He was a quiet man scene As a

He was a quiet man scene

As a result, were going to start charging 1 a month plus applicable taxes, in addition to your monthly membership charge, for monthly access to Blu-ray movies. In reality, however, this and all other pricing decisions are made for exactly the same reason: companies think theyll make more with whatever price they charge than with any other price. Andrew D. SmithGuest blogger Amazon, Circuit City and other online sites have cut the price of the Sony BDP-S300 below 200, shipping included. The machine gets a three-star rating from CNet, which praised its excellent picture quality but panned its slow load times. This is the first Blu-ray player Ive seen below the 200 mark, but it wont be the last. But Favreau sounds like hes passing on some bit of gossip that he got from his butler, who heard it from his florist, who overheard a cell phone conversation at the bus station. So perhaps we should wait for official confirmation before getting too excited. Still, I suspect that my thesis that Iron Man and Dark Knight will goose Blu-ray player and movie sales will prove correct. The entry Iron Man director says Blu-ray version has already outsold all previous Blu-ray moviesis tagged: Blu-ray, Iron Man, Jon Favreau These are mega-blockbusters that should benefit tremendously from the higher resolution and better picture quality of Blu-ray compared to DVD, and would make great stocking stuffers for that new Blu-ray movie player Santa might deposit under your Christmas tree in a few months. On the other hand, Blu-ray players still remain much more expensive than regular DVD players, with no big price drops in sight, and I think its a safe bet that holiday shopping might be a bit more restrained this year than in previous years. Still, short of Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings coming to Blu-ray and just what the heck is the holdup, George and Peter?, these are probably the biggest releases coming to Blu-ray anytime soon. If youre considering or have already bought a new high-def Blu-ray movie player, you probably want to know what titles are currently available on the format. According to a new study, consumer interest in high definition Blu-ray movie players is minimal: Blu-ray players are not flying off retailers shelves, at least not in the numbers the industry might hope for. A new consumer survey from ABI Research has revealed a widespread reluctance to commit to a Blu-ray player in the near future: over half of the 1000 respondents, citing other priorities, say they have no plans to purchase one; a further 23% are likely to buy, but not until sometime in 200 ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson says that much of the lukewarm response can be attributed to consumers perceptions about the value proposition that Blu-ray delivers. Consumers were happy to embrace standard DVD when that format arrived because the improvement in quality over VHS videotapes was dramatic. Standard DVD didnt require the purchase of a new TV either. In contrast, while half of the respondents to our survey rated Blu-rays quality as much better than standard DVD, another 40% termed it only somewhat better, and most are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players. Its easy to think of plenty of other reasons why Blu-ray is having a hard time finding traction, including the slow economy, the high price of Blu-ray movie discs compared to DVD movies, etc. But I wonder if, just because people are saying they dont plan to buy a Blu-ray player, some of them actually do end up purchasing them anyway. For one thing, how many of those people who said they have no plans to buy a Blu-ray player have plans to buy a PlayStation 3? Because if they do, then theyre buying a Blu-ray player. Second, looking at the internal list here at the Morning News of the business articles scheduled to run in tomorrows paper, I notice that our story on Blockbusters earnings report today includes a tidbit to the effect that stronger results are expected later this year due in part to higher Blu-ray sales. I suspect that Blu-ray is not taking off as fast as the movie studios had hoped. But I do think it will eventually succeed, not just because the studios and retailers are pushing it, but because there is some slowly growing interest in the format. And because Blu-ray really is better than standard DVD. And youll get your 100 Wal-Mart gift card with the purchase of any Blu-ray player, including the PlayStation 3 video game console which has a built-in Blu-ray player. While a lot of non-gamers might balk at buying a game machine as their primary movie player, the PS3 might actually be the best Blu-ray player on the market today. Movies start up much faster than on most standalone Blu-ray players, and the PS3s Internet connectivity lets you download new firmware updates for the BR player whenever theyre released. The 100 gift card is just part of Wal-Marts renewed push to attract high-definition shoppers. The retailer said in a news release that it is boosting the number of 1080p televisions on its shelves by 58 percent, with new models and larger sizes. There will also be a hi-def Blu-ray experience area in 1, 200 stores to explain the technology.