We'd take all of this with a healthy dose of salt just now, but reportedly, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is looking to grant 11 China-based manufacturers with Blu-ray licenses. As we've already seen, select Chinese companies have long since been listed on the BDA's website of licensees, but according to recent reports, even more are being allowed to "undertake R&D, production and marketing of BD discs, players or drives." It's said that the 11 in question include TCL, Malata, China Hualu Panasonic AVC Networks and Desay, and that volume production is expected to begin from at least some of them as early as 2009. It'll definitely be interesting to see where this takes things, if these whispers are in fact accurate.

[Via HDTV Info, thanks gamedude420]

The last HD DVD exclusive studio to announce Blu-ray titles won't be the last to release, as Paramount has announced its first Blu-ray movies will hit the street starting on May 20th with Face/Off, Next, and Bee Movie. But the fun really starts in June, as the long awaited award winning There Will Be Blood and Cloverfield are both due on June 3rd. Then a few weeks later, the first day and date title will come with The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24th. So with the last studio finally lined up, it won't be long until we really get to see DVD and Blu-ray go head to head and once and for all find out if the new Blu format can make a run at the defending champ.

[Via Blu-ray.com]

Think you're an HD aficionado? Insulted that we'd even begin to think otherwise? For what it's worth, we'd wager that even the hardest of hardcore HD junkies could learn a thing or two from CD Freak's top ten list of things you might not know in relation to high-def. For starters, high-definition (as a term) emerged nearly four score ago, the first HDTV was sold in 1998 here in the United States and the first "high-resolution television system" was actually created by the Soviets in 1958. Eager to take a peek at the other seven? Head on down to the read link and stock up on potential trivia knowledge.

[Image courtesy of Philips]

Oh, how the times have changed. Merely months ago we caught Frank Simonis, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, firing off all sorts of vitriol at the red camp, and now that the wheels are falling off of the HD DVD wagon, we're seeing quite the change of heart. According to a recent interview with Tech Radar, Mr. Simonis was quoted as saying that Toshiba and Microsoft, along with any other company, is "more than welcome to join the BDA." He continued by stating that if "Toshiba decides to drop HD DVD, it would extend the hand of friendship to them." Yeah, it's kind of cute to see such lovey-dovey phrases being thrown around, but we've all ideas none of these heartfelt feelings are easing the sting felt by Toshiba right about now.

It's almost comical how quickly the Blu-ray Disc Association gets its thoughts and feelings out to the world after crossing any milestone, and yet again we see the BDA rushing to pat itself on the back after moving some 2.37 million BD titles in Europe. According to recent sales figures, 79-percent of all high-definition movies purchased across the pond year-to-date have been of the Blu variety, and as expected, Sony's PlayStation 3 is given quite a bit of credit for the results. According to David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, passing the 2 million mark in Europe will allow supporters to "focus less on winning a format war and more on addressing the needs of the consumer in adopting the Blu-ray format." Confident, are we?

[Image courtesy of Messe-Berlin]
[Via Tech.co.uk, thanks L. R.]

While we wouldn't say this is anywhere near a last ditch effort, Toshiba's VP of marketing for the Digital A / V Group has affirmed that it will air a 30-second spot during Super Bowl XLII extolling the HD-A3, HD-A30 and HD-A35 players. The plug is said to be a part of its revised strategy to "reinvigorate HD DVD," and oddly enough, it won't be running its ad up against that other format. Apparently, the BDA decided not to buy discounted airtime for a commercial after realizing that it couldn't complete a "Super Bowl-caliber ad" in time, but it seems as if the Blu camp isn't worried about a thing. Andy Parsons, SVP of industrial solutions business research group for Pioneer and BDA loudmouth, noted that he "admired [Toshiba's] chutzpah," but continued by saying that "running a Super Bowl ad is not likely to convince consumers that HD DVD will win the format war." Go on Andy, tell us how you really feel.

As if there hasn't been enough debate over the inability of Profile 1.0 players to make the leap to Profile 1.1 / 2.0, the folks manning the Blu-ray booth at CES gave us all something else to yap about. According to BetaNews, BD representatives on hand proclaimed that early adopters "knew what they were getting into" when they purchased a player that lacked advanced functionality such as Bonus View and BD Live. Apparently, BDA President Andy Parsons felt the same way, as he noted that it was par for the course for technology to evolve and change. 'Course, we suppose there's no room to argue with that, but we can certainly sympathize with folks yearning for an easier way to receive Profile updates. Then again, it's not like the Blu camp had much choice but to pull the trigger and rush players to market if it wanted to keep pace with HD DVD, right?

[Thanks, Andrew and Jason]

Just a few weeks back, we were able to grab a sneak peek at Resident Evil: Extinction's Bonus View feature, and now Blu-ray.com has yet another preview we figure the BD camp will be interested in seeing. Apparently, CyberLink was busy demonstrating its forthcoming Profile 1.1-enabled PowerDVD 7 Ultra software at CES, which allowed Sunshine to be played back "perfectly" with picture-in-picture enabled. Also, they were able to confirm that the aforementioned application will indeed play nice with DTS-HD tracks and that DTS-HD MA support was just around the bend. Reportedly, the update will be available gratis to current owners of PowerDVD Ultra next month.

The Blu-ray Disc Association could be on cruise control right now. This time last year, they were already declaring victory, and while the opposition deals with key defections -- and rumors of more to come -- they're predicting 1 billion in software sales this year. Video Business reports that the NPD Group's session immediately following last night's BDA press conference confirmed many of the BDA's positive numbers from last year, but also identified possible resistance it will face in 2008 due to still high prices, confused and indifferent customers and competition from HD DVD / VOD / IPTV. Coincidentally, a suggestion for the BDA to get past this was offering a concierge service to educate customers, but we'll see what marketing initiatives they dream up to move people to Blu in '08.

We're on the ground at the Blu-ray Disc Associations CES press conference. We're not sure, but they might be in a pretty good and boastful mood. We don't know if the hyperbole could match last year's, but check out the liveblog to find out how it went down in 2007, and what to expect from blue in 2008.

We've all been wondering what to make of those whispers that Warner (owned by Time Warner, which also owns Engadget's parent companies) was indeed going Blu-ray exclusive, and apparently, those rumblings are true. Based on a breaking release, Warner Bros. Entertainment will be releasing its high-definition titles "exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year." According to Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, the move is a "strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," and he also noted that "the window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger." Notably, Warner will continue to release on both HD DVD and Blu-ray until May 2008, but after that, it's BD for life for this studio. Oh, and while there's nothing official mentioning any sort of payoff, we're hearing that quite a sum was dished out to make this happen. Full release posted after the jump.

[Via Deadline Hollywood Daily, thanks Todd]

Forgive us if we are a little nostalgic of the days when companies would announce the availability of features, instead of just being certified to provide those features, but this is starting to be a trend. Maybe the BDA's certification process is so vigorous that the companies are more proud that it was able to achieve this certification, then to actually bringing the feature to their customers. Regardless, sometime during early 2008 -- isn't that today? -- PowerDVD customers will join the elite group of PS3 and Panasonic DMP-BD30 owners who can enjoy the latest Blu-ray titles with Picture-in-Picture.

Tried visiting Blu-raydisc.com lately? You know, that site created by the Blu-ray Disc Association? If you're a newcomer, go on and click that "United States" location button upon arriving -- and shield your eyes if you fear the sight of HD DVD. As of right now, some clever (and equally meddlesome) individual has hacked the website to redirect to the The Look and Sound of Perfect, which is the official website of the HD DVD North American Promotional Organization. Of course, it's impossible to say who did this or what's really going on, but it should provide a hearty chuckle if nothing else. Peep the gallery shot below for a full-screen image of the redirect result. You wanted a format war? Oh, you've got one.

Update: Seems to be fixed now -- 'twas fun while it lasted!

[Thanks, Tom]

Things have been a bit rough for Blu-ray lately. Those massive price cuts gave HD DVD a boost in market share and Paramount's abrupt departure was certainly a tad, shall we say, embarrassing. So we wonder, just what does Sony's boss, and figure-head of the smack-talking Blu-ray Disc Association, have to say about the state of the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war? It's a "stalemate," according to Sir Howard Stringer. He goes on to downplay the winner as nothing more than a matter of prestige while lamenting the lack of a unified standard. A far cry from the BDA's boastful claim of victory just 11 months ago.

[Thanks, Andrew]

For owners with the right hardware, 2008 is when they will see what Blu-ray Java is truly capable of. Bringing the confusion come to an end, Fox announced during the Blu-ray Festival that the first movie on the format with true picture-in-picture will be the sci-fi flick Sunshine in January. VideoBusiness also learned from Fox VP Steve Feldstein that he expects more players (aside from the PS3 and BD-UP5000) to be in the market that are equipped to handle the extra features. Tomorrow is the BDA's self-imposed deadline, after which new players have to support PiP, persistent memory, and internet connections. Whether or not Warner Bros. drops HD DVD support, Walt Disney has also announced plans to include PiP on Finding Nemo and other titles later in the year.