Ending the awful (two) days of waiting, NetBlender's officially presenting its latest innovation, BD Touch. Bringing together Apple's iPhone/iPod Touch and Blu-ray's BD-Live internet connection to potentially allow combinations like sending copies of a movie to iPhone directly from the disc menu, viewing fan created content in sync with a movie or, yes, using the iPhone as a remote control. All that geolocation, 3D motion sensitive, multitouch and predictive keyboard could be a part of our favorite movie (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) -- once some developer makes it happen. The disc authoring end of the tool is built into NetBlender's DoStudio software, while there are two iPhone SDKs (the Connect SDK is free, while the Premiere Blend/In SDK adds functionality but requires certification and licensing) available. Video demos are after the jump, so take a look and see what you can come up with.

Although CyberLink's PowerProducer software has been certified to author Blu-ray Discs since 2006, the latest and greatest version is offering up a few niceties for those who just can't resist the urge to upgrade. PowerProducer 5 Ultra enables users to create both BDs and DVDs, and even adds in support for the AVCHD video format. Furthermore, it's BD-RE 3.0 certified, supports 5.1-channel Dolby Digital audio and on-disc editing, and includes a "simpler, re-styled interface and new design tools for creating customizable disc menus with imported photos and videos." For new customers, PowerProducer 5 Ultra will run you $79.95 (versus just $49.95 for the non-Ultra edition), while existing owners can make the leap to Ultra for $49.95.

Thomson's Tiger AVC encoder that it has been using in house for the last couple of years, is now available for sale to interested Blu-ray (and HD DVD) compression and authoring facilities. Including Thomson's film grain adjustment technology among other parts of a "secret sauce" Thomson says results in better looking MPEG-4 / h.264 encoded movies. Packaged as the Nexcode HD AVC Encoder, its a full hardware and software solution built to scale to business requirements. No word on who exactly will use this technology, but as long as our HDM is artifact-free, we're not too concerned how it got that way.

NetBlender has made plans official for new versions of its DoStudio authoring software, adding support for Blu-ray and BD-J features including BD Live. DoStudio Authoring Edition is expected out after NAB 2008, allowing users to create professional Blu-ray discs from a graphical interface. Unfortunately picture-in-picture support won't be part of the hardware and software package until Q3, with BD Live support slated for early 2009. While major studios may be able to create BD-J enhanced discs on their own, the idea is that this package can allow other professionals to make full featured discs without having to learn scripting. Anyone looking for that kind of access can look forward to DoStudio Developer Edition in the fourth quarter, with full access to scripting, for even more advanced features. DoStudio MX users aren't left out either, with Blu-ray support on the way there as well. As for the simple home viewers, we just hope these tools get in the right hands sooner rather than later to create truly innovative high definition discs.

Now that Blu-ray is the last format left standing, we're definitely hoping that it ups its own game in regard to interactive content. Thankfully, sofatronic is looking to make the development of interactive applications on Blu-ray Discs a good bit easier. Essentially, Kaleidoscope -- not to be confused with Kaleidescape -- enables users to work in a visual authoring environment and create "user interfaces and advanced interactive features without having to write Java code." Additionally, the program's framework "supports all available Blu-ray player models and automatically handles performance differences and compatibility issues," which sounds pretty impressive, we must say. Click on through for the full release.

Sonic Solutions has announced it will no longer sell the HD DVD version of its Scenarist professional authoring software, focusing instead on Blu-ray and digital distribution. Sonic -- provider of consumer authoring software under the Roxio brand (still w/ that sweet HD DVD flavor, at least for now) -- plans to expand its features to ease creation of BD Live features, and package high definition video for delivery on any of the many platforms popping up. It's not all bad for red fans, Sonic promises to continue customer support and product updates "where appropriate" for its HD DVD package, and a special promotion for users to switch to Blu-ray, although the terms aren't mentioned.

[Thanks, Kiwi616]

Sure, there are a couple of software suites out there that offer up Blu-ray authoring, but it's still far from being a common feature. Additionally, we'd have to say that Nero is one of the more popular burning applications, and the firm's latest update to Nero 8 adds in BDMV authoring and playback, improved file encoding speed and support for mini HD DVD-Video discs. If you're unfamiliar with the latter, it's essentially the process of squeezing down content more suitable for an HD DVD onto a vanilla DVD for playback in an HD DVD player (phew) -- something we've certainly touched on before. For existing Nero 8 owners, you can snag the new plug-in for $24.99, while current owners of the plug-in will reportedly be able to upgrade gratis.

We can't say we saw this one coming down the pike, but Microsoft has unveiled a new piece of software designed to "streamline development / testing for HD DVD content" as well as "accelerate the advancement" of next-generation interactivity (HDi, in particular). Simply put, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Emulator allows studios the flexibility to "model the behavior of HD DVD disc content, including encoded video and HDi interactivity, in a virtual environment." When put to use, companies can purportedly cut down on coasters and wasted time, but in order to do so, they'll need an Xbox 360 + HD DVD peripheral, a connection to Xbox Live and $2,999. Thirsty for more? There's plenty where that came from.

[Thanks, Erie T.]

Though Blu-ray aficionados have long since had ways to create their own Blu-ray discs, NetBlender is making sure you HD DVD fans aren't left in the dark. The DoStudio MX software is a "complete HD DVD authoring tool" that features a graphical layout editor, Photoshop integration, keyframe animation / playlist editor, advanced logging, an image list manager, and Corel's PureHD Multiplexer. Currently, users interested in trying it out can download the beta version for the price of the prior release ($99 per month) so long as they "report issues in a timely fashion," but those who lag around will end up forking out $249 per month come September. And yes, the company is already working up a Blu-ray version of this very software, and folks who'd like to join the BD-J limited public beta that will release later this year need only sign up and cross their fingers.

[Thanks, Jason]

Indie filmmakers have an easy in to sell high definition movies, as Amazon and Microsoft have teamed up with CustomFlix to provide free authoring and setup (normally $499) for up to 1,000 titles. CustomFlix will then sell the titles through Amazon using its DVD on Demand service, which produces DVDs to order. Filmmakers don't have to worry about managing inventory and can get their product to customers quickly. CustomFlix has been selling HD DVD, Blu-ray and WMV-HD flicks for a while now, but says HD DVD "fits its business model perfectly." HD DVD might not have all of the major studio supporters of Blu-ray, but maybe cheaper players and a wide variety of content can tip the balance its way.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Anyone producing high-def content who can't decide which format to support can now put their content on one of Warner's Total Hi Def hybrid discs via Sonic's Scenarist Workgroup authoring system. With its new product, THDAssign, creating a disc that plays in both HD DVD and Blu-ray players is streamlined and easy. With availability expected in February, we'll soon find out how eager other studios and smaller content providers are to support the combo discs... and if consumers are willing to pay for them.

If you're interested in making Blu-ray discs like the big boys, Sony's own Blu-Print software is now available for the low, low price of $50,000 per license (there's also a 30-day free trial available if you really need a test-run first). Unfortunately they didn't note which codecs are available yet, but you can use the software to add all the BD-J interactive features and popup menus you could ever want. The software is Windows-only, and we're sure if spending $750 to $1000 or more on the necessary burner makes sense to you that this package is well within your price range.

[Via DV Guru]

Is that Blu-ray drive-sporting Power Mac Mac Pro just around the corner? Maybe, maybe not, but for Apple users who like to stay ahead of the curve they can expect to see the new Toast 7 w/ BD support bundled with Blu-ray recorders shipping soon. The Toast Dynamic Writing feature makes the jump to next-gen, allowing Mac users to drag-and-drop to 50GB BD-R or BD-RE discs with ease. No mention of whether the automatic disc-spanning feature is intact, at $47.99 and 50GB each a dual layer disc (whenever they are available) should be more than enough. Still, with pricetags of at least $750 it may be some time before even deep-pocketed Apple aficionados jump in. The Logitec LBD-A2FU2 Blu-ray burner for Macs & PCs we previewed back in April has apparently slipped, Amazon Japan dates its release as July 31, for 132,762 yen ($1,136 US).

This is as good a time as any to (re)start an Apple rumor about a Blu-ray burner in the next product refresh. All we need to do is check our calendar for Lord Steve's next public appearance and there is your totally unsubstantiated predicted release date. We'd express more concern about the lack of consumer edition HD DVD recording software if there were, you know, any burners available or even officially announced in the U.S.

[Thanks for the tip Joe L.!]