Acer, China Huala Group join Blu-ray Disc camp
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(InfoWorld) - Supporters of the Blu-ray Disc format came to Berlin armed with key announcements to underscore their commitment to the next-generation movie disc. The announcements included a flood of new Blu-ray Disc releases, a decision by Acer and China Huala GroupÂ to join as hardware partners, and the establishment of a Blu-ray Disc authoring center in China. They were made Thursday at a news conference organized by the Blu-ray Disc Association at the IFA consumer electronics show. Among some of the big-name movies to appear in the Blu-ray Disc format in the coming weeks are Spider Man from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 300 from Warner Home Video, and a special edition of Sleeping Beauty from Walt Disney. "We've been involved with Blu-ray Disc from the very beginning," said Stephen Foulser, vice president of marketing and business development for Disney in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. "We will be launching 30 new titles in the format." More than 300 movie titles are currently available in the Blu-ray Disc format, a number that studios plan to nearly double by the end of the year, according to David Walstra, vice chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Eight manufacturers of consumer electronic products are now on board, he said. The number of studios supplying content and manufacturers building players are key to the take-up of any new disc format, according to Danny Kay, executive vice president of research and development at 20th Century Fox. Based on the numbers of both of these groups, "the market for Blu-ray Disc is very compelling" he said. "We believe Blu-ray Disc is really the only way to go." Kay declined to comment on the decision of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation to throw their support behind rival HD DVD, saying only that both studios had access to the same market data as Fox and the other studios. On the device front, Acer will join Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and LenovoÂ as contributing members to the Blu-ray Disc Association, said Walstra, a Sony executive who is also deputy chairman of the association. Huala, a major manufacturer of consumer electronic products in China and supplier of content, has also agreed to become a contributing member, according to Walstra. In addition, the company will team with the China Film Group to establish a Blu-ray Disc authoring center in China, he said. None of the industry executives associated with the Blu-ray Disc Association were prepared to answer a question on whether the expansion into China could lead to greater concerns about software piracy
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As part of digital shift, electronics maker is planning device that will record HD DVDs, DVDs and CDs.
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More than 70 companies from the consumer electronics, information technology, media producers, and software industries held the first official meeting of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA).
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JVC has joined the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), the group responsible for promoting the Blu-ray Disc optical disc format. The medium is being positioned as a successor
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PC buyers can look forward to DVDs with up to 10 times the storage when Hewlett-Packard debuts Blu-ray compatible machines.
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The HD-DVD Promotion Group will facilitate exchanges of information among hardware companies, device manufacturers and content firms, and organize joint promotion of HD-DVD to support early product launches and market expansion.
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Sanyo Electric, an established maker of optical drives and components, will produce both components and players for the blue-laser-based HD-DVD format, the company says.
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Universal Pictures is among the first Hollywood studios to announce its support for HD DVD, the high-definition optical disc format backed by a coalition of technology companies led by Toshiba.
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DECEMBER 01, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - TOKYO -- The group supporting the HD-DVD optical disc format for high-definition video has received a boost in its battle against the rival Blu-ray Disc format with pledges of support from a number of Hollywood
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HD DVD has recently faced some head wind in its struggle to become the high-definition successor to the DVD, but its supporters are playing an ace from their sleeve with the arrival of the first discs that take advantage of its players' built-in Internet connections.
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JVC has joined the Blu-ray Disc Association, the company and association say in a statement issued this week. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is the group responsible for promoting the Blu-ray Disc optical
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The studio will be a significant ally for the group, which is trying to win support for its technology over the rival HD DVD format.
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Japanese consumer electronics company JVC has created an optical disc that contains both regular DVD and Blu-ray Disc zones. The announcement comes a month after Toshiba and Memory Tech, both members of the
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Sony rivals Toshiba, Sanyo and NEC are working on HD-DVD rather than Blu-ray. Both are designed to have much more storage capacity than the current generation of discs.
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Toshiba Corp says it has won support for the HD DVD optical disc standard from Warner Bros Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema, advancing its cause in the battle for the next-generation DVD.
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Under a licensing agreement in its final stages, consumers may get the right to make several legal copies of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies they've purchased, a concession by the movie industry that may quell criticism that DRM (digital rights management) technologies are too restrictive.ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
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Warner Bros.'s home video unit and  its Chinese partner on Thursday unveiled a new strategy to  fight DVD piracy in China by selling disks earlier, at lower  prices and in more stores than before with the backing of  government officials.