Warner Bros launches HD DVD to Blu-ray trade-in program |
If you recently jumped on the Blu-ray bandwagon, chances are you’ve got a bunch of DVDs that are pretty much useless now. Warner Bros. wants to help. The company is now offering a trade-in program called Red2Blu that allows people to trade in 25 Warner Bros. HD DVDs and have them replaced with Blu-ray versions.
The new program isn’t free though. It will cost you $4.95 per disc plus $6.95 for shipping on each DVD. Interestingly, you don’t have to send in the discs to the WB, you just need to send in the cover art for the HD DVD discs you want replaced.


You folks who have been putting off the purchase of a new Blu-ray player can finally lay down your money and get a great deal if you hold off just a little while longer. Say, around Christmas. That’s when the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) will make the technology and licensing available to manufacturers in China, which means the usual. Cheap products. Hopefully you pick one that is quality as well as cheap.
Remember that crazy slim Blu-Ray player that also happens to be the world slimmest? Well, the
Sony intros a couple of new Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players: the BDP-S360 and BDP-S560. The BDP-S560 will feature built-in Wi-Fi connectivity that taps into BD Live content, as well as the ability to download future firmware updates without a cable.
Samsung’s new value priced Blu-ray player has been overlooked in favor of other better equipped players, but that doesn’t mean it’s not out there and being spotted at retail stores. This one was spotted on a Best Buy shelf.
Marantz unveiled it’s flagship Blu-ray player known as the BD8002, which they describe as “an ultimate-quality, reference standard High Definition source component”. That’s probably why it will cost you at least £1,799 to bring home.
LG isn’t standing still with their Blu-ray disc players. Instead they are taking them to the next level for ‘09, promising support for YouTube and CinemaNow videos on their next generation decks. Along with Netflix, which is now standard, owners can browse CinemaNow pay-per-view offerings and other stores powered by the service.
Denon has the world’s universal Bluray player that can playback CD/DVD/SACD/DVD-A and of course Bluray, with the DVD-A1UDCI. It’s got all the high-end features you want, including an Ethernet port, SD card slot and BD Live support. A 10-bit Silicon Optix Realta chipset enables simultaneous 1080p scaling to two different outputs and the Advanced AL32 processor upscales 16 and 24-bit audio signals to 32-bit.
Blu-ray won the HD format wars a bit less than a year ago. Since then Blu-ray has been adding features and updating the specifications for more interactivity and features. Many Blu-ray players are now Internet connected offering interactive features like BD-Live.
Other World Computing (OWC) has rolled out this world’s first external Blu-ray drive that features a Quad Interface. The drive connects to your PC or laptop through four different interfaces: FireWire 400, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 and eSATA. This external drive comes in two variations: The Mercury Pro SW-5583 that reads/writes Blu-ray, DVD, DVD-RAM and CD-R/RW and the Mercury Pro SW-5583T that comes bundled with a full retail version of Roxio Toast 9 Titanium (Mac OS X). The Mercury Pro SW-5583 retails for $499.99, while the Mercury Pro SW-5583T is priced at $579.99.
Check out this special version of The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray. The images just leaked out from TheHDRoom. It will cost you $65, while the standard version is currently on pre-order for $25. Hardcore geeks will love the Exclusive Bat-Pod Display Case, but it amounts to buying a $40 toy that manages to look cheap. Cheapskates will want to stick with the standard edition and live with one less Collector’s item in their home.
It has been several months now since the Blu-ray camp made HD DVD tap out in the ultimate HD fighting championships. Now that Blu-ray is the HD standard, we are starting to see more Blu-ray players hit the market with new and interesting features to set it apart from the Blu-ray masses.








