The Blu-ray 2.0 spec (or BD Live) is just around the corner, and the "father of Java" thinks it won't disappoint. Sun Microsystems VP and fellow James Gosling calls it "mind-blowing" and we should see demonstrations of developers have achieved at the JavaOne conference in May. Top Tech News also quoted an analyst about the possibilities of the Blu 2.0 future, and what we could see this summer, from online chat with others watching the same movie, or the ability to offer downloads that re-edit a movie to block unwanted scenes. That all sounds nice, and we can't wait for the BD-J upgrades on our PS3's and new players from Panasonic and Sony, but we can't help wondering what it would have been like if someone launched online-capable HD players nearly two years ago. Yeah, that would've been sweet.

Blu-ray owners waiting for more Java features and highly interactive releases like the recently announced Matrix compilation on HD DVD could be due for a hardware upgrade this winter. VideoBusiness is reporting that the BDA has mandated all hardware launched after October 31 must support BD-J enabled picture-in-picture video playback, 256MB of persistent memory, and (for players with an internet connection) 1GB of memory for downloads. Currently these features aren't required and picture-in-picture support isn't in the PlayStation 3 or Sony's lower priced BDP-S300 that will debut this summer, ahead of the deadline. BD-J support has been sketchy so far, with many players needing upgrades to run titles like The Descent, which was able to do PiP by including two different versions of the movie on one 50GB disc. High profile DVD producer Van Ling (Star Wars, T2: Special Edition) is working on his first (unspecified) BD-J release, but is worried about supporting so many players with different capabilities. HD DVD mandated PiP and persistent storage support in all players since its initial launch; we'll wait to see if new Blu-ray hardware can implement new features and still continue the downward price trend.

Considering that some retailers are already implementing larger floor displays for HD DVD / Blu-ray discs, and the wee fact that we've already got a combo player out on the market to appease the fence-sitters, we suppose it follows logic that an off-the-wall group be formed to push the formats and their all too controversial features into public acceptance. The recently-formed Media Experience Trade Association (META) is hoping to "improve consumer acceptance of emerging formats" by slapping "META Seals" onto discs that clearly inform consumers of certain usability benchmarks and by "creating digital media standards" that would help the faltering iHD Advanced Navigation and BD-Java features blossom. Interestingly, the group's purpose is to simplify things and make the user "feel less intimidated," but we're not so sure that tossing extra labels and probably a few hidden dollars in the pricetag to compensate for "their work" is the best approach. Still, it looks like yet another tag will be hitting high-definition discs "by the end of 2007" if this all pans out, but if we end up getting a bit more functionality in our next-generation flicks, we won't grumble too much.

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]

Coming directly on the heels of Fox announcing we will see Blu-ray Java enabled movies in 2006, the Blu-ray Disc Association has announce Sun Microsystems is joining the Board of Directors. Sun will continue to play a key role in supporting content providers enabling BD-J support in future Blu-ray releases. Reuters reports that the BDA is looking for "more muscle" to join with the various CE manufacturers and content companies although they did not indicate who that is specifically. If this truly leads to more announcements like the one earlier today and advanced BD-J features in an increasing number of Blu-ray movies then we applaud the move.

Read - 20th Century Fox, Sun, Time Warner boost Blu-ray - Reuters
Read - Blu-ray Disc Association Welcomes Sun Microsystems as Newest Board Member - BusinessWire

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.

With the capabilities offered by interactive menus, iHD and BD-J features, Blu-ray and HD DVD discs can go far beyond the simple static background menus we've gotten used to from DVDs. As a result, this CNet article indicates they will go from largely an afterthought to creating a need for professional designers able to get the most out of the new formats. David Anderson of Giant Software, fresh after attending the recent DVD Forum event, was interviewed so he was expectedly very high on the PiP, persistent storage-enabled downloads, and other capabilities of HD DVD. He also reiterated a claim we've heard frequently from the HD DVD camp, that Blu-ray's BD-J would be more difficult and expensive to take advantage of, but he seemed ready for that and is staffing up on programmers adequately experienced. We'll know this has gone too far when The Graduate's famed career advice "Plastics." is replaced with "Java" (U.S. MGM/Fox edition) and "XML (European StudioCanal release).

[Via digg]

The early impressions of Sony's initial Blu-ray releases are in and as you may have heard, they aren't so good. Many have pointed the blame at Sony's insistence on using MPEG-2 instead of the newer and more easily compressed MPEG-4. One of the reasons they cited for sticking with the older format was their insistence that the MPEG-4 authoring tools available were not of sufficient quality.

Whether that is true or not, Matsushita (Panasonic) has announced their own set of MPEG-4 Blu-ray encoder and authoring tools, which support Java (BD-J) for the interactive features Blu-ray is also capable of. According to what we can interpret of the press release, this will be available July 1st in United States yet Panasonic's (US) web site has no mention of it yet. Also no mention of cost or license fees, although this probably won't be on the shelf at CompUSA anytime soon.

Regardless, considering the apparent state of Blu-ray releases, we can't say for sure how much of the problem is the codec but one has to wonder how many discs will be released using the older technology if they continue to get poor reviews. Rumors have indicated the authoring tools made available by Sony support only MPEG-2 and for that reason all the studios have been using them. It will be interesting to see if there is any release date reshuffling of content in the same way some players have slipped, or if the other studios are able to get better results using Sony's own tools.

[Via AV Watch]

[Update] HDTV UK has more information on the MPEG-4 equipment available soon at the Panasonic Hollywood Library in California.