Blu-ray discs aren't getting bigger just yet, but cheaper & faster we might be able to help you with now that Verbatim/MKM is ready to deliver 6x BD-R LTH (low to high) recordable discs. A manufacturing process more similar to CD-R and DVD-R discs makes them easier to produce and this upgrade brings the max speed up from the current 2x LTH discs. Expect them to launch this fall along with compatible drives, so if you have something that needs 25GB/50GB of optical storage and don't like waiting, be on the lookout.

With the PS3 not quite the slam-dunk Blu-ray player choice it once was for many due to cheaper competition, Sony's new strategy to move units will include hybrid game / movie releases. Citing a significant sales bump with The Dark Knight release, director of hardware marketing John Koller told Video Business that we can expect to see as many as two or three releases here this year. Of course, we can just imagine the reaction when (insert high profile release here) packs a demo for the game tie-in instead of a lossless audio soundtrack or other extras, but otherwise we'll have to wait and see what positive effect this has for the movie or gaming crowds.

One of Steven Spielberg's classic films will finally make its HD debut, on Blu-ray, not HD DVD, when Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition is released simultaneously with the DVD November 13th. Sony Pictures announced this release puts the original 1977 theatrical version, re-edited 1980 special edition, and a special 1998 Director's Cut on one 50GB Blu-ray disc, using "seamless branching" technology and the power of BD-J -- using "the robust processing power available on second generation players" (it's been done on DVD before) -- to identify different versions of the film and select scenes accordingly. The 2-disc (special features on the second disc) Blu-ray release will get a couple of exclusive special features, including Storyboard-to-Scene Comparisons", the original 1977 featurette and theatrical preview. All that special carries an MSRP of $49.95 and should leave Blu-ray fans salivating, with HD DVD owners wondering when Universal will provide their HDTVs with E.T., Jaws and Jurassic Park.

Sony just announced that Casino Royale has become the first high definition release to ship over 100,000 units, with over 50% of those sold through to consumers. Apparently its success surprised even Sony, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it only shipped 50k initially, resulting in a complete sellout after only a few days. Following up on its quest to not only surpass rival HD DVD, but supplant the existing DVD format, Sony Pictures counts only 9 months since Blu-ray's launch to the first 100,000 unit shipped mark, compared to eleven months for the first DVD to hit that number (Air Force One). With a 700 percent increase in disc sales since the PlayStation 3 launched, and all of its just-announced upcoming releases on the once rare 50GB discs, Sony sees all this as a clear sign Blu-ray is pulling away in the format war, not only in the U.S. but worldwide, as the U.K. release of Royale sold 10,000 in the first week despite being the PS3 pack-in bonus. Blu-ray was a slow starter last year, and now with one big title under its belt, we'll see if the format war is as close to being over as the BDA keeps telling us it is.

Read - SPHE press release
Read - Hollywood Reporter

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has revealed its first quarter Blu-ray lineup, and the studio is putting the new Bond front and center right away. A Blu-ray player was featured in the movie as a result of the close ties so we're not very surprised, but new Bond Daniel Craig is actually hitting Blu-ray twice in one day. The studio is releasing another film of his, the previously delayed Layer Cake, the same day. Both are on dual-layer 50GB discs and feature uncompressed soundtracks, which make up a large part of SPHE's early 2007 lineup, while Casino Royale is encoded in MPEG-4 AVC. Also of note is Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the second Blu-ray movie featuring Blu-Wizard technology to custom select special features that can then play during the movie. Hopefully this combination of high profile movie and 50GB disc works out better than on the universally panned transfer of Talladega Nights. Check the press release for complete special features details or after the break for a list of movies and release dates.

The last time we checked in on Sony's Terra Haute, IN-based Blu-ray plant dual-layer 50GB discs were still nowhere to be seen, but the company announced recently it now has 6 50GB production lines up and running and is ramping up to produce 60,000 discs per day. According to the Executive Vice President production is "meeting expectations", and not a minute too soon. With the PlayStation 3 finally here and the BDP-S1 coming... some day if Blu-ray is going to win the format war they'll certainly need more than 25GB discs to do it. With over 130 BD titles mastered, including some dual-layer releases even though 50GB is late to the party, it's earlier than some anticipated.

[Via HDBlog.net]

Fox already announced it is kicking off its support of the Blu-ray format with several enhanced titles timed to hit at the time of the PlayStation 3 launch, now it's announced more extras for several titles scheduled for the following weeks. From Hell will be a dual-layer BD-50 50GB release, authored in Blu-ray Java and using MPEG-4 (AVC) compression. It also features several commentaries, a lossless soundtrack, a trivia pop up feature and 21 deleted scenes. Flight of the Phoenix, as well as the rest of the releases, is authored using standard HDMV, includes a DTS HD Master Audio lossless soundtrack as well as commentaries and HD trailers. Rising Sun comes to Blu-ray using MPEG-4 compression, the only extras mentioned are lossless soundtrack and HD trailers.The Devil Wears Prada and Transporter 2 both use MPEG-2 compression and will include DTS HD Master Audio lossless soundtracks as well as HD trailers. The Devil Wears Prada is still set for a day-and-date release with the DVD December 12th, behind From Hell, Flight of the Phoenix and Rising Sun December 5th. Transporter 2 brings up the rear with a Boxing Day release of December 26th. All of the announced movies share a $39.98 MSRP. We've been complaining about the lack of extras on many HD releases, while Fox may be a little late to the party, it appears the company is ready to give customers the advanced features -- not to mention (hopefully) enhanced PQ with better compression/bigger discs -- once titles do hit the streets.

Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment added to its enhanced winter Blu-ray release slate today, as Invincible and Pearl Harbor were joined by Touchstone Pictures' Enemy of the State and Flightplan. The company revealed the latter three will all be on dual-layer 50GB discs, as Buena Vista joined Warner, Fox and Paramount in announcing plans for the much-delayed discs this winter. Invincible will include a Blu-ray exclusive HD extra, "Recreating the Vet", while the three others mirror their DVD counterparts, plus an exclusive "Blu-ray Showcase". Flightplan will also add a Blu-scape short "Jet Stream". The two Disney movies are due December 19th, while Enemy of the State and Flightplan will still be released November 21. We're not sure what took them so long, but the Blu-ray camp is obviously trying to make 50GB releases a regular part of the high-def landscape.

All of these titles have been added to our Google Release Calendars

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Paramount is releasing Oliver Stone's epic World Trade Center on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD simultaneously on December 12th. The flick will also be Paramount's first on a BD-50 disc, and they plan to make the experience worth it with lots of HD extras. Still no word on any potential differences between the HD DVD and Blu-ray releases, it appears they will have the same content and MSRP ($39.99). Both have the same 1080p 128-minute film and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks, plus all the extras of the two-disc DVD set, with certain ones available in HD. The high-def extras include a three-part making of, Q&A with the director, the original theatrical trailer and more. These are the type of extras we expect to see on many new movies going forward, settling for only 480i DVD content isn't very next-gen at all.

This title has been added to our Google Release Calendars

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Sony Pictures has made it official, they will be the first studio to release a movie on dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray disc, as Click hits shelves October 10th, followed by Black Hawk Down on November 14th, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby hits December 12th. As we mentioned yesterday, all will include HD special features; for Click the extras are the same as the standard DVD, but in HD. Black Hawk Down includes Blu-wizard, described as a "unique playlist technology which lets consumers customize the way they watch special features". That doesn't sound quite as interesting as the BD-J powered experience we were hoping for, can it match with Fast and the Furious 3's U-control? HD DVD has been well received by reviewers while Blu-ray has struggled at times, some of which was attributed to the lack of 50GB discs. Whether you believe the PS3 is crucial to the success of Blu-ray or not, Sony is providing the biggest push for the format on many levels, next week we'll start to see whether if it pays off. Continue on for a list of the special features on each disc.

Blu-ray supporters will be getting a shot in the arm next week when Click becomes the first Sony Pictures Home Entertainment movie released on 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray discs. We got tipped by an inside source at Sony to expect announcements tomorrow regarding Click's release on October 10th -- with all the features of the standard DVD plus bonus HD features -- followed by Black Hawk Down November 14th and Talladega Nights on December 12th. Black Hawk Down is said to include "Blu-wizard" technology that will allow viewers to customize how they see special scenes. The high-def DVD war really begins in November, between the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, Black Hawk Down & Fox's Blu-ray Java releases plus a little something called the Playstation 3, that magnetic strip on your credit card may be the first casualty.

Fox has announced they are jumping into the Blu-ray market in a big way this fall, with eight titles scheduled and the debut of many of the advanced features we've been expecting to see from Blu-ray since launch. Slated to launch just ahead of the Playstion 3 in Japan November 10th followed by North America, Europe and Australia release on November 14th, all of the movies will carry an MSRP of $39.98 and appear to be well worth it. Also announced today is the day-and-date with the DVD release of Ice Age: The Meltdown on Blu-ray November 21st. The rundown of the titles and their features is as follows:

• Behind Enemy Lines: BD-J authored, DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and MPEG-4 compression. Includes several director commentaries and HD trailers for coming BD releases.
• Fantastic Four: DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, HD Trailers, HDMV authored.
  
• Kingdom of Heaven (Directors Cut): 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray disc to accommodate the 3 hour 42 minute movie DTS HD Master Lossless Audio, HDMV authored.
  
• Kiss of the Dragon: Director commentaries, HDMV authored, HD Trailers.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: BD-J authored, MPEG-4 AVC compression, special features including search index by actor/character/location and more, a first-person shooter game, up to 99 bookmarks, pop up animated trivia game and HD trailers.
• The Omen (666): DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, director commentaries plus BD-exclusive pop-up trivia track The Devils Footnotes exploring the history of 666.
• Speed: BD-J authored, DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, 56 category search index, Speed: Take Down Java game with six play modes and HD trailers.
• The Transporter: DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, HDMV authored, director commentaries, HD trailers.

Twentieth Century Fox is obviously going the extra mile to show what Blu-ray can do in these initial releases, with features even Sony Pictures has put off until 2007 like BD-J. As the press release states, these titles and features have been chosen specifically to appeal to buyers of the Playstation 3 and Blu-ray early adopters. While you may be familiar with Blu-ray's advanced Blu-ray Java features obviously present in the BD-J authored releases, if you're unfamiliar with HDMV, that is the term for discs authored with simpler menus more reminiscent of traditional DVDs. While HD DVD has undoubtedly outclassed Blu-ray up to this point, it looks like the BDA's first strike back will come in November.

Ever since the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player launched there have been rumors that it did not ship with the ability to read 50GB discs based on a passage in the manual which only cited 25GB compatibility.. Over at The Digital Bits, they cite unnamed sources from as recently as two weeks ago stating that dual-layer 50GB discs weren't available for testing (even though it was originally delayed for further compatibility testing) before the player launched and now that there are, they just don't work. The good news would be that this is apparently fixable via a firmware update like another BD-P1000 problem we've heard about; but this problem is figuring into the delay of not only dual-layer movies, but other upcoming standalone Blu-ray players as well. Firmware update or not, we're pretty sure early adopting Blu-ray buyers didn't spend $1000 to only be able to read 25GB discs. We'd love to confirm or deny these rumors, in fact, we'll just go grab a dual-layer movie release and put it in right now...oh. Like so many other things about this format war we'll have to wait and see.

Retail movie releases on dual layer 50GB Blu-ray discs will become a reality in 2006, according to Sony Pictures President Ben Feingold, quoted by VideoBusiness as stating that the studio will release at least two movies on the discs by the end of this year. He didn't specify any additional features, titles, prices or advanced codec support yet, but while another executive confirmed more Blu-ray features would be coming, we shouldn't expect to see discs using Blu-ray Java (BD-J) technology until January. They also commented on the criticism of the quality of some Blu-ray releases, noting that newer movies and more recent releases have received better reviews, while also putting some blame on the decisions of filmmakers and the monitors used during the mastering process. Movie houses are also waiting for more players (read: PS3) to hit the ground to be able to test compatibility before they start including highly interactive features. At least so far, HD DVD has been able to take advantage of their lead time on the movie side with (currently) larger discs, more efficient compression and some interesting bonus features. The real Blu-ray launch is coming this winter as several new players will be greeted by these much improved discs, we'll see how the format war stacks up then.

While we continue to wait for the first movie release on dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray discs, Sony has announced they are now shipping 50GB BD-R recordable media for use with Blu-ray burners. The 2x media uses their AccuCORE technology to protect it from scratches or warping, and carries a suggested retail price of $48 per disc. This is a win for Blu-ray and its supporters as they're finally delivering on the extra capacity they've promised and it is doubtful HD DVD will ever be able to match -- Microsoft's Amir M. has stated he doesn't expect triple layer HD DVD to be widely adopted -- but due to manufacturing differences between the BD-Rs and commercial Blu-ray discs, we're still left wondering when our MPEG-2 Blu-ray movies will have some room to breathe. One thing is for sure, at $750 for the drive, $50,000 for the software and nearly fifty bucks per single disc this is not for the thrifty.

[Thanks, plaque monster]