Settle in for a tale of retailer exclusives, international editions and the Bittorrenting that ensues when a Blu-ray release goes wrong.…
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House Of Cards, one week later: Spoiler alerts and the DVD question
The first season of House of Cards is full of intrigue and plot twists -- but the drama it's created for the television industry is almost as compelling. …
Read MoreWhy Facebook might put Blu-ray to use on big data
Facebook is looking at almost all options to address the storage needs of its myriad applications that all have different requirements around performance, scalability and efficiency. Flash can be too fast and hard drives to slow, but Facebook wants something just right.…
Read MoreWhy Avengers super-fans should assemble for Marvel’s second-screen experience
If you saw The Avengers more than once in the theater, and still ended up buying the film on Blu-ray or DVD this week, then you are exactly for whom Marvel designed this deliciously nerdy two-screen app experience.…
Read MorepaidContent turns 10: A brief history of digital media
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix (s NFLX) thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do -- that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002.…
Read MoreNetflix, Blu-ray lead home entertainment back to growth
Has the long-moribund home entertainment sector finally started to turn the corner? Significant growth from subscription streaming and Blu-ray rentals and sales give the industry its second up quarter out of the last three, according to studio-funded research firm the Digital Entertainment Group.…
Read MoreDVD not so DOA after all? Redbox Q1 revenue up 39%
While its longtime DVD-rental rival, Netflix has signaled its eventual retreat from the disc business, kiosk operator Redbox seems more than happy to take on any physical-media customers Netflix wants to cut loose.…
Read MoreUltraviolet Movement Picks Up New Backer: Samsung
Samsung has rolled out a new line of Blu-ray players that support Ultraviolet, thus joining the ranks of entertainment brands that support t……
Read MoreUltraViolet might be too little, too late
Hollywood is finally starting to make good on its promise to allow consumers to buy a movie once and watch it anywhere. But in my latest piece on GigaOM Pro, I argue that UltraViolet does little to combat a visible shift in consumer behavior.…
Read MoreThe Pirate Bay launches 3-D section
The Pirate Bay announced Wednesday morning that it is now in the business of offering 3-D movies, destroying the hopes of Hollywood that 3-D would be something of an automatic piracy deterrent. With prices for 3-D TVs declining, the phenomenon is poised to become more popular.…
Read MoreH.264 is still winning the codec war
H.264 remains the dominant force in online video, as the video codec now accounts for more than two-thirds of online video, according to a blog post by MeFeedia. Meanwhile, Google's WebM format has yet to gain any significant traction after being released a year ago.…
Read MoreNetflix helps boost Blu-ray player and disc sales
It may have taken consumers a while to warm up to Blu-ray, but now they're buying both players and discs. Lower prices may be part of the reason for that trend, but many consumers cite Netflix as the primary reason to buy a Blu-ray player.…
Read MoreBuy a Movie on Blu-ray, Watch It on Your Android Device
With the Blu-ray release of Unstoppable, 20th Century Fox is unveiling a new feature that will allow owners of the Blu-ray disc to copy the movie to their Android mobile devices. But will the feature actually make people want to own physical movies again?…
Read MoreTasting the Forbidden Fruit: Blu-ray on the Mac
Despite lack of official support, you can use Blu-ray on the Mac. It just takes a few more steps than on a Windows machine, and only comes with a lot of help from third-party software. But it can be done. Here's how.…
Read MoreCutting the Cord: Why I Love My PlayStation3
There's no perfect solution yet to watching all the content you want on your TV, but for me, the PS3 has become invaluable. When you look at all the features gaming consoles offer on top of basic set-top services, it makes the extra money worthwhile.…
Read MoreMicrosoft, Apple Execs Agree: “Who Needs Blu-ray?”
Microsoft UK head of gaming and entertainment Stephen McGill isn't a fan of the Blu-ray format. The exec believes that "Blu-ray is going to be passed by," meaning he agrees with both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates on physical media potentially becoming obsolete.…
Read MoreDRM FAIL: Five Broken Copy Protection Schemes
This week, we learned that the HDCP copy protection scheme is now essentially broken. HDCP's failure is just one of many examples of copy protection technology not living up to its promises of security. Read on for five of the most glorious examples of DRM FAIL.…
Read MoreCopy Protection Makes Dozens of Blu-ray Titles Unplayable
Owners of Samsung's Blu-ray players have been unable to play dozens of Blu-ray titles from Warner and Universal due to copy protection gone awry. Some have been struggling with these issues for months, and Samsung's customer suport told one caller a fix could take a year.…
Read MoreBlu-ray Discs Are Coming to Redbox For $1.50 a Pop
Consumers can now rent Blu-ray discs at more than 13,000 Redbox kiosks around the country. They'll have to pay a premium to watch their rentals in high-def, however; Blu-ray discs cost $1.50 a pop, as opposed to the $1 per night that Redbox is famous for.…
Read MoreWhy Macs Will Never Get Blu-ray
Steve thinks that with a Time Capsule or an online backup system paired with YouTube for sharing video and iTunes at the center of it all with media consumption, the industry has made Blu-ray obsolete before it even makes it to Mac machines and I agree.…
Read MoreReports: Apple Skipping Blu-ray, Heading Straight for Streaming
Apple (s AAPL) could skip Blu-ray discs altogether and head straight to streaming video online, if we believe two reports that have popped up over the past few days. Considering Apple's history of picking winning technologies, that could signal bad news for Blu-ray's future.…
Read MoreRedbox to Rent Blu-ray Discs for $1.50 a Night
Redbox will soon get into the Blu-ray rental market, according to company president Mitch Lowe. Speaking at an industry trade show, he said Redbox would use its existing footprint to rent higher-value Blu-ray discs at a premium to its $1 a night DVD rentals.…
Read MoreAvatar Tops in First-Week Blu-ray Sales
After posting record box office sales in the U.S. and worldwide, James Cameron’s Avatar can add another record to its trophy case…
Read MoreBurn Blu-ray Disks on Regular DVDs With x264
The developers of the open source h.264 codec x264 have just released an update that makes it possible to burn Blu-ray discs…
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