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EngadgetHD: Blu-ray buyers of Disney movies can expect to keep finding DVD copies packed in, at least through 2010.

According to a statement from the company received by Video Business, president Bob Chapek claims customers have shown “tremendous interest” in packages that can also play in their existing DVD players.

Especially for the market of Disney titles, we can see how that would be, since you probably haven’t upgraded the television in the kids room, or in the backseat of the car just yet. Hopefully this deeper commitment to including an additional disc doesn’t lead to the rumored raised prices, but hopefully the threat of Redbox keeps that at bay.

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Techradar: Blu-ray is facing its biggest challenge yet, and it’s all because of the economic downturn, says Disney. Speaking recently about the high-definition format, Lori MacPherson, GM of domestic home-entertainment, said: “The economy is the biggest challenge, because there are just so many pieces to the Blu-ray puzzle that consumers face”.

“You need the high-definition television set, you need the player, you need the cables, you need the software.” The comments were made at the HD3 conference this week, where a group of movie industry heads got together to discuss the future of the home entertainment industry.

MacPherson was also quizzed on DVD upscaling and whether this had anything to do with the slow sales of Blu-ray. “For me, it’s the difference between costume jewelry and a diamond,” she remarked. “Costume jewelry is nice, but I still want the diamond.”

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HDTV UK: Disney’s CEO, Bob Chapek, has stated that Blu-ray “is going to make the family room relevant again”, because of the quality of releases and their interactive features.

It’s a similar story to some who said that high definition TV itself would help to bring families back together, centred around the home entertainment system, as everyone gathers to watch blockbuster movies and TV shows.

A Disney executive has already gone on record to say that Blu-ray will eclipse DVD by 2010, and Chapek reaffirmed his company’s commitment to the high definition disc format.

“Blu-ray sales have picked up dramatically since a year ago, and I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg relative to what’s going to happen this fourth quarter. Because now the retailers have their stores set with not two formats but one format, and that just started happening this summer,” he said.

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High-Def Digest: Disney unveiled ambitious plans to bring BD-Live to all its future Blu-ray titles, beginning with the October debut of ‘Sleeping Beauty.’

During a media kick-off held in Hollywood, for the studio’s first Platinum Edition Blu-ray release, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment previewed the extensive BD-Live features on ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ and outlined an initiative to make web-based interactivity a cornerstone of its high-def strategy.

“We are making our entrance grand,” said studio president Bob Chapek. “Every subsequent Disney title will have BD Live. [This may] push the studios to reach new heights that have never been before imagined.”

The studio’s BD-Live plans encompass all future Walt Disney and Pixar theatrical and catalog titles.

Disney-distributed titles from such content partners as ABC, Touchstone, and Miramax would not be included, though they may also feature BD-Live.

Disney also says it is planning an extensive multimedia marketing program to promote the benefits of BD-Live to the studio’s core family demographic, designed to educate families about the value of the technology.

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c21media: The first Disney-branded channel to be broadcast entirely in high definition will launch on Friday.

Movie channel Disney Cinemagic will be renamed Disney Cinemagic HD and will be broadcast exclusively in France and French-speaking territories by satcaster CanalSat. It marks the entry of children’s and family HDTV channels into the French market.

John Hardie, exec VP and MD at Disney Channels EMEA, said that Disney Cinemagic’s focus on movies made it the ideal platform on which to launch HDTV.

“Using cutting-edge technology to help create and distribute outstanding content is at the heart of everything we do at Disney, and we’re delighted to have launched our first high-definition channel,” he said.

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Coolest Gadgets: It seems that Disney is looking beyond the cartoonish look of their previous TV designs and going towards HDTVs that are more high tech and stylish – even when incorporating Mouse like symbols into the design. Built by Uniden, the new 20 inch HD ready LCD TV includes 1366×768 resolution, 2×3W speakers with both TruSurround TX and TruBass, and 2 HDMI ports.

Most Disney electronics seem to be focusing on the tween market – with designs that highlight such Disney products as CARS, HANNAH MONTANA, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN. But these offerings were often long on decoration and short on quality, signifying that either Disney doesn’t think a more mature market would want electronics from a Mickey Mouse organization or that the kids themselves were more interested in feeding their Disney Channel obsessions rather than demand better quality technology.

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GameDaily: Backing a single format in the high-definition video format war could lead to U.S. studios missing out on millions of dollars from the global market over the next few years.A report published on Monday by entertainment research firm Screen Digest says that Hollywood studios that opt to support only one format could miss out on as much as €193 million in the U.S. and Western Europe in 2008 alone.

Screen Digest says that, while Blu-ray Disc is selling more units than rival HD DVD at the moment, “in the longer term, both formats will establish a viable installed base, allowing them to co-exist for the foreseeable future.”

It means customers will be looking for titles to watch in either format instead of having to buy a different player. The research predicts that, given the potential loss of earnings, everything points to “several single-format studios” reassessing that position during the next year.

Blu-ray-exclusive studios Sony, Fox and Disney could miss out on €125 million in consumer spending by not publishing their films on HD DVD, though Blu-ray’s stronger sales mean that HD DVD-only supporters are at risk of making the largest individual losses, the report says.

The research seems to fly in the face of the recent decision by both Paramount and DreamWorks to support HD DVD exclusively.

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Slashgear: When it goes down to specifications, all MP3 players are alike. Therefore, it is really hard for some people to decide which one is right for them. You may find tons of “good looking” MP3 players in the market but how many of them are considered as a “cute” one. For all of those who are “young-at-hear,” this good looking MP3 player might be just right for you.

I’d say this Mickey Mouse MP3 player is just right for kids (pretty girls, perhaps?) and people who are young-at-heart (…). It comes with Disney Music samples, and you know that Disney Music is a good music. This MP3 player can play both MP3 and WMA audio formats. It has 128MB of build-in memory. If that is not enough for you, the SD/MMC slot is also available allowing expandable memory up to 1GB.
The built-in rechargeable battery allows up to 10 hours of play back time. (…)
Price: $49.99 (about 38 euro)

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Anythingbutipod: The Disney Mix Max sports a 2.2” 220 x 176 color screen, along with 512MB of internal memory with the option to add up to 2GB via the SD/MMC memory slot. In addition to being able to play your own MP3/WMA and WMV content, you will be able to purchase Mix Max Clips, which are SD cards preloaded with Disney Channel video content. The player will also be able to player the first-generation Mix Clips that contained only audio content.

The player is priced for the tots as well at $100 (78 euro). Get your kids hooked on gadgets early and stick one under the tree this coming holiday season.

For tech specs, please visit the Mix Max productpage.

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