Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced at IFA that they have sold more than 250,000 Blu-ray titles in Europe. More impressive though is that they've sold nearly one million titles in North America alone.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment(SPHE) today announced that the company's Blu-ray Disc(TM) sales acrossEurope have reached 250,000 while sales in North America are nearing theone million mark approaching the fourth quarter with the Blu-ray launch ofthe highly anticipated blockbuster SPIDER-MAN 3 and Steven Spielberg'sCLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND.

These benchmarks follow last week's announcement that sales of thehigh-definition format in six emerging markets including Hong Kong,Singapore, Taiwan, Eastern Europe, South Africa and the Middle East nowaccount for 10 percent of SPHE's total business in the growing regions.
With Spider-man 3 and the Spider-man Trilogy on the way, SPHE shouldn't have any problems exceeding the one million mark. If you'd like to read more, SPHE's entire announcement can be found here. Add a comment
The Blu-ray Disc Association recently announced that Acer has decided to join the BDA. The company currently plans to incorporate Blu-ray technology into their notebook computers.
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announced today that Acer Inc. will become the newest member of the BDA, joining more than 170 of the world’s leading consumer electronic, computer companies and content providers. Acer is one of the three largest personal-computer brands in the world and the number one notebook brand in Europe.

“We’re delighted to welcome Acer to the Blu-ray Disc Association,” said Victor Matsuda, chairman of the BDA’s Global Promotions Committee. “The addition of Acer provides one more sign of the growing momentum behind Blu-ray Disc and, more importantly, is a significant advantage for consumers, as it further expands the already broad options available to consumers in the personal computer space.”
If you'd like to read more, the BDA's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
With the sales of EVD and HVD players coming up short, Chinese companies have started to look at other high-def formats. At IFA, the Blu-ray Disc Association announced that the China Hualu Group has joined the BDA as a contributor member. The company plans to propose Chinese technologies and standards to Blu-ray Disc Association for further improvement of the format.
China Hualu Group Co., Ltd. (CHLG), the only consumer electronics company belonging to Chinese state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of State Council, has joined the Blu-ray Disc Association as a contributor member.

CHLG is one of China’s leading manufactures of audio and video devices and is one of the largest providers of audio and video contents and services in China.

“After careful and intensive evaluation of next generation DVD formats, China Hualu Group decided to join Blu-ray Disc Association since this presents the best opportunity in the market for us,” said Chen Run Sheng, Chairman of CHLG. “Hualu Group is committed to actively help improve Blu-ray Disc formats and becoming involved in its promotional activities in the Chinese market.”
According to other sources, CHLG also plans to team up with the China Film Group to establish a Blu-ray Disc authoring center in China. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
ArcSoft isn't the only company demonstrating their software at IFA. CyberLink has announced that they will be showcasing their full range of multimedia burning and playback products.
CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, is showcasing its complete media solutions for high-definition discs at IFA 2007, Germany. In cooperation with leading hardware providers of both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs, CyberLink is demonstrating its full range of multimedia burning and playback products for delivering exceptional quality and enjoyment.

CyberLink BD Suite will be on display at the Blu-ray Disc Association's booth in Hall 6.2a, booth 104, while CyberLink HD Suite will be on display at the HD DVD Promotion Group booth in Hall 21a.

With the increasing availability of high-definition Hollywood movie titles and the growing demand for storage of personal high-definition content, CyberLink's BD Suite and HD Suite offer complete tools for enjoying quality playback, editing, authoring, and burning of high-definition content on the PC.
If you'd like to read more, CyberLink's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
DigiTimes has reported that Qisda (formerly known as BenQ) plans to introduce two new Blu-ray drives later this year. The low cost BR1000 BD-ROM is capable of reading Blu-ray Discs at 4x and is backwards compatible with CD's and DVD's. For those that need to burn their own Blu-ray Discs, Qisda is offering the DW1001. This new drive features a SATA interface and is capable of 4x BD-R and 2x BD-RE writing speeds.
The BR1000 is intended to target users who just want to enjoy high-definition (HD) BD movie discs, the company pointed out. In terms of price, a BR1000 in combination with a DVD burner is significantly less expensive than a BD Combo drive such as the Pioneer BDC-S02 which sells at US$299. In addition, the after-sale maintenance costs for a BD Combo are higher, Qisda noted. Qisda will not consider offering BD Combo drive models, the company indicated.

BW1001 supports writing in the following formats and speeds: 4x BD-R (recordable, write once), 2x BD-RE (rewritable), 12x DVD+R/-R, 4x DVD+R/-R DL (single-sided double-layer), 8x DVD+RW/-RW, 32x CD-R and 24x CD-RW.
According to Qisda's press release, the BR1000 and BW1001 are priced at 1,699 Yuan ($225US) and 4,999 Yuan ($663US) respectively. More information can also be found at DigiTimes. Add a comment
ArcSoft has announced that they will be demonstrating ArcSoft Digital Theatre 2 at IFA. This playback software supports HD DVD titles, commercial and homemade DVDs, and a variety of high definition multimedia files.
ArcSoft, Inc. is demonstrating ArcSoft Digital Theatre 2 this week at IFA 2007 in conjunction with the HD DVD Promotion Group. Digital Theatre is a high definition video player that supports playback of HD DVDs, commercial and homemade DVDs, and a variety of high definition multimedia files. The HD DVD Promotion Group is showcasing Digital Theatre as part of its advancement of standards-based implementations of HD DVD playback.

"We are excited to be presenting our high definition solutions at IFA," said Michael Downs, ArcSoft Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. "We have been working closely with the HD DVD Promotion Group, leading graphics chipset companies, and the major Hollywood studios to ensure that we can provide complete, high performance, high quality HD DVD functionality."
While ArcSoft doesn't mention it in their press release, Digital Theatre 2 can also playback Blu-ray movies. If you'd like to read more, ArcSoft's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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NME announced today that they've released their latest HD VMD player and discs into the European market. According to their press release, the HD VMD player is expected to cost about euro 179 ($245US).
New Medium Enterprises (NME) releases its latest commercial HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) Player and discs into the European market, debuting at IFA 2007. HD VMD brings full high definition (HD) 1080i/p, high quality players to consumers for an attractive RRP of euro 179, at soon to be announced stores.

HD VMD is positioning itself as "The New Definition of High Definition" by giving consumers what they have been craving -- an affordable, full HD player and DVD upscaler with superior image playback. Combining the best industrial opto-electronics and disc technologies, HD VMD brings together established DVD red-laser production infrastructure with novel break-through multilayer disc technology to deliver its Full HD picture. Consumers can expect more exciting developments to come, as HD VMD's multilayer disc technology is industrially capable of storing over 30 GB on a single sided disc.
NME also announced that they will be launching into the worldwide market in October/November with a bundle containing a player and 5 HD VMD titles. If you'd like to read more, NME's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Nero has finally dropped the veil of secrecy surrounding Nero 8. Built with ease of use in mind, the suite gives users the ability to do more in less time. It also offers a number of new features including the ability to create high-def video in both Blu-ray BD-AV and HD DVD video formats and upload videos directly to YouTube, MySpace and My Nero.
Nero, leaders in digital media technology, announced today the upcoming release of Nero 8, the next generation of the company’s award-winning, integrated digital media and home entertainment software solution. Designed with consumer ease of use in mind, Nero 8 extends content beyond the PC, allowing users to easily create and edit, convert and share, rip and burn, backup and protect digital media. With Nero 8, users can enjoy their content at home, on-the-go, and online. Additionally, Nero 8 is built to ensure data integrity and reliability and is optimized for use with the new Windows Vista operating system.

Nero 8 introduces the newly-designed Nero StartSmart user interface, which maximizes user efficiency with a one-stop solution for creating and managing digital media projects. With this new interface, prime functions like burning and ripping audio and data discs can now be accessed directly, letting users complete projects with one-click functions. Nero 8 also supports a number of next-generation formats with editing, playback, and burning features. In addition, Nero 8 lets users edit photo slide shows and create High Definition video in both Blu-ray BD-AV and HD DVD video formats.
Nero 8 will be available worldwide on October 1st for a suggested retail price of $99.99. Current Nero owners will also be able to upgrade at a special discounted price. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
Sunplus has announced the launch of their new DVD player platform, the SPHE8203A. According to their press release, the SPHE8203A is the first system-on-a-chip (SoC) to support playback of DivX HD content.
Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd. (TSE:2401) (LSE:SUPD), the world’s leading consumer IC design company, today launched its new generation DVD player platform - SPHE8203A, which is the world’s first SoC solution to support DivX high definition content playback. Sunplus will demonstrate SPHE8203A and its reference design at IFA 2007 (Stand 116, Hall 26) during Aug. 31-Sep. 5.

Sunplus’ SPHE8203A DVD turnkey solution has plenty multimedia added-on features, such as DVD servo control, MPEG1/2/4 video decode, MP3/AAC/PCM audio decode, USB and card reader functions, DVB transport stream demultiplexing, and HDMI 1.2 compliant transmitter. The superior compression and performance of DivX HD enables consumers to enjoy true HD A/V entertainment with legacy DVD-9 discs on SPHE8203A-inside DVD players, at a price point which is much more cost-effective than next-generation blue-laser players.
If you'd like to read more, Sunplus' entire press release can be found here. Add a comment