Pioneer Opens Second Retail Store, This Time in Phoenix

Following the success of their first flagship store in the OC, California, Pioneer just opened their second foray into the retail marketplace.

Interesting, in this time of economic woes, and giant Circuit City struggling to stay alive, why would Pioneer do this now?

These high-end, luxurious Pioneer stores feature enhanced services, things sorely lacking in most retail operations. The store will feature brand new Pioneer technologies set up in six vignettes, so customers can visualize the Pioneer products in real world situations.

The store will also showcase Pioneer's Premier line of car electronics, including a custom-designed Scion xD demo car.

The store will also showcase . . .

Collectible Blu-rays from Criterion Collections

Criterion Collections just announced new release dates for a tasty selection of new releases on Blu-ray. They're all pushed back by three weeks until December 16th, 2008 - we can only assume that coming from a quality label, they'll be well worth the wait.

There are three titles in the collection that are particularly noteworthy. First up is The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring David Bowie. The incredible sci-fi art flick is ideal for Blu-ray, and this release contains 20 minutes of footage that was not seen in the original American theatrical release. No wonder I didn't understand it the first time around. This is the director-approved HD transfer, completely uncut. There are plenty of bonus features, including an audio commentary from the director, Bowie, and co-star Buck Henry.

Another notable new Blu-ray release is Bottle Rocket, co-written by Owen Wilson and starring Owen and Luke Wilson, both in their first film. This would be a "must see" in any format, but give the Criterion touch, it IS a "must see."  Although it's not a cinemagraphic masterpiece, the low-budget look is only improved on  Blu-ray. The Blu-ray has a decent collection of director-approved special features including commentaries, making-of documentary, and a new DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Watching this movie,it's easy to see why both Wilson brothers have gone on to bigger things. 

Although there are other titles being released, the third most notable is . . .

Netflix Sending HD DVD Softly Into that Good Night

Alas, poor HD DVD owners. The last major source for new-to-you HD DVD titles is soon to be no more. Netflix just announced that effective December 15, 2008, they will no longer carry HD DVDs. Rent now  or forever watch Blu-ray. HD DVD owners are in for a blue Christmas.

Actually, they're going to replace any HD DVD titles in your playlist with standard DVDs. According to Netflix, "We will automatically replace any HD DVD titles in your Queue with standard DVDs when available. You don't have to do anything...Last February, we announced that since most of the major movie studios had decided to release their high-def movies exclusively in Blu-ray, we were going exclusively Blu-ray as well and would be phasing out our HD DVDs."

This is an interesting move because . . .

Best Buy on Best Behavior

Instead of sitting back and gloating as it watches its biggest competitor flounder, Best Buy is doing whatever it can to prevent a trip down the same  path.

Best Buy's President and COO Brian Dunn stated that "In 42 years of retailing, we've never seen such difficult times for the consumer. People are making dramatic changes in how much they spend, and we're not immune from those forces."

Ya think?

Batman Kicks Iron Man's Butt

Not actually, but The Dark Knight is expected to ship more than 1 million Blu-ray discs to stores in time for the December 9th street date. Iron Man, which holds the previous record, sold 500,000 Blu-ray copies the first week it hit the shelves. So maybe it's more Warner Home Video kicks Paramount's butt.

Blu-ray has come a long way, but has it come far enough?

Up until now, Blu-ray sales accounted for between 5% to 10% of home sales. But recently, action flicks such as Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Incredible Hulk have exceded that - Hulk exceded 14%.

Warner is working hard to push the title. Instead of just relying on the massive popularity of The Dark Knight, Warner plans to . . .

LG, Sharp, and Chunghwa Plead Guilty to Price Fixing

Oooh . . . someone was caught cheating. And, this one is gonna leave a mark. LG, Sharp, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes have all plead guilty to price-fixing.  Total fines? $585 million.  Life's not so good.

The three were found to have conspired to keep prices high on LCD panels, including those sold to Dell, Motorola, and Apple. LG was found to have fixed prices from 2001 to 2006, and they're getting hit hardest with $400 million. Sharp gets $120 million fines. As any maturing technology does, prices for LCD screens were dropping, but these companies didn't want to play with the laws of economics.

So, they have to pay the Justice Department. Consumers are going to get . . .

Tough Times Everywhere: FED Factory Falls Through

If you thought you were the only one with financial woes these days, well . . . you're not alone. When Pioneer stopped doing their own manufacturing of their plasma panels, their factory was left empty, and their workers looking at the unemployment line. (Actually, not sure if they have unemployment lines in Japan?)

Field Emission Technologies was slated to buy the old plasma panel plant. FET is an affiliate of Sony Corporation,specializing in FED, or field emission display. FEDs are said to use less power, and FED sets are ideal for the broadcasting and medical fields.

What happened to kill the deal?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army with BD-Live First

If you’ve wondered what the heck all the fuss is about BD-Live, perhaps, here’s something that might pique your interest. Universal Studios just announced that those in possession of the just-released Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and who own a Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player, will get to partake in a first-of-its-kind BD-Live chat event.

Hellboy II director Guillermo del Toro (he also directed Pan’s Labyrinth) will appear live on BD-Live. Just purchase the disc (if you haven't already), and on November 23, 6pm PST, load it into your Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player and connect to Universal Studio’s BD-Live server.

Keep reading to see how your questions can be addressed.

Radio for the Deaf?

A new technology, developed by NPR, Harris Corporation and Towson University is changing how the deaf and hard-of-hearing "listen" to radio.

Not an oxymoron, radio for the deaf and hard-of-hearing is something the more than 77% of people surveyed would be interested in. Captioned radio, taking advantage of the bandwidth and technology available through HD Radio, creates a text display, with live stenographers that can be displayed in a screen in the home or the car. For in-car use, a dual-view screen is used. The driver would see, perhaps, a navigation screen, while the passenger can read along with the radio broadcast.

I saw and heard this technology in action, at an early demonstration at CES 2008 last January. There was a deaf woman speaking about how isolating it is when she's in the car with her husband. As he's driving, he's laughing at what he's hearing on NPR. She has no idea what she's missing. I had doubts about the screen too, but sure enough, from the driver's position, I could not read the text.

Seven demonstrations were set up across the country during the election coverage last week, and the participants were surveyed: 95% were happy with the level of captioning accuracy, a crucial aspect for readability and comprehension; 77% said they would be interested in purchasing a captioned radio display unit when it becomes available; 86% indicated they'd be interested in purchasing a 'dual-view' screen display for a car (which would enable a deaf passenger to see the captioned radio text while the driver listens to the radio).

Our good friend Mike Starling — chief technology officer and executive director of NPR Labs — had this to say . . .

Pure Digital Technologies Flip Mino HD -- World's Tiniest Camcorder

Lots of companies are putting out so-called HD mini camcorders. They have the numbers, but they just don't look good on anything besides YouTube. That's about to change.

The world's smallest HD camcorder just hit the streets. The Flip Mino HD from Pure Digital Technologies has a resolution of 720p, records at 30fps or 60fps, 1,280 x 720. Other cameras have similar specs, and it takes a lot more to make a good-looking HD image. Hopefully, the Mino HD will live up to the hype.

More details . . .