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Blu-ray Sales Haven't Grown Since HD-DVD Dropped Out

If you thought - as I did - that HD-DVD waving the white flag meant that Blu-ray would see a big boost in sales, we'd both be wrong. According to the NPD Group - a market research firm - Blu-ray hardware sales dropped a stunning 40% from January to February this year, and the February to March figures weren't much better, as sales only grew by 2%. It seems as though the only good news coming out of the Blu-ray camp is that Playstation 3 consoles have been selling at a respectable rate, making up 85% of all Blu-ray players sold. Among the top reasons that the next-gen DVD format hasn't exactly lit up cash registers are consumer satisfaction with current standard and upconverting DVD players, and the significant financial investment necessary to go Blu.

Students Evaluate Ray Tracing From Developers' Side

Vigile writes "Much has been said about ray tracing for gaming in recent weeks: luminaries like John Carmack, Cevat Yerli and NVIDIA's David Kirk have already placed their flags in the ground but what about developers that have actually worked on fully ray traced games? PC Perspective discusses the benefits and problems in art creation, programming and design on a ray traced game engine with a group of students working on two separate projects. These are not AAA-class titles but they do offer some great insights for anyone considering the ray tracing and rasterization debate."

NASA Contract Results In X-Ray Calorimeter Breakthrough

Sarasota, FL - Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc. and EPIR Technologies, Inc. (EPIR) announced the award of a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to EPIR from NASA which continues to advance the companies strategy to commercialize synergistic cadmium-telluride based technologies and manufacturing processes for solar, infrared and X-ray within the renewable energy, night vision, medical and scientific markets. The Phase II contract specifically calls for the development and fabrication of prototype high-resolution X-ray calorimeters that will be integrated into future NASA missions and follows a very successful Phase I contract. X-ray calorimeters are devices used to measure the energy, or wavelength of the incoming X-ray photons.

Navigating By X-Ray Pulsar

XNAV — or X-ray Navigation — could be the GPS of the solar system (or even the galaxy). X-ray astronomers have mapped a substantial number of x-ray pulsars whose pulsed emissions are as regular as atomic clocks. Several papers will be presented at the IEE/ION PLANS 2008 conference describing how this idea could be applied for spacecraft navigation.

Warner Home Video: Blu-ray video viewership getting a boost thanks to PS3

While Blu-ray video sales are supposedly not yet at the level required to make up for a lagging North American home video market in general, a survey commissioned by Warner Home Video nevertheless suggests that Blu-ray media still stands to pick up steam... from PlayStation 3 owners. Backed by this survey, Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders explains at Screen Digest's PEVE Digital Entertainment conference that the percentage of total console usage by PS3 owners spent watching Blu-ray video content increased to 23 percent during the first two months of 2008, up from 15 percent back in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Micrsoft Denies Blu-ray Capable Xbox 360...Again

Micrsoft Denies Blu-ray Capable Xbox 360...Again It’s come to the point with the Xbox 360 with Blu-ray fiasco that I’ll only believe it when I can walk into a store and purchase one. Even an official confirmation from Microsoft might not persuade me it is real. We’ve seen so many attempts to get this rumor going, and immediately following a denial statement comes out from Redmond. The latest rumor of Blu-ray on 360 surfaced late last week, and Microsoft has once again shot down the rumor.

Rumor: Blu-ray equipped Xbox 360 consoles still in the works

An OEM subsidiary for hardware giant Asus, Pegatron Technology, has reportedly landed orders from Microsoft itself to commence production of Xbox 360 consoles featuring built-in Blu-ray disc drives (BD-ROM). According to the Economic Daily News (EDN), these Blu-ray equipped Xbox 360 consoles could be made ready for shipment as early as the third quarter of this year. This wouldn't be the first time that word of built-in Blu-ray drives for the Xbox 360 emerged from production sources in Taiwan, though today's tidbit does provide a clearer timeframe as to when they could become reality.

Fame & Fortune: Rachael Ray

Next time you get the urge to complain about how busy you are, think about Rachael Ray. At the moment, she has four shows running on the Food Network -- "30 Minute Meals;" "Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels;" and two in late-night reruns, "$40 A Day" and "Inside Dish" -- plus a daily syndicated talk show called "Rachael Ray."

In my stories, this is the reason people are buying dvd and not blu-ray. With studio...

APRIL 25 | Blu-ray Disc won the format war. Now one of the next challenges for studios, wholesalers and retailers is how to best price the product to quicken consumer adoption and preserve profits. Retailers report some shoppers balk at paying $5 to $10 more for Blu-ray than DVD. It’s an even harder sell with catalog, say store managers, as Blu-ray releases can be more than double the cost of their standard DVD counterparts, which might have been repriced several times.

Integral Satellite - - International Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory,

The Integral satellite is the European Space Agency's (ESA) international gamma ray astrophysics laboratory, due for launch in October 2002. It is currently undergoing environmental tests at ESA's technical research centre in the Netherlands. The Integral spacecraft will have two gamma ray detectors: an imager and a spectrometer. Two monitor instruments support these instruments: an X-ray monitor and an optical camera. The operation will be controlled from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

Xbox 360 to get Blu-ray drives from ASUS?...

Microsoft is turning to Pegatron Technology, a subsidiary of ASUS, to produce Xbox 360 consoles with integrated Blu-ray drives, according to reports. Exactly one month ago, Microsoft denied rumors of Lite-On producing a Blu-ray drive for its popular game console, but chose words carefully to avoid excluding other suppliers. The new account claims that Blu-ray Xboxes will ship in the third quarter, but at this stage it is not known exactly which markets will get the HD-capable consoles, nor at what price, or even if the launch is guaranteed.

Sony to open up Blu-ray as a "social network"

Sounds a bit like someone is mixing up their internet buzzwords. The head of Sony Electronics' US division, Stan Glasgow, has some interesting ideas for the future of Blu-ray, revealing that "We're going to have to open [Blu-ray] up as a social network--not just contributions of Sony and other Blu-ray partners."

Despite the Ramp of Blu-ray Drives, DVD Burners Will Continue to Be the Leading Volume Product Until 2012, According to IDC

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., May 14, 2008 – Overall PC market growth, driven by portable PCs, will give the worldwide CD/DVD market a moderately positive outlook in 2008 and lead to increased demand for slim drives. Despite the ramp of Blu-ray drives, DVD burners will continue to be the leading volume product until 2012. However, as the PC market's adoption of DVD burners becomes saturated and increasingly commoditized, Blu-ray adoption will accelerate in 2009 and Blu-ray drives will become the majority of the total market value in 2012.

Despite the Ramp of Blu-ray Drives, DVD Burners Will Continue to Be the Leading Volume Product Until 2012, According to IDC

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., May 14, 2008 – Overall PC market growth, driven by portable PCs, will give the worldwide CD/DVD market a moderately positive outlook in 2008 and lead to increased demand for slim drives. Despite the ramp of Blu-ray drives, DVD burners will continue to be the leading volume product until 2012. However, as the PC market's adoption of DVD burners becomes saturated and increasingly commoditized, Blu-ray adoption will accelerate in 2009 and Blu-ray drives will become the majority of the total market value in 2012.

More rumors that XBox 360 will add Blu-ray drive

Following HD-DVD's demise, there's been a lot speculation that Microsoft would add a Blu-ray option to the XBox 360. The latest rumor has a subsidiary of Asus, Pegatron Technology, making a premium Blu-ray-equipped version of the XBox 360 that will arrive in time for the holidays. This one follows on the heels of a report that Lite-On was going to be the one making the Blu-ray drives for Microsoft's game console.

More rumors that XBox 360 will add Blu-ray drive

Following HD DVD's demise, there's been a lot speculation that Microsoft would add a Blu-ray option to the XBox 360. The latest rumor has a subsidiary of Asus, Pegatron Technology, making a premium Blu-ray-equipped version of the XBox 360 that will arrive in time for the holidays. This one follows on the heels of a report that Lite-On was going to be the one making the Blu-ray drives for Microsoft's game console.

Sony 40GB PlayStation 3 as Blu-ray Disc player

From the outset, the PlayStation 3 has billed itself as more than just another game console. And this machine lives up to its promise: It's one of the most capable Blu-ray Disc players available today. The 40GB PS3 (US$400, as of 4/24/08) has built-in gigabit ethernet and is one of the few Blu-ray players that supports BD-Live (Profile 2.0) content that can be delivered via the Internet. It also supports Blu-ray BonusView, for playing back picture-in-picture content.

Blu-ray price-slash -- Sony announces significant price drops for desktop Blu-ray drives

Sony Australia has announced significant price drops for its two internal desktop Blu-ray drives, the BWU200S and the BDUX10S. The new suggested retail price for the BWU200S is $599 (including GST), which is 30 per cent cheaper than its previous asking price of $899. The RRP of the BDUX10S has dropped from $299 to $249 (including GST), a saving of $50. The new pricing for both products is effective as of yesterday (16 June).

Deutsche Telekom spying, Red-ray versus Blu-ray, and music piracy

Deutsche Telekom in spying row; Red-ray DVD flies the flag for China; Web music pirate jailed for five years

DivX Continues Momentum in Blu-ray Category with Release of DivX Certified(R) Marantz Blu-ray Disc Player

SAN DIEGO - DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX), a digital media company, today announced that Marantz, the high-end audio/video brand owned by D&M Holdings Inc., will release a DivX Certified® Blu-ray Disc player (model: BD8002) in Japan and the U.S.

Blu-ray DVD Recorder Sales On The Rise In Japan

While Blu-ray player sales in the US have been down since January, sales in Japan have risen by nearly threefold. Much of this is due to the popularity of Blu-ray recorders, which topped DVD recorders in sales for the first time last month.

Blu-ray 360 rumors won't die (Xbox 360)

The Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumours just won't die. Chinese newspaper Economic Daily News is the latest publication to point towards the union of Sony's format and Microsoft's console. Apparently assembly deals for the Blu-ray 360 have already been signed.

JAPAN: Blu-ray outselling DVD

amazon, blu-ray, dvd, japan, overtake, resident evil, sales, trilogy boxsetJAPAN: Blu-ray outselling DVD

Blu-ray adoption outpaces DVD

Singulus has revealed that consumers are adopting Blu-ray faster than they did DVD, with the company having received 21 orders for Blu-ray dual-layer machines in the first quarter.

Blu-Ray (And Red Laser DVD, Too) Optical Disc Distribution: More Nails In The Coffin

If I were an executive at Blu-ray torch bearer Sony, or at Wal-Mart, I bet I'd be wishing this week of lousy news was already over. As first reported Wednesday evening at Gizmodo (followed shortly thereafter by commentary from its esteemed competitor, Engadget, and here's more from VentureBeat), dedicated Blu-ray player (i.e. not including Sony's PlayStation 3) sales fell 40% from January to February, and only grew 2% from February to March.

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