PS3 Firmware 1.92 is availible:

The following information below were from QJ.NET readers, our own observation, forum members, as well as those who are actively discussing this surprise update over at the official PlayStation Forum:

* Ability to add Flash wallpapers
* Seemingly faster XMB load times
* XMB screensaver option (which was there prior to this but just became popular because of this)
* Improvements on Internet Browser application
* Auto power off for the controllers
* Thumbnails in the video section
* Synchronized game clips in the games folder load up
* Faster transition from game to XMB
* Updated PSOne/PS2 controller compatibility

In a widely publicized by the Italian media move director Ridley Scot has personally stepped up and forced Italian distrib MEDUSA who as of today are exclusive to HDDVD to release his Kingdom of Heaven on Blu Ray. As this is the first BR release for the company in Italy, which is also set to release Giuseppe Tornatore's La sconosciuta, it would be interesting to see how this affects the possible future US release of his Gladiator.

The official coverage on Mr.Scott's vocal support for Blu-Ray is here:
http://www.avmagazine.it/news/dvd/if...-ray_2410.html

Ciao,
Pro-B

Sorry, I don't read Italian! Will it be released on HD DVD as well?

There isn't an official pre-release date yet but the answer should be yes!

Pro-B

Is Medusa releasing it on Blu-ray, or has Ridley Scott just asked for a Blu-ray release in Italy? Babelfish isn't responding right now, and the posts on AVS make it sound like it was just a request for now. I'm all for as many format-neutral releases as possible, so hopefully he carries forward with this throughout the world.

Adam:

It will be a dual release.

Pro-B

He will have a more difficult time with Paramount/Dreamworks if he wants a BD release for Gladiator.

Casablanca is set to be released on BR on October 24th (WB-Italia).

Pro-B

Posted elsewhere but here's a broader explanation: those who might be a bit disheartened about DreamWorks going exclusive I would like to point out that in Finland the Shreky studio is under Sony's distro umbrella. Hence quite a few titles will be available on BLU.

Cameron Crow's Almost Famous is set to be released on BLU this September 26th.

Official release sheet:
http://www.dvdplaza.fi/leffakanta/nayta.php?sid=7608

Ok..Ciao,
Pro-B

Any specs on this?

This is one of the WB catch up titles still due out in the US, this gives us great hope for the rest of them!

Are the releases in English and region-free?

I'd cheerfully buy Almost Famous in high-def. If the titles aren't in a format that's useful to most of the users here, it'd probably be a better idea to segment that out into a separate thread.

Original English audio with optional: suomi, ruotsi, norja, tanska, englanti...that would be Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and English subs. The free-part I don't know since as of now I only read what the other forums have to say. Since Sony have been bringing all catalog titles as ABC I would assume it will be region-free.

When more info comes I will make sure to post (unless someone else of course does it before me).

Ciao,
Pro-B

edit:
I think I know what you mean. If they are not region-free will put in a different thread.

I only found it here but i think it is too early to look for specs:
http://www.dvdland.it/nicom1/p_55070...a_blu_ray.html

I will look elsewhere later on, I will have dinner now.

Ciao,
Pro-B

I'd leave this up to some of the other users here to decide since it doesn't make a huge difference to me either way. My preference would be that anything that's not region A/region-free or doesn't have generally useful language options (either an original English track or, in the case of foreign language films, English subtitles) be placed in a separate thread. For housekeeping purposes, it might be better to keep all talk of foreign releases in a single thread, but I'd just as soon let other people chime in with their thoughts rather than this be seen as some kind of mandate.

I thought this decision was already made by you Adam, but I'll again voice my opinion that foreign releases belong in the foreign release HD/BD thread.

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 9/5/2007

SEPT. 5 | DENVER—Blu-ray Disc set-top players within the last 12 weeks have begun out-selling HD DVD set-top players, according to recent NPD Group research cited by Sony Electronics.

Sony touted the reversal of HD DVD’s long-running stand-alone dominance during its Wednesday press conference at CEDIA.

Sony VP Chris Fawcett declined to provide exact market share percentages of the two sides.

He said the change occurred mostly due to the introduction of Sony’s $499 player.



note: Graph above does not reflect PS3 units sold.

Ciao,
Pro-B

News from France!

In an article published by French news-site DVDRAMA it appears that the Blu-pack has taken the lead there as well. As of August 19, 2007 Blu-Ray leads in market sales with 58% to respectively 42% for HDDVD.

Total number of discs: 176 516 (101.863 Blu-Ray versus 74.653 HD-DVD)

Total numbers of titles released on the French market: (128 Blu-Ray versus 108 HD-DVD).

Direct link to the article:
http://www.dvdrama.com/news.php?21882

Ciao,
Pro-B

Hmm, so price DOES seem to affect player sales. Maybe BD has learned a lesson about their hardware pricing.

That said, im sure HD-DVD is still leading in overall standalone sales.

This just looks like its based on the past couple months (when BD released the new Sony lower priced player and Toshiba didnt release anything).

It should be noted that each of the gradations at the bottom of the graph appear to represent one day. So (if this chart is to be believed), Blu-ray standalone players have outsold HD DVD standalone players for.... one week.

Actually, the spike in BR hardware sales according to the chart occurred weeks before the price cut for the PS3 (July 9). And that is where the bulk of all BR sales went.

In my opinion with the upcoming brand name players announced the market will be quite different in the months to come (from JVC, Pioneer, Sony, Denon, and Phillips, all the way to Panasonic).

Pro-B

Incorrect!!

Each gradation represents a week.

Pro-B

HD/BD Movie Sales on the Decline


I hope this isn't a trend. Seems to me people are getting tired of this war.

That's a somewhat normal distribution curve for movie sales, IMHO.


Sales always spike at Christmas and bottom out in the new year (start of the chart and first valley) then tend to spike at the end of a quarter when all the studios put out big-name titles to make money for the quarterly report.



Sales will start trending up in a month or two before hitting overdrive in November and December, then sharply decline again.

I wouldn't be worried about the above chart. There has really been a drought of worthwhile releases on both sides. I believe we will see an upward trend once the fall releases kick in and when studios and CE companies slash their prices for Black Friday and so forth.

It shouldn't come as a shock, but Toshiba responded to Sony's claim..
LINK


Toshiba Refutes Sony's Claims of Blu-ray Stand-Alone Player Dominance
Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 06:09 PM ET
Tags: CEDIA, Toshiba, Hardware (all tags)

Well, that didn't take long. Toshiba this afternoon issued a tersely-worded response to claims made by Sony at a CEDIA press conference last night.

As we first reported earlier today, Sony VP Chris Fawcett was quoted as saying that stand-alone Blu-ray players had begun out-selling their HD DVD counterparts over the last 12 weeks.

Given the extent to which HD DVD backers had previously emphasized their own lead in this category, Sony's claims set off a minor firestorm across the web -- so much so, apparently, that Toshiba felt compelled to issue its own statement in response this afternoon.

The statement reads as follows:

"In light of recent comments made regarding high definition stand-alone video players sales, Toshiba would like to reiterate its continued industry leading sales figures. Based on July data from NPD, Toshiba had a 55% market share year to date in high definition stand alone player sales followed by all Blu-ray companies at a combined 42%; the final 3 percent is held by dual format players.

While the competition may claim leadership based on one month of data, Toshiba has had continued sales leadership in every month since the original HD DVD players launched 17 months ago.

Toshiba is and continues to be a top seller at retailers such as Amazon, most recently reaching #1 on the site last week. As third generation players begin to come to market at the end of this month, Toshiba has full confidence that it will continue its momentum and lead in player sales. Additional information HD DVD and Toshiba’s players can be found at http://www.toshibahddvd.com"