thomas fitzgerald.net

Great YouTube mash up of a title sequence for “Lost” done in the style of “Battlestar Galactica”

Interesting story from iLounge:

Speaking during an investor conference call, Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner’s CEO, said the company’s Warner Bros. studio will now release movies to the Apple TV and other video-on-demand systems on the same day they are released on DVD.

[Read News: Warner Bros. rentals coming to Apple TV same day as DVD]

From HDTV UK:

More scintillating Blu-ray sales figures, with news that Ireland is one of the fastest growing markets in Europe for the Blu-ray format.

[Read HDTV UK: Ireland sees tenfold increase in Blu-ray sales]

With the recent demise of HD-DVD, the success of Blu-Ray as the next generation successor would seem assured, yet many pundits are wondering if the format has long term success. They quote recent reports that Blu-Ray will be superseded in the near term by high-def download services and that there isn’t really a future for the format. Yet despite these reports, Blu-Ray is starting to show significant traction. Samsung recently announced that they were significantly increasing their forecast for their Blu-Ray business. The argument against Blu-Ray is that with the music industry clearly going towards digital downloads the movie industry must surely follow suit. Yet there are some clear differences as to how both segments of the entertainment market work.

[Read more]

Gateworld has just posted the trailer for the next Stargate direct to DVD (and Blu-Ray) movie. Looks Awesome.

Proof that the people at the top of the Recording Industry are a bunch of, I believe the technical term is: “A@$%holes.”

Cool ad for the optician chain, spec savers:

High Def digest is reporting on rumors that FOX plans a major blu-ray release of the cult phenemonen that was firefly. According to the rumors the studio

“In the early stages of preparing a major Blu-ray box set release of the short-lived but much-beloved Joss Whedon series.”

Firefly was a great and truly original series, and a blu-ray release would be incredible, but I don’t know how much weight to give this rumor. For a start, it is likely that the effects for this series were only ever completed in standard definition, and would have to be re-done. Also, unless it was finished in High-Def, it is also likely that they would have to go back to the original film rushes and create new digital masters. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility, but it would be a major undertaking. Of course it is possible the series was post produced in high def in which case a blu-ray release would be a lot easier to produce.

The Sony bouncy balls commercial, entirely in 3d, running in real time, only with coloured teapots instead of balls. Really Impressive.

Oh my God, this is hilarious. Someone took the classic 1999 iMac Commercial with Jeff Goldblum and slowed it down 30%. The result: Drunk Jeff. Classic.

[Via MacUser, via Macenstein]

This is a very interesting article from Wired about how Warner Music has pretty much accepted that the days of paying for music are pretty much over. It is interesting because the recording industry has not gotten anywhere with it’s attempts to sue themselves to profit. Their latest venture, to try and get internet service providers to play cops on their own customers seemed to be gaining a bit of traction in some European countries but I doubt it would ever take hold because it would be technically unfeasible and require breaching EU privacy laws.

Some may balk at the idea of having to pay anything but it’s a pretty good deal overall. $5 a month may seem excessive, but if that gave you a blanket right to download whatever music you wanted from whatever source you wanted then why not? Of course it would require everyone to get on board which could take years, but still, it’s better than suing grand parents and college kids.

Incredible photo by the cast of BSG

From: PS3 Attitude

Phil Harrison is standing down as President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios. Kaz Hirai (President of SCEI) will assume control of SCEWW after Phil moves on, which is as soon as 29th February.

This came as a bit of a shock I must say. Phil has been pretty much the face of the PS3, certainly from the games aspect since it came out. Oh well, we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

[Read PS3 Attitude: Phil Harrison quits Sony - returning to game industry soon ¦ PlayStation 3 news with bite]