Month: March 2008 (Page 4 of 5)

Acer today presented the Aspire 8920G, a brand new notebook PC series designed to take full advantage of Blu-ray discs. To enjoy the full 1920×1080 resolution, these new laptops will include a huge 18.4″ screen.

To power this beast, Acer includes an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and either an NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GS graphics card or an NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS card. Both of them support NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology, Shader Model 4.0 and Microsoft DirectX 10.

And if you have an HDTV with an HDMI input you can hook up the laptop to it to enjoy HD goodness on your big screen.

This week we’re treated to quite a number of Blu-ray releases ranging from a world where designer babies are the norm to a world where a coin toss determines if you live or die.

This week’s Blu-ray releases are:

Appleseed Ex Machina
August Rush
Dan in Real Life
Dogma
Gattaca
Hitman
I, Robot
Independence Day
No Country for Old Men
Sleuth

Via EngadgetHD

Sony today announced that they will be releasing eight Adam Sandler movies in one day. That incredibly awesome day will be May 20, 2008 — in time to capitalize on the media attention for Sandler’s upcoming movie, Don’t Mess with the Zohan.

The eight movies being released as part of the new “Sandler Line” are: Anger Management, Big Daddy, Mr Deeds, Punch-Drunk Love, Spanglish, Eight Crazy Nights, 50 First Dates, and Click. And yes, 50 First Dates and Click are already available so I’m assuming the only thing that will change for those two movies is the packaging.

Lionsgate announced today that the Blu-ray release of Rambo will include an iTunes digital copy, which enables users to transfer the film to a PC, iPod, iPhone or AppleTV. The movie is scheduled for release on Blu-ray and DVD, which also includes the digital copy, on May 27, 2008.

The studio added that it will team with Apple to offer more digital copies on DVD and Blu-ray discs later this year.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer quotes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer when asked about Microsoft’s support for Blu-ray:

“We’ve already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like,” Ballmer stated. “I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We’ve moved on, and we’ll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense.”

The comments were made during an on-stage conversation at Microsoft’s Mix08 Internet conference in Las Vegas.

Circuit City has announced today that they will be extending their HD DVD return window for those who may have been stuck with an HD DVD player. Circuit City spokesman, Jim Babb, said Circuit City will “accept returns of HD DVD players within 90 days of purchase.”

Customers who purchased HD DVD players to return them for store credit. The policy doesn’t apply to HD DVD movie discs. The reason why Circuit City is doing this is because they hope you will use your store credit to purchase a Blu-ray player, some Blu-ray movies and perhaps some of those overpriced Monster video cables to “get the best possible quality from your new player!” Word of advice — don’t waste your money on Monster brand cables.

Timed perfectly with the theatrical release of the sequel, Prince Caspian, Disney today announced the May 13, 2008 release date and specs for the Blu-ray release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

The Blu-ray will include the 135 minute theatrical cut instead of the 150 extended cut. Why they would go that route, I don’t know. The film itself will be presented in widescreen 2.4:1 1080p video and PCM 5.1 uncompressed 48 kHz/16-bit lossless audio.

Bonus features will include: “Battle For Narnia” Game, Creatures Of The World, Explore Narnia 3-D Map, Legends In Time, Audio Commentary With Director Andrew Adamson And Stars, Audio Commentary With The Filmmakers, The Bloopers Of Narnia, Chronicles Of A Director, The Children’s Magical Journey and much more.