Blu-ray Deals Online

Sony has announced their next generation Blu-ray disc player, the BDP-S350. The new Sony BDP-S350 supports picture-in-picture and is BD-Live capable with an Ethernet port for Internet content. The BD-Live feature is expected to be enabled at a later date via a firmware update.

The BDP-S350 also features a quick start up mode improving boot up time to a few seconds and offers an external port for local storage for BD-Live, allowing users to use an optional flash storage device.

To support existing DVDs, the BDP-S350 incorporates Sony's Precision Upscale technology that converts standard-definition to an equivalent HD 1080p resolution. It also incorporates a stabilization technology that detects and corrects wobbly, bent or scratched discs.

The Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc model reduces the overall unit size by 55 percent and the total weight by 38 percent. The BDP-S350 also uses 21 percent less power consumption in playback mode and 43 percent less power in stand-by mode. Suggested retail price for the Sony BDP-S350 is $400.

Blu-ray.com is reporting that Panasonic will announce two new Blu-ray disc players at the CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) Expo this September.

Panasonic plans to unveil the DMP-BD35 and the DMP-BD55 which will feature an updated version of the UniPhier video processor and an Ethernet port to enable BD-Live compatibility.

UniPhier stands for Universal Platform for High-quality Image Enhancing Revolution and enables the sharing of software and hardware resources among product areas.

Panasonic plans to have these new Blu-ray players ready to ship for this year's holiday season. The price is undisclosed at the time of this writing but is expected to be set higher than the Panasonic DMP-BD30 and DMP-BD50 models.

You may have heard the term BD-Live recently and that some studios are getting titles ready for release that incorporate the feature. BD-Live is a recently introduced technology that enables you to access content via an internet connected Blu-ray disc player.

BD-Live will allow you to download movie related content such as refreshed previews and special features. Some possibilities being considered are real-time viewing with chat, downloadable ringtones, wallpapers, special live events and gaming.

Warner Bros. has revealed that they plan to release BD-Live enabled Blu-ray titles the end of this year in time for Christmas. Speculation is that one of the first movies being considered is this summer's blockbuster "The Dark Knight".

BD-Live is something you should take into consideration when purchasing a Blu-ray player. If this feature is not important to you then it should not be a concern but if it is you want to make sure that the model you purchase supports it. Look for players designated as "Profile 2.0" and you'll know you're getting a BD-Live compatible player.

As of this writing Blu-ray players that support BD-Live are:

• Sony Playstation 3
• Sony BDP-S350
• Sony BDP-S550
• Panasonic DMP-BD50

Of these the best value is still considered to be the Sony Playstation 3 because for a price comparable to the stand-alone Blu-ray players you also get a full-featured gaming platform.

LG Electronics has announced a Blu-ray disc player that will also be capable of streaming high-definition video from Netflix. The new player will go by the model designation LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player and should be available around September 2008 for about $500.

The LG Blu-ray disc player will have a network jack in the back for plugging into the home network. Unfortunately it appears that there is no wireless capability at this time.

It is also worth noting that while video streaming can be high-definition it is still compressed for bandwidth purposes and the resolution is not what you would get from a Blu-ray disc. Netflix does offer Blu-ray movies on disc through it's by-mail member subscription service. Internet video streaming is included at no extra charge with a Netflix membership.