Poor Jessica Simpson. First she finds a great guy, Tony Romo, but his Dallas Cowboy fans think she’s a jinx. Then her movie, Blonde Ambition, tanks in the six Texan theaters it open at on Dec 21st. And now the guy dumps her for being too needy. Oh well, at least her movie came out on DVD this week, in case anyone wants to see it.
You think you have a great home cinema, with a large screen? Have look at these ten ultra-geeky home cinema setups at Deputydog and you might feel differently. Talk about obsession with a movie. Not surprisingly, several are setup to look like the “bridge” on Star Trek. The article has links to several sources, so if you want to learn more about the people behind each home cinema setup, you can probably find out there.
Seth Godin wrote a great article about how the “new” digital movie rental model is priced all wrong, and why reducing the price to $0.50 per rental will actually pay off. [Seth Godin]
Today was a big day for Apple, with Steve Jobs pushing his media mogul status into new territories: online movie rentals. This move has been speculated upon previously, so it’s really no surprise, but it’s still very important.
The company announced that they’d cut licensing deals with all top film studios. What’s more, the movies available at iTunes Movie Rentals will play on a variety of devices including PCs, Macs, iPods, iPhones, and over Apple TV set-top Wi-Fi boxes hooked up to a TV set. Of course, it’d nice if you can use other media devices. (Whether you can or not, I’m not sure yet.)
Movie rental prices start at $2.99 for older titles and $3.99 for new releases. For high-def versions, each costs a dollar more. You have 30 days to start watching but only 24 hours to finish it. However, you can watch multiple times.
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This is a roundup of recent movie, TV, and entertainment related news.
Dusty Cohl, founder of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) died Friday after a long struggle with cancer. The TIFF is often considered one of the most important film festivals in North America and always draws Hollywood’s celebs.
Bob and Harvey Weinstein reached an independent agreement with striking Hollywood writers. But Warner Bros. is about ready to layoff 1,000 workers. I’m not sure I understand why the WGA is striking independent deals instead of an union-wide deal with the AMPTP so that everyone can go back to work.
Not just for movie pirates: Divx video format tries to go legit at CES.
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With Warner Bros just announcing their decision to jump ship and go exclusively Blu-ray disc format for their high-definition video format, you’re probably wondering, “Do I want to pay more for a disc just to see the zits better on Lindsay Lohan’s face? That depends on your own personal fetishes, of course, but apparently with WB being one more major movie house going Blu-ray exclusively, we might not have a choice. (Well, supposedly WB are in breach of contract with Toshiba over ditching the HD-DVD format for Blu-ray.)
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Warner Bros. just announced that, henceforth, all movies they release in high-definition will only be in the Blu-ray format. This is a surprising decision for many reasons:
- Warner Bros. had possibly been offered US$250M for going HD-DVD exclusive. (Did Sony top that?)
- Sony makes the Blu-Ray format, and is a rival of Warner Bros. in the entertainment business. At least they were the last time I looked. (Toshiba makes the competing, incompatible HD-DVD format.)
- The price of HD-DVD players and discs have been lower than for Blu-Ray. What’s more, in 2007, Toshiba sold nearly twice as many units of HD-DVD players than Sony sold of Blu-ray players.
- Together, Toshiba and Sony only sold about a million high-def players in 2007, so it seems a bit early for Warner Bros. to make such a decision.
- Most new PCs will support both formats, so their decision will likely lose them customers that want to use a standalone disc player rather than a PC. It’s possible, then, that Warner Bros. will lose an entire segment of the market in older age categories – simply because such consumers are more likely to prefer a standalone unit.
On the other hand, Disney made the same decision, releasing high-def movie titles only on Blu-Ray. While I think that Warner Bros. and Disney (and anyone else) are making a huge mistake, I watch all my movies on my computer screens, so I’m not personally affected.
[Sources: Engadget HD, Deadline Hollywood Daily, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, Mercury News]
Imagine a color display screen so thin that it’s like paper – especially flexible. E-paper displays have been in development for a short few years, but LG.Philips just came out with one of the largest: 14.3 inches on the diagonal. Except it’s only available in Korea, like many new consumer electronics products.
Soon, I hope. Now just add a frame, a box for the guts, increase the size a bit, and we’ll have paper-thin, Wi-Fi-enabled, Internet-connected, TV screens on all the walls of our homes. Maybe not giant screen TVs, but still some nice home theater equipment to look forwards to.
Somewhere, Big Brother is chuckling in anticipation for when we all have giant screens on our walls.
[sources: Engadget, LG.Philips-LCD]
Flatscreen TV manufacturers are reporting that consumers aren’t really buying many sets over 42 inches (diagonal). Is this surprising? Even though prices have dropped considerably, they’re still costlier than regular TV sets. And then there’s the impending changeover to HD broadcasting. And what about space in the home?
There are sets up to 103″ (even a rumored 150″ screen to come), but how many people really have that kind of space in their home? Even if I could find an uninterrupted wall at home that could handle a TV of just 50 inches, I’d have to figure out where to move the furniture that’s already there.
As nice as the Aquos 65-inch TV screens (pictured above) are, and the LG/Philips 52- and 84-inch screens no doubt are, few people can/ are going to move the furniture around to accomodate.
On the other hand, fast forward a few years and if some manufacturer has combined ultra-thin “digital paper” with TV sets and makes them HD-capable, I’d be first to clear some space on a wall, even possible rotate my furniture to suit.
It’s been talked about for years: a sort of Internet for devices, including consumer electronics and appliances, that are self-aware as to their “roles” and can communicate with other devices, as well as be remotely accessed over the Internet. (Such devices are referred to as being SEDs – Service-Enabled Devices.) Imagine being at work and being able to monitor and turn on devices at home.
This ability is functionally useful for devices in all parts of the house, even entertainment. PS Audio is now offering switchable devices accessible remotely over the Internet which can be used for your home entertainment system. Essentially, you can remotely turn power on/off, reboot devices such as TiVo or other home theater equipment. (The PS Audio Powerplay will be available in Spring 2008. The image above is of the Quintet, one of PS Audio’s special power bars.)
This is one step closer to a home that can be monitored and controlled when you’re away. Maybe it won’t be long before you can go on vacation and not worry whether you left the stove on.
[source: Engadget]
