New Blu-ray format dominates Sony show

[zombie]

http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/19/b...s/story04.html

New Blu-ray format dominates Sony show
TheBuzz by Erika Engle

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN appropriate for Sony Electronics Inc. officials to include drool bibs in the goodie bags handed out to its dealers yesterday. (Actually using the bibs to keep from drooling on the newest, coolest Sony products since, well, last year's dealer show -- now that would have been uncool.)

The annual Sony Hawaii Dealer Show and Training Sessions introduce Sony's local retail dealers to the products Sony Electronics will roll out for sale this year.

The headlining stars of a lunch-hour media briefing yesterday were not just Sony Hawaii Co. President Don Kim and Hideki Komiyama, chairman of Sony Electronics, but the Blu-ray Disc Player and a Vaio computer that records discs using Blu-ray technology.

Video from the Blu-ray Player was displayed on screens in the presentation room at Hilton Hawaiian Village while the executives spoke. The high-definition technology made a sun-and-fun beauty shot with sparkling ocean look better than it would through this columnist's own eyes when actually at the beach. Then again, these eyes haven't been 20/20 since before the fourth grade.

Blu-ray's competitor is the HD-DVD format, backed by Toshiba. Each has support from big players on the hardware side and movie and game makers.

"Ninety-five percent of content creators will be supplying Blu-ray product," Komiyama said. Some companies support both formats, so first adopters have research to do before deciding what to buy.

By next month, 105 movie titles will be available for Blu-ray, said Bill Kennedy, Sony Home Product Division headquarters trainer.

At $999, the Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray disc player does not record onto discs, but the $2,300 Sony Vaio-RC desktop computer and a Blu-ray equipped laptop do. The computers and player will be available in June. There will be a Blu-ray player-recorder down the line, but Kennedy could not specify a time frame.

Sony's latest high-definition video camera, the HDR-HC3 HDV 1080i Handycam, can take three seconds of footage and play it back in slow motion over 12 seconds, "which is a great way to analyze your golf swing," said Jamie Lum, product manager of Sony Hawaii's Consumer Products Group. Optional Bluetooth wireless microphones and receivers can be used on other camcorders.

Still cameras, some of which capture moving images, are also a part of Sony's arsenal. Anti-blur technology is touted in the company's new Cyber-Shot camera, which starts at $500.

Parents of gamers should brace themselves for November, when the Sony PlayStation 3, with Blu-ray technology, is released for a still undisclosed price. Though game hardware is not his kuleana, Kennedy assured readers of TheBuzz that the company will not make only five of them for the entire planet, leaving hundreds of thousands of customers enduring whining kids for months and months while waiting for consoles to appear in stores. "That would be bad," he said.

WTF? 105 Blu-ray movies in May? Yeah right! Would be sweet if true though. Unless Fox and Disney are going to surprise us with big launches. In either case, 9 movies or 105 movies, there will be no player to watch them with... unless Sony's got another surprise in store for us.

[The Don]

niiiiiice...can't wait to see what's coming..

[Sony1]

Wow, Blu-ray drive for the computer and you can burn your old movies onto Blu-ray. Sweet!! I am sure Sony will do a better job than Toshiba did with there HD Player, now I can't get the remote to work. Very disapointed in this Toshiba player

[georgir]

so the authors of this article still don't know everything bluray got pushed near the end of june? or, they know more than us and there will indeed be BD movies and players sooner? i hope its the second, but somehow doubt it.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Sony1

I am sure Sony will do a better job than Toshiba did with there HD Player, now I can't get the remote to work. Very disapointed in this Toshiba player

I told you Toshiba made the cheapest piece of junk player they could just so they could price it low. I dont believe Sony or any other Blu-ray company is willing to do that. You truly get what you pay for. I am honestly sorry that its not working out, for you that is. I hate to see anyone so excited about a product have to wait only to be disappointed. I have been there and it sucks. Its like getting nothing but socks and underwear for Christmas. I truly believe that whatever Blu-ray player you get will make you feel good about your purchase, when the players come out.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Patrick

I told you Toshiba made the cheapest piece of junk player they could just so they could price it low. I dont believe Sony or any other Blu-ray company is willing to do that. You truly get what you pay for. I am honestly sorry that its not working out, for you that is. I hate to see anyone so excited about a product have to wait only to be disappointed. I have been there and it sucks. Its like getting nothing but socks and underwear for Christmas. I truly believe that whatever Blu-ray player you get will make you feel good about your purchase, when the players come out.

100 percent agreed.

Toshiba took a cue from their sponsor, Microsoft, when it came to rushing a product out and trying to clean up the mess afterwards (think Xbox360 launch.)

The HD-DVD launch has a bunch of eerie parallels to that fiasco.

1.) Bugs
2.) Dearth of software
3.) questionable/inconsistent quality
4.) broken promises (backwards compatibility on Xbox360 as an example. 1080p ready on HD-DVD? Yeah, right.)

Hell, there's STILL Xbox 360 shortages going on, even now.

Toshiba is essentially giving this mediocrity away after a series of delays and blunders that would have, and should have buried anyone. The CES and IFA showing were a complete disgrace by any stretch of the imagination.

The whole thing reeks of second rate, half @#$ed, firesale desperation.

I want the BDA to take their time and release what I fully expect to be a more stable and better quality product right out of the gate and time it well enough where there's actually a decent amount of launch day/launch window software ready to go as well.

That can't really be asking too much, methinks.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by JTK

100 percent agreed.

Toshiba took a cue from their sponsor, Microsoft, when it came to rushing a product out and trying to clean up the mess afterwards (think Xbox360 launch.)

The HD-DVD launch has a bunch of eerie parallels to that fiasco.

1.) Bugs
2.) Dearth of software
3.) questionable/inconsistent quality
4.) broken promises (backwards compatibility on Xbox360 as an example. 1080p ready on HD-DVD? Yeah, right.)

Hell, there's STILL Xbox 360 shortages going on, even now.

Toshiba is essentially giving this mediocrity away after a series of delays and blunders that would have, and should have buried anyone. The CES and IFA showing were a complete disgrace by any stretch of the imagination.

The whole thing reeks of second rate, half @#$ed, firesale desperation.

I want the BDA to take their time and release what I fully expect to be a more stable and better quality product right out of the gate and time it well enough where there's actually a decent amount of launch day/launch window software ready to go as well.

That can't really be asking too much, methinks.

where are there 360 shortages?...here in Philly, PA I can get one anywhere...

[JTK]

Originally Posted by The Don

where are there 360 shortages?...here in Philly, PA I can get one anywhere...

They've been intermittent and in very slow decline. Five months later, they finally have it just about put done and done with, but it took that long.

My point is: The Xbox360 was needlessy rushed out and it's taken them months to clean the mess up.

[Sony1]

Yup, Toshiba rushed this player, I don't understand why they would put out such a poor product. I am reading the reviews and I understand this is new technology however this player has some big issues. I don't believe Blu-ray will have the same problems. Blu-ray has been available in Japan since 2003, so I am sure Blu-ray is going to take this battle within a year from now.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Sony1

Yup, Toshiba rushed this player, I don't understand why they would put out such a poor product. I am reading the reviews and I understand this is new technology however this player has some big issues. I don't believe Blu-ray will have the same problems. Blu-ray has been available in Japan since 2003, so I am sure Blu-ray is going to take this battle within a year from now.

I agree with you. I'm amazed when I read about Blu-Ray having been out in Japan as long as it has been.

I honestly didn't know that. That information only makes the overall picture for Blu-Ray that much more appealing and compelling from where I sit.