A comparison of PS3 and 360 as media players

[patsu]

Sony Acquires Netblender, Expands Blu-ray Authoring Software Tools
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=7626

Sony Creative Software, makers of the ever popular Sony Vegas Pro video editing and authoring software, have acquired Netblender, an up and coming developer in the same field. The amount paid by Sony has not been disclosed.

The deal gives Sony access to Netblender's BD Touch software which allows control of Blu-ray players and other set top boxes from iOS and Android devices.

Brad Reinke, Senior Vice President, Sony Creative Software said of the acquisition, "[This] will allow us to continue to deliver industry-standard tools that address these issues, as well as having the resources to offer new capabilities such as Blu-ray 3D and Custom BD-J within this new product line. We look forward to working with and supporting NetBlender's loyal customers who have come to rely on these solutions for their multimedia production needs."

Netblender themselves say over 2,000 retail Blu-ray Discs have been produced with their software and they operate in 31 countries around the world, John Harrington, CEO of NetBlender said, "The combination of NetBlender's innovative products and Sony's market leadership will be a powerful force for encouraging growth in the Blu-ray industry."

...

Besides iOS and Android integration, they should already start to integrate Gracenote's infrastructure into these BD authoring tools. It would allow studios to capitalize on movie meta-data. I think they will be very useful for consumers.

 

[patsu]

Blockbuster Bows New In-store Subscription Plan
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blockbuster/blockbuster-bows-new-in-store-subscription-plan-25481

Dubbed Blockbuster Movie Combo, the program allows users to rent one movie (DVD or Blu-ray Disc) or video game at a time and the option to order one by-mail rental per month with no due dates for $7.49 for the first month and $14.99 a month thereafter.

...

Blockbuster’s by-mail Total Access program allows users to rent one movie or game at a time with unlimited in-store exchanges for $13.99 a month.

...

Confusing...
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Blockbuster/Blockbuster_Has_Another_New_Rental_Scheme/7965

Of course, things get a little confusing when you try and decide between Blockbuster Total Access and Blockbuster Combo Pass. It seems like Total Access - the disc by mail service that allows in-store exchanges - would be a better deal for those just getting movies, but Combo Pass is the way to go for gamers who have to pay extra to trade in for games with Total Access.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Blockbuster Bows New In-store Subscription Planhttp://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Blockbuster/Blockbuster_Has_Another_New_Rental_Scheme/7965

I've seen this term a few times now. As far as I can tell they just mean 'introduce', right, and this is just crap English? Or does 'bow' have a specific meaning that none of the dictionaries have recognised yet?

 

[NavNucST3]

I've seen this term a few times now. As far as I can tell they just mean 'introduce', right, and this is just crap English? Or does 'bow' have a specific meaning that none of the dictionaries have recognised yet?

bow 2 |bou|
verb [ no obj. ]
3 (of a movie or product) be premiered or launched: the trailer bowed in theaters nationwide on December 23. the Pentium III bowed in early 1999.

or

noun |baʊ|

2 the premiere or launch of a movie or product: the new big screen will make its bow at the game on Saturday .

EDIT: Wherever the built-in dictionary on Mac gets its info from is the source of my post. Oh hey...here's one for you Shifty
from the "British Dictionary"

3 chiefly N. Amer.(of a new film or product) be premiered or launched: the trailer bowed in theaters nationwide on December 23. the Pentium III bowed in early 1999.

Since I've not heard this word used in this fashion I'm going to throw out a generalization out and just say it's pretentious.

 

[joker454]

Got a question for anyone here that uses Zune Pass. I currently use Spotify for music on pc and my iphone, but I'm switching to an Htc Titan Windows Phone which has no Spotify app, hence I'm cancelling Spotify and switching to Rdio or Zune Pass. I tried Zune Pass and it's pretty good, but what I can't figure out is how do I share my playlists across multiple computers and on console? For example I add a bunch of songs to my library and make a bunch of playlists on one pc, then I go to another pc in the house, run Zune and my songs and playlists are no where to be found. Likewise when I go to Zune on the 360 same deal, playlists no where to be found. With Spotify I could make playlists anywhere and any device that I ran Spotify on would have my playlists all there. Is this not possible with Zune Pass?

 

[NavNucST3]

Got a question for anyone here that uses Zune Pass. I currently use Spotify for music on pc and my iphone, but I'm switching to an Htc Titan Windows Phone which has no Spotify app, hence I'm cancelling Spotify and switching to Rdio or Zune Pass. I tried Zune Pass and it's pretty good, but what I can't figure out is how do I share my playlists across multiple computers and on console? For example I add a bunch of songs to my library and make a bunch of playlists on one pc, then I go to another pc in the house, run Zune and my songs and playlists are no where to be found. Likewise when I go to Zune on the 360 same deal, playlists no where to be found. With Spotify I could make playlists anywhere and any device that I ran Spotify on would have my playlists all there. Is this not possible with Zune Pass?

I'll take a look later but I believe it is one of the things I didn't like about the Pass. Syncing to the phone is easy enough it is the keeping playlists to additional locations and turning off downloads on a secondary/tertiary device that is the trouble. Overall, though, we definitely like the pass but the windows phones lock you into a main live account and that prevents me from using the zune pass I bought for my wife (would love if this were included in Gold Family and shareable).

 

[joker454]

Ahh so it's more of a one pc+phone type of product. Boo Does it at least also sync the same playlists on the pc to the phone? If it does that then I can prolly live with it for a while until the Spotify app comes out then I'll switch back.

 

[-tkf-]

BLU RAY!

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/blu-ray-software-sales-finally-start-accelerating/

The amount of Blu-ray players in U.S. homes has risen to 33.5 million. This constitutes a 52 percent increase over the previous year and includes Sony’s PlayStation 3, set-top Blu-ray players and home theater-in-a-box systems with Blu-ray capability

So the PS3 is still a major factor in Blu-Ray

 

[Arwin]

I guess that would depend on what you call a major factor ... But it's still a sizeable chunk of that 33 million figure, that's for sure.

 

[-tkf-]

I guess that would depend on what you call a major factor ... But it's still a sizeable chunk of that 33 million figure, that's for sure.

I would call a sizeable chunk of 33 million a major factor, as i just did

 

[Arwin]

I would call a sizeable chunk of 33 million a major factor, as i just did

Absolutely. But to make a more exact guestimate of its impact, you'd also have to know how much PS3s are used for BluRay playback versus dedicated players (could very well be equal though, as is the case in my home and as most PS3s will also be hooked up to HD displays by now).

 

[mrcorbo]

Absolutely. But to make a more exact guestimate of its impact, you'd also have to know how much PS3s are used for BluRay playback versus dedicated players (could very well be equal though, as is the case in my home and as most PS3s will also be hooked up to HD displays by now).

Yes, but each PS3 is being counted towards that total whether it is being used for Blu-Ray or not. So, you can exactly measure it's impact in this context as they are just referencing the total number of Blu-Ray playback units sold.

 

[-tkf-]

Yes, but each PS3 is being counted towards that total whether it is being used for Blu-Ray or not. So, you can exactly measure it's impact in this context as they are just referencing the total number of Blu-Ray playback units sold.

Well the correct way to do it would be to.

Find software sales for 2009 2010
Compare the sales with number of players, how much more is sold pr "player".

See how much more there is sold as the number of players grow and compare that number to the final 2011 sales and the percentage of PS3 players.

I think it´s obvious that a stand alone player has a greater impact on Blu-Ray software sales than a PS3 since it really can´t do anything. However i think the PS3 is being used as a Blu-Ray player to such a degree that it still makes a big difference in terms of software sales. Pull away the PS3 and the software just couldn´t sell in the same numbers since there would be fewer customers

 

[mrcorbo]

Well the correct way to do it would be to.

Find software sales for 2009 2010
Compare the sales with number of players, how much more is sold pr "player".

See how much more there is sold as the number of players grow and compare that number to the final 2011 sales and the percentage of PS3 players.

I think it´s obvious that a stand alone player has a greater impact on Blu-Ray software sales than a PS3 since it really can´t do anything. However i think the PS3 is being used as a Blu-Ray player to such a degree that it still makes a big difference in terms of software sales. Pull away the PS3 and the software just couldn´t sell in the same numbers since there would be fewer customers

FWIW: According to the article, the software sales increases are outpacing the hardware sales increases 58% to 52%. If you really want to be comprehensive, you also should compare the number of software releases in each year and compare the ASP per unit sold to determine how the number of titles available and the pricing are affecting sales.

 

[patsu]

BLU RAY!

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/blu-ray-software-sales-finally-start-accelerating/

So the PS3 is still a major factor in Blu-Ray

The real news there is:

Blu-ray [disc] sales are up 58 percent during the third quarter of 2011 compared to the previous year. In fact, the amount of money that consumers spend on home entertainment has seen the first increase since the U.S. recession began in early 2008. With a five percent increase over the previous year, a portion of that was driven by Blu-ray sales as well as a 13 percent increase in electronic sell-through. The refers to the amount of digital downloads consumers have made to devices such as gaming consoles, set-top boxes, tablets and smartphones.

They should promote the new UltraViolet feature on Blu-ray more prominently, and simplify the process further.

I think it´s obvious that a stand alone player has a greater impact on Blu-Ray software sales than a PS3 since it really can´t do anything.

Depends ! Some of them bought the standalone players for DVD and streaming movies. ^_^
Need some real numbers.

 

[-tkf-]

The real news there is:

They should promote the new UltraViolet feature on Blu-ray more prominently, and simplify the process further.

Depends ! Some of them bought the standalone players for DVD and streaming movies. ^_^
Need some real numbers.

The numbers are real enough, and just as Blu-Ray players can stream, so can the PS3 and soon everything that uses electricity, it is the new black . The real news for me is that all those that doomed Blu-Ray , mostly after HD-DVD was killed of course, was wrong. And the risk that Blu-Ray will turn into a niche product is gone.

 

[patsu]

The BD-Live servers would know what players are used most right now.

And yes, the studios will tweak their tactics and strategies to maximize both offline and online revenue. Since Blu-ray is their only offline future, they will try to extend it as long as there are consumer demand. Hope to see them integrate all the channels at a deeper level though, like cross-platform UltraViolet DRM, and using meta-data to make useful movie apps.

If they simply focus on digital rental, the industry may have limited future.

EDIT:
Warner Bros. Slaps Blockbuster With 28-Day Movie Rental Delay
http://consumerist.com/2011/10/warner-bros-slaps-blockbuster-with-28-day-movie-rental-delay.html

Along with several other major movie studios, Warner Bros. restricts Netflix and Redbox from offering its movies for rent until 28 days after they go on sale. For months, Blockbuster has been immune to such restrictions, trumpeting early access to films as one of the few reasons to still bother visiting a rental store. But now Warner has taken that meager advantage away.

...

 

[NavNucST3]

Ahh so it's more of a one pc+phone type of product. Boo Does it at least also sync the same playlists on the pc to the phone? If it does that then I can prolly live with it for a while until the Spotify app comes out then I'll switch back.

Spotify app is now available.

 

[joker454]

Spotify app is now available.

Yeah saw that, so that's makes it easy Zune pass which I've been playing with is really good, in some ways better than spotify, but the lack of multiple machine support is a deal breaker for me. Now the challenge is to actually buy a windows phone. After going to 5 stores now I've learned that the worlds most difficult things to do are:

1) Cure cancer
2) Put a man on the moon
3) Buy a windows phone

Man I've tried, really hard, but every store is a sea of android phones, and if you even ask about windows phone they all try to steer you to android anyways. Some places like Best Buy never even heard of the HTC Titan, and literally no one has any clue about windows phone. One lady actually rolled her eyes when I asked about windows phones! Looks like I may have to just buy it online as I've just about given up on trying in brick&mortar stores, I'm leaning to the Titan but its not out just yet, the Focus S looks cool as well.

 

[patsu]

Music Unlimited Delivers More Control with Latest PS3 Update
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011...delivers-more-control-with-latest-ps3-update/

We’re most excited about the new “My Channels” function that lets you build custom radio stations around your favorite artists. Simply type in the name of the artist and we’ll populate a station with songs from that artist and related artists.

Another great enhancement to the service makes it easier to skip tracks you dislike. Really don’t like a song that is playing on one of the channels? Just “dislike” it and we’ll automatically skip to the next one.

...

We’ve also given PS3 users more power to adjust on the fly with the ability to edit playlists directly from the system. You can now create new playlists from scratch, delete or rename them. Songs can also be deleted or added to existing playlist providing complete control over your listening experience.

...

Not earth shaking features...