Father's Day is just around the corner, so no doubt you'll be wanting to get your dad some cool gadgets for his "man cave". Well, Walmart has some sick deals going on this Father's Day, including a
Cox Communications today expanded its fastest broadband service to residential and business customers in Northern Virginia. Now offered in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg it delivers up to 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) downloads and 5 Mbps uploads using DOCSIS 3.0. Last month, this service was launched in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Just got this email from Netflix saying they are increasing my Blu-ray access from $1 to $4 per month. What the hell? I have to pay 4 times what I was paying before? Way to screw your most loyal customers Netflix! Sure, the $1/month might have been a low-cost enticement to get people to sign-up for Blue-ray movie rentals, but you can't just increase the price 4-fold overnight. I think we Blu-ray fans would be much more accepting if the price increase was more gradual. Hi, Jessie Teitz here, VP of Marketing. This message is for everyone who rents Blu-ray movies from Netflix. You might have heard that we've been talking about changing our prices for Blu-ray movies because they cost more than standard DVDs. To make up for this significant cost difference, we've decided to charge a little bit more for those who want to rent Blu-ray movies. On November 5th, we'll start charging an extra $1 a month for Blu-ray access. For our members on unlimited plans, $1 a month for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies is a great value. We have more than 800 Blu-ray titles, and growing, for you to enjoy as part of your Netflix subscription. We think you'll agree, a $1 increase in your monthly subscription is pretty modest for you to enjoy this compelling format. If you don't want to pay $1 more a month for access to Blu-ray movies, simply remove the Blu-ray access on your account and your monthly subscription cost will stay the same.Yes, this was a "little bit more". What happened to just a "little bit more". $4 is a huge chunk of my monthly subscription now when I still can't even get 10% of the movies I want on Blu-ray.
The device has a 12-inch touchscreen with a 4:3 aspect ratio (which is ideal for web browsing in my opinion). It is powered with a Via Nano processor, which has performed at par with the Intel Atom in our testing. 1 GB of ram (its more than we need) and a 4 GB flash drive to store the OS and browser and any cache. Resolution is 1024×768, which means the vast majority of websites are viewed in full width without scrolling.
It should also support Skype, including Skype videoconferencing using the embedded camera. Maybe it will and maybe it won't, but surprisingly no mention of Skype in the article. It should also support some SIP softphone client for those that like to BYOVA (Bring Your Own VoIP Access).
More proof that my prediction of a Blu-ray Christmas is coming true... According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, British consumers bought 462,500 Blu-ray discs in November, an increase of 165% from October. They put out a release with a very positive title that proudly claims, "Blu-ray Beats Recession Blues Sales Soar in Lead Up to Christmas at Even Quicker Rate than DVD".
Echoing my sentiments, according to the news release, "Despite the gloomiest of financial forecasts, sales of Blu-ray disc movies are defying the odds and bucking the credit crunch - with record figures reported in the run up to Christmas. And it's not just films flying off the shelves, Blu-ray disc players are also following suit, with a strong upsurge in European sales that is expected to continue into the New Year. In fact, overall sales are predicted to more than triple in 2009, reaching 2.5million units Europe wide* (and that figure does not even include the millions of Playstation 3 consoles, with their in-built Blu-ray players, that will be sold over the next few months)."
It also states that sales figures from the British Video Association (BVA) released in December, show that block-buster Hollywood titles such The Dark Knight sold a whopping 513,000 units in one day with Blu-ray disc representing 21% of all discs sold.
weak against the Japanese yen, however there are Blu-ray players made in the U.S., including the Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-ray player which was sold on Black Friday at Walmart for $128. I have a Blu-ray player on my Christmas list that I hope to get. Santa Claus hasn't failed me yet. I also have a subscription to Netflix and planned on upgrading it to the Blu-ray package for an additional $1/month should I stay off Santa's "naughty list" this year. 
This would give me access to Netflix's massive Blu-ray library. Apparently, I shouldn't get too excited though. According to this CNET article, Blu-ray movies discs aren't being delivered as quickly as regular DVDs.
And now the truth can be told!
A national survey, commissioned by Verizon, of 1,026 American adults has found that a majority (57%) plan to spend more time at home turning to their televisions instead of events outside the home during the economic crisis. 
Blockbuster has chosen Reno, Nev., as the test market for a new store concept that combines video rentals with sales of video game accessories, high-definition TVs and other home entertainment products. y, we've seen how this is the season of Blu-ray and this isn't the season for Blu-ray. Honestly, what do you think?
Recent Comments