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.

NetBlender is preparing to reveal new technology aimed squarely at connecting Blu-ray content to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, called BD Touch. Designed to "leverage network capabilities of Blu-ray players" Macworld UK surmises it could lead to possible use of those devices as a remote control for Blu-ray players, but given NetBlender's history of authoring tools we see the potential for an add-on that easily helps developers implement features like Digital Copy or BD-Live enabled ringtone purchases. Remote control -- or better yet Remote Play style -- apps could be interesting however, so we'll keep an eye out for the official announcement, expected April 10.

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.

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]