Xbox boss questions why consumers would upscale from DVD

Xbox president Robbie Bach has criticised Blu-Ray’s lack of sales success since the HD-DVD format imploded – and questioned why consumers would bother upscaling from DVD.

Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, Bach also ruled out any possibility of a Blu-Ray enabled Xbox – either in this or the next generation.

Bach said: “If you look at the Blu-ray player market, you haven't seen the acceleration everybody expected (since the demise of HD DVD). It's not as much about whether all the content is in a Blu-ray format or a HD-DVD format. “You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition play

Bach said: “If you look at the Blu-ray player market, you haven't seen the acceleration everybody expected (since the demise of HD DVD). It's not as much about whether all the content is in a Blu-ray format or a HD-DVD format. “You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition player.

“The reality is there is some difference, but most people look at it and say, ‘I am not going to pay extra for that.’”

When asked if Microsoft had Blu-Ray plans for the next-gen Xbox, Bach added:

“No. There is nothing to even talk about right now with regard to the next generation. That is so far out that there isn't anything to talk about.”

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Singulus reveals uptake of replication hardware is ahead of ‘last-gen’ disc format

Optical disc hardware specialist Singulus has received orders for 21 Blu-Ray dual-layer duplication machines in the first quarter of this year – a faster adoption than of the format’s predeccesor DVD 11 years ago.

“This means that the orders for Blu-ray in the first year of the dual layer technology already by far exceeded the volume at the start of the DVD 11 years ago with 17 machines,” said chief financial officer Stefan Baustert.

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Analysts say landmark is a sign that the format is becoming mainstream

Blu-ray movie sales have passed the 11 million mark according to the latest figures, prompting industry analysts suggest that the format is finally beginning to gain traction amongst customers.

Research by US market analyst firm Redhill also showed that sales of the format had overtaken those of 2007 by May this year. Blu-ray movie sales only accounted for two per cent of total movie sales during 2007, however, Redhill's figures suggest that the format may account for as much as eight and ten per cent of total sales by the end of 2008.

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This one has got the same particularity as the verbatim one which are :

• Size : 8cm
• Capacity : 7.5G
• Capacity in action : One Hour at 1440×1080i

More information on EMEDIALIVE.com Website

Verbatim announces the World's First Mini Blu-Ray Media, this media is really interesting by her size and her capacity.

• Size : 8cm
• Capacity : 7.5G
• Capacity in action : One Hour at 1440×1080i

Avalaible in August in Japan, soon in other country. This media is perfect with the new Camcorder Blu-Ray media.

More information on EMEDIALIVE.com Website

This Camcorder records FullHD 1920×1080 high definition video on an 8cm single-sided Blu-ray disc. It's the first in the world.

We can compare to an 5.3 mega pixel CMOD image sensor. The camcorder can take pictures (4,32 mega pixel) with her SD card.

More information on EMediaLive.com Website

Pioneer's new BDR-202 internal drive for PCs is dedicated for the professionnel, his caracteristics are really impressive, he us equipped with BD/DVD/CD three-way compatible.

4X to BD-R 2X to BD-RE 12X to DVD-R/+R 6X to DVD-RW/+RW 24x to CD-R/RW

More information on Emedialive.com.

Pioneer announced the new BDC-202 combination Blu-ray Disc BD-ROM computer drive with enhanced DVD and CD writing and reading capabilities.

The newly designed Pioneer drive offers playback of BD-ROM discs allowing users to view Blu-ray Disc high definition programs directly on a properly configured computer. The Pioneer BDC-202 can play multiple Blu-ray Disc formats, as well as provide high-speed reading and writing of DVD and CD formats.

With a focus on BD-ROM playback, the new Pioneer combination computer drive will be a significant contributor in the emergence of the Blu-ray Disc format for both professional and consumer use on computers. In addition to BD-ROM playback, the BDC-202 allows users to access and transfer A/V and data files rapidly to DVD and CD. With up to 50GB of storage capacity, the Blu-ray Disc format allows for copious amounts of high definition video and audio content on a single disc, including advanced interactive features and extensive bonus materials. The BDC-202 drive allows computer system builders to provide a cost effective playback solution for advanced Blu-ray content as well as DVD and CD recording and playback.

Gizmodo published a review of the Sony PS3 remote control.

Sony offers a Bluetooth remote control for the Sony PS3 to give you a better option to watch movies on the PS3. You can also of course control the movies with the SIXAXIS controller. I tried…

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If you are the owner of a HDTV, even a mere year or so old you may be stuck with a problem you haven?t even noticed yet, one HDMI port. A while back, one HDMI port was enough and many HDTVs shipped with a single.However, as any one who has jumped into the…

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