iPhone/iPod Touch control of Blu-ray interactive content

[CAB]

Someplace I didn't expect them to go.

Home Media Magazine article - Universal Bows iPod Touch/iPhone Apps for Blu-ray.

[MountainDewMe]

I'm sorta excited for this I know there has been an app released a long time ago called "BD Touch" and it's free but I have no idea what Blu-Ray Discs I can use it on.

http://bdtouch.com/

[STARSCREAM]

If I buy a movie I should also get all the special features associated with it. I even have a 2nd gen touch but this news still pisses me off. I also bet it won't even be compatible with my touch, but only with the iphones. I'm also sick and tired of this kinda crap. I wish they would chunk all this extra useless crap and just focus on getting more movies out and quit worrying about dinky features like this and worry about maximizing PQ and AQ! Between this kinda stuff (alienating customers who can't access the features) and all the compatibility issues with players and disc for the first time I am starting to worry about blu-ray.

[CAB]

I don't use the BD Live stuff either but I thought the tech was cool and I'm glad the format has the space for all the gadgets and the great PQ/AQ.

I reread the article and it looks like the iPod Touch is supported. Maybe we can get a REDant to crash the thread and tell us how my Player will get bricked because of some jailbroken iPhone in the Internet.

[ZMan]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

I'm also sick and tired of this kinda crap. I wish they would chunk all this extra useless crap and just focus on getting more movies out and quit worrying about dinky features like this and worry about maximizing PQ and AQ! Between this kinda stuff (alienating customers who can't access the features) and all the compatibility issues with players and disc for the first time I am starting to worry about blu-ray.

+1 - Couldn't have said it better myself!

[repete66211]

I have an iPhone, so I suppose I should be excited about this. But I'm not. Mickey Mouse stuff like this is symptomatic of a company that thinks any activity is good activity.

I have to buy the movie and download the app. Then I can use the app to do special things while watching the movie. Yeah, like I'm going to drag an app around with me to use on the two Universal movies I get off Netflix. I hope the development costs on this were low, because this is a gross misallocation of resources.

[Hammie]

I think I have only used BD-Live once and wasn't impressed at all. I don't think I would want to use up precious space on my iPhone for this silliness.

[Rik1138]

Paramount is putting something similar on the next season of Star Trek TOS (called Mobile Blu). It will be a full remote control though, you can use your iPhone (and eventually other devices) to control the entire disc. There will also be a few features exclusive to the mobile app, but the main purpose (for now) is a remote control device.

Unfortunately, the disc still has to be created to accept the commands from the iPhone, so it won't work with any disc, but it's still kind of neat...

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by Rik1138

Paramount is putting something similar on the next season of Star Trek TOS (called Mobile Blu). It will be a full remote control though, you can use your iPhone (and eventually other devices) to control the entire disc. There will also be a few features exclusive to the mobile app, but the main purpose (for now) is a remote control device.

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but I already have a remote control. Is the app going to have movie-themed buttons or something to customize the experience? If so, it might have a "hey, look at me" factor for about five minutes.

[pokefan]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

If I buy a movie I should also get all the special features associated with it. I even have a 2nd gen touch but this news still pisses me off. I also bet it won't even be compatible with my touch, but only with the iphones. I'm also sick and tired of this kinda crap. I wish they would chunk all this extra useless crap and just focus on getting more movies out and quit worrying about dinky features like this and worry about maximizing PQ and AQ! Between this kinda stuff (alienating customers who can't access the features) and all the compatibility issues with players and disc for the first time I am starting to worry about blu-ray.

You know, companies have more then one department. Just because they're trying to do something new doesn't mean that they can't also focus on getting movies out quicker with top tier PQ/AQ. The programing guys have nothing to do with getting movies out. It's their job to come up with something to supplement the movies being worked on.

I work for a photography company as a graphic artist. This is like saying we shouldn't be worried about making up new products and making our website different and fun for people and only focus on taking pictures. It's not my job to take pictures but to make things to go along with those images that we sale.

Originally Posted by repete66211

Yeah, like I'm going to drag an app around with me to use on the two Universal movies I get off Netflix. I hope the development costs on this were low, because this is a gross misallocation of resources.

How do you know it's not just framework that can be used with any movie that has this feature? You guys are harsh, wait til it comes out before you start bashing it left and right.

[repete66211]

You know, companies have more then one department. Just because they're trying to do something new doesn't mean that they can't also focus on getting movies out quicker with top tier PQ/AQ.

You're right, but every company has limited resources. This means any dollar spent developing widgets that may or may not be used is one less dollar that can be allocated to creating and improving existing products.

You're also right when you say we shouldn't bash something we haven't tried, but nothing about this development says anything to me except "cheap stunt used to get your email address so we can spam you". And besides, we already have remote controls.

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by repete66211

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but I already have a remote control. Is the app going to have movie-themed buttons or something to customize the experience? If so, it might have a "hey, look at me" factor for about five minutes.

No, you aren't missing anything... It seems like more of a novelty than anything right now, but I suppose it could be easily modified to do special things.

It can enhance BDLive for sure though, as it allows you to use the keyboard of the iPhone to type with, rather than trying to use the player remote.

Another nice thing about it though is it can provide functions that not every remote has. For example, on the the Star Trek disc, it will have an Angle button on the application. So, if you want to change angles while watching, and your remote doesn't have an Angle button, you can use the one on the phone instead of using the Pop-Up menu. It can also be programmed to do one-frame advance, etc... So people that have players that don't have these features on their remotes will now be able to do them.

Not earth-shattering or anything, but it is kind of neat. I tend to operate my remotes by feel though, so trying to use a touch-screen device would require me to actually look at it. Can't have that...

Rik

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by repete66211

You're right, but every company has limited resources. This means any dollar spent developing widgets that may or may not be used is one less dollar that can be allocated to creating and improving existing products.

But, they are usually departmentalized. For example, the audio and video encoding departments are one area, and they will do the best job possible to make the picture look as good as possible. Spending a small portion of the budget on a small application isn't going to make the picture quality suffer...

Originally Posted by repete66211

You're also right when you say we shouldn't bash something we haven't tried, but nothing about this development says anything to me except "cheap stunt used to get your email address so we can spam you". And besides, we already have remote controls.

The Mobile Blu app doesn't ask for your Email address... And it can provide functionality that your remote may not have (see above post...).

[repete66211]

It can enhance BDLive for sure though, as it allows you to use the keyboard of the iPhone to type with, rather than trying to use the player remote.

OK, you've convinced me. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for the time being.

[DIY_HD]

Originally Posted by Rik1138

No, you aren't missing anything... It seems like more of a novelty than anything right now, but I suppose it could be easily modified to do special things.

It can enhance BDLive for sure though, as it allows you to use the keyboard of the iPhone to type with, rather than trying to use the player remote.

Another nice thing about it though is it can provide functions that not every remote has. For example, on the the Star Trek disc, it will have an Angle button on the application. So, if you want to change angles while watching, and your remote doesn't have an Angle button, you can use the one on the phone instead of using the Pop-Up menu. It can also be programmed to do one-frame advance, etc... So people that have players that don't have these features on their remotes will now be able to do them.

Not earth-shattering or anything, but it is kind of neat. I tend to operate my remotes by feel though, so trying to use a touch-screen device would require me to actually look at it. Can't have that...

Rik

My first reaction was "Oh Boy, another iPhone app. Gee whiz, we don't have enough of those." Like Repete, I figured they were just jumping on the bandwagon so they could say they have an app for that. There are a lot of crap apps!

However, if what you say is true, I may find value in it. I have always wondered if my player supports single-frame advance, but they just removed it from the remote because of some stability or longevity problems. It might be useful for those fast-moving scenes where details get missed that help explain what is going on in the movie. I miss that from my old DVD player. I don't know if I would pay for that feature, though.

I do agree that operating the remote by feel is better. The buttons don't move like on an LCD screen!

[supaman72]

You guys know you don't have to use it and it's free right?