TITANIC Hits Blu-ray 3D In September!

Finally we are going to be able to enjoy James Cameron's top two grossing movies (that just so happen to be the top two grossing movies of all time) in 3D and in our homes. We heard about AVATAR and now it's TITANIC's turn.

You can pre-order the Titanic Blu-ray 3D right now.

Here's the press release:
The two billion-dollar box office phenomenon and winner of 11 Academy Awards®, TITANIC, makes its highly anticipated debut on Blu-ray 2D and 3D on September 14, 2012 from Paramount Home Media Distribution and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Available in high definition for the first time ever, James Cameron’s timeless and unforgettable tour de force will be presented in stunning 2D and 3D, providing a cinematic in-home experience of TITANIC like never before. Marking 101 years ago today that the RMS Titanic was launched into the Belfast Lough, film fans worldwide can now pre-order the epic love story on Blu-ray 2D or Blu-ray 3D™ with participating online retailers.

Cameron commented, “Blu-ray extends TITANIC’s immersive 3D theatrical experience into audiences’ homes, where their living room becomes the backdrop for big spectacular environments and intense action, as well as profoundly intimate human moments, allowing generations of fans—new and old—to truly become part of the movie like never before.”

Presented in a four-disc 2D Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with Digital Copy or, for the ultimate experience in fully immersive 3D, in a four-disc Blu-ray 3D and 2D combo pack with Digital Copy, this high-definition presentation of TITANIC is a must have for film fans’ home media collections. Both sets feature more than 2 1/2 hours of new bonus footage never-before-released on disc, including a fascinating in-depth exploration of the film with James Cameron, as well as documentary footage produced by National Geographic with James Cameron that brings the world’s leading RMS Titanic experts together to solve the lingering mysteries of why and how the “unsinkable” ship sank.

The sets also boast previously released special features including 30 deleted scenes, over 60 behind-the-scenes featurettes, a look at the groundbreaking visual effects, over 2,000 photos, three commentaries and much, much more. TITANIC will also be available for the first time ever for digital download.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the roles that would make them global stars, TITANIC tells the story of the epic romance between two star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the legendary and ill-fated maiden voyage of the “ship of dreams.”

At Long Last The Wait Is Over: AVATAR Blu-ray 3D Freely Available For Purchase In October!

Watch the personal invitation from James Cameron to at long last purchase and enjoy AVATAR in the way it was meant to be seen: In 3D, in your home and on any 3D television set.

For the past couple of years, AVATAR 3D has been tied up in an unique marketing agreement with Panasonic that would only allow the distribution of the blu-ray 3D with a new Panasonic 3D television.

That agreement will expire on October 15th (worldwide) and the 16th (North America) and then you may buy the Avatar Blu-ray 3D in stores.

Of course by now you know that AVATAR is the highest grossing movie of all time, and by a long shot. It has resonated around the world with its cutting edge 3D experience and message of environmental awareness. Now you can own it, even if you don't own a Panasonic 3D television.


The wait is soon over!

Cameron Talks Concerts And Content In Korea!

**UPDATE May 15: There is a six part video of his visit here! Thanks stormko for the headsup.

James Cameron is making quite an impact on his latest visit to South Korea! A couple of things to talk about but lets go over the surprising first:

How about Cameron working with SM Entertainment (A Korean talent agency) to create 3D music videos and concerts together? A bit of a departure if I do say so myself, but it is 3D related and he is probably taking a very light role.

SME handles such talent as Girl's Generation (the link is for a large fansite) and Super Junior. I can certainly see a synergy through a strong female connection (Cameron places women in lead roles in most of his films). It is quite a coop for SME to land him to work with them. Congratulations.

Next up, Cameron dropped by Samsung Electronic's headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi with his technology partner Vince Pace (pointing in photo). Cameron talked about how the manufacturers have gone ahead and provided the hardware for 3D home entertainment before the quantity of 3D content was there.

“The consumer electronics companies have set the pace by making 3-D TVs and Blu-ray players available before there is a lot of content, and this has created a content gap,” Cameron said.

“Technology will not be the pacing factor, but the creation of content will be the limiting factor.”

Cameron believes in 2D to 3D conversions for only high value classic titles like TITANIC, STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES. (I don't know if he specifically mentioned INDIANA JONES as being considered for conversion, but it would not surprise me - we know the other two are.)

Cameron also places a bit of a cap on the next big thing for media technology, saying that 3D is something that should be improved upon through higher framerates and resolution before other advances are made in different areas. Holography comes to mind for example.

James Cameron also gave the keynote speech at the Seoul Digital Forum in the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill hotel.

Nice swath cut by Cameron in Korea! His agenda must be packed to the rafters for the next oh, 20 years. Nice to see his wife coming along for the trips. More when I get it! Thanks to Jaime for the heads up on the SME story.

First Look At Sony's New EX3 Consumer 3D Video Camera!!

Jim here. Sony's EX3 prototype consumer 3D video camera has just been outted. This camera looks pretty darn good folks. It even has changeable lenses!

Engadget got the scoop and a glimpse at the supposed specs too:
- Two PMW-EX3 studio cams placed in a single shell
- Proprietary hot-swappable lens cartridges
- Three half-inch CMOS sensors
- Stream 4:2:0 MPEG-2 video at 1080p to SxS memory cards at 35Mbps per eye
- Uncompressed 4:4:4 footage over a new pair of HD-SDI outputs
- An industry-first 1.5-inch interocular distance

Awesome! Wish we had a price on this thing. Can't wait to learn more about this thing of beauty...

Sony's PS3 Update Will Include 3D Gaming, Movies To Follow - S3DHD TVs Coming In June!

Jim here. We know Sony is going full tilt 3D across their product line and now is when it starts to get exciting for the mega electronics and entertainment company!

The 3D firmware update that Sony Playstation 3 owners have been waiting for to enable stereoscopic 3D capabilities has been clarified for us: The update will only enable 3D gaming this time around with the intent to include 3D movies in the coming months.

There is significant urgency for them to include 3D movies ASAP as they are releasing their own CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS in S3D for June (in Europe at least). This coincides with Sony's release of their S3DHD televisions as well (June), namely their HX800.

Consumers will be getting free stuff with their 3D TV purchase: Free 3D Blu-rays (including bundles with CLOUDY and DEEP SEA) and 3D PS3 games. The games that will be included will be demo versions - not the full package, but they will be more than enough to whet your appetites!

Those 3D games will be: WIPEOUT HD, PAIN, SUPER STARDUST HD and MOTORSTORM PACIFIC RIFT. Word is all four demos will be included with purchase. The full versions will be available at the PlayStation Store in mid June.

It's getting hot in here isn't it? S3D is taking off and we are pretty darn close to those rocket booster flames! Can't wait to get my hands on this tech. I experienced it in Las Vegas at Sony's 3D Experience pavilion @ MGM Grand and let me tell you - it rocks. You have to see it in action yourself!

Best Buy - Listen Up: LLLLETS Get Ready To DEMO!

Jim here. Big box electronics retailers heed warning: No more just standing around citing specifications and pointing at flat screens! You are going to need to do more than always say "This is the set I have at home and it is great".

With the advent of S3DHD televisions you are going to have to demo it, or not have access to them! So says Panasonic. When the VT25 lineup of S3DHD plasmas come on stream in May, retail employees will have to be well versed in the technology and be able to effectively demo what the consumer will be buying.

Said Bob Perry, SVP Marketing at Panasonic: "To us, all of our retailers are really important, but if a retailer cannot properly display it we will not allow them to sell it."

From Twice.com: Panasonic sees 3D as a key differentiator for plasma technology, since it has an inherently rapid switching capability that is necessary to deliver the rapidly alternating full 1080p images to each eye of viewers equipped with special active shutter glasses.

"We believe that when they go into retail and see our 3D plasmas, the average consumer will say, "That looks better" he said. "We aren't going to trash LCD, but are going to make sure the consumer knows that if they want the best 3D experience so far, it is going to be available from Panasonic plasma."

3D TV will be a central part of Panasonic's focus in its previously announced upcoming 15-city "mini-CES" showcase that will use three touring "show booths" with a wide range of products, to hit each of the East, West and Central regions of the country, hitting heavily trafficked venues in the nation's top designated market areas.

...the tour is part of an intensive advertising and promotional blitz for 2010, estimated at around $100 million, that will see Panasonic spend twice as much on advertising some product categories, over the previous year, he said.

I am so glad that Panasonic is putting its foot down on this. Customer service at some of these retailers can be abysmal; I had a guy telling me a few days ago at one of these stores that 3DTVs will be around NEXT YEAR sometime. I hope other manufacturers follow suit. Consumers deserve the best information possible on what they are buying. S3D deserves it too.

No Worries! AVATAR S3DHD Blu-ray Out In November!!

Jim here. Rest easy AVATAR fans! James Cameron himself put to bed any notion of the 3D Blu-ray for the movie taking years to get to us. In a recent interview, he said the time frame for 3D on Blu-ray is November of THIS year.

From WSJ: “It’s all right on schedule,” said Cameron. “We’ll do the Blu-ray and the standard def DVD April 22nd, that’s our plan as of right now, and that’ll be pretty much bare bones. And then we’ll do a value-added DVD and a 3-D Blu-ray in I think November sometime.”

Also here is a clip from MTV:

All of this makes total sense. I was dumbfounded when I heard that the 3D release would be delayed. I NEVER thought it would be years as other sites conjectured - I don't know where that came from! This timing is perfect if you ask me: S3DHD televisions will be flowing in and out of CE stores starting next month and ramping up through summer / fall, and AVATAR hits just before the holidays!

Can you feel it? AVATAR in your home in stunning S3DHD by Christmas!! Potentially your home at least :-)

In-home 3D Entertainment Is Coming: Quality And Affordability Top Of Mind For 3D@Home Consortium

We have some significant movement now in the 3D home entertainment field. Backed by huge industry players like Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Philips, Samsung, IMAX, TDVision, Sensio, Corning, 3ality and In-Three - a total of 22 companies are currently participating to ensure quality and affordability in future home focused 3D entertainment.

Of special note here is that both of the major codec developers (TDVision and Sensio) are involved which lends me to believe that PERHAPS there is a chance here of not having a format war similar to what happened with Blu-ray and HDDVD. If they can pull this off I will be very happy indeed.

For more info, check out the organization's site: http://www.3dathome.org

Real D Launches Consumer and Home Products Division! YES - 3D For Your Home Theater!!

Awesome news folks! Real D is launching a Consumer and Home Products Division to take advantage of their technology advances in the home as well as in the theater. So after much speculation in the space, a true leader, Real D, has emerged as a champion of bringing 3D to the Home Theater.

This also means that now the studios have a potential DVD distribution model for their brand spankin' new 3D movies that they are flogging at the cinema. See the movie in 3D, then buy the DVD for your Real D enabled 3D Home Theater. Piracy issues have been drastically reduced but not eliminated - see comments!

Real D announced that Koji Hase has been appointed to the position of President of Worldwide Consumer Electronics. Here is a quote regarding his background:

REAL D 3D Names Renowned DVD Pioneer Koji Hase， President of Worldwide Consumer Electronics-资讯中心-金融界 via kwout

Awesome news! Now I have true plans for http://www.3DHomeVideos.com ! :-)

Digg This!