At least one of the two studios exclusive to HD DVD is already gearing up to join the other team.

"While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray," said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

"The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for hi-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate."

Scheduled for a release date later during this month, BD-LIVE will lay the following new features on PS3 owners' laps:

* A variety of downloadable content, including bonus scenes, shorts, trailers, subtitles, ringtones that can be sent to mobile phones, images, and more.
* Interactive movie-based games that pit players sitting in the same room, or across the world and online, against each other.
* "Resume play" that enables the PS3 system to start playing a Blu-ray disc and DVD at the point where it was stopped, even if the disc had been removed. (Note that the BD-J format disc isn't supported.)
* "Audio Output Device," a new Remote Play setting, enables the PSP to serve as a remote control for music played through PS3.
* An enhanced PS3 Internet browser. Video files directly linked from a Web page will be able to be streamed, and the browser's view speed will be improved.
* DivX and WMV format videos that are larger than 2GB will be playable.
* "Mosquito Noise Reduction" will be added as an AV setting in the control panel of the DVD/BD player for improved movie playback. (Likewise, the BD discs recorded with BDMV format aren't supported.)
* Enhanced interoperability between the PS3 and the PSP. PS3 owners may copy music and photo playlists onto their PSP Memory Stick and enjoy the files on the go.

Sony said that BD Profile 2.0 requires an Internet connection and at least 1GB of
local storage. Also, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has announced two BD-LIVE enabled titles for an April 8 release: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The 6th Day, complete with exclusive downloadable content.

Blu-ray Profile 2.0 is coming to the PS3 via FW v2.20;
Ali

Actually the update was already released yesterday.

"Blu-ray Disc" with SD encoding?
On eBay, I got an alleged Blu-ray Disc of the recent Japanese movie Sukiyaki Western Django. It appears to be NOT a Blu-ray Disc, but in trying to determine this, I've grown confused about the definitions.

The official Japanese Blu-ray release is, according to the only source I could find, an "AVC/MPEG-4" encode. This disc is MPEG-2.

If I turn off the upscaling on my PS3, the TV says the input is 720x480.
The disc plays in my Oppo DVD player.

The box -- a standard DVD case -- says "Blu-ray Disc" and has the blue swoosh logo...but it also says "DVD video", "DVD-9," and "Hi-Bit Edition." The DVD case comes within a slipcase, which includes an explanation of "Hi-Bit DVD" as what sounds like "SuperBit."

I'm now assuming that this is a bootleg, and that it's not, in any meaningful way, a "Blu-ray Disc." But, as I was looking through the big Blu-ray FAQ, it seemed as though there are things defined as, in the broad sense Blu-ray, with this SD output. And that there are DVD-9s that are in some way "Blu-ray."

In any case, this sure as hell isn't a "high definition transfer." And I'm ticked. But, before I raise hell with the vendor, I'm wondering whether it's somehow legal for this sort of release to be called a "Blu-ray disc."

"Blu-ray Disc" with SD encoding?
But, before I raise hell with the vendor, I'm wondering whether it's somehow legal for this sort of release to be called a "Blu-ray disc."

It would be nice to know where that text is from?

Ali