Looking to upgrade your internal DVD drive on your PC? How about trading it up for a new Sony third generation BWU-300S Blu-ray writer? The device has a suggested price of around $400 dollars and has the following features:

• Supports single and dual layer BD-R media at up to 8x speed
• Records 25GB disc in approximately 15 minutes; 50GB in approximately 30 minutes
• Records DVDs at up to 16x
• Records CDs at up to 48x
• Supports DVD-RAM recording
• Comes bundled with “Men in Black” Blu-ray Disc
• Includes CyberLink’s software suite
• SATA interface

The Sony BWU-300S will be available starting next month.

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Technorati Tags: Sony BWU-300S, Blu-ray recorder writer

Buffalo Technology is now offering two Blu-ray DVD Combo drive solutions - the MediaStation 8x External Blu-ray drive (model BR-816SU2) and the MediaStation Internal Blu-ray drive (model BR-816FBS). Both drives offer 8x read/write speeds for BD-R media - making the drives some of the fastest out there today.

Both MediaStation drives support the following media types: Blu-ray BD-R 8x, Blu-ray BD-RE 2x, DVD RAM 5x, DVD –R 16x, DVD +R 16x, DVD-RW 6x, DVD +RW 8x, CD-R 48x, and CD-RW 24x. 

The external MediaStation connects to a PC via USB 2.0 or eSATA while the internal MediaStation connects using a SATA interface. You’ll get a Cyberlink software suite bundled with these drives which include applications such as PowerDVD, PowerDirector, Power2Go, PowerBackup, and PowerProducer.

Both drives will be available later this month with the MediaStation 8x External Blu-ray drive selling for $399.99 and the internal MediaStation 8x Blu-ray drive selling for $349.99.

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Technorati Tags: Buffalo Technology, MiniStation 8x External Blu-ray Drive, MiniStation 8x Internal Blu-ray drive

Sony attempts to bring Blu-ray to the masses with their latest notebook additions - the VAIO NS and VAIO CS systems. Both notebooks series have models with built-in Blu-ray drives priced at around $1000 dollars. Here are the major highlights and specs for the new systems.

For the VAIO NS, you’ll get the following:

• 15.4 inch widescreen display with XBRITE-ECO LCD technology
• Integrated A/V mode brings up dedicated menu providing access to nine programs
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• Available in three colors - nightfall blue, silk white and granite silver
• Prices start at around $650 with Blu-ray models start at around $1000 dollars.

For the VAIO CS, you’ll get:

• 14.1 inch widescreen display with XBRITE-ECO LCD technology
• Instant A/V mode
• Built-in A/V slide control controls all functions with one-touch ease
• Comfortable keyboard design
• 12 tone music analyzer translates music into LED light show
• Intel Centrino 2 processor technology
• Available in four glossy colors - sangria, cosmopolitan, dove and black. Standard black matte finish also available
• Prices start at around $920 with a Blu-ray model at around $1070

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Technorati Tags: Sony, VAIO NS, VAIO CS, Blu-ray, Notebook

Pioneer has introduced two new standalone Blu-ray recorder device with built-in hard drives - the BDR-WD900 with 1 terabyte of disk space and the BDR-WD700 with a 500GB HDD. Features of the Blu-ray recorders include:

• Double digital TV tuner
• BonusView support
• Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio support
• Compatibility with KURO Link
• Variety of input and output connectors including HDMI, Component, Composite, and S-Video (though it’s not clear if there are component inputs on the recorder which would be a shame)

The new Pioneer Blu-ray recorders will be available in October with the 1TB version going for 1900€ and the 500GB model going for 1200€.

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Technorati Tags: Pioneer, Blu-ray recorder, BDR-WD700, BDR-WD900

Sony introduced their first all-in-one home theater-in-a-box systems with integrated Blu-ray Disc players last week - the BDV-IT1000ES and BDV-IS1000. Both systems offer single disc 5.1 channel surround sound Blu-ray Disc systems, S-Air wireless technology, and full 1080p video technology.

The Sony BDV-IT1000ES home theater system features the following:

• Thin speaker design
• 700 watt (100W per channel x 7) and 200w subwoofer
• Sony S-Air wireless technology
• Infrared repeater (2 in and 1 out)
• Available in October for a price of $1999

The Sony BDV-IS1000 home theater system features the following:

• Five tiny speakers
• Available in October for around $1000

Both systems feature the following:

• S-Air technology for multi-room wireless setups
• BD-Live capable
• Ethernet connection
• External flash memory port
• Sony’s new Precision Drive HD - helps detect and correct wobbling discs from three directions
• Supports decoding of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
• Two 1080p HDMI inputs
• Video upscale to 1080p via HDMI
• xross media bar UI
• Digital Cinema Auto Calibration for simple surround sound setup
• BRAVIA Sync for Theatre support
• Digital Media Port

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Technorati Tags: Sony, BDV-IT1000ES, BDV-IS1000

Above is a picture of Samsung’s upcoming fifth-generation Blu-ray player - the BD-P2500. Think about it.. a new fifth generation player with a media format that’s barely been on the market for two years?? Sheesh.. that’s probably why I decided to get a PS3 instead of a standalone player. In any event, the BD-P2500 supports BonusView, BD-Live, and comes with HQV processing for standard DVD media. Despite being a fifth generation player, some things are still the same - such as the high starting price. The Samsung BD-P2500 will still cost at least $500 dollars (there certainly was something to be said about having a competitor like HD DVD in the market when it comes to prices). You can expect the BD-P2500 to hit the market around October of this year.

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Technorati Tags: Samsung BD-P2500, Blu-ray player

Thanks to this DivX press release, we now know that JVC will be launching their very first Blu-ray system in the form of the NX-BD3 Blu-ray Home Theater System. Yes, the NX-BD3 is indeed DivX certified which means you’ll be able to play back your favorite DivX encoded videos but it’s also DLNA certified which means the system will be able to connect to PCs on your network via wired or wireless connections. The NX-BD3 will be coming out in Europe starting in September - no word on pricing or when it will come to the US.

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Technorati Tags: JVC NX-BD3 Blu-ray Home Theater System

Hitachi Home Electronics has introduced a new next-generation Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder called the DZ-BD10HA which seemingly has all the different storage options covered. First off, the DZ-BD10HA has a built-in 30GB HDD which allows you to record up to 4 hours, 20 minutes of full HD video or 8 hours, 40 minutes of 1440 x 1080 video. If you run out of disk space, you can also record videos or still images directly to SD/SDHC flash memory cards via the built-in SDHC card slot. Nice huh? But wait.. there’s more. Hitachi offers yet a third solution - the ability to transfer full HD video recordings from the hard drive or SDHC card to the built-in BD drive - and all this without the need for a computer. The DZ-BD10HA includes editing functions such as splitting, splicing, deleting, merging, and transitions. There’s even a transcoding feature which coverts full HD videos to DVD quality videos. Very Nice.

Other features of the Hitachi DZ-BD10HA include:

• 7 megapixel CMOS image sensor
• Capture videos and image stills at Full HD (1920 x 1080)
• Face detection technology
• Hitachi developed compact, low power consuming, quiet, and reliable 8cm BD/DVD drive
• One-touch dubbing - transfer HD videos from SDHC or HDD to BD drive at one push of a button
• Optical Image Stabilization

The Hitach DZ-BD10HA will have an MSRP of $999 and is available in Japan now and will be hitting the US shores in Sept.

Technorati Tags: Hitachi, DZ-BD10HA Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder

First came the PC web browser. Then came the $99 dollar Roku Netflix Player. Next was the Microsoft Xbox 360 console. Now, Netflix finds itself with inside the upcoming LG Electronics BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player. OK.. “inside” might not be the right word per se, but the BD300 does come with built-in support for Netflix’s Instant Queue service which allows Netflix subscribers to view some 10,000 movies and TV shows nearly instantly over the Internet. Best of all - this is already free for unlimited Netflix subscribers out there. If you’re thinking about getting a Blu-ray player AND you’re already a Netflix subscriber, then you definitely should be thinking about this player (unless of course you plan on gaming in which case the PS3 still makes the most sense.)

The LG BD300 is also a state of the art standalone Blu-ray player with support for BD-Live which provides real-time interactivity in the form of extras, new previews, and special content. There’s also support for BonusView which is provides picture-in-picture access to special features on a Blu-ray disc. Other features include:

• Up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p
• LG SimpLink technology which allows users to control similarly equipped LG TV and AV products via on-screen menus or from the product itself

It’s certainly interesting to see Netflix slowly proliferate across multiple devices. If Netflix can continue to expand its distribution channels, it’s not hard to imagine the company negotiating with Hollywood Studios for additional content deals - perhaps finally expanding the 10,000 to 12,000 title library. More importantly, the company is positioning itself as a major player in the online video market.

The LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player will be available later this fall. 

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Technorati Tags: LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, Netflix

DivX announced that Panasonic’s latest standalone Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD50, is the first Blu-ray player to receive DivX certification. the DMP-BD50 is Panasonic’s third generation player featuring 1080p output, support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, support for BD-Live, a PHL Reference Chroma processor and a P conversion processor, as well as SD card support.

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Technorati Tags: Panasonic DMP-BD50, DivX