South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung Electronics is aiming to be the first TV-maker to offer a full HD 1080p LED-backlit 3D television in Europe. It will begin shipments of its 3D-capable units to Europe next month along with expansions of its 8 and 7-series LEDs and 6-series LCDs.
For plasma proponents, Samsung is aiming to ship 3D plasma televisions to Europe in “late Spring”. The company will also release its new BD-C6900, a 3D Blu-ray player, and will offer 9-series LEDs and the HT-C6930W home theater rig in Spring.
3D models come with “wireless-ready” capabilities and sport a built-in Ethernet connection to access the company’s Internet@TV online applications store. Among the media downloads being offered from the service is software from the History Channel, Cartoon Network, Google’s Picasa and BBC’s iPlayer.
Result for: Blu-ray
Redbox will begin adding Blu-ray titles to its 22,000 kiosks starting in the Q2 2010, says parent company Coinstar CEO Paul Davis.
So far, the company has been only testing Blu-ray releases in its kiosks.
“[Blu-ray] strengthens our position to meet consumer demand,” adds Davis, although he concedes that they will not cost $1.00 like DVD releases do. When asked about the price, he said they have not determined a price, but they will “for sure be higher than our standard DVDs.”
Result for: Blu-ray
Director James Cameron has announced that his epic blockbuster hit Avatar will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in April, although the first version released will not be in 3D.
The original Cameron quote is as follows: “It’s all right on schedule. We’ll do the Blu-ray and the standard def DVD April 22nd, that’s our plan as of right now, and that’ll be pretty much bare bones. And then we’ll do a value-added DVD and a 3-D Blu-ray in I think November sometime.”
Fox however, has stated that the 3D version is not coming out in November. Says the spokesperson: “3-D is in the conceptual stage and ‘Avatar’ will not be out on 3-D Blu-ray in November.”
‘Avatar,’ released in December, has quickly become the highest-grossing film of all-time (not adjusted for ticket inflation), and is the highest-grossing film in U.S., Chinese, Russian, Spanish, U.K history.
