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  • Scott Hettrick
  • Member Since Nov 7th, 2006
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Warner scheduled to be at this event means nothing at all except that they have not made a decision as of Thursday night when I spoke to top exec there.
They are doing what all studios and companies do at this point when they are unsure -- they agree to show up everywhere and book press conference rooms just in case a decision is made and an announcement will be made, but they can easily back out of any and all reservations and scheduled appearances should circumstances warrant.
At this point there is no decision and no press conference scheduled.
Scott Hettrick
This Video Business article by Susanne Ault clarifies a lot about the limited problem:

OCT. 4 | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is aware of consumers experiencing playback problems on Oct. 2 Blu-ray Disc release The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but the studio believes the issues are confined to a limited number of players.

According to postings on home theater enthusiast sites such as www.avsforum.com, complaints are arising from people running the disc on Samsung’s second-generation BD-P1200 model and LG’s first-generation dual-format BH100 player.

It’s unclear what specifically is tripping up the players, Fantastic Four does boast some of Fox’s most advanced technology yet, including BD-Java-powered extras and BD+ copy protection.

Steve Feldstein, Fox senior VP of marketing communications, points out that overall reviews have been favorable for Fantastic Four. He advises consumers having difficulties to contact manufacturer support lines directly.

“We are releasing more and more advanced interactive titles, and consumers should lobby their hardware manufacturers to release firmware upgrades post haste,” said Feldstein. “The title was well-reviewed and playing well on updated players.”

Samsung “should have something up soon,” according to a support line staffer, who said he had received some complaints from those viewing Fantastic Four on the P1200.

The LG dual-format player is already considered weakened by the fact that it can’t fully playback HDi, the interactivity technology for the HD DVD format.
The actual numbers are so small for both formats at this point that it's not likely that any studio is going to announce unit sales for any specific title until you start seeing title sales in the hundreds of thousands of units and especially the first title to hit the 1 million unit mark, as was the case with DVD.
Boasting about sales of a few thousand units versus a thousand or so less of the other format doesn't really serve anyone.
The only valid measure right now is the aggregate numbers of titles sold (not shipped), which, as you noted, is what Fox reported at CES in the following statement in a release that also included a chart:

"... Blu-ray sales performance surpassed HD-DVD for the first time the week of December 24 and did so by an impressive 20 per cent. What’s more, by the end of the first quarter our research shows the sales gap widening to Blu-ray outselling HD DVD by a 3.5-to-1 ratio,” noted Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Scott Hettrick
For an extra $200 for the external HD and an extra $300 for the hard drive? That's $500 extra on top of the original cost of the 360. Can't imagine there is much of a market at those prices.
They need to also rent the players so customers can compare to see which format is better.
They need to also rent the players, so consumers can try both formats and compare.
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I am looking for a device that will stream sound from one source to several recipients. For example, I want to stream sound from my TV or stereo to my phone or MP3 player that has radio and Bluetooth capabilities. I have looked into radio transmitters and they seem like a decent choice, but I can't find one that uses external power (USB or from the plug) and I would want one with a transmit range of around 50 meters. Thanks!"

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