Here’s an interesting video from Silent Bob wanna be Blunty3000 in which he rants on about HD-DVD having lost the format war. He admits he made the commitment a little bit too early. Seeing as how it’s worthless, he decides to set it on fire! Don’t worry, the Blu-ray community embraces you.

In an interview to HD Technology Update, Steve Wilson, ABI Research principal analyst, goes in depth as to why he believes the Blu-ray format hasn’t been better received. In an article last month, ABI Research talked about the Blu-ray market facing challenges and here he tells us why. He believes the Blu-ray players won’t go any lower than $200 until the holiday season of 2009. Wilson considers current players and soon to be released ones as ‘Beta’ version because of missing features such as Bonus View and BD Live. Furthermore, he states that BD Live is dependent on Studios making good use of it and thinks the feature is ‘the heart of the transition to this new format’.

Read the full interview at [Broadcast Engineering]

I stopped by the Los Angeles Wal-Mart last night to see if I could find the Funai NB500 Blu-ray player that was spotted in stores yesterday. I didn’t find any but did stumble across the Samsung BD-P1500 $348.88 sticker price. Samsung previously announced it would be available in June after delays to add BD Live. The Samsung BD-P1500 comes with BD Profile 1.1 Bonus View and Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD High resolution. At $348.88 it looks like it’s worth the $50 upgrade over the Funai NB500. It’s also been spotted at a San Diego store so it shouldn’t be long until its available at every location.

UPDATE: Went to Best Buy in West Los Angeles and saw one on display (pictured above) so I asked the manager if there were any in stock. He checked the computer and said the district warehouse had 701 on hand. They get deliveries on Tuesdays and Fridays and even told me I’d be able to pick one up for $399 Friday or Saturday if I paid for it today.

Now that the dust has settled and Blu-ray stands alone it’s time to look at the best entry Blu-ray players that can be yours for under $500. CNET rounds up six Blu-ray players and takes a look at which one is the best deal. Their top pick is the Panasonic DMP-BD30K because it supports Blu-ray Profile 1.1 and has excellent image quality. The PS3 is the best bargain for excellent image quality, fast load times, and because it’s Blu-ray Profile 2.0 compliant. CNET doesn’t include the $298 Funai NB500 so it to remains to be seen how good of a Blu-ray player it turns out to be.

Check out full article and reviews here

[CNET]

NetBlender and Blufocus have joined forces to develop, implement, and certify BD Touch Technology for the Blu-ray industry. BD Touch was developed by NetBlender and brings together Apple’s iPhone/iPod Touch and Blu-ray’s BD Live to form a combination that allows users to transfer digital copies to the their iPhones from Blu-ray discs or use the iPhone as a remote control for Blu-ray games. The video above shows BD Touch in use. Blufocus has developed Blu-ray interactive features and have advanced testing and certification methods in place. John Harrington, NetBlender CEO, believes that both companies ‘offer the Blu-ray industry and and unparalleled BD-Live solution’.

[PR Web]

Disney is slated to release ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as its first Blu-ray title while bringing a brand new experience to viewers this October. Using BD Live technology, viewers will be able to put in their disc and see a customized version of the castle as part of the menu. The sky however, will reflect real time weather conditions from the viewer’s hometown. They’ll be able to chat with friends while watching the movie and even be able to send video messages inserted into the movie and delivered to friends through a ‘movie mail’ feature. Disney hopes to ‘revolutionize the way people interact with and view movies’ with ‘Sleeping Beauty’. With all these features made possible through Profile 2.0, it looks like Disney is pulling all the stops to deliver a one of a kind experience.

[USAToday]

There are a total of 9 new Blu-ray releases this week. Untraceable, Youth Without Youth, Epic Conditions, and Blue Man Group are brand new releases. The others are older movies being released on Blu-ray for the first time.

• Blue Man Group: How to Be a Mega Star Live! (Rhino Films)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (20th Century Fox)
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
• Epic Conditions: The Weather Channel (Warren Miller Entertainment)
• Master and Commander (20th Century Fox)
• Mrs. Doubtfire (20th Century Fox)
• Shinobi: Special Edition (FUNimation Productions)
• Untraceable (Sony Pictures)
• Youth Without Youth (Sony Pictures)

Manufacturer Funai, the company associated with brands Sylvania, Emerson, and Magnavox announced back in January that it had begun production on its Funai NB500 series Blu-ray player with an intention to bring it to the North American Market during Q2. Well Funai, made good on its promise as the Magnavox or Sylvania branded NB500 Blu-ray player is now being carried at Wal-Mart locations with the price tag of $298. This price won’t give you the latest features but it will give you Profile 1.1 BD which makes for a decent deal.

[EngadgetHD]

The nation’s largest bookstore retailer, Barnes & Noble, has now started carrying Blu-ray discs in select locations nationwide. While Barnes & Noble has long sold DVDs in stores, this move could give Blu-ray a significant sales boost should they eventually decide to carry them at their 800 stores across the country. The retailer has carried Blu-ray on their website but this move seems natural now that Blu-ray stands alone as the high-definition movie format. Barnes & Noble is kicking off this campaign with a ‘Buy Two, Get One’ free offer. This move should come as no surprise and is something we’ll see from other retailers that have yet to carry Blu-ray.

[TVPredictions]

Following the successful release of ‘Prison Break: Season 1′ last year, Fox announced that the third season will be released on Blu-ray on August 26 alongside the standard DVD. Fox will skip the 2nd season, though they have not ruled out a future release. Just like the first season release, the ‘Prison Break: Season 3′ will have a suggested retail price of $99.98. No announcement been made yet on the tech specs or supplemental details. So fans of the show, keep your calenders marked for this high-def goodness.

[Hi-Def Digest]