GDC is underway in San Francisco and the physical format war is dead. So what do the two have to do with one another? Well, it appears Microsoft might make an announcement this week at GDC about a partnership with Netflix. Microsoft definitely played their cards right by not including an internal HD DVD drive and downloadable content appears to be the next big thing. Microsoft has been known to drop a few bombs at GDC in years past, but I’m not sure how likely this rumor is going to materialize. A developers conference hardly seems fitting to announce a content deal.
Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan, had this to say about a possible deal.
“A partnership with Netflix gives Microsoft a partner that already streams movies to over 7 million subscribers through their PCs, and encourages these subscribers to sign up for the Xbox Live service in order to stream movies to their TVs.”
Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey was quoted earlier as saying,
“Netflix intends to be in a lot of boxes that get into the TV, whether its game systems or set-top boxes or next-gen DVD players. We want to be in a 100 devices to get the Internet to the TV.”
MSNBC via Crunchgear
Japan’s Toshiba Corp said on Tuesday it would stop promoting its HD DVD format for the next-generation DVD after losing the support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp.
The decision ends a war between rival consortiums led by Toshiba and Sony vying to set the standard for high-definition movies on DVDs.
Toshiba said it would begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders and aim to end the business by the end of next month.
The Blu-ray win means consumers no longer have to choose between rival incompatible formats and run the risk of being stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax — Sony’s videotape technology that lost out to VHS in the 1980s.
Having one format should also help accelerate the shift to the new technology in the $24 billion home DVD market as shoppers faced with rival machines that played only one type of disc or the other, have previously held back.
Rumours are that Microsoft have a blu-ray player for the xbox ready, which could start shipping in 3 months. Will I be able to exchange my Xbox HD-DVD player for it? guess not.
via Bink.nu
Rumours were circulating today that Microsoft is set to dump HD DVD and bring out a Blu ray Xbox 360 by as early as May 2008. The move will allow the Company to go head to head with the Sony PS3 gaming console which has been credited with being one of the main reasons that retailers have preferred Blu-ray over Toshiba’s HD DVD.
Insiders at Microsoft in the USA have told SmartHouse that Microsoft has already configured a standalone Blu-ray player that can be connected into an Xbox 360 and that subject to internal marketing and sales approvals the model could be on sale within 3 months.
The Company has also been working on a built in Blu-ray player however insiders are claiming that Microsoft see the HD format battle moving online with consumers offered 1080p movie and content files as a download as opposed to having to buy a HD DVD or Blu-ray disc.
Both Intel and Microsoft have been supporters of the HD DVD format that is set to be killed off this week.
continue at SmartHouse
I know somebody out there still reads, I do. And these are great books.
Word from Capcom that Devil May Cry 4 has exceeded 1 million downloaded demos comes as no surprise. The hype surrounding the games created a lot of excitement and with game prices so high – try before you buy is the name of the game.
Well, I have downloaded the demo and rented the game from Blockbuster. My itch to buy it has not quite been scratched yet. We shall see.
Looking to go ahead and make the buying decision click here.
The Microsoft crew are rumored to be planning something big for next week’s Consumer Electronics Show, but we’ve got nothing but speculation about what it is. Gadget mag Stuff, however, thinks it has the line on what’s coming. The Xbox 360 Ultimate, will be hitting store shelves by this autumn and feature "1080p HDMI output, built-in Wi-Fi, hi-def audio output, cooler 65nm hardware architecture and a near-silent fan." On top of all that, the IPTV service that MS touted at last year’s CES will finally be good to go.
Also included in the Ultimate, according to Stuff? A 320GB hard drive and HD-DVD drive. While we have our doubts about the authenticity of the details, especially where the HD-DVD drive is concerned, the news seems a bit too matter of fact to ring false.
Is this the end of HD-DVD? When will Microsoft release a Blu-Ray player for the Xbox 360?
Best Buy, the largest US consumer electronics chain, said it will recommend that consumers choose the Sony high-definition video format and will feature Blu-ray hardware and software promotions in all its stores.
"Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products," Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Netflix, which is the country’s largest online DVD rental service said it will stock high-def movies exclusively in Blu-ray.
Netflix has been stocking high-definition movies in both formats since early 2006, but said in a statement that all of its new high-definition movie purchases will be Blu-ray and that it will phase out HD DVD discs by the end of the year.
I have installed this on my Vista Ultimate machine and it WORKS. Doesn’t work on an Xbox 360 extender – yet?? I think this is an awesome piece of work and my congratulations and thank you to the Author Anthony Park.
via the awesome Chris Lanier’s Blog
Fellow MVP Anthony Park has just released MyNetflix for Vista Media Center. This incredible MCML plug-in has a host of features including “Watch Now” streaming ability! That’s right, no more waiting for Netflix to get their head in the game. Other features include…
- View Netflix queue
- Browse movies
- View your history/recommendations
- Add/remove/move movies to your queue
- Browse “Watch now” movies
- Play “Watch now” movies
Grab the free beta download here. Thanks for Anthony Park and Ryan Hurst (for the original work) for making this plug-in a reality.
