Blu-ray Players
March 9, 2010
Samsung High End 3D Glasses
3D is obviously on its way and it didn't take Samsung long to come up with a pair of glasses to go with them. Unfortunately, these come at a huge $150.00 price and are compatible only with Samsung electronics. We know that as exciting as the new technology will be when it comes out, purchasing a $3,000.00 3D TV, Blu-ray player and glasses will cost a good chunk of change.
Via IT Pro Portal
February 17, 2010
Sony Blu-Ray Player/Burner to Go 3D

Sony's new BDP-S470 Blu-ray Player/Burner, due out mid-March, supports SACD and 3D and features BD-Live, BRAVIA Internet Video and is Wireless LAN ready. Other Sony players and home theater systems will also do 3D with a firmware update coming this summer. New to all of the above is a free "BD Remote" app that allows control from your iPhone/iPod touch and can be downloaded from the Apple store.
Via Sony Blu-ray Player/Burner
January 13, 2010
LG Blu-ray Player Includes Hard Drive

LG's latest Blu-ray player, the BD-590, features access to YouTube, Netflix (with updated interface,) BD Live and other online sites via wired Ethernet or WiFi. Add to that a 250GB hard drive that gives you the ability to download and save music via MusicID and purchase movies from VUDU to watch at your convenience. Displayed at the CES 2010, no price is available as yet, but expect two other Blu-ray players with similar features minus the hard drive.
Via CE Pro
December 15, 2009
Disney Offers Upgrade2Blu

Following in the recent footsteps of Time Warner, Disney is offering Upgrade2Blu. Not only do you get an $8.00 rebate when you accept the offer, you get to keep your old DVD. That makes it a sort of win-win situation since you can keep the Blu-ray disc for yourself and give your kids the used one. You simply print out your proof tags and fill in a form and your rebate will be in the mail.
Via Disney Upgrade2Blu
November 20, 2009
Freakin' Friday! Pioneer BDP-320 Blu-ray Player

Blu-ray is quickly being adopted by most electronics companies and becoming more affordable. For less than $200.00, Pioneer's BDP-320 Player supports up to a 1920 x 1080p picture resolution on your HDTV and has a 24fps rate. Included is their Picture Control Suite that lets you do some tweaking while watching. Connect to your speaker system for 7.1 surround sound while the player internally decodes almost all audio formats.
Via Pioneer Blu-ray
October 1, 2009
Goldmund Eidos Deluxe Blu-ray Player

Goldmund, the company that concentrates mostly on high end A/V equipment, has released the Eidos Reference Blue universal Blu-ray Player. Weighing 66 lbs. and suspended on 4 spring-loaded legs on its own table, there are only 50 handmade units available at a price of $135,000.00 each. For that kind of money, we could buy an entire theater.
Via Ultimate AV Mag
September 7, 2009
Denon Blu-ray Player is Super-Compatible

Denon's DVD-A1UDCI Blu-ray Player is certainly state of the art. It can play DVDs, CDs, SACD and DVD Audio formats and is BD-Live Ready. Outputs include HDMI, stereo analog, an extra audio and it upconverts 16 bit video to 32 bit. There's more. It is also compatible with AVCHD, MP3, WMA, AAC, and DivX files and can display JPEGs. Look for a state of the art $4,500.00 price.
Via Denon
August 31, 2009
Panasonic Goes 3D For Home Use

3D is about to be more accessible to the masses. Panasonic plans on new plasma HDTVs (the smallest being 50") and Blu-ray players to come out next year. Look for "full HD" (1920 x 1080) with left and right image frames alternating at 120 Hz, and yes, some of those nerdy glasses. They have also teamed with 20th Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment to co-promote the upcoming 3D release of "Avatar" to home video.
Via HD Guru
August 26, 2009
Toshiba Joins the Blu-ray Crowd

Rumor has it that now that HD is dead, Toshiba will finally give in and come up with their first DVD/Blu-ray player later this year and has joined the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association.) There are also hints that they may come out with a recorder for the Japanese market. They way we figure it, the more competition, the better.
Via cnet
August 25, 2009
Sony + Best Buy = Altus Line

Sony and Best Buy have joined forces in a new Altus product line. Included will be a Blu-ray Home Theater System with wireless surround speakers. It also houses an iPod cradle, can connect with other PMPs and will carry a price starting at $799.00. Other products include wireless PC audio systems, iPod docking systems and a plug and play speaker system. You can pre-order now or find them soon at Best Buy, Sony Style stores and other retailers.
Via Sony Style
August 18, 2009
Sharp to Release 13, Count 'em, 13 Blu-ray HDTVs

Sharp is certainly attempting to be #1 in the HDTV market as it has announced 13 new LCD TVs with built-in Blu-ray. The AQUOS DX2 series comes in 26, 32, 40, 46 and 52" sizes and will make their debut September 10.
Via Sharp Blu-ray HDTVs
and Sharp (translated)
August 13, 2009
Amazon VOD Available for Panasonic Viera Products

Panasonic is outing Amazon VOD for its 2009 Viera Cast Blu-ray Players, about 3 months later than expected. Available for the full line, it offers more than 45,000 titles, 1,000 HD selections and instant playback. There is also access to YouTube, news and weather feeds. Other online sites and playback is also possible via PC or other compatible device. The download is free via software update after you register your player. The service was previously released in April for those who have Viera CAST-enabled Plasma HDTVs.
Via Panasonic
August 12, 2009
Lexicon High-End THX-Certified Blu-ray Player

Lexicon tosses its hat into the Blu-ray ring bigtime with a THX-certified Blu-ray player that loads in less than five seconds. The BD-30 can also handle SACD, DVD-Audio, DVD, CD and audio and video via USB. It features Anchor Bay video processing, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, BD-Live and RS232 with external control systems. Expect a price of $3,499.00 when it debuts. Ouch.
Via CE Pro
August 3, 2009
Panasonic DIGA Series Blu-ray Recorders

Panasonic has a new line of Blu-ray DIGA series recorders that they released in Japan so perhaps we can expect a possible holiday arrival in the States. All of them support Dolby, HDMI output, VIERA Link and SDHC slot. The DMR-BW970 is almost top of the line and can hold 2TB HDD, enough room to record for up to 1,440 hours.
Via iTech