Latest Gear Live Videos
Poll: How do you like your movies? Optical disc, or downloadable?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Home Entertainment, Movies,
With the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war being over, the new “war” if you will is the one between digital delivery of movies, versus good ol’ optical media. We want to know how you feel about this. Do you prefer buying movies using Apple TV, thus avoiding a trip to the local Target? Or are the type of person who prefers all the bells and whistles that something like a Blu-ray disc has to offer (7.1 lossless audio, pure 1080p video)? I think it is safe to say that we are moving towards a digital download lifestyle, but with current broadband speeds in the USA, we think that it might be a while before it can compete with optical. Your thoughts?
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Paramount Titles Going Blu-ray
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Science Fiction, Comedy, Technology,
After declaring loyalty to HD DVD last year, Paramount has unfortunately been forced to switch gears thanks to the format’s demise. Here are a few Blu-ray titles the studio now plans to release in the upcoming months:
May 20
- Bee Movie, Face/Off, Next
June 3
- Cloverfield, There Will Be Blood
June 24
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
Reuters
Heads up, we are giving away an HP HDX Dragon notebook - 31 Days of the Dragon
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Features, Movies, PC / Laptop, Software, Video Games,
Hey, remember that HP HDX Dragon PC that we unboxed a few months ago? Well, HP has gone and upgraded the specs on that puppy, and they want us to give one of them to you guys. Not just the computer, but a few Blu-ray movies, a few PC games, and a bunch of software too. All in all, if you were to purchase everything we are giving away on your own, you’d end up spending somewhere around $5,196.00. Yeah, I said it. Go ahead and read that again.
No, here is the real kicker. Now only are we here at Gear Live giving away one of these 1080p beasts, but thirty other sites are also going to be giving away the exact same package, including our friends over at ArsTechnica, Lockergnome, JKOnTheRun, and Jake Ludington’s MediaBlab. That means you have 31 chances to win. Seriously. That’s why we are calling it 31 Days of the Dragon.
Now, each site is going to set their own criteria for how they are going to run things, and we will be announcing what we will be doing soon. Our giveaway date for the HDX Dragon is June 7, 2008. You’d better keep it locked here, peeps. Oh, and anyone in the world is eligible to win.
Hit the break for the full scoop on everything we are giving away, which other sites are also giving these away, and an unboxing video of the HDX Dragon.
Read More 
| 31 Days of the Dragon
Amazon Offers $50.00 Credit for HD DVD early adopters
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals,
Following the likes of Wal-mart, Best Buy, and Future Shop, Amazon is giving customers a $50.00 credit for any HD DVD Player bought on its site before February 23. If you were one of those that purchased from the company, you might have received an e-mail from them that stated:
“New technologies don’t always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com…”
The offer stands until April 9 and the credit can be used for Blu-ray players or more HD products, many of which are up to 60% off on Amazon.
Read More | CNet News
Asus M70 Notebook
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, PC / Laptop,
Asus has released its M70 notebook with lots of features for Blu-ray fun. The WUXGA widescreen has 1920x1200 pixels with a 16:10 resolution, Al Light for auto-bright adjustment, and Splendid Video Intelligence Technology to improve its picture. The notebook also features a fingerprint scanner, Dolby sound from Altec Lansing Speakers, and a built-in 1.3M pixel swivel webcam. The touchpad can be converted to a control deck for music or video. Contact Asus for price and availability.
Read More | Far East Gizmos
PS3 2.30 firmware to bring DTS-HD Master Audio to console, revamped PLAYSTATION Store
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Downloadable Content, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Release Dates, Sony,
Okay, so first and foremost, the atrocious PLAYSTATION Store that the PS3 has been sporting is going to be replaced with PS3 firmware 2.30. That is a good thing, because compared to both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Wii Shopping Channel, the PLAYSTATION Store just performs horrible in our opinion. So good on Sony for changing that up. You can get a look at the new interface in the video above, which Sony put together. It looks a lot better.
Second thing, which is even better than the store upgrade if you ask us, is that the 2.30 firmware update is going to finally bring DTS-HD Master Audio to the Playstation 3, alongside DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. If you are a Blu-ray fan, then this means the world to you if you have a compatible receiver. Be prepared for perfect lossless audio to be read at an “incredible high variable rate of 24.5 mega-bits per second” in 7.1 surround sound. This is the one thing the PS3 was missing as a Blu-ray player (well, this, and Dolby-HD), and now makes it pretty much future-proof.
You get all this goodness on April 15th.
Playstation Blog
Sony Expands Blu-Ray Capability in PlayStation 3 with BD-Live
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Downloadable Content, Hardware, PlayStation 3,
Sony’s next PlayStation 3 software update, due out later this month, allows downloading of games, videos, and ring tones. The console is to be updated with Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0 and BD-Live will be added to the PS3. The update includes “resume play” for both discs and DVD. You can also copy music and images on a PSP and use it as a remote for the PS3.
We certainly are not surprised at this news as we think that Sony has been silently screaming,”Goody, goody, goody!” since the end of the disc war. While this is the first Blu-ray player that can access the Net, Panasonic also plans to release one with BD-Live later in the spring.
Examiner
Future Shop Gives Credit for HD DVDs
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies,
Future Shop is offering $100.00 for your HD DVD player, but this deal comes with a catch. Between March 7 and April 3, you must use that credit on either a Samsung or LS Blu-ray/HD DVD Combo Player. They will also accept those from other retailers in addition to those from its parent company, Best Buy. Considering that Blu-ray players average around $500.00, you might want to hold on to your present one until you have more of a choice and better price point.
Circuit City, not to be outdone, will give store credit for HD players that were purchased in the past ninety days.
Read More | Daily Tech
Philips To Offer External BD-ROM
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Accessories, Home Entertainment, Movies, PC / Laptop,
If you are leery of the still high priced Blu-ray disc players and recorders, Philips and Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) will be soon be releasing an external BD-ROM.
Jelmer Veldman of PLDS, says “The market adoption of Blu-ray as the optical disc standard for High Definition content results in a growing demand for Blu-ray playback solutions.”
The DX-4O1S allows for playback via USB 2.0. It can read Blu-ray, single-layer DVD, dual-layer DVD, and CD media. PLDS also has an internal drive available for ~$150.00. Due out in Q2, we figure that the DVD war’s outcome somehow was no surprise to the company.
Read More | Daily Tech
Next Sony Blu-ray players: BDP-S350, BDP-S550
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies,
Now that Sony has felt the smell of victory, this summer they will be releasing Blu-ray disc players with new features. The BDP-S350 features an ethernet connection for broadband which will be accessible with the software upgrade BD-Live. That will allow download bonuses such as trailers and games The player should carry a MSRP of ~$400.00. The BDP-S550 will already be BD-Live capable for about $100.00 more. Both will feature PIP Bonus View for cast and crew commentary. Note how it is encased in a “we won” color.
Read More | ABC News
