Blu-ray & WAN's

[Psychoticus]

will the release of Blu-ray and HD DVD based devices impact on WAN infrastructure? And if so how do you think it would impact???

[hmurchison]

The Pioneer and all HD DVDs have ethernet ports.

The impact will be great when the backend is complete from the studios which will allow them to send content over the net to be stored and synced with the player. I personally think this can be huge. Most multicomputer homes have networks now. I love the idea of leveraging this with a BD or HD DVD player.

The setup should be easy with standard networking protocols. Even better if the players could support some auto discovery tech like Apple's Bonjour technology or something close.

Look for this to be the next big thing for high end players as interactivity goes bonkers.

[Psychoticus]

So what you mean is that say a movie will be stored on a server and then the player will connect to the internet and play that movie??? perhaps you could specify more on what it would do, as i am new to this sort of technology.

[hmurchison]

Yes with Managed Copy you would be granted a the right to store a copy of the movie onto a hard drive for a price. You would then be able to stream this movie to other network connected players around the house.

Also you could have a future Blu-Ray or HD DVD player with a built in Hard Drive. The hard drive would store movies and also refreshed content direct from the studios. Say goodbye to outdated actor bios, say hello to new trailers and extras. We haven't even scratched the surface to what these players can accomplish. The trick is finding the balance between what consumers want and what they will pay for.

[Psychoticus]

Thanks for the help, this sounds like it's going to be big, can't wait to see what becomes of it!