Batman and Sleeping Beauty might have something in common pretty soon, as DVDTown reports Warner Bros. is considering making The Dark Knight its first release with BD-Live features. If they're planning on testing for synchronized watching among groups with chat running alongside the movie, the summer's biggest flick (and w/ IMAX sequences already coming home) seems like a good place to start. All we can hope is that it comes out sooner rather than later, apparently some people have too much time on their hands.

[Via MovieWeb]

We won't restate the irony found in an internet tycoon bashing online TV (oops...), but Mark Cuban has seemingly come up with a few brilliant ideas since claiming that internet video was a failing enterprise back in March. Essentially, Mr. Cuban reckons that HDTV currently being delivered over the internet to LCD monitors around the globe should actually not be transmitted via the compressed methods currently used. Rather, he asserts that we should "move the video cloud to the node and encode and insert into traditional video distribution systems." In other words, deliver internet TV to your existing cable / satellite set-top-box, giving end-users the ability to create playlists and customize shows. We'll admit, we're warming to the idea in general, but trapping users into a cable / satellite bill isn't that appealing for those who lavish the ability to watch some of their HD via OTA and some of it via the 'net. Still, we're sure he's got that niggle all figured out too -- but why would he reveal his secrets before taking it to the bank?

[Thanks, VANBROTHERS]

With a report emerging this week pegging Best Buy as the go-to location for Blu-ray Disc purchases, it stirred up some curiosity here at Engadget HQ. Personally, we prefer to snag our discs online; there's just something about receiving those corrugated boxes on our doorstep that does it for us. We're interested to see where you procure most of your own BD titles -- in a store (which one?), online (which e-tailer?) or out of the back of a white panel van? You can keep quiet if it's the latter.

BD-Live offerings to date have been pretty tame, but Disney's got a few tricks up its sleeve for the first release in its Platinum Edition series, Sleeping Beauty. Blu-ray owners with compatible hardware will be able to chat with friends during the movie using a laptop, BlackBerry or other PDA, make video messages and send them to others, play trivia games, and earn points used to trade in for ringtones, wallpaper or other items. From the moment the disc hits the tray, the iconic castle will feature a backdrop sync'd with weather conditions in the viewer's hometown. As noted in USA Today some owners of Blu-ray players sans-internet will miss out, but with a street date of October 7, there's still time to grab a PS3 or one of the compatible standalone boxes coming on the market. Customer desire for next gen networked features hasn't always been incredibly enthusiastic, but we suspect once the 'tween group gets into this (and High School Musical 3 hits Blu-ray) things could change.

In case you didn't catch it, there used to be an internet video platform operating under the codename Jittr Networks. Don't bother learning that factoid, though -- it has relaunched, official-like, under the name Vusion (please disregard that the Vusion name overlaps with a baby ointment). Competition to deliver streaming HD video over the internet is heating up, and Vusion is promising to give 95-percent of all broadband customers access to crispy, instant-on, 720p images. Vusion's secret sauce is the familiar combo of network infrastructure and a cleverly-acronymed WARP technology. Don't get us wrong -- we're all for internet streaming of HD, and we think know that it's coming; but we won't start lining up until content providers do. [Warning: PDF read link]


[Via HDTVMagazine]

It's been quite some time since we've seen Mark Cuban ramble on about a subject that mattered to us, but his latest post concerning the viability (or lack thereof, we should say) of internet video certainly caught our eye. Essentially, Mr. Maverick himself asserts that due to the open (and therefore unstandardized) nature of the internet, it's impossible to ensure that programming is being delivered up to par. Additionally, few Americans (and even fewer Earthlings) have an internet connection in their home with enough bandwidth to really enjoy unadulterated HD content the way we're used to experiencing it via our HD STBs. Still, we can't help but respectfully disagree that the current instability of the internet (in terms of content engineering) as a content medium means that it's doomed. Of all people, Mr. Cuban should realize that the demand for VIP slots to watch the NCAA Tournament online has grown significantly year after year, and there are more material outlets on the internet today than a single satellite / cable / fiber lineup could ever provide. Getting this plethora of content to high-def, however, remains the challenge, but we aren't giving up on the world wide web just yet -- far from it, actually.

With the WGA strike seeming like a distant memory (two weeks old), it's a good time to examine what the fight was over online streaming. The resulting agreement grants residuals to the writers for content streamed more than 17-days after the on-air showing, and first year shows get treated to a 24-day window. Those are some pretty favorable terms for the studios, if you ask us. Real-life analysts seem to agree, estimating that online video ad spending will swell from $1.3 billion in 2006 to $7 billion by 2012. Those online ads are prime real estate, too -- "brand recall" from them is way above that seen for broadcast TV. If "brand recall" figures like 60-percent for online video ads versus single-digits for conventional TV hold up, expect to see another WGA uprising in the future. Until then, keep these figures in mind when TV studios decry internet video as a deathknell.

[Image courtesy Today's Real Estate]

The HD DVD Promotional Group is on the ground at Comic-Con, with the price drop of the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on and accompanying 5 free disc promotional offer, with more details of content to expect this holiday season. The Heroes: Season 1 HD DVD boxed set will be available August 28, including HDi features exclusive to the high def release, like a web enabled download center, Heroes Abilities Test, picture-in-picture commentary and others. This is Universal's first release to take advantage of HD-DVD's online capabilities, but it won't be the last. The seven disc package has an SRP of $99.98, and as mentioned earlier, Xbox Live members will be able to download the pilot episode for free before its release.

After releasing Europe's first HD DVD -- the HDi enhanced Elephant's Dream -- Imagion AG is again breaking new ground with the first music HD DVD (and first European HD DVD) to include online features. Due in August, Motörhead's "Stage Fright" also uses HDi for new interactive features, allowing viewers to create their own setlist from concert footage and to take "snapshots" of the concert and create personal picture gallery in their HD DVD player's storage. Fans can hook their HD DVD player to the internet to download news, tour dates, pictures and artwork that will update the disc's menus. We may not be die-hard followers of "the dirtiest heavy metal band in the world" yet, but with this kind of release look for our tattoos to join the gallery soon. Check after the break for screen shots.

You may not be able to rent them in the stores, but Blockbuster.com will rent you all (3) of the HD-DVDs you could ever want. Doom and Apollo 13 are listed as shipping tomorrow, as well as the delayed Million Dollar Baby, although you can't tell what is in and what isn't.

If you're one of the ten thousand HD-DVD owners out there, at least you have some options. Once Blu-ray launches, we can probably expect quick online support there also, but it will be interesting to see who gets titles in brick & mortar stores first.

[Via digg]