Roma - A seguito del meritato exploit nelle sale, la pellicola incentrata sulla vicenda del supereroe corazzato Iron Man ha sbancato anche in home video. Il film ha venduto tanto, troppo, oltre le aspettative almeno per quanto riguarda la versione in Blu-ray, al punto da far collassare i server approntati da Paramount Pictures per gestire le funzionalità BD-Live della release.

BD-Live rappresenta l'ultima specifica attualmente codificata del formato hi-def di Sony, e permette di sfruttare la connessione di rete per il download di contenuti aggiuntivi non presenti originariamente sul disco in commercio. Nel caso di Iron Man le richieste di download hanno superato le capacità infrastrutturali del servizio, impedendo il suo corretto sfruttamento e, quel che è peggio, provocando un ritardo tale da far credere agli acquirenti che il supporto fosse difettato.

Il download parte non appena si inserisce il disco nel lettore e solo gli utenti di PlayStation 3 sono in condizione di gestire il download in modo autonomo. Il problema è stato tale da obbligare Paramount a rilasciare un comunicato sull'argomento, rassicurando sul pronto incremento di server a disposizione degli utenti e sul fatto che il disco fosse "un'offerta Blu-ray davvero allo stato dell'arte con un'applicazione BD-Live inedita nel suo genere".

Un'applicazione che forse è sin troppo inedita, al punto da sollevare per l'ennesima volta interrogativi sulle caratteristiche del formato Blu-ray, che ancora fa discutere esperti, commentatori e gli stessi esponenti dell'industria tecnologica anche dopo la conquista del mercato dell'alta definizione seguita alla sconfitta del rivale HD DVD, supportato da Toshiba e dal DVD Forum.

In casi del genere è sin troppo semplice paragonare la praticità dei download digitali su P2P alle spigolosità crescenti dei prodotti offerti dall'industria: tra DRM invalidanti e applicazioni "allo stato dell'arte" capaci di farti attendere davanti allo schermo muto per un'ora prima di poterti godere il film appena acquistato, scaricare la pellicola da BitTorrent ancorché illecita è certamente l'opzione più frequentata dagli utenti di personal computer mediamente informati sui fatti della vita, l'universo e tutto quanto.

Alfonso Maruccia 

fonte: Punto-informatico.it

TiVo users will be able to automatically record television broadcasts recommended by Entertainment Weekly magazine as the result of a deal that could help differentiate TiVo from its DVR competition and create a more direct connection between the magazine and its audience, reports The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal (8/27) , Reuters (8/27)

One time-honored way to boost hardware sales is by improving the software, and Disney is trying to do just that for Blu-ray players by releasing five classic animated movies with added interactive and social-networking features. Disney will market Blu-ray versions of "Pinocchio," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Fantasia," "Fantasia 2000" and "Beauty and the Beast" over the next two years, with the discs featuring BD Live technology, which connects the Blu-ray player with the Internet. The New York Times (8/26)

Artison, a maker of high-end speakers, has added in-wall products to its Masterpiece, Portrait and Sketch designer models that feature the company's space-saving DualMono Center Channel system, the company said. Prices range from $1,350 for the Sketch pair to $2,800 for a pair of the Masterpiece In-Wall LCR. ElectronicHouse.com (8/26)

The global market for home-based broadband networks will surpass 200 million by the end of this year and will reach 500 million by 2010, according to a new study from research firm In-Stat. That trend is expected to be good news for companies that manufacture home-network equipment such as broadband modems, routers and residential gateway gear. Cartt News Service (8/26)

Feeling more confident, consumers expect to spend more on technology over the next year, according to a pair of surveys from the CEA and CNET released Tuesday. The CEA-CNET Index of Consumer Expectations, which measures consumer expectations about the economy, and the CEA-CNET Index of Consumer Technology Expectations, a similar model linked to technology spending, both rose in August. American City Business Journals/Nashville, Tenn. (8/26) , CNET (8/26)

Gizmodo:sta löytyy tietoa Pioneerin BDP-09FD soittimesta. Kyseessä on yhtiön ensimmäinen Profiili 2.0 eli BD-Live soitin. Toisin kuin kilpailevissa malleissa Pioneerissa on reilusti sisäistä muistia (4 Gigatavua) johon saa BD-Live materiaalia talteen.

Yhtiö suosittelee käyttämään analogisia 7.1 ulostuloja ja jokaista kanavaa kohti on oma D/A-muunnin jolloin kanavatasapaino yms. säädöt voidaan tehdä jo soittimessa. Vahvistimen tarvitsee vain toistaa äänet vastaanottamassaan muodossa. HDMI-ulostuloja on kaksi. Ne voidaan määrittää pelkästään kuvaa tai pelkästään ääntä varten jolloin häiriöiden vaikutus vähenee pitkillä vedoilla esim. videotykille. Jos ei halua käyttää analogisia lähtöjä äänet voidaan viedä toista HDMI-liitintä pitkin käyttäen suurimman mahdollisen kapasiteetin ääntä varten. Toinen vaihtoehto on viedä yksi HDMI-piuha televisiolle ja toinen projektorille.

Soitin muuntaa Blu-ray elokuvan 8-bittisen kuvan 16-bittiseksi. Nykyaikaisten televisioiden ollessa parhaimmillaan 10-bittistä ymmärtäviä tämän ominaisuuden tuoma arvo on hieman kyseenalainen. Hintaa soittimella on komeat $2200 (1490 €). Painoa soittimelle kertyy reilut 20 kg.

One of the most requested features to come with In-Game XMB was Voice Chat. However when 2.40 arrived, many people were disappointed to hear that it wouldn't be featured with the update. Sony will deliver this addition sometime later this year, however they also hope to go one step further: In-Game Video Chat. And we're not just talking about video chatting while you have the game paused. According to an inside source, In-Game Video Chat will enable you to video chat with a friend while actually playing your game. It will work in a similar fashion to BD-Live where there is a PiP (Picture in Picture) window in the top right corner of the screen so you can see your friend(s) while you chat with them. It's unclear when exactly this will arrive but it should come via firmware update by the end of this year.

LG aikoo julkaista BD-Live soittimen Elokuun lopussa IFA messuilla Berliinissä.

LG:n sivuilta löytyy BH200 soittimen speksit ja vanha lehdistötiedote.

Lähde: hollywoodreporter.com

Η εφαρμογή της NetBlender εκμεταλλεύτηκε τεχνολογικά χαρακτηριστικά του iPhone ( wifi σύνδεση, 3D αισθητήρες και την οθόνη του touch), της PS3 ( σύνδεση WiFi + BD Live network ) για να παρέχει εξελιγμένες λειτουργίες διαχείρησης των δίσκων Blu-Ray διαμέσω του iPhone.

Έτσι, με το iPhone θα μπορείτε:

• να εκτελείτε βασικές εντολές που αφορούν την αναπαραγωγή των δίσκων Blu-Ray.
• να μεταφέρετε ψηφιακές κόπιες ταινιών στο iPhone.
• να δημιουργήσετε αυτόματα έναν κατάλογο με τις ταινίες σας Blu-Ray.
• να εμφανίζετε στο iPhone πληροφορίες για την ταινία που περιέχεται στο δίσκο Blu-Ray ( που εισάγατε στην Playstation 3)
• για δίσκους Blu-Ray που το επιτρέπουν, θα είναι δυνατή η χρήση του iPhone ως game controller.
• να εμφανίσετε άλλα περιεχόμενα που δημιουργήθηκαν για το συγκεκριμένο δίσκο Blu-Ray, όπως για παράδειγμα στην περίπτωση μιας ταινίας, υλικό που δημιούργησαν fans ή άλλοι.
• οι δυνατότητες δεν σταματούν εδώ. Το project είναι ακόμα σε εξέλιξη, οπότε πιθανότατα θα παρουσιαστούν και άλλες δυνατότητες.

Η NetBlender εξέδωσε και σχετικό SDK με το οποίο οι developers θα μπορούν να δημιουργήσουν εφαρμογές που θα εκμεταλλεύονται λειτουργίες του BD Touch.

Τέλος, πρέπει να τονίσω ότι η επικοινωνία του iPhone, δεν περιορίζεται στην Playstation 3, αν και η κονσόλα της Sony αποτελεί τον πιο διαδεδομένο Blu-Ray disc player, αλλά είναι δυνατό να επιτευχθεί με όλες τις συσκευές αναπαραγωγής δίσκων Blu-Ray που υποστηρίζουν το profile 2.0. Για παράδειγμα το Panasonic DMP-BD50 και όλες τις συσκευές που θα εμφανιστούν στο μέλλον ή παλαιότερες αν γίνει κάποιο firmware upgrade που θα τις αναβαθμίζει στο profile 2.0.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.509044&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.509045&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] from youtube.com posted with vodpod

Did You Buy Your PS3 Just For Home?

Something that has recently come to my attention is a frequent complaint I have seen when viewing various forums. No, it isn't that the PS3 has no games. That has been dealt with already. It is about Home. Not only are people upset with the lack of information (I am one that would love for Sony to shed some light on this situation), but they are upset that it hasn't been released as of yet. I can understand the complaints. There is just one complaint that I want to get to the bottom of. “I bought the PS3 because of Home and it isn't out yet. I hate you Sony.” That's the one.

It fair for someone to want something. A feature such as Home, is one of a kind. Originally announced for an October release, it has since been delayed as many of you know. Last we were told, Home would be coming this Spring. Spring has come and Home isn't out yet. Remember that there are several days of Spring left. So far we've seen yet another update to the beta build and an exploit that allows you to download the Home application through the use of a proxy server. All of this, and still no word of when Home will officially be released to the masses save the last announcement that it is supposed to be released this Spring.

Now let's look at the PLAYSTATION 3. It has been out since November 2006 in North America and Japan. (Europe and other regions received it in March 07 and other subsequent dates). In this time we've seen the PS3 grow immensely. Originally a system with only a few titles, Resistance being one of my personal favorites, now has many titles. Ratchet and Clank: TOD, Uncharted, Unreal Tournament 3, Heavenly Sword, Motorstorm, Call of Duty 4, Metal Gear Solid 4 (Coming June 12^th), and Resistance 2 (Coming this Fall) to name a few.

Not only has the PS3's library of titles increase, its functionality has increased as well. The PS3 is currently the first Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) player on the market. This is a great feature especially due to Blu-Ray having won the high-def format war. (Thanks to PS3 in my opinion, another day for that discussion). The PS3 can stream media, is able to play Divx files, browse the Internet, have VOIP conversations with other PS3 owners, install Linux, DTS-HDMA decoding and a host of other features. (PSP interaction is also a big one). A feature set that I feel is unmatched by any competitor that is currently on the market. With Home coming very soon according to an article in OPM, this will only further distinguish the PS3.

Some have said that Home will be a system seller. I disagree to a point. I'm not saying that Home will not be a feature that people will not only want, but use. I'm saying that Home, will be a feature that will add further value to the PS3. In the modern gaming industry, we are seeing a great deal less exclusivity due to high development costs. Many will argue that Home will cause individuals that own both systems to buy the PS3 version. This argument depends on how much attention 3^rd party developers pay to Home. If the developers invest time into making the Home integration a major component, I do believe that multi-console owners will have added incentive to purchase the PS3 version. This does not necessarily sell systems though. In this argument, the individuals considering which version to buy already own a PS3 and another system.

I personally bought my PLAYSTATION 3 because of my love for many of the titles that are exclusive to or are mainstays PLAYSTATION consoles. Tekken, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, Ratchet and Clank, these were some of the titles that made me want a PS3. I knew that I would likely only be able to experience them on the PS3. The new titles that have been introduced since the release of the PS3 have only confirmed my original reasoning for buying the console. It is the games. The games are varied in the type of experiences that they allow a gamer to enjoy. I personally love RPGs, which are a PLAYSTATION staple, (don't worry the PS3 will be seeing RPGs soon enough), and the announcements of Final Fantasy 13, FF Versus 12, and White Knight Story, set the stage for me to be in RPG heaven. I had never played a shooter heavily (played a little Socom, but not much) until I first played Resistance: Fall of Man. The list could go on forever.

I'm not discounting the multimedia functions of the PS3. Those definitely have a been a great benefit to me. Did they factor into my reasoning for camping out and buying a PS3? Yes. Having a Blu-Ray player was something that I truly valued. Even before I had an HDTV. Seeing a Blu-Ray in 1080p glory is a magnificent experience. I've loaded my HDD with music and video clips to watch and listen to whenever I choose as well.

Keep in mind, all of this is all before there was any mention of Home. Did Home make me happy that I purchased a PS3? Yes. I was and am happy that Sony is attempting and will bring a service such as Home to the PLAYSTATION community. Will it change gaming as we know it? It could if it is implemented and its potential maximized. But when you look at Home and then look at everything else the PS3 has to offer, you'll realize it is only a piece of the puzzle.

So....what did you buy your PS3 for?

Thanks for reading.

Some great info from around the web has reached Sev1512.  I highlighted some of the more important pieces of info.

Here is a link to the original interview in Japanese...

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20080403/rt057.htm

Originally posted on the Japanese site "AV Watch" then translated by a member of the B3D forums....

• Apparently movie studios are satisfied with BD-Live functions in PS3. Its processing speed / graphics rendering is much faster than dedicated players and the performance gap won't get narrower soon. Even among current BD-Java titles, some are doing performance profiling in a loading screen and show richer effects on PS3. Such differentiation by player performance may happen for BD-Live too. It is not something special only for PS3, it's in the spec of the BD format.
• 2.20 has neither Managed Copy (w/ transcoding) nor Portable Copy (w/o transcoding, demoed at CES) implemented.
• In-game XMB is one of the features discussed at SCE, but they can't comment on the date and so on yet. Though some of the XMB functions are already available in-game by an update, not many games support them yet.
• To licensee developers, it was announced that 2.20 could reduce system memory resource usage a lot.
• The web browser runs faster and has better streaming support than before. Though they can't comment on which particular service they'll support at this point, it will be improved further.
• Though it's technically possible that PS3 charges fees for certain updates, they continue free updates as the basic concept of PS3 is a hardware that evolves with updates.
• Optical discs and media files (including DLNA) are played back through 2 different paths in PS3. Functions such as noise reduction are first implemented in the optical disk player, then some of them are applied to the media player.
  While an optical disc player only requires an implementation in the range of an official spec, a media player needs a different know-how or sometimes a new algorithm to support files authored by general users with varied encoding settings.
  The playback quality of AVCHD is currently higher when you open it from a disc or a memory stick than from a file in a folder.
• The main target of mosquito noise reduction is recordings from digital TV. It assumes a use case where a user plays a long MPEG-4 AVC file recorded on a BD. The upconversion in 1.80 was useless for a noisy movie, so noise reduction (not only the specific function of mosquito noise reduction, but also other filters) has been improved in 2.20.
• Though mosquito noise reduction is high on the processing load, the total load is lower than that of the first version of the PS3 BD player or 1.80. In 1.80, it was almost full load when upconverting a DVD
  Currently it doesn't reach full load unless it plays back 2 AVC streams in Picture-in-Picture while running high-load BD-Java.
  but not now due to optimization.
• As for 1080 deinterlacing and DTS-HD MA, "please look forward to them."
• The LTH support took time since they had to test it with a LTH disc recorded with a Sony BD Recorder.
• The update schedule is not different from before, basically a large update is once in a quarter. However the next update will be released soon because of the new PS Store.
• It's recommended to update a PS3 since BD titles with new encryption keys start to appear. Though 1.80 already has the latest key, image quality in the latest firmware is a lot better.
  An updater for PS3 is also contained in some movie titles. The Blu-ray version of Resident Evil 3 has a 2.10 updater.

Lähde: High-Def Digest

Toinen uusi ominaisuus jonka BD-Live mahdollistaa on soittoäänien lähettäminen elokuvastudion palvelimeltä asiakkaan kännykkään. Engadget:istä löyty tammikuussa kuvattu video jossa tätä ominaisuutta demotaan epäonnistuneesti Godzilla levyllä. Godzilla Blu-ray:lle ei ole vielä julkaisupäivää, mutta sille on listattu suomenkieliset tekstitykset joten se tullaan ilmeisesti julkaisemaan samaan aikaan maailmanlaajuisesti. Godzilla:n ääniraita on pakkaamaton PCM 5.1.

BD Live, som indtil videre kun understøttes af Playstation 3, gør det muligt for understøttede Blu-ray film at tilgå internettet for f.eks. at kunne downloade ringetoner til mobilen, der passer til filmen, spille online mod andre, hente trailers osv. Det er stort set kun fantasien der sætter grænser for hvad der kan laves, og det blive spændende at se om funktionen bliver populær, eller om det kun bliver gejl.

Resume Play gør det endeligt muligt for Playstation 3 at starte en film fra det punkt den blev stoppet ved tidligere, og det virker med DVD samt de Blu-ray film, der ikke er BD-J baserede. Den kan endda huske startpunkter for mere end én film - ganske som er normalt for en computers DVD afspiller.

Dog skal man huske at stoppe filmen inden man skubber discen ud, for ellers husker den ikke hvortil den kom, og det ser ud til at den også sletter startpunkter for tidligere sete film, hvis man skupper discen ud uden at stoppe først, men det må være en fejl.

Andre nyheder i opdateringen kan ses her.

A wise decision would be getting a PLAYSTATION 3. With the next PS3 system software update (slated for March), it becomes the best Blu-ray player out there at the moment; being the first on the market with BD-Live functionality. This firmware update will add fully compatibility for Blu-ray 2.0 (or BD-Live), in addition to new PSP interoperability, such as the ability to transfer Music and Photo playlists from the PS3 to the PSP.

More details taken from the Official site of PLAYSTATION consoles below:

• The ability to copy PS3 Music and Photo playlists to a PSP system. We introduced the ability to create Music and Photo playlists on the PS3 in firmware update v2.0. Now you can easily export your playlists to your PSP.

• You can now play DivX and WMV format files that are over 2 GB. In addition, you can now display subtitles when viewing DivX files.

• Resume Play - begin playing a DVD or BD disc from the point where you previously stopped it, even if you eject the disc and insert a different movie or game.

• Use your PSP as a remote control to play back your music files on your PS3 without turning on your TV.

• The Internet browser now displays some web pages faster. In addition [Save Target] has been added as an option under file. This option lets you save a file that is linked to a web page to your PS3 hard drive or storage media.

•  La posibilidad de copiar desde la PS3 listas de reproducción de música y fotos a una una PSP. 
  Crear listas de reproducción de música y fotos sobre la PS3 en la actualización del firmware v2.0. 
  Ahora puede exportar fácilmente tus listas de reproducción a su PSP.
  
•  Ahora puede reproducir DivX y WMV formato de los archivos que son más de 2 GB.
  Se puede mostrar subtítulos al visualizar los archivos DivX.
  
• Al empezar a jugar un DVD o disco de BD desde el punto donde se detuvo anteriormente, incluso si expulsar el disco e insertar una película o juego.
  
•  Usa tu PSP como mando a distancia para reproducir los archivos de música en tu PS3 sin encender el televisor.
  
• El navegador de Internet ahora muestra algunas páginas web más rápido. Además [Guardar destino] se ha añadido como una opción en virtud de archivo.
  Esta opción le permite guardar un archivo que está vinculada a una página web a su disco duro de PS3 o medios de almacenamiento.

Sony ha informado que la nueva actualización 2.20 para la PS3 que llegará a finales de este mes, incluirá nuevo soporte Blu-ray.
Esta actualización añadirá la nueva función Disc Profile 2.0 (BD-Live), que permitirá funciones interactivas como descargar contenidos tipo vídeo, tonos de llamada, juegos, etc...

Esta actualización también permitirá el uso de nuestra PSP como mando a distancia para listas de reproducción mp3 y fotos en la consola, además de otras tantas nuevas características que Sony dice, harán aumentar la funcionalidad de PS3 como un "centro de entretenimiento para el hogar."

Algunas características adicionales incluyen la posibilidad de continuar viendo la la reproducción de un disco Blu-ray y DVD justo allí donde lo dejemos,  además de incluir mejoras en el navegador y en la reproducción del sonido de las películas.

Aunque quizá lo más llamativo sea que la actualización permitirá la posibilidad de reproducir películas en formato DivX y WMV, soportando archivos de incluso más de 2GB.

Scott Steinberg, vicepresidente de marketing de producto menciona, "Con Blu-ray establecido como la alta definición de disco óptico estándar, más usuarios están listos para dar el salto a este formato y aprovechar todas sus posibilidades.
Siempre que se quiera descargar extras de películas, enviar tonos a su teléfono, o jugar a juegos interactivos, BD-Live ofrecerá emocionantes nuevas maneras de disfrutar de una película Blu-ray.  Con estas actualizaciones de firmware regulares , SCEA está haciendo posible que el ciclo de vida de PS3 sea de 10 años".

Vía | Gamasutra

Expected effects of the tactic

Critics of the tactic

The advantage of the tactic is that is fill a gap between the functionalities of HD DVD and Blu-ray.

However, it has not been shown whether such interactivity features are important for consumers and in which extent. On the one hand, the importance of DVD bonus material for consumers has not been proven. Probably, many consumers would simply give up the bonuses for cheaper movies. On the other hand, several completed standards competitions have demonstrated that a superior technology (in the present case, a technology that would include all possible features) may lose a standards competition.

Furthermore, Blu-ray 2.0 specifications are not required in all Blu-ray players. That is, a consumer is not sure to buy a 2.0 player when she decides to buy a Blu-ray player!

Therefore, the introduction of Blu-ray 2.0 is not a bad tactic, because it does not introduce more confusion to the potential consumers. But it is not a good tactic if, taken independently for other measures, the objective is to enlarge the installed base of users.

¹ Elliott, A.-M. (2007) Disnay Announces BD-Live Releases for 2008 - Here Comes Blu-ray 2.0. Pocket-lint, August 20.

Blu-Ray and BD Live in Wiki