Apple Wins the Blu-Ray Vs. HD DVD War?

Sean Captain writes:

"While the MacBook Air was certainly the sex symbol of Steve Jobs's MacWorld keynote today, the product with the biggest impact may be the new Apple TV. One of the big news items at last Week's CES was that Blu-ray appeared to have finally won the high-definition disc war. Well, it may have been a brief victory."

"BD players are still pricey items, while Apple TV starts at just $229. And Blu-ray still lacks support from two major studios. Apple TV is starting small-with about 1000 films at its launch at the end of February. But all the major studios-Fox, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Sony (plus several minors)-have already signed on (ironic, since Sony Pictures' parent company created the Blu-ray format). If it catches on, it could grow very fast. Remember, Apple transformed the digital music download business and could very well do the same for movies."

[PS360WII]

the first Apple TV didn't do so hot but maybe they learned there lesson. Here everyone is worried that MS is going to head the DD age but it's been Apple all along in the here and now unlike the 10-15 years people have been saying.

Yet you can't forget the masses...

[decapitator]

And this one might not do just as well. This article fails at the very point that it is trying to make.

If it wasn't for Microsoft rushing and releasing the Xbox 360( And I dont mean this in a bad way because if they had not released the Xbox 360 earlier, some third party developers would have suffered), the prices for both the PS3 and it would be below 300 at launch. The extra year or so would have let them be able to work on reducing the hardware cost for PS360.

That said, both companies have been trying to reduce cost ever since they launched the consoles. Man if you dont call that, thinking about consumers, then I dont know what the hell. you call that.

[whoelse]

You cant expect Sony not to back iTunes. Simple as.

You still have to see that you cant BUY movies on iTunes. Only rent them. So this method is in war with renting of Blu-ray really. Because the person who chooses to download a movie from iTunes would have just rented the film instead.

[lockload]

@whoelse - I think you fail to see the point the convenience of download will persuede people to not bother buying it

[Mr Tretton]

...until they realize they can't resale or loan what they own.

[lockload]

Depends how you look at it the downloads stay on the HDD you can repurchase the movie without downloading again. You could buy it four times for less than buying it and noone watches most movies more than once

[Mr Tretton]

that did nothing to disprove my point.

if you like the idea of it because of the way you choose to use products that's fine, I'm sure it will be there to cater to a small portion of the market, it will however never be 'the way.'

[The Brave 1]

apple is also supporting blu ray with blu ray equipped macs.So this guy is just another apple fan ,as many of us are,however he is going a little too far.

[Kaneda]

Apple TV is compete with netflix, blockbuster, and cable ppv sevices... I don't think it will affect blu-ray or HD-DVD... I am still buying some of the movies I like...

[InMyOpinion]

I'd definately want to re-watch some of the movies I own in HD, but I'm not too keen on having to re-buy movies I already own on DVD in order to do that. That pretty much kills the idea of buying Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movies for me.

[Brian5247]

Give me a break.

[HD DVDs COFFIN]

.

[whoelse]

I think Sony need to really bring down prices of Blu-ray discs and offer the Blu-ray to PSP Movie transfer feature fast to avoid threat.

Another problem with VOD is DRM. You cant put it on too many devices. And you still have to pay $229 for this.

Saying this, VOD does bring a benefit to consumers, i just dont see it catching on as quickly as Apple or Microsoft hope...

[Rice]

They have apple TV?.........................JK Z

[whateva]

and I can do it for free.

[xc7x]

last i checked there were video rental stores all over my city,so Itunes and Apple tv is going to bring them all down eh? ok,good luck with that

[ktchong]

rent any DVD for $1 a day (with membership).

Why would I want to pay $6 for movie download on Apple TV?

[Adamalicious]

What movie costs $6? The max price for DVD quality on demand is $3.99 (new releases). Older titles are only $2.99.

[nicholascage24]

read the txt again

It is a $ more for HD movie .

I completely agree with Round Peg.

Why would i pay 5$ for a rental(for a max of 30 days) when i could get a Blu ray movie for 10$.

DD will take off but in 2015. I dont see it taking off anytime soon.

LIVE has 10 m subscribers. How many of them are taking advantage of MS movie download service?

DD is something for the future. It wont take off overnight

[mighty_douche]

i tell you what, go phone your dad and see if you can explain it to him, ill wait...................

[Cartesian3D]

completely agree with u ..

but dont forget Apple is expert in making ONE BUTTON devices..

they are really the best in user-friendly but CLOSED softwares..

[cmrbe]

This will only be for a niche market of those that are into new tech mostly. It will be another 5 years at least before it brakes into mainstream.

[xplosneer]

Seriously Sony own's 30% of Blu Ray and if it wins they aren't going to regret it. Seriously rediculous.

[masterg]

What is it people don't understand.

Sure down loadable movies are nice for us tech "nerds".
But what about all the regular joe´s. They want the disc in the hand.

[Dreamworker]

what buys music CD's. CD's are a dying medium and so will be movie discs in the future.

[Wonderbhoy]

People wanted music on the go and file sizes are small enough to download fast.

Sure people can do the same with movies, but for most people, they want the HD movie experience on their giant HDTV.

[sajj316]

Is in direct competition with the rental business like Blockbuster and Netflix. Bluray will not be impacted here. Unless Apple can provide me with a way to purchase and on HD content (well catalogued), I don't see how they are competing with Bluray.

If I were Apple, I'd offer a monthly subsription plan to download X movies per month. This is true VOD. That will send Netflix in a state of panic.

[miasma]

Oops, my bad, apologies to all on this comment, i was misinformed, I pulled up the wrong source.. not something i usually do, thanks Adamalicious!

[Adamalicious]

Netflix is currently working on a set top box with LG after several failed years of trying to figure out how to do it with TiVo.

[Wonderbhoy]

I quite often had the choice of pressinga few buttons on my remote and watching a movie on PPV for $3.99. Or I could go to my local Blockbuster and rent the DVD.

10 times out of 10, I went to blockbuster. Why? I can't even answer that... I just did.

So I do not see Apple, or MS or anyone else for that matter putting Blu-ray or dvd out of business.

[lawgone]

But you make a great point. PPV has been around for ages and HD PPV has been around for quite awhile. Is that stopping us from buying DVD/HD DVD/Blu Ray? No, not at all. And people have to stop comparing the death of CD's to DVD. It's not the same. People forget that a large part of the appeal of mp3's is the ability to make playlists and rip and share music. No one needs or wants to make a movie playlist.

[itsalive]

Not that it matters one iota, as nobody cares about resolution (720 vs 1080p), but isn't the max resolution on the apple TV 720p and not 1080p?

[Adamalicious]

HD video rentals will be in 720p. The Apple TV is compatible with 1080p televisions. At this time I don't know if there's a way to put 1080p content on it at all so it's sort of a moot point.

[Mr Tretton]

I lol when people call DDs convenient. They are actually quite inconvenient in many ways. No resale value or loanability or 'collectability'.

Get off your ass and go to the store, or order from amazon, it's not going to kill you, and you really don't need everything NOW. If you do, then you need more to your life.

DVDs and BDs will flourish. The CD industry is having trouble because the modern music industry SUCKS. It's got nothing to do with downloading something from itunes. I will never buy a virtual product. Companies want to do this to take control over what you own.

[miasma]

Not sure i agree or disagree with you. The CD industry having trouble because the modern music industry "sucks". Maybe. But many people, not all people, really like the digital music downloads, picking a song or two of a CD they don't wish to buy. I love it. I thought the same thing about music CDs a long time ago, i want to own a physical item when i buy my music. But that quickly went the way of the dodo after i tried it for a little while. Now i can't imagine ever buying another music CD.

As for this movie rental thing, i could care less if the video is in 1080p at the moment, 720p is just fine for now on my 50" wide HDTV. 1080p will come later, but we have to start somewhere. i have a huge DVD library i have been building for quite sometime, and i am looking forward to the day when i can go digital with that. That day isn't here yet, but, if i can rent DD in HD, i am highly interested. I am not some tech nerd either. I just enjoy the reliability of my mac products. If anyone can pull it off, it will be apple....

[beoulve]

Funny Apple TV can't even beat SD Media, DVD and now you think suddenly Apple TV or Itunes can beat Blu-ray. I sense HD-DVD backer trying to jump ship but unwilling to join blu-ray. They will bite what ever they can.

[joevfx]

this is NOT and new apple TV. its the same hardware but new software ( if u have the old apple tv you will still get the new software for free) also the sd content is 720x486 its only 640x 480. also the HD content is only 720p. with that said, it is super simple to use and is really fast. i think its soemthing great that will render blockbuster and netflicks obsolete but i would would still rather BUY my HD movies at full 1080p. i think i migth get it just to rent movies and buy TV shows but not buy movies.

[Adamalicious]

I think the rental feature takes the device from cool to super cool. Having all of your content ready to go on your TV or stereo plus the potential to rent pretty much any movie at the push of a button makes for a compelling device. They are competing with digital cable's on demand in a serious way.

[nicholascage24]

thats a good idea?

adam....on which planet are u living?

renting a DVD movie would cost you 4$ , an Hd movie would cost you 5$ and just for 30 days.

What if i have a guest in my house who wants to watch the movie after that time period?

i would have to rent it again for 5$.

Why would i pay 10$ for a rental when i could get the physical disc for 10$

also you realize that Apple Tv doesnt do 1080p.It is confined to 720p

[phobus]

The ENTIRE hd is 40GB on the base Apple TV. Thats 10GB less than a Bluray disc. Hmmm spend $20 at Amazon for a full 1080p lossless 50gb movie or $5 in 30 days for a 5gb rip of it (and watch it for 1 day)

[Adamalicious]

The 160gig AppleTV has been available for some time now.

[Mr Tretton]

miasma: "But many people, not all people, really like the digital music downloads, picking a song or two of a CD they don't wish to buy."

again, that's because albums suck today. Of course they only want 1 song. No one writes albums anymore. It's all a hit single and a bunch of flash.

[Fototherapist]

The music industry today is all about squeezing out a hit from an artist and then dumping them to find the next big thing. That may be a reason why iTunes is such a success. It is so easy to find that one song you love without being loaded down with a substandard album. I agree that it's different with movies. I still buy blu-ray discs. I've only purchased one movie off of iTunes. I rarely rent a movie using on demand. I'm not sure how the Apple TV thing is going to pan out. It might just be too ahead of its time.

[wallace1000]

Blu-ray players need to come down in price. I want to get the Panasonic bd30 but there is no way i am paying C$599 for it. There is no need for blu-ray players to be as pricey as they are right now.

[nicholascage24]

It is 278$ at most stores

It is very good too

[wallace1000]

Is that the 1400? If that is in Canada, which store is that? Damn stores like amazon.com with the good deals won't ship lots of products to Canada so we can't get the good deals you guys down south are getting :-/

[stennexxx]

Sony got everyone fooled. Blu-ray is perfect for Sony and gaming. Space would be needed to put hi-def content on a disk. Plus they would get earnings if blu-ray becomes the staple. But the PS3 is already capable of having content downloaded on it in Hi-def from the get go. The simple fact that the Hard drive is so easy to upgrade and their cost is coming down. Also the fact that yellow dog(linux) for eg can be loaded onto the PS3 should give you an indication of how easy it is for Sony to manipulate the PS3 without it locking up. The real 10 yrs or more comes from the fact that the PS3 was built to mainly be online and at the last moment the blu-ray drive was implemented because broadband technology is still not widely used. So when the right time comes and if power line broadband comes online Sony is good.

[demolitionX]

After 5 years from now, we'll have the same news DD is threatening Disc technology, and everybody still buys Discs. Another 5 years from now, again the same news DD is threatening Disc technology, and everybody still buys Discs, and go on............................ .......................

[mistertwoturbo]

"BD players are still pricey items, while Apple TV starts at just $229. And Blu-ray still lacks support from two major studios. "

lol... Blu-Ray still lacks support from two major studios. Trying to make that sound like a bad thing.

And secondly, the cheapest blu-ray player is currently $299. Expect that to drop down to $199 within this year.

[titntin]

Apple TV is not even in the same market as Blu ray discs.
ITs simply not a true high definition servcie and there is no mention of high definition anywhere in the article - and the whole point of blu ray is 1080P output, otherwise we'd all stick with DVD's.

Apple TV is taking on the normal dvd market. Even there, I think its in for a struggle as its expensive and the infrastructure that makes it a 'couple of clicks' is simply not in place in much of the world.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

I can care less what you guys say. Blu-Ray, HD-DVD or DVD9. Not all people don't want to buy movies. Fact is, I regreat alot of times movies I wasted money on buying rather than renting. Would you buy a Uwe Boll Blu-Ray movie, just because it's Blu-Ray?!! I don't think so...

[4D Zangief]

Apple and Microsoft will crush Sony with digital downloads....

HahahHAHHAHHAHHAahahahhaaaa

[rawd]

Sony is coming out with a digital download service for the PS3 and other devices. And it's DivX certified unlike the RROD360.

Sorry try again

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

360 supports DivX stupid

"sorry try again"

Google is your friend, use it next time and do some research so you don't look so tarded in your comments.

[rawd]

CERTIFIED

CAN YOU READ JASON

ARE YOU AN AMURRRICUNNN

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

The download install base is a hell of alot higher then these formats and the studios are taking notice just look at Blockbuster, Netflix, Apple, Amazon and MS. They are all jumping on this bandwagon, hell even Valve is in it. Where is Sony? thats right still peddling plastic disc.

[kreetah]

So the resolution is only 720 not 1080i or 1080p
No advanced audio codecs
No lossless audio
No extra features on the download
No PiP
No internet connectivity for special features
Limited viewing window after you start the movie
er...

NO
NO
NO
Apple DL <<<<<<<&l t;<<<<<<<& lt;< BD

[jmiscavish]

This is much better firmware than they had on the appletv. However, at CES, panasonic had tru2way TV on display, so I think I'd rather wait for that. I also want to wait and see what M$ does with IPTV here in the states as well as the ps3's DVR capabilities.

I'm not sure that this threatens anyone as there's room in the market for all sorts of set top boxes. My biggest beef is that I can get unlimited movies for $16 a month (all in blu-ray) from netflix, so why would I spend $5 a piece on subpar HD transfers?

[whoelse]

If only Apple put a Blu-ray drive in the MacBook PRO. Then, i could be easily persuaded to buy one!