Paramount, Universal Go Blu-Ray

With the official announcement from Toshiba today that they are ending their development of HD DVD, word comes down that Paramount and Universal will publish films on Blu-Ray. This isn't a surprising move, considering that the landscape of the HD format war has completely tilted towards Blu-Ray. Universal had this to say:

"While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray"

I guess very soon, Blu-Ray owners will be able to pick up that Transformers movie that they've always wanted.

Breaking: Universal Studios Goes Blu [High-Def Digest via Crunchgear]

Universal Ends Exclusivity With HD DVD

The end is nie…

This sounds to be the case for HD DVD as Variety has confirmed that Universal will no longer support HD DVD exclusively. Universal and Paramount were the last two movie homes to support HD DVD exclusively, but that has changed since the announcement of Warner Bros. Blu-Ray only support. Paramount has a clause that will allow them to also push both formats, but some speculate that they will leave HD DVD completely.

Universal did say that they’re still committed to HD DVD, and in fact plan HD DVD promotions in the future. But Jesus Diaz from Gizmodo brings up an interesting point stating that retailers are not going to commit "premium shelf space to a dying format.”

If HD DVD starts to lose shelve space and begins to be pushed to the side, Universal might as well not make another HD DVD!

[Variety via Gizmodo]

Google, Universal Team Up With gBox: iTunes Killer?

In an effort to shift power away from Apple, Google along with Universal has teamed up with gBox to offer DRM free music on-line. Starting August 21, gbox will offer DRM-free music tracks via Google search results.

Tracks will cost .99 cents, which undercuts iTunes by .30 cents for DRM-free music. The move is huge for gBox which will benefit from Google's search advertising. A month ago, Universal informed Apple that they would not renew a new long-term contract to sell music through iTunes. This seems to be the next step in shifting power away from Apple.

Read the entire article after the jump. [readwriteweb.com]

Eminem Goes After Apple: Again!

Man I tell ya, Eminem makes me laugh sometimes.

Eminem is suing Apple once again, for selling his music on iTunes with out his permission. If you remember he also filed a lawsuit against Apple for using his song 'lose yourself' in an unaired Apple TV commercial. The lawsuit this time centers on if Universal (the label who Eminem is on) can cut a deal with Apple to sell his music without his consent.

It looks like Eminem is looking for a larger cut than what Apple is paying Universal for his music. I think it's a little strange that he's going after Apple, and not after his label who brokered the deal in the first place. In all fairness though, I really do think that Apple should disclose how much of that $.99 goes to the artist.

Hit the jump to read the article. [Detroit News via Crunchgear]