Sun Microsystems announces support for BDLive.com, aims to promote development of interactivity
Jeet Kaul, Sun VP of developer products and programs and Zane Vella, president of RCDb, was on stage today at the famed Moscone Center in order to "demonstrate sample applications and live web services available to developers." Among the examples shown was the "Photo Fetchr," a BD-J photo browsing application which allows users to search and browse Flickr accounts right from their internet-connected Blu-ray player.
Furthermore, Sun will be offering up the BDLive.com developer disc free of charge ("while supplies last"), and the disc itself will feature "sample code, definition of available API's, and the ability for developers to share their creations with each other and download applications to their home theater." Needless to say, Sun is hoping that by opening up development to the Java community at large, the "barriers to innovation and experimentation with BD Live and the Blu-ray format" will be lowered.
For those curious about how BDLive.com will work, it'll reportedly provide users with "a BD Live development framework and live network services" via the web, and according to the duo, this partnership will provide developers with "time and money-saving access to BD Live network services including registration, Blu-ray home-theater-to-web connectivity, and easy Blu-ray disc content updating." We know, it's still a bit unclear what all this means for end users, but hopefully clarification will be arriving in the coming weeks.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mda20 @ May 6th 2008 1:25PM
Bd-Live will just be another useless option. 2.0 who cares. It has nothing to do with watching a movie. Maybe 1 in 50 movies I might check out special features. Way too much is being made of this. NO ONE will use it. Just like BD-Live. Just more wasted effort towards a feature that was thought up by people who have no idea what customers use and or need. If it get built on Java then it won't stand a chance on being worth a crap. Nothing locks up a pc faster. Oh wait, is't a PS3 a PC?
DrXym @ May 7th 2008 4:41AM
I agree. It was a useless feature on HD DVD and it will only be a marginal feature on Blu Ray. Not a single HD DVD justified hooking up the player to the internet and I think the same will be true for Blu Ray. Of course if you have a PS3 you may already be hooked up for other reasons but it will still be a struggle to persuade people to go online.
Most disks will ignore it entirely, or feature some crappy games with online scores, or bundle up a generic portal or store so you can download trailers or buy merchandise. Whoopee.
In theory, it could have *great* potential. Imagine that you got points with every purchase that you could redeem for downloads. e.g. 1000 points per registered disk. Maybe it could track your collection and even allow you to participate in buy 5 get one 1 free style deals. People would be rewarded for their purchases and for going online. You could use the points to download and watch TV shows, or perhaps even movies. Hell, a Blu Ray player could in theory even allow you to rent and download movies.
But for now and the forseeable future it is a waste of time. I doubt many people would even bother to hook up their sets to the internet. The feature has to overcome the meh factor and tossing people a few trailers, crappy games or things that should have been on the disk to start with is not going to do it.
EQC @ May 7th 2008 5:03AM
no no! you're wrong!
I love all the DVD extra features... and I love how they're included on every DVD.
Like "alternate angle" -- remember how when DVD first came out, the ability to see some scenes from a different angle was touted as a ground-breaking extra? And now, every title has it and I use it on all of them!
And I can't count how many times I go through a movie listening to the director's commentary. I love to pay extra for such "extra features" that I really care about! Oh, mr. director, please tell me why you chose the color of that rock in the background! Oh, mr. director, I love to hear you laugh at your own jokes!
I wish they'd offer two versions of films:
1) Movie Only. Max price when new: $10.
2) Movie plus extras and interactivity and whatever else. Max price: who the hell cares, somebody will pay it.
...I am exaggerating a bit...but I completely agree with mda20. So many "extras" are all just hype and either end up never being put onto disks, or end up being sold on tons of disks, but never really used by the consumer. I think interactivity is going to be one of those. Sure, it might seem real neat to make your own cut of 300 or whatever...for about 5 minutes. Most people really are only interested in watching the movie.
JDS @ May 6th 2008 9:00PM
Neil Young to release archive on Blu-ray discs [Young revealed his plans Tuesday at a Sun Microsystems Inc. conference]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rocker Neil Young plans to release his entire music archive on Blu-ray discs, a sign that the discs' capabilities are building appeal among musicians as well as movie studios.
Blu-ray discs hold much more data than DVDs, are easily updated over the Internet and offer better picture and sound quality.
Young revealed his plans Tuesday at a Sun Microsystems Inc. conference in San Francisco. Santa Clara-based Sun makes the Java technology that gives Blu-ray discs their interactive menus and ability to accept updates over an Internet connection.
The first installment of Young's archive will cover the years 1963 to 1972 and will be released as a 10-disc set this fall on Reprise/Warner Bros. Records.
Young said the archives will be released chronologically and include some previously unreleased songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other memorabilia, in addition to the high-resolution audio that Blu-ray technology is known for.
Fans can download more content like songs, photos and tour information directly to the Blu-ray discs as the content becomes available.
Blu-ray's rival format HD DVD effectively died with maker Toshiba Corp.'s announcement in February that it will no longer produce HD DVD players.
Most of the Blu-ray discs manufactured so far have been used for high-definition movies.
Musical artists such as AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen and Destiny's Child released concert videos on Blu-ray discs, but Young's support of the technology for his ambitious archive project demonstrates more fully the capabilities of Blu-ray as a music medium.
Earlier technology didn't offer the ability to browse archive material while listening to songs in high-resolution audio, Young noted.
"Previous technology required unacceptable quality compromises," he said in a statement. "I am glad we waited and got it right."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g7PU369D66DFPT3h6RDkR9s61AnQD90GAE0G0
JDS @ May 6th 2008 9:04PM
Nine Inch Nails Releases Free Album In High Definition Audio
Tren Reznor is not only breaking the old distribution model, he's even breaking the newest, like Radiohead's pay-what-you-want: Nine Inch Nails' latest album—The Slip—is 100% free, no payment required in any case, not even when you download the whooping 1.2GB version—which includes high definition WAVE 24/96 files (better-than-CD-quality 24bit 96kHz audio.) You can also choose from high-quality MP3s, FLAC lossless and M4A lossless.
Here's a link to download the album free: http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup
Achilles @ May 7th 2008 11:29AM
Now if only Blu-Ray could produce an affordable, quality player?
As far as the Neil Young stuff, his generation doesn't have Blu-Ray. That's the average family that is happy with standard DVD. It's a nice gesture, nice use of the technology but who still buys audio CD's, especially formatted on a technology that the average family hasn't adopted?
No offense intended towards Neil Young.
chuffpdx @ May 7th 2008 7:51PM
I would love to be able to view flickr from the ps3 without the flash app failing.