DVDPlay already announced its intentions to start stuffing Blu-ray Discs into its movie rental kiosks earlier this year, and we've been waiting ever since to hear a similar announcement from rival Red Box. Today, we're still waiting for said announcement, but we've received a report from the wonderfully named Aloha, Oregon that at least one Red Box movie rental kiosk has a Coming Soon flyer for Speed Racer on BD. When our tipster contacted Red Box concerning the discovery, the representative did affirm that if Blu-ray was shown, Blu-ray was on the way, though we aren't sure if they'll cost more than the $1 DVD rentals. Keep an eye out at your local kiosk and let us know if you see the same.

[Image courtesy of CashCrater, thanks Mike]

DVD rental kiosks have been lighting up pharmacies and supermarkets across the US, but it seems that UKers and Irish lads / dames will soon have the great, great privilege of interfacing with Movie Booths in the near future. This particular unit doesn't seem all too different from other variations we've seen, boasting a simple touchscreen display and a built-in android tasked with fetching your selected title and spitting it out for a nominal (read: undisclosed) fee. Apparently, trials have been deemed a success in outlets like Tesco, Centra and Applegreen, thus paving the way to see these pop up everywhere by the year's end. Any chance we'll see a Blu-ray Disc or two popped in there?

[Via Pocket-lint]

If you're a live event nut but live in the sticks, listen up: Sony is about to bring live performances to digital theaters with its new Hot Ticket program. Sony will broadcast Broadway shows, concerts, and sports events to around 500 digital theaters, live and in HD digital projection for about $20 a seat. The venture will launch with Cirque du Soleil's final performance of Delirium from London and for the two of you who haven't seen it yet, Rent's final Broadway performance will be shown in September. We have to admit, though, this could create some fun SuperBowl parties with rival factions on either side of the aisle, Congress style.

Well, would you look at that? After a mildly uncomfortable wait, the very first Netflix set-top-box has landed (the Xbox 360 with plug-ins notwithstanding). Thanks to Roku, users can finally tap into (a portion of) the Netflix library without having to wait for physical discs to arrive -- and for just $99.99, no less (though unlimited access to online films still requires an $8.95 or higher monthly fee for the traditional service). Better still, the HDD-less Netflix Player can even utilize a wireless signal to pull in streams, though your miles may vary on actual performance. As for ports, you'll find HDMI, component, composite, Ethernet, S-Video and a Toslink optical audio jack. Initial reports are looking pretty positive from here (save for the glaring lack of HD support), but feel free to dig into the reviews below to get a better feel of what this box really has to offer.

Read - Roku Netflix Player officially introduced
Read - PCMag review (4 out of 5)
Read - CNET review (7.7 out of 10)
Read - Wired review ("...just shy of totally amazing.")

We found out a few weeks ago that Netflix is ready for the next version of DVD and some of us have signed up for HD-DVDs from Netflix, but have any of you added them to your queue? The guys over at Hacking Netflix have, I hope they have their HD-DVD player per-ordered so they have something to watch them on! I guess you could rent them to take them to store with you shopping, if you are considering a new purchase.

Personally I am waiting to their are more than 3 movies, but that is just me.

The online DVD rental giant Netflix certainly made a splash yesterday, announcing that they would be renting out both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs as soon as they become available. This is somewhat surprising, as Netflix's CFO had previously declared Blu-ray the winner, but with the constantly changing landscape, it appears they have decided better to support both than to risk backing a loser.

Now more information has come to light, as they have also revealed they will not be charging any additional fee for high-definition DVDs. They state the content cost for them will be the same, so is it possible that there won't be a premium price for next generation DVDs? At this point we still really can't know how this will effect the end consumer, but high-definition TV owners who already subscribe to Netflix or are thinking about it are assured of easily available content, no matter what format they choose.

Have you ever wondered what format of high-def media Netflix is going to support? I have always guessed that they would simply have both of the disks available to their subscribers. The chief financial officer of Netflix, Barry McCarthy, gave a bit of insight through the eyes of an industry leader.

He feels that Blu-Ray has already won. They have all major studios supporting their format with the exception of Universal Studios. Even Warner, who sponsors HD DVD pledged to release movies on both formats. He also expressed his opinion that they are going to be priced at a 20% premium.

First reaction: I think he has a great points. Sony does have great support from all but one movie studio and a better "buzz" surrounding it. There are still the four hurdles to cross in order to move high-def movies from, dare I say, our niche market to mainstream.

Thanks for the tip from Davis of  Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection.