Sony's UMD movies on the chopping block

Movie studios and retailers are starting to abandon Sony's Universal Media Disc (UMD) movie format.

UMD is an optical storage device that Sony developed for its PlayStation Portable gaming computers. The tiny disks are primarily designed to store games, but consumers can also purchase movies on the format.

The Hollywood Reporter, a sister publication of vnunet.com, reported that Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the US, has drastically cut back the shelf space for UMD movies and may stop selling them altogether.

Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures have ceased to offer movies on the small storage disks, and even Sony has cut the number of titles that it releases on UMD.

Michael Gartenberg, research director at Jupiter Research, told vnunet.com that the UMD movies have always had a difficult value proposition because they cost as much as a DVD, but can only be played on Sony's PlayStation Portable.

"Sony has to build on that as a platform and get more ways for UMD to be viewed on different devices," he said.

Gartenberg stressed that UMD will stick around for PSP games. But for the device to succeed as a movie player, Sony will have to introduce additional accessories that allow consumers to hook up the devices to a television, for instance.

Short movie - MINIDISC

Retail Music Industry Battles Extinction

In a period of lackluster sales, illegal downloading isn't the only factor affecting the depressed music industry. Disgruntled consumers have contributed significantly to the decline in retail music sales. Retail music sales, valued at $12.5 billion in 2005, are predicted to fall to $10.5 billion by 2010, according to a recent Mintel report. The major labels have been quick to blame consumers, but slow to listen to their needs.

"The growing distance between the music industry and its consumer is due to a number of factors," said Justin De Santis, analyst for Mintel. "These include lawsuits against individual consumers, payola practices, and, most recently, restrictive use of digital rights management."

Music labels have a negative stigma to overcome, brought on by battles against illegal downloaders, radio "pay-for-play" scandals and homogeneous artist offerings on radio stations. The introduction of iTunes and similar sites has slowed the decay of music retail sales, but it has not stopped it. Even though technology is starting to work for the industry rather than against it, labels still face the challenge of meeting the demands of a diverse consumer marketplace.

In an effort to keep up with the digital marketplace, industry leaders have marketed artists to sell single songs rather than complete albums. This new marketing strategy has contributed to the lack of strong up-and-coming musical talent in the marketplace that exhibit "staying power," such as legendary iconic artists like Prince, the Beatles, or U2.

While illegal downloading has hurt the industry, big labels have relied on obsolete strategies for over a decade and have been late in exploiting emerging technologies. As a result, the bond between independent artists and their fans have become stronger. Although the music industry is just starting to use digital distribution to its advantage, overall sales will continue to decline unless companies learn to adapt more quickly to changing technologies.

According to De Santis, "The current renaissance of underground media has further driven the consumer away from the major labels and has contributed to the downturn in their sales."

New discoveries about MZ-RH1

a) Data transfer speed: when transferring a 135 MB file to the RH10 and RH1 the RH1 took about 136 seconds and the RH10 277. Conclusion: transferring data via Windows explorer is about 2x faster than with a 2nd generation Hi-MD.
b) Tested playback of mp3 vs. ATRAC3plus: I tested several music tracks in ATRAC3plus and mp3 format (both 256 kbps) and I could not hear any difference between them. The difference with the RH10 was clearly audibly. Conclusion: the "crippled" mp3 playback of the 2nd generation Hi-MD's is fixed (as far as my ears can judge):
c) the date-stamp/clock function is indeed back!
d) the RH1 remembers live-recording settings. E.g. when you change the recording level from AGC to manual it will remember it even after changing discs or turning the walkman off. The only time when the settings are lost is when removing/disconnecting the Li-ION battery.
e) during a recording you can adjust the mic-sensitivity and recording-level on the fly without interrupting recording.
f) line out function is available but the volume is still not so loud as the line-out of an MD-deck (but it is alright according to line-signal specifications).
g) first Hi-MD with Li-ION that is charged via USB. The USB cable and connecter are also used to connect the MD to the power-adapter (so no separate DC-in)
h) doesn't support 3-line remote of MZ-NH1 (only 1 line used.
i) touching the casing it seems to be magnesium.
j) the EU version will get the same accessoires/features as the JP model (only a volume-restriction in the EU because of stupid laws but that is only an issue until someone gets it's hands on the Service-manual).
k) releasedate in the EU: 3th week of may.
l) MAC-software will have more functions that we already know from the M10/M100.
m) besides recording-settings it even remembers the last display-mode you used.
n) disc/track/artist info only appears on the remote.

Long life to MD

Now playing...

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Songbook




Naturally on my MZ-NH700

Hacking European Hi-MD

Clicking on the title of this post, you'll be redirected to a page of Minidisc Community Forum where you'll find how to eliminate the restrictions in volume control that are installed on Hi-MD sold in the European Market.

The procedure is secure as long as you follow CAREFULLY the instructions.

Enjoy!

New Hi-MD MZ-RH1

Sony plans to introduce Mac support for its new MiniDisc Walkman for the first time.


The company took the wraps off its all-new MiniDisc product, the MZ-RH1, this morning. This portable device is being marketed as a mobile recording studio.


Sony plans to make the device Mac compatible, “bringing greater choice in digital audio devices to Mac users”.


The company will release Mac software for the new product in “summer 2006”, it said.


The player can handle audio in the following formats: LinearPCM, ATRAC (ATRAC, ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus) or MP3 format.


It will also record audio, with several built-in features to enhance that use. Users can adjust the mode to reflect what they are recording, which could be a live event, their own ‘jam’ session, or a meeting.

The MZ-RH1 will be available from May 2006 across Europe.