We all know that the new Star Trek was the best movie of all time – I’m serious – but how about the upcoming Blu-ray release? Well,  Blu-ray.com takes Blu-ray releases and grades them on four levels: Movie, Video, Audio, and Extras. The upcoming Star Trek release scored a perfect five out of five in each category. Yeah, it’s that awesome.

Normally I would encourage you to jump over to the source website and read the whole review yourself, but the damn thing is over 4,000 words so let me summarize it for you: the Blu-ray release is tits. Buy it.

It seems VHS will never die, and this is generally welcome, as a lot of good movies aren’t still available on optical discs. In summer 2008, Panasonic released a VHS/Blu-ray combo, followed by Sharp’s Aquos BD-HDV22 that was pretty much the same thing. And today, over one year later, JVC anounced the DR-BH250 [JP], which is a VHS recorder, Blu-Ray Recorder and 250GB HDD rolled into one.

JVC also threw in 1080/60p/24p support, BD-Live and BONUSVIEW support, AVCHD support, a USB port, an HDMI CEC interface, and an SD/SDHC card slot. It’s possible to transfer material between DVD, VHS and Blu-ray, including copying video from a VHS cassette to a Blu-ray disc.

JVC plans to roll out the DR-BH250 at the beginning of next month in Japan for $1,400. The company hasn’t said yet whether VHS fans not living in Japan will ever get to lay their hands on the device, too.

So why by all that’s holy, is “Transformers 2″ the best selling DVD/Blu-ray (in first week sales) of 2009? I think the issue is that this year has been somewhat dry as far as good movies go. “Transformers 2″ does appeal to a wider audience, and that’s why Paramount has sold 7.5 million copies in the first week that it’s been available. “Transformers 2″ did fall short of the 8.3 million discs sold in the first week by the original Transformers film.

Besides that little failure, the XV-BP11 seems like a fine player with HDMI x.v.Color/Deep Color, Dobly TrueHD and DTS-HD decoding. But that really doesn’t matter though. You can snag countless Profile 2.0 players for less than the starting price of the new JVC. Move along.

JVC Announces Popularly-Priced Blu-ray Player

New XV-BP11 player offers AVCHD file playback.

WAYNE, NJ, October 28, 2009 – JVC today announced the availability of a new entry-level Blu-ray player. The new JVC XV-BP11 is a truly versatile high definition player, offering playback of high definition Blu-ray discs, plus playback of the AVCHD format, the high definition format widely used for HD camcorders, including the JVC HD Everio line.

JVC XV-BP11 Features
Playable Discs: BD-Rom, BD-R/RE, DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, Audio CD, CD-R/RW
Playable Formats: AVCHD, WMV, JPEG, MP3, WMA, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, DTS HD Master Audio/Essential
Connections:
o Video: HDMI V1.3, composite
o Audio: Analog L/R, coaxial, HDMI V1.3
o USB Host (front panel)
Convenience Features: Quick loading, cinema zoom (x16), parental lock, slim design

The new JVC XV-BP11 Blu-ray player is available immediately for $199.95.

Yeah, this player isn’t you reference quality unit, but my goodness, for $100 who cares. The unit will playback Blu-ray discs just fine, display all the BD-Live goodies and stream Netflix. What more can you want for that price? [Best Buy via Electronic House]

Surprise, surprise, more people are buying Blu-ray players this year over last year. I guess that’s to be expected. In all, retailers have ordered 13 percent more Blu-ray players this year. That’s 3.3 million for those keeping track. So this brings the total amount of Blu-ray players – including PS3s – in American households to a whopping 11.7 million and in nearly 25% of homes that own an HDTV when considering that 45 million US homes have high-def sets. Yeah, that’s cool. But I still don’t want a Blu-ray player.

There was a time when I was totally in the HD DVD camp. I was yelling its virtues from atop a mountain. It was going to revolutionize home-based HD viewing. But then I got fed up with the whole HD DVD vs Blu-ray thing. Why in the world would I invest money into equipment and discs that might be obsolete one day. The day I came to that conclusion was the day physical media died for me.

Sure, some folks will still buy Blu-ray players and I won’t try to stop them. It’s the only way to get the very best HD audio and video at home. Hell, most of the time it can be a better picture than from your local cinema. But I’m totally content with the HD picture that streaming media services like Netflix and Vudu offer. The point and click convenience is so much more satisfying that a higher quality picture to me.

So while Mom and Pops will still buy Blu-ray players from slightly pushy Best Buy salesmen, the rest of us will probably be just fine without a Blu-ray player at this point. Maybe, just maybe, if the players and titles drop in price even more, I’ll pick one up just because. Maybe.

I’m not about to knock myself out for noting the 800th iMac rumor of the past few weeks, so here’s the deal: people “close” to Apple now aren’t sure whether or not Blu-ray will wind up on the next iMac revision. Blu-ray may be on Mac Pros, and maybe then only as a build-to-order option, but that’s enough “maybes” to bore a slug.

Oh, also: maybe Apple will use Intel’s new Core i7 (Clarksfield) quad-core CPUs? I can’t name too many non-power user applications that even tap into a dual-core CPU, let alone a quad-core.

And now we wait for a new rumor tomorrow that will totally and completely contradict today’s. Sigh.

Oh, I’m also contractually obligated to use the phrase “bag of hurt” when doing an Apple+Blu-ray story. This complete my obligation.

When I first saw this model on Woot, I thought that it was probably one of their earlier generations and not a Profile 2.0 player. I was wrong! This puppy has the latest spec that brings BD-Live and an Ethernet port to the player. It of course supports 1080p playback, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, and DTS-HD Master Audio. If you’ve been waiting for a good Blu-ray player at a reasonable price, this is it.

Toshiba Japan has announced a slew of new and updated notebooks today, and one of them [JP] is a monster of a notebook (more will be posted later). The Qosmio G60/97J is basically a high-end computer, digital TV and Blu-ray player rolled into one.

The notebook is powered by a Core 2 Duo P8700 processor (2.53GHz) and has 4GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD, GeForce GT230M, Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi, Ethernet, an HDMI port, and Windows 7 on board.

It also features  a 18.4-inch full HD LCD screen, not one but two TV tuners (so that you can record a TV program while watching another), a Blu-ray drive, harman/kardon speakers and Toshiba’s self-developed SpursEngine processor (which is supposed to boost the quality of video recordings). Toshiba also throws in a remote control.

The Qosmio G60/97J weighs 5kg and is sized at 442.6×294.2×41.5mm. It will hit Japanese stores at the end of next month for $3,200. A trimmed down version, the GX/G8K, with weaker resolution (1,680×945), a 400GB HDD and no TV tuners or SpursEngine processor, will be available for $800 less.

No word yet from Toshiba concerning a possible worldwide release.

Right now a slim notebook Blu-ray drive cost manufacturers about $100 while a notebook DVD drive costs $20. Look at Dell. A Blu-ray drive costs $125 to add the option to an Inspiron 14, which causes the price to jump from $749 to $879. Not even its Alienware line has a Blu-ray drive standard. It costs $150 to add one to those models.

Obviously times are tough and notebook makers need to keep prices low and squeeze out some profit at the same time. A lot of mid-tier notebooks have an optional Blu-ray drive but until the OEM part drop in price, or manufacturers sales numbers dramatically improve, it will not become standard equipment.

The good news is that the titles involved are quality movies. The bad news is that because they are quality, they all cost $29.99. But remember, you get two for that price. However, you might want to do some Internet price shopping first because I found that Amazon is currently selling Paul Blart: Mall Cop for only $13.49. (It’s a dumb movie, don’t buy it anyway) But I’m sure the deal is worth it for some of the titles.

What they’re doing is actually really complicated, but the gist of it is that they are changing the laser used to read the disc, and replacing the coating with a new aluminum oxynitride one instead of the old dielectric film. This will allow for the use of discs with three and four layers, as opposed to the standard two.

When will we see this new tech? It’s still unclear at this time. Sharp is currently working to get their upgrades approved by the Blu-ray Disc Association. We’ll let you know when we know more, but at this point there’s no ETA.

[via Blu-ray.com and Engadget]

Panasonic Japan announced a total of three new Blu-ray-based set-top boxes today [JP], the first devices in the industry featuring a digital CATV tuner. All of the models (TZ-BDW900M/pictured, TZ-BDW900F and TZ-BDW900P) have a 500GB HDD on board, too.

Other specs include VIERA TV link, DLNA support, i.Link, an HDMI slot, an SD memory card slot, an Ethernet port, and a YouTube function. Panasonic says the 500GB HDD is enough to store up to 90 hours of HD TV material, but only the TZ-BDW900P supports downloads from acTVila [JP], a Japanese web video provider.

The set-top boxes will go on sale in Japan in December. Panasonic hasn’t revealed any pricing details yet.

OK, the bad: the Oppo BDP-83 is $500, it doesn’t have WiFi or any digital download dilvery system like Netflix, Pandora, Amazon, or YouTube. But on the plus, CNET ranked the player above all others – including the PS3 – and that’s good enough for me. Where’s my credit card…

The first reaction most have to these Sony megachangers hasn’t changed over the years. Just insert the name of the appropriate physical media. But yes, some people do own that many discs and so these changers make sense for them. Plus, while digital downloads are great and the future of the average consumer, there are still some folk that demand the absolute best picture and sound which only Blu-ray can provide. Electronic house had a chance to sit down with the ES Blu-ray changer and sent it through the paces.

We won’t ruin all the surprises, but they found the audio and video to be up to the ES standard. But they also came to the same conclusion as a lot of us when the BDP-CX7000ES launched: why the hell isn’t there built-in memory for BD-Live and DLNA support even though less expensive models offer both? Plus, the lack of WiFi is strange for a $1,900 Blu-ray player. It couldn’t cost more than $15 per player to build the right stuff in. But then we would find something else to complain about, so Sony probably can’t ever win. Ah well.

From the fine folks who brought us the first video comparison comes another batch showing that the PS3 Slim is, in fact, faster than the PS3 fatty. However, I’m sure you noticed that the Slim is running firmware v3.0 while the fat is still on v2.8. Regardless, the Slim is booting up and loading faster than the fat all across the board. Hit the jump for two additional videos showing off Slim’s speed on Uncharted and Blu-ray start ups. Oh, it’s just a comparison between firmware v2.8 and v3.0 on the Slim. It’s pretty fast, right?

On one hand, the Addonics Pocket Blu-ray/DVDRW packs eSATA and USB 2.0, but it isn’t the first portable Blu-ray player drive. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Fastmac released an external Blu-ray player drive back in January at Macworld, which I believe was the first external Blu-ray drive. I guess eSATA isn’t that important to me and the $259 price tag is a bit much considering the Fastmac drive is $120. Read and write speeds are nothing to drool over either.

Product features:

* Play Blu-ray™ or regular DVD movie on your computer
* Fast eSATA or USB 2.0 connection
* Reads data from all popular DVD and CD format – Blu-ray , standard DVD and CD
* Write to DVD+/- R/RW/DL media and CD-R/RW media
* Records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video on compatible DVD+R DL (dual layer) and DVD-R DL(dual layer) media
* Small foot print – size of a double stack CD jewel case
* Choice of rugged anodized aluminum case for heavy duty use or ABS plastic enclosure
* Light weight
* Compatible with Cyberlink High-Def Suite and ArcSoft Blu-Ray playback software for use in Windows XP, 2003, and Vista.
* Plug and play under Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP, 2003 server, Vista, Linux (kernel 2.4 or higher), Solaris 8 and higher, Mac OS X 9.0 and above
* Power directly from USB port*
* 110/240V power adapter included
* *RoHS Compliant

Addonics

I’ll save you the trouble of having to read a full review of Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2, folks. It stinks just like Part 1 stunk. Both parts are ridiculously repetitive and there’s only so much you can take of Rorschach hitting a guy in the nuts, head butting another and breaking some dude’s arm. There’s also the incessant repetitiveness of having Nite Owl lifting a garage door so that Rorschach can get through.

Really? All this over a snuff film, Rorschach? The gameplay is lackluster and the storyline makes it marginally tolerable. At least it comes with the Blu-ray Director’s Cut of the movie, which is visually appealing if nothing else.

Big, bad Bay just pushed out the press release confirming the October 20 street date for both the DVD and Blu-ray of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Both the DVD and Blu-ray versions will come in a two-disc variety (single disc DVD will be available as well). The two-disc packages will include “augmented reality technology” that give owners a chance to rebuild a broken down Prime using their webcam and a “special website.”

As an added bonus, the Blu-ray will include an exclusive interactive feature that gives viewers the ability to customize their own robot characters and get a glimpse at a rogue robot. Out of all the available permutations, one will unlock an exclusive interview with Michael Bay about his plans for the next adventure.

Two-Disc Special Edition DVD & Blu-ray:

The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows:

Disc 1:

Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman

Disc 2:

* The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen–This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew:
* Seeds of Vengeance – Development and Design – After the overwhelming success of 2007’s Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel?
* Domestic Destruction – Production: United States – Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania.
* Joint Operations – Production: Military – No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast.
* Wonders of the World – Production: Middle East – You can’t really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor.
* Start Making Sense – Editing – In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film.
* Under the Gun – Visual Effects – Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM’s total render farm capacity.
* Running the Gauntlet – Post-Production and Release – Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres.
* A Day with Bay: Tokyo–An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan for the world premiere of the biggest film of the year.
* 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS–Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro’s most successful and popular franchises.
* NEST: Transformer Data-Hub–Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film.
* Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto– A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film’s most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay.
* Extended Scenes
* Music Video: Linkin Park’s “New Divide”

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE:

The ALLSPARK Experiment–Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers discover all four, they unlock a fifth vehicle, which reveals a top secret message about the future of the TRANSFORMERS movie franchise.

* NEST: Transformer Data-Hub–A database of some of the TRANSFORMERS characters that appear in the new film, offering users access to each robot’s confidential file including:
* Innovative 3D spin galleries of each robot
* A timeline for each TRANSFORMERS character charting its origins, back story and design evolution from toys to animated series to comics and finally feature films
* Giant Effing Movie – A very personal look at the making of the movie.
* The Matrix of Marketing–An archive of the film’s promotional media including trailers, posters and television spots.

Back in April, Panasonic was the first company that announced a Blu-ray player for installation in cars, and today [JP], the CY-BB1000D – and the even cooler “Strada CN-HX3000D” navigation system – finally got a price tag and a release date. But first the specs and some pictures.

CY-BB1000D Blu-ray player (pictured above)

• world’s first in-dash Blu-ray drive
• HDMI port
• AVCHD and AVREC support
• SD card support

Strada CN-HX3000D navigation system

• “world’s first navigation system of its kind” (Panasonic)
• GPS and Bluetooth
• 80GB HDD
• CD/DVD drive
• 7-inch WXGA screen with amazing 1,280×720 resolution
• Yahoo Japan Maps and Google Maps support
• 50W×4ch amplifier
• iPod/iPhone 3G connector
• One-Seg digital TV tuner
• HDMI port
• CY-BB1000D connectivity

Both devices go on sale in Japan on September 10. And quality has its price: Expect to pay $1,000 for the Blu-ray drive and $3,800 for the navigation system.