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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Blogs:
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Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
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Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Machines on sale now won't be able to handle next-generation tricks
By Eric Benderoff
Chicago Tribune
Published on Monday, Mar 10, 2008
On the heels of Blu-ray's victory over HD DVD in the high-definition movie-format war, a fresh crop of improved Blu-ray players is coming.
That's good news, unless you were among the early adopters who bet that Blu-ray would reign. That's because older Blu-ray players can't play the new tricks.
The new players include data storage (for Web downloads) and have new interactive features and notable improvements to audio and video playback.
These are called Blu-ray profile 2.0 players, and they are not yet in stores, but the technology is on newer Sony PlayStation 3 gaming machines. Sony, Blu-ray's principal backer, recently introduced two profile 2.0 players, the BDP-S350 and BDP-S550, available in a few months. Prices will be $400 and $500. Other models are coming.
I saw the technology at the January Consumer Electronics Show, and it definitely will improve your home-theater setup. But it didn't dawn on me that this technology made the existing Blu-ray players obsolete.
The first Blu-ray players have profile 1.0, what Sony calls in its literature the ''launch profile.'' Those early players can't do the neat tricks that the ''profile of the future'' players will offer.
Is a profile upgrade a problem? No, early adopters often get burned. But when you upgraded your standard DVD player and picked Blu-ray, already a risky proposition, did you realize that even if that technology won, it would soon be outdated?
That's just frustrating, and another reason why Joe and Jane Consumer, the bulk of the market, get exasperated with technology.
If you have a profile 1.0 Blu-ray player, you will be able to play DVDs designed for profile 2.0 (and profile 2.0 players will play existing titles), but you will miss the cool features. The most notable for movie buffs are interactive Web content (some discs will have a gaming component to play along with a movie) and pop-up picture-in-picture treatments for actor and director commentaries.
There is one nice touch with 2.0, though. Unlike 1.0, a 2.0 player can be upgraded. If you own a Blu-ray profile 1.1 player, an in-between machine on store shelves today, it is partially upgradable. Got it?
On the heels of Blu-ray's victory over HD DVD in the high-definition movie-format war, a fresh crop of improved Blu-ray players is coming.
Get the full article here.
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