UltraViolet is Waking up...

[Kosty]

Oh goodie.

I activated my UV account right now in anticipation of buying The Green Lantern.

It asked my age...:

[luclin999]

I am not backpeddling. So please define "ala carte" again.

And I said . . AFAIK - which means just that.

I already posted the relevant comments above...

So, you were answering my questions without actually having any facts to base your comments upon then?

You made assumptions, they seem now to be incorrect.

Simple as that.

[Lee Stewart]

I already posted the relevant comments above...

So, you were answering my questions without actually having any facts to base your comments upon then?

Here is what you said and what I said:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart
It isn't UV or BD. When you buy a BD, you are going to get UV - a digital copy that you can watch on different compatible devices. That is part of the UV plan along with DVD and EST.

Originally Posted by luclin999
So you are saying that you do not see this product ever being offered as an ala carte option on its own via some streaming/download only service?

Because it certainly seems like a huge effort to create the distribution and consumer electronics infrastructure that will be required to support what (if that is true) would essentially be a parasitic product on the already established market.

Originally posted by Lee Stewart
AFAIK, the purpose of UV is to breathe new life into the sell-thru market. An added bonus - extra value - when you buy a movie on one of the three platforms; BD, DVD & EST. It isn't going to be available for rental or streaming consumers, just those that buy. . . . AFAIK.

I used AFAIK twice in that post. You didn't see it?

Now you can show me where it specifically says that UV will be offered "ala carte." No interpurtation - SPECIFICALLY

[JP32]

I came specifically to check on the status of this UV nonsense.

I noticed the big thing most of us already guessed has been found... UV 'leaves open' the opportunity to charge for the service in the future. Lovely.

Pretty sure this is just another DRM scheme... add just a tiny bit of perceived value, while dumping in a whole lot of spying/rights-denying and hope people will eat it up.

[ack_bak]

I love the contradictions...



So its a "free" service that I will end up having to pay to access at some time (and at a price) to be determined later, presumably after I get suckered into actually depending upon it to store/access "my" movies from...?

....right.

No Thanks.

You really did not think the studios were not going to let you watch these movies forever digitally, did you?

There will always be another format that studios will want to sell their movies on. In the future there will be another format... Even digitally.

I am with you. If they want to give me UV when I buy discs, so be it. But I don't see myself rushing out to buy a bunch of movies on UV format only to get blackmailed later to pay more money to watch the movies I already paid for.

[luclin999]

Here is what you said and what I said:

Ok... So you just repeated everything I already posted on the previous page again....why?

I used AFAIK twice in that post. You didn't see it?

So you were repeatedly answering my questions with nothing at all to base your comments upon except your own personal guesses? If so, then why bother to have even offered them?

Now you can show me where it specifically says that UV will be offered "ala carte." No interpurtation - SPECIFICALLY

I said...

Lee, it certainly sounds like they are planning to offer this as an ala carte service as well rather than just as bundled with a physical media purchase...

14. How much do UltraViolet Movies and TV shows cost?

Just like purchasing movies and TV shows today, prices are set by the individual movie/TV studios and retailers. UltraViolet does not set pricing.

No mention at all that UV content is -only- available with a physical media purchase.

A simple counterpoint to the conversation started previously... Then you suddenly started to attempt to re-define what you had said before.

What's the big deal if it turns out that you end up having been wrong?

[Lee Stewart]

Ok... So you just repeated everything I already posted on the previous page again....why?



So you were repeatedly answering my questions with nothing at all to base your comments upon except your own personal guesses? If so, then why bother to have even offered them?



I said...



A simple counterpoint to the conversation started previously... Then you suddenly started to attempt to re-define what you had said before.

What's the big deal if it turns out that you end up having been wrong?

AFAIK = a guess.

How can I be wrong and you right when it doesn't specifically say what you have speculated? You are guessing also.

[luclin999]

AFAIK = a guess.

How can I be wrong and you right when it doesn't specifically say what you have speculated? You are guessing also.

Again Lee.. Read what I said.

"It sounds like..." as in "there is now some evidence to support the idea that UV will be offered on it's own."

I was continuing what I -thought- was a discussion on the subject... I never said that there was a firm answer yet. I also wasn't declaring "victory" either.. Frankly I don't give enough of a damn about it to care that much, for me UV is nothing more than a curiosity at best.

We will know one way or another in 6-12 months, but as I said..

What is the big deal if it turns out that you were wrong? Are you -that- stuck on being "right" about a product that you now say that you were just "guessing" about in the first place?

[Lee Stewart]

Again Lee.. Read what I said.

"It sounds like..." as in "there is now some evidence to support the idea that UV will be offered on it's own."

I was continuing what I -thought- was a discussion on the subject... I never said that there was a firm answer yet. I also wasn't declaring "victory" either.. Frankly I don't give enough of a damn about it to care that much, for me UV is nothing more than a curiosity at best.

We will know one way or another in 6-12 months, but as I said..

What is the big deal if it turns out that you were wrong? Are you -that- stuck on being "right" about a product that you now say that you were just "guessing" about in the first place?

I am not "stuck on being right" as you claim. How could I be when I SPECIFICALLY said . . . TWICE . . . AFAIK.

This is nothing more then a pointless argument by you . . . AGAIN

DONE!

[luclin999]

I am not "stuck on being right" as you claim. How could I be when I SPECIFICALLY said . . . TWICE . . . AFAIK.

This is nothing more then a pointless argument by you . . . AGAIN

DONE!

So, YOU start an argument and then run away when it doesn't go as you planned?..

Typical.

[bruceames]

Pretty sure this is just another DRM scheme... add just a tiny bit of perceived value, while dumping in a whole lot of spying/rights-denying and hope people will eat it up.

That's what I think as well, and the lsat thing I want is to have my collection registered to my name and have the studios tracking my usage. I'll stick with my anonymous high quality shiny discs, thank you. They won't play in my Thunderbolt but I'll never watch anything on it anyway.

[Kosty]

I am for it as long as it is free and I still have the option of high quality Blu-ray for my main screens.

Asking my age to set up an account seemed a little creepy but I guess as long as you put 21 years old in it nothing will change.

[Kosty]

Time to Shine for UltraViolet?


10 Oct, 2011
By: Chris Tribbey



Three years in the making, UltraViolet finally has arrived.

Promising consumers the ability to freely move content across connected devices, along with true ownership — on physical disc and in the digital cloud — of the content they purchase, UltraViolet may be the home entertainment industry’s last, and best, argument that owning is better than renting.

On Oct. 11 Warner Home Video streets Horrible Bosses, the first title enabled with the digital movie storage and retrieval system.

With every major studio other than Disney on board with UltraViolet, many more enabled titles are expected to follow.

“What we’re really trying to do is bring together the best of two different worlds (physical disc and digital) that don’t really exist together today in the consumer view,” said Mark Teitell, GM of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), the 70-plus member, cross-industry consortium responsible for UltraViolet.

Cheap DVD rental outlets such as Redbox and simple streaming subscription models such as Netflix pretty much have rendered the idea of collecting content obsolete, Teitell said, speaking along with other executives at the recent MIPCOM conference in France. UltraViolet aims to be “a reversal of that, a regrowth of the value proposition of owning and collecting content,” he said.

Starting Oct. 11 the industry will find out if it’s going to work.

How It Works

UltraViolet’s concept is simple: Any Blu-ray or DVD featuring the UltraViolet logo includes a code that can be redeemed after launching an account at UltraViolet’s user site, UVVU.com. Once the code is entered, that content is available for use on up to a dozen UltraViolet-enabled devices (PCs, connected HDTVs, Blu-ray players, mobile devices), with a total of six people registered on the account able to access that content at any time.

DECE expects brick-and-mortar and online retailers to eventually sell UltraViolet-enabled physical and digital-only content. With a code-only purchase, consumers would be allowed to burn a physical disc copy of the content.

Best Buy is a DECE member, and Walmart reportedly has expressed interest in selling UltraViolet-enabled products, though neither retailer, nor any retailer, has committed yet.

The idea is to give consumers complete rights to their content in every form, Teitell said, instead of just a one-off copy in the form of a physical disc or a digital copy.

“We know that consumers want the freedom and convenience to watch their content anywhere, anyplace, anytime, and … DECE and UltraViolet have … lowered the barrier to entry,” said Steven Chester, VP of film for Akamai, a cloud content technology company and member of DECE.

But for all the build-up to UltraViolet, and despite UltraViolet’s “buy once, play anywhere” motto, consumers will have very few places to watch the one title marking the Oct. 11 launch.

Warner Ties Flixter in With UltraViolet

When Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquired movie site Flixster.com in early May, the studio said it had UltraViolet in mind. Five months later, the Horrible Bosses Blu-ray box and its insert both direct owners to Flixster, and Flixster only, to use UltraViolet.

“The real reason we did this acquisition was … [to have] a studio-agnostic brand that consumers can go to and know they have the best possible UltraViolet experience, particularly early on, where there aren’t a lot of places where that can happen…,” said Justin Herz, SVP at Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and GM of Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services, speaking at MIPCOM. “Our intention in the early days [of UltraViolet] is to have a reference implementation.”

Connected consumer electronics devices carrying the UltraViolet logo aren’t expected until early 2012, and no current CE device has received a firmware upgrade for UltraViolet. And while Flixster can be downloaded on numerous mobile devices, UltraViolet isn’t “play anywhere” — at least not yet.

“With little clarity around supporting online stores, apps and devices, it might be quite some time before we know if UltraViolet reached its original goal of raising the consumers’ perceived value of digital content,” said Richard Bullwinkle, chief evangelist for digital entertainment company Rovi Corp., a member of DECE. “As an industry, it’s critical that we continue to develop the digital media ecosystem to ensure the consumer experience is excellent and the value proposition for digital content is clear.”

‘A Marathon, Not a Sprint’

Even with few viewing options at the outset, Warner has committed fully to UltraViolet, with Green Lantern (Oct. 14), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (Nov. 11) and Shameless: The Complete First Season (Dec. 27) all confirmed to include UltraViolet.

“Unlike what we’ve done historically with digital copy, we’re releasing UltraViolet copyrights for all physical product, all Blu-rays, all DVDs, from here on out,” Warner’s Herz said.

He predicted that by the third or fourth quarter of 2012, significantly more than 50% of Warner’s catalog will have UltraViolet rights attached.

“Warner is doing a good job putting a stake in the ground and saying, ‘Here’s UltraViolet,’” said John Calkins, EVP of global digital and commercial innovation at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Sony is the only other studio to announce UltraViolet-enabled titles thus far, dipping its toe in with the Dec. 2 Blu-ray releases of The Smurfs and Friends With Benefits.

Despite the lack of connected hardware options supporting UltraViolet at launch, Calkins said he expects retailers to get behind the initiative shortly. UltraViolet could be integrated easily into movie distribution channels run by retailers such as Walmart (Vudu) and Best Buy (CinemaNow).

Whatever happens with the initial launch of UltraViolet, the industry shouldn’t read too much into the results right away, cautioned Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst with The NPD Group.

“We’re entering a time where there’s no next killer format on the horizon, and you can probably find a few reasons why UltraViolet isn’t a good proposition,” he said. “But remember the old saying: ‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint.’ UltraViolet in three years will look different than the UltraViolet of today.”

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/dig...raviolet-25298

[mikemorel]

Small crowd for UV cloud

UltraViolet is forgoing the big splash for its rollout Tuesday.

Despite an industrywide push to get Hollywood to back the launch of the digital locker, so far, among the majors, only Warner Bros. and Sony are set to offer up films and TV shows for UV over the coming months.

Other studios are expected to follow sometime in early 2012, according to reps for the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, the consortium of 75 content owners, retailers and technology firms that developed the cloud-based service over the past four years.

Studios and retailers are eager to reverse growing online rentals and boost digital homevid sales to make up for the declining DVD biz.

Digital sales were up 19% last year, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, but while they were up another 4% during the first half of 2011, amounting to $270 million, video-on-demand generated $929 million during the same period.

Consumers have been frustrated with having to buy multiple versions of the same title to play on devices that require different file formats.

UV's backers hope digital lockers will eliminate much of the annoyance by creating a single file format and destination where purchases from a variety of retailers can be stored and accessed using most devices with an Internet connection -- laptops, smartphones, tablets and videogame consoles. Devices with UV built into them will hit store shelves next year, though Apple is so far on a holdout on its hardware.

LodgeNet is hoping this buy-once-play-anywhere approach will benefit the company's VOD biz in hotels, where it's looking to increase sales at its 1.8 million rooms by letting guests store films they buy or rent in their digital lockers.

The initial list of UV-supported titles set to bow through December is a short one, however.

WB will start with "Horrible Bosses," Tuesday; "Green Lantern," Friday; "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," Nov. 11; and "The Hangover Part II," Dec. 6. Sony has "The Smurfs" and "Friends With Benefits," both on Dec. 2.

In addition to films, WB also will make the DVD and Blu-ray collections of CW's "One Tree Hill: The Complete Eighth Season" available for UV on Dec. 20, and Showtime's "Shameless: The Complete First Season" will bow on Dec. 27.

Once they purchase UV-supported DVDs and Blu-rays, consumers will be instructed to open a free online account that offers the ability to watch the title via streaming or to download copies onto a variety of approved devices. Online retailers will also provide purchases of movies and TV shows with UV rights.

WB's titles will initially be accessible for streaming or download through Flixster, the movie discovery service that also operates film review site Rotten Tomatoes. The studio acquired the company in May.

Just 16 companies have signed up for UV licenses since DECE made them available in the U.S. in July. Sony and WB are the only two studios among the companies that also include Comcast, Intel, Rovi and PacketVideo.

The DECE hasn't lost the support of the other studios. But most don't want to offer up their own titles until the org introduces its common file format for downloads, which will enable all UV retailers to deploy it in the first half of 2012.

UV was a hot topic at Mipcom in Cannes last week, with Miramax CEO Mike Lang, alongside WB and Sony execs, pushing Hollywood to ease the process of building digital libraries to boost sales.

"Clearly, if we can create a digital locker experience that is as easy for the consumer and interoperable, then at least (it would be) an opportunity," Lang said. "Hopefully, that will create a purchase-transaction market. It's very difficult for the consumer to know that when they buy something that it works on any device. It's either tied into an Apple ecosystem or best of luck trying to make it work."

When the UV file format becomes available, consumers will be able to register up to 12 UV-supported devices in their accounts to play back files and share with six family members or friends.

The timing coincides with the Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in January in Las Vegas, where DECE's backers will give UV a significant promotional and PR push. UV was unveiled there this year.

The first titles are meant to start getting consumers used to seeing the UV logo on packaging and understand what it means before it becomes ubiquitous. UV-enabled movies and TV shows will bow in the U.K. around the holidays, with Canada also soon to launch. Other territories will follow in 2012.

No downloads, launches with skeleton crew...

Sounds like DECE went back to sleep...

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression".

[chipvideo]

UV=Fail. Can't even launch properly.