Apple beefs up HD movie offerings
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Apple has added hundreds of HD movies to the iTunes store. New and classic movies can be purchased in HD including Star Trek and Wall-E.
PSP formatted videos to premier on Sony Blu-Ray Discs
Sony will be rolling out movies for its PSP devices via Blu-ray Discs. The digital copies will only be playable on a PSP and must be transferred off the disc to the device using the PS3's Blu-ray drive. The new discs will start rolling out November 10th and the digital copies will be available on only select titles.
YouTube rumored to offer ad-supported and paid movie rentals soon
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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that YouTube owner Google is in talks with major movie studios to begin offering both ad-supported and paid movie rentals. No word yet on pricing or a time-frame for movies to come to the service, but the report claims that the movies would be available the same date as DVD releases.
Study: We miss 15 minutes of a movie just by blinking
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A new study out of the University of Tokyo in Japan says that for a 150 minute movie, we miss approximately 15 minutes just by blinking. The study claims that the brain pauses for 450 milliseconds with every blink which on average, means we miss about 6 seconds for every minute of video, or 15 minutes for every 150 minutes. The study also states that people often blink in unison during non-critical parts of a movie.
Sony Ericcson to offer movie downloads this month
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PlayNow Arena will allow consumers to download movies to their computers and sideload them to select Sony Erricson cell phones via USB cable. The company expects to have 15 or so movies available at any given time and will let users play the movies for up to 90 days. The service will be available later this month in Europe and will be included on the upcoming W995.
More Americans play video games than go to the movies
The NPD group claims that 63% of Americans have played video games in the past six months compared to 53% that went to the movies. Â New play outlets such as social networks, downloadable games and games bundled with mobile phones are cited among the reasons for the increase of people playing video games.
New movie website tells you when it’s safe to hit the bathroom
Runpee.com is a new site that breaks down when movie watchers can afford to get up and use the bathroom during a film. Movies are broken up into a timeline, with markers that suggest when a plot lull is coming, and getting up is advisable. It's an unusually great tool that seems like it should have been around for much longer.
China creates blue laser format to compete with Blu-Ray
The new China Blue HD Format (CBHD) has 100 studios on board to sell films, and with prices of players already below $300— which PC world says are half the price of Blu-ray players— this Chinese format seems like a win for Chinese consumers, even if it is at the expense of worldwide format synchronicity.
Wolverine leaked, Hulu swaps ads for questions
Movie piracy is something studios have been dealing with for years, but most piracy occurs well after a movie's big screen debut, typically when a film hits the DVD shelves. Now, with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, an unfinished version, likely taken from a post-production house, hit BitTorrent a full month ahead of its theatrical debut. Should the movie industry brace for every release to hit early, or is this a one off instance? We talk to Scott Kirsner, columnist and author of Fans, Friends and Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age, and Rich DeMuro, host of the Synched Up Show. Also, while Hulu may not have the best relationship with Boxee, that doesn't mean the company is totally stuck in its ways. We talk about how Hulu might be looking to prop up sagging video ad revenue with targeted market research questions, so rather than watch a 30 second ad, users would have to answer a question. Will it work? We're split, but we all agree that it's not a bad thing to be creative in a down economy.
The Matrix turns 10
It's been 10 years since audiences took the red pill, and despite two unfortunate sequels and some awful games, The Matrix still holds a special place among geeks everywhere.