic DMR-BW500 apparently is very similar to the Panasonic DMP-BD30, which is a profile 1.1 player already released here in the US but of course without the recorder addition. The player is selling in Australia for AU$2,299! That is in Australian Dollars… Ouch! Still, didn’t help much… but I guess you have to pay the price of new technology.

On top of being a Full HD, 24p Blu-ray player, this model can record up to six hours and 40 minutes of Full HD content to a 50GB BD disc. More impressively, it has a 500GB hard drive built in, along with twin HD TV tuners, 7-day EPG support, HDMI v1.3, 1080p upconversion with HDMI (for DVD playback) and support for all the latest audio codecs, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. There’s also a USB port and an SD card slot for JPG, MP3 and AVC-HD files. The unit does not have decoders built-in for the new Blu-ray audio standards, but it can deliver the sound in ‘bitstream’ format over HDMI to any of the several new home theater receivers that can decode these.

Panasonic Australia’s Director for Consumer Electronics Group, Paul Reid said, “Panasonic has led the way in home entertainment products and continues to bring innovation to the market with Australia’s first Blu-ray Recorder for the living room. This product is a significant breakthrough for Blu-ray and sets the standard in Full High Definition recording. With a twin High Definition Tuner and 500 GB Hard Disk Drive it is the ideal one-box solution for any home.”

Thomas Bartlett from www.gadgetguy.com.au did a pretty good and thorough review of this new recorder. To sum it up he absolutely loved it! Now, when will we get this type of “toy” in the US? This is crazy and not fair.

The reason we haven’t got Blu-ray recorders in the Uncle Sam’s land probably has to do with our regulatory agencies and pressure from the big Networks such as: NBC, ABC, CBS and all the letters of the alphabet… The networks and their studios like to sell their television series season box sets and of course wouldn’t want you to be able to record it and burn it yourself… Maybe when the FCC (Federal Communications Commission, which regulates broadcastings in the US) allows broadcasts with content protection flags we may start seeing Blu-ray recorders arrive.

.

.

.

.

Via: www.gadgetguy.com.au

Popularity: 56% [?]

A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who’s awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Best Buy is running a special promotion on the newly released NS-BRDVD Insignia Blu-ray player! This will make it the most affordable Blu-ray player available. Of course there is a catch but it is not that bad. The player costs $349.99 but with the purchase of the Insignia NS-BRDVD player, you’ll receive a special book of coupons inside the box. You can redeem the coupons at your local Best Buy store for $100 in instant savings on Blu-ray movies from Disney, Touchstone and Miramax.

NOTE: They are not redeemable online! See? I said the catch wasn’t bad…It gives the opportunity to new Blu-ray owners to start their new hi-def movie collections. As we mentioned before, this is not the best player ever but it will do the basics… The player has 1080p Full HD output, HDMI, optical and coaxial audio and composite video output but no support for DVI. It also supports MP3 and WMA.

x

You can access Best Buy’s promo page here!

x

x

x

x

Popularity: 38% [?]

Some of you may remember when we posted Sony being sued by a Granny a few months ago. Well, that dispute is now resolved. Professor Emeritus Gertrude Neumark Rothschild settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money (of course!!). The Columbia University professor alleged a violation to one of her patents earlier this year in February.

Dr Rothschild conducted “ground-breaking” research in the 1980s and 1990s into the electrical and optical properties of wide band-gap semiconductors. The research was pivotal in the development of short-wavelength emitting (blue/violet) diodes used in consumer electronics including Blu-ray. Rothschild was issued a US patent in 1993 that covers a method of producing wide band-gap semiconductors for LEDs and LDs in the blue/ultraviolet end of the spectrum.

Rothschild’s representative, Albert Jacobs from of Dreier LLP Intellectual Property, said that “Professor Rothschild is very pleased that both Sony and Sanyo, and other major electronics makers have recognized her major scientific contributions to LED and LD technology. Professor Rothschild made a seminal breakthrough, in understanding the doping requirements necessary for the production of the blue, green, violet and ultraviolet LEDs and LDs on a commercial and efficient scale that are essential to today’s consumer electronics, and highly deserves this recognition for her work.”

This was not the first settlement the the 80-year-old Professor received. She has received money from Philips Lumileds in 2006 and from Gosei Co. Ltd. and Toyoda Gosei North America Corporation earlier this year on very similar cases.

That is one smart lady

X

Popularity: 10% [?]

It has been confirmed by Peter Jackson during a chat session about his new film production “The Hobbit”. His exact words were: “We are working on a Blu-ray version of the with Warner Bros at the moment, not sure when it is due for release. It certainly won’t be this year.” It certainly doesn’t leave room for assumptions or misinterpretations, He was very clear that the Middle Earth is turning “Blu”, he just doesn’t know when… Definitely one of the best movies ever, this is very exciting! The only disappointing part is the extremely long wait. Hopefully, Warner will listen to the fans demanding and release it earlier. I can’t wait to see all those great battle scenes in hi-def. The Hobbit is probably hitting the theaters around 2011, we just hope Warner won’t try to hold The Lord of the Rings Blu-ray release to the same year just to help promote the new movie. That would be ludicrous!

x

You can find the full chat session from www.wetanz.com here!

x

Popularity: 24% [?]

The rumors are true! Yesterday, Paramount confirmed the Blu-ray release of Transformers. Last week rumors started and we posted that we would only believe when it came from Paramount. Well, they did confirm the release date as well as some features. The release coming on September 2nd will have 2 discs and BD-Live content. We still don’t have the cover art! With a ton of extras, Transformers will will have a suggested retail price of $39.98.

Synopsis

For centuries, two races of robotic aliens — the Autobots and the Decepticons — have waged a war, with the fate of the universe at stake. When the battle comes to Earth, all that stands between the evil Decepticons and ultimate power is a clue held by young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). An average teenager, Sam is consumed with everyday worries about school, friends, cars and girls. Unaware that he alone is mankind’s last chance for survival, Sam and his friend Mikaela (Megan Fox) find themselves in a tug of war between the Autobots and Decepticons. With the world hanging in the balance, Sam comes to realize the true meaning behind the Witwicky family motto - “No sacrifice, no victory!

Specs

• 2 Discs Blu-ray
• BD-Live Enabled

Video Resolution

• 1080p

Aspect Ratio(s)

• 2.35:1

Audio

• English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround
• English: PCM (Uncompressed) 5.1
• Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
• French: Dolby Digital 5.1

Extras

• Commentary: Commentary by Director Michael Bay
• Featurette: OUR WORLD:
• Featurette: The Story Sparks HD
• Featurette: Human Allies HD
• Featurette: I Fight Giant Robots HD
• Featurette: Battleground HD
• Featurette: THEIR WAR:
• Featurette: Rise of the Robots HD
• Featurette: Autobots Roll Out HD
• Featurette: Decepticons Strike HD
• Featurette: Inside the AllSpark HD
• Featurette: Transformers Tech Inspector (TBD) HD
• Trailers: TRAILERS (will play after the feature via a menu):
• Trailers: Iron Man Trailer HD
• Featurette: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
• Trailers: Transformers Teaser Trailer HD
• Trailers: Rise of the Autobots HD
• Other: Transformers H.U.D. (Heads Up Display)
• Other: BD-Live Features (TBD
• Featurette: From Script to Sand: The Skorponok Desert Attack HD
• Featurette: Concepts HD
• Trailers: Trailers HD:
• Trailers: Teaser Trailer 1 HD
• Trailers: Theatrical Trailer 2 HD
• Trailers: Theatrical Trailer 4 HD
• Easter Eggs: EASTER EGGS:
• Easter Eggs: Michael Bay Cameo HD
• Easter Eggs: Girl in Dress HD
• Easter Eggs: Bay Bot HD
• Easter Eggs: Casting Mojo HD

Popularity: 16% [?]

Two weeks ago the Magnavox NB500MG9 started being sold and its low $300 price has definitely made an impact on the market. We all know that it is not the best player out there but aparently people are not exactly looking for the best, they want something affordable that will do the job! That’s the main reason for this player’s success. We have been getting many questions about its features and capabilities but up to now (with the exception of those who bought the player) you could not find much information about the NB500MG9 on the web. Today we were able to download the owner’s manual from Funai and decided to post it here for you!

You can get all the info about this Magnavox NB500MG9 here!

Enjoy! This will help you make an educated purchase…

x

Popularity: 68% [?]

We all know that price has been one of the reasons for the slow adoption of the Blu-ray format. The first step is purchasing a player and once you already have a Blu-ray player you want to start building up your movie collection. However, movies are also more expensive then DVDs and to help you with that problem every once in a while Amazon runs some very good promotions. They have done a “Buy 2 get 3″ and now they are offering a “Summer 50% Blowout”. This limited time promo is making many Blu-ray discs cheaper or the same price as DVDs. They have a total of 117 titles with pretty good discounts, the discs are going from $14.45 to $23.95. If you are still unsure whether or not you should replace your DVD collection with new Blu-rays, this promo will assist you making up your mind on some titles… Keep in mind that this promo is available through June 9, so there is not much time to think!

x

This is the complete list of the titles on sale in alphabetical order:

Read the full story

Popularity: 8% [?]

Many people were disappointed when Paramount announced Blu-ray titles and Transformers was not on the list…

According to www.tvshowsondvd.com, this is a fact and the wait will end soon. An inside tip was received on the Blu-ray arrival and Transformers will be available on September 2nd! I find it odd that Paramount would announce all those titles in April but not Transformers and now, one month later, these news pop up on the net. I agree that sooner or later the movie will make its Blu debut since it is the only logic way. However, I am a bit skeptical on the release date until I see it coming from Paramount, which hopefully will be soon. The movie has already seen hi-def with the dead HD-DVD format and if the arrival to Blu-ray news is true the features and extras will be very similar. Bellow are the specs on the 2 Disc Special Edition HD-DVD:

Video Resolution/Codec

• 1080p/AVC MPEG-4

Aspect Ratio(s)

• 2.35:1

Audio Formats

• English Dolby Digital-Pus 5.1 Surround (1.5mbps)
• French Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 Surround (640kbps)
• Spanish Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 Surround (640kbps)

Subtitles

• English SDH
• French Subtitles
• Spanish Subtitles
• Portuguese-Brazilian Subtitles

Extras

• Audio Commentary
• Documentaries
• Featurette
• Still Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• Picture-in-Picture Commentary
• GPS Tracking
• Subtitle Fact Track
• Customizable Menus

Popularity: 45% [?]

Barry B. Benson, a bee who has just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry’s life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue us.

Buy Bee Movie from Amazon here! 

Popularity: 3% [?]