Europe's premier online source of news, data & analysis for professionals involved in DVD, Blu-ray and new delivery technologies
A French court has ordered a 15-day suspension of the internet service of a user who engaged in downloading illegal content despite repeated warning letters sent by anti-piracy agency Hadopi... Read more...
On Tuesday, Walt Disney released Oz the Great and Powerful in a two-disc DVD/Blu-ray combo pack as well as a Blu-ray 3D disc in North America. Both versions also include a Digital Copy of the film... Read more...
Chocolate or strawberry-flavoured discs are not new, but Domino's Pizza has pushed the concept a step further: a DVD that starts smelling of fresh pizza when it spins in the DVD player. Also, as the disc... Read more...
The leader in plastic injection trays for the multimedia industry, French-based MIP Packaging, has acquired last month the packaging-related activities of Italian manufacturer Due-Ci... Read more...
Volfoni, specialist in 3D equipment, has acquired TriOviz, a French immersion-gaming company based in Paris and Los Angeles. TriOviz has created the first stereoscopic 3D middleware for top-selling games... Read more...
Universal Music is inviting on 20 June in London all parties with a stake - existing or potential - in the new format, provisionally called High Fidelity Pure Audio, which the world's largest music group... Read more...
Singulus Technology said it has received an order from global replicator Cinram for a 'sizable' number of BLULINE II machines. The Cinram Group runs already more than 130 DVD and Blu-ray Disc replication... Read more...
By 2018, active UltraViolet accounts (those with multiple movies) could exceed 65 million worldwide - up from the estimated 6 to 8 million at present and depending on the action from key holdouts the ... Read more...
One in six (18%) UK internet users aged 12+ consumed at least one item of online content illegally over the three-month period November 2012 - January 20134. Around a third of these (5%) exclusively consumed... Read more...
In a consumer survey conducted in five countries in Europe and the USA, more than a third of respondents were interested in buying a smart-TV set, but of the one in five respondents who claimed to own... Read more...
Growth in Blu-ray Disc sales to Belgian consumers continued to rise from 1.2 million units in 2011 to 1.5 million in 2012, according to IHS Screen Digest analysis of data published by the Belgian Entertainment... Read more...
One-Blue, the one-stop shop for patent licenses from the leading providers of Blu-ray Disc technology, announced that it and certain One-Blue patent owners have filed suit against Imation Corp. for infringing... Read more...
New figures released today by the British Video Association show that 88% of the British population know they now can make a one-off payment to download and view a film or TV show on their tablet or smart... Read more...
Sydney-based Access Digital Entertainment's online DVD sales company EzyDVD is debuting Ultraviolet access in Australia with the soft launch this month of video-on-demand EzyFlix.tv. It enables customers... Read more...
In a move that echoes the UK's www.FindAnyFilm.com, now under the stewardship of the Industry Trust for IP Awareness, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has unveiled www.WheretoWatch.org... Read more...
Europeans have become 'hybrid consumers,' enjoying films across multiple formats and platforms, says TONY GUNNARSSON, Senior Analyst at IHS Screen Digest. Last year, consumers in Western Europe spent ... Read more...
Google Glass - how to become too connected
Does the arrival of Google Glass epitomise the sacrifice of privacy in the digital age? ANTONIOS MAROULIS, Research Analyst with Screen Digest IHS, asks: Are we getting too connected?
The introduction of smartphones brought a portal to consumers allowing them an 'always-on' presence on the internet. Each consumer was able to instantly connect with other users through all types of social networks and messaging clients, asking for directions is becoming a thing of the past; all smartphone users now have access to free global maps and navigation a few taps and clicks away in their pockets.
Currently, people mainly interact with their smartphones through notifications, whether they are phone calls, emails, text messages, or other notifications from third-party apps. The next focus of tech companies will be delivering notifications to consumers in less time. ... Read More...
iROKO Partners, Africa's largest source of Nigerian entertainment with its platforms iROKOtv and iROKING, announces a major strategic development via its entry into the South African DVD market and the launch of 10,000 new Nigerian movie DVDs. Nigeria's movie industry, colloquially known as 'Nollywood' is the second largest film industry in the world, producing around 2,000 movies a year. Ten of iROKOtv's most popular Nollywood films are now available on DVDs at a cost of R30 (€2.30). "Until Africa comes online, DVDs will continue to be the primary platform to consume content, which is why iROKOtv has now entered the DVD market," the company said.
ACCORDING to its latest Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2013-2017, PwC expects the UK entertainment and media (E&M) market to grow by 4% compounded annually from 2013 - 2017 to a value of £65.5 billion in 2017. In 2012, the UK had the second largest E&M market in Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) markets at £54bn, behind Germany, and it will maintain this position to 2017. The filmed-entertainment sector in the UK will be worth £4.3bn by 2017, up from £3.8bn in 2012, a CAGR of 2.7%. The UK is the third-biggest sector for movies and television in the world.
DCD PUBLISHING DVD has acquired the UK DVD rights for award-winning popular Children's' series and dinosaur brand Dino Dan from Breakthrough Entertainment. Launched in 2010, CGI/live action series is now playing across 90 countries. Dino Dan has been licensed for DVD and achieved strong sales across many territories including the US, Canada, Australia, with US sales exceeding $1 million revenue at retail in 2012. 250,000 DVDs have sold in less than 7 months in the US market alone.
LOSSES at Irish entertainment retailer Golden Discs rose by 77% to €129,000 last year in the year to the end of June 2012, the company said yesterday. The company?s turnover declined by 7.5% from €10.7 million to €9.9 million over the same period. However, if CD sales have declined by 16%, DVD sales experienced growth, outperforming Chartrack statistics for Ireland, which suggest CD sales declined by 20% and DVD sales were 16% lower in 2012.
THE MEDIA-TECH Conference Europe, that will take place 11-12 June 2013 in Hamburg, Germany, will feature all of the key players within the Packaged Media market and will look at the current marketplace and future business models. The event will discuss all aspects of Blu-ray technology to redefine the link between physical and digital media. For programme, speakers and registration, visit www.media-tech.net.
DESPITE a growing ownership base of Smart TVs, there is still a lack of conscious desire to use the sets to connect to the Internet, with most consumers preferring to connect their televisions to the Internet with other devices like games consoles, according to new research from UK pollsters YouGov. An estimated 13% of the UK population is now thought to own a Smart TV, although less than half of these owners currently use their device as the primary means of accessing online content. Furthermore, fewer than half (47%) of Smart TV owners currently use the set to go online on a weekly basis.
FORMER Warner Home Video & Digital Distribution executive, Frenchman Yves Caillaud, has been appointed Region Manager Europe by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) to oversee the deployment of cloud-based digital locker UltraViolet delivery system on the Continent.
JAPANESE independent replicator Toyo Recording, a leading disc manufacturer and solutions provider to the media industry, has purchased an additional Bluline II BD production line from Singulus Technologies. Established 50 years ago, Toyo Recording started as a bridal video production and high-speed video duplication. The company expanded to authoring, CD, DVD, and BD manufacturing for the advertising industry. Toyo Recording installed the first Singulus CD replication machine Skyline in Japan.
ANNUAL revenue generated from content delivered to mobile handsets and tablets is expected to increase by nearly $25bn over the next three years, reaching $65bn by 2016, a new report from Juniper has found. Growth would primarily be fuelled by an upsurge in game, video and eBook purchases via tablet devices, allied to increased opportunity for content monetisation via DCB (Direct Carrier Billing) on smartphones.
