Archive for the ‘Reveals’ Category
Goodbye HD DVD Combo
“Mummy” movies to be the first to from Universal to hit Blu
Since Toshiba waved the white flag signalling the surrender of HD DVD in February, movie studios are turning their attentions to Blu-ray Disc for the release of high-definition content.
Universal Studios was the strongest content supporter of HD DVD throughout the format’s life, but quickly told the world that it would retool to begin releasing on Blu-ray Disc. Last week, Universal Studios said that it would release about 40 Blu-ray Disc titles this year.
The first Universal title to hit Blu-ray Disc that wasn’t originally on HD DVD will be Doomsday, which stars Rhona Mitra and Sean Pertwee, and is considered a box office slump with just under $11 million take-in according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Other new pictures to hit high-def only on Blu-ray Disc are The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Hellboy II, Mamma Mia and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
July 22 will mark the first Universal high-def movies to ship in blue boxes, with the release of the first two Mummy movies and the spinoff Scorpion King film.
- In: Auction | Google | Google Public Policy Blog | Reveals | spectrum | Strategy | Wireless
- Leave a Comment
During the recent wireless spectrum auctions that just brought the FCC $19.6 billion in license fees, there was a lot of speculation about what drove each of the different corporate bidders. But the bidders themselves were barred from speaking publicly about their auction strategies. Now that Verizon has been declared the biggest overall winner, and the auction is over, the participants are free to speak. Google was potentially the big spoiler in the auction, but as it explains, the main motivation behind its participation was simply to ensure that some of the open rules it had lobbied for would be enforced on whoever won.
From the Google Public Policy Blog:
Google’s top priority heading into the auction was to make sure that bidding on the so-called “C Block” reached the $4.6 billion reserve price that would trigger the important “open applications” and “open handsets” license conditions. We were also prepared to gain the nationwide C Block licenses at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price; in fact, for many days during the early course of the auction, we were the high bidder. But it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher (and had far more financial incentive to gain the licenses).
In fact, Google raised its own bid in ten rounds without any counter bids, which implies that Verizon was doing everything it could to make sure that the open device and open application rules were not triggered. Ultimately, that strategy was not successful, and it must now abide by the open rules. It remains to be seen whether Verizon will abide only to the letter of the rules or to their spirit.
(Photo by Steve Jurvetson)
Valleywag - valleywag.wordpress.com 
Recent Comments