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Samsung sued for defective Blu-ray players


We'll be straight with you -- we aren't surprised one iota by this one. For those keeping tabs, Samsung's slate of Blu-ray players have been plagued with issues essentially from day one, and while it has released a flurry of firmware updates over the years in an attempt to mend a variety of incompatibility issues, even its recent BD-UP5000 hybrid player is being axed early on after giving owners all sorts of fits. Apparently, one particular buyer isn't taking things lying down, and has decided to file suit against the mega-corp alleging that it has sold "defective Blu-ray players" to consumers. According to the suit, Sammy was "fully aware of the defective nature of the player [BD-P1200, in particular] at the time of manufacture and sale," and it also claims that the firm has "failed to provide a remedy consistent with the products' intended and represented uses." More specifically, the verbiage picks on the units' inability to play back select BD titles, and while some fixes have indeed been doled out, we still get the feeling many consumers have been left dissatisfied. Needless to say, this outcome should be interesting.

[Thank, Nfinity and Prey521]

Blu-ray early adopters "knew what they were getting into," apparently

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]

The Descent giving fits to BD-Java-less Blu-ray players

If you've just picked up the recently released The Descent on Blu-ray disc, hold back from tearing the plastic off just a minute. If you're using a first-generation Blu-ray player that doesn't yet support the "BD-Java environment," chances are you'll be graced with a depressing black screen instead of an action-packed thriller. Users across the web are complaining that the film isn't playing back on their particular Blu-ray player, and High-Def Digest has suggested that units that don't play nice with BD-Java extras are having a hard time swallowing (and playing) the featurette-packed disc. Sony's BDP-S1 and Pioneer's BDP-HD1 have been singled-out as the two most problematic players in this ordeal, and while Sony has promised a firmware update to add BD-J support "early this year," the Pioneer users are currently out of luck. Notably, Panasonic units, Samsung's BD-P1000, and Sony's own PlayStation 3 are having no troubles, although some Samsung devices may need the latest firmware installed to overcome any glitches. Hopefully more manufacturers will get on the ball and start supporting these newfangled extras that were supposed to make high definition discs worth more than the pretty resolution, and kudos to Lionsgate for pumping this one up with BD-J action -- even though some of us are still trying to make it spin.

[Via High-Def Digest]




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