Panasonic, Philips and Sony to Establish One Stop Shop Product License for Blu-ray Disc

MarketWatch ^ | Feb. 25, 2009 6:47 a.m. EST | Sony Corporation

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Tokyo, Feb 25, 2009 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- Panasonic, Philips and Sony are currently working with other Blu-ray Disc(TM) patent holders to establish a one-stop-shop license for Blu-ray Disc(TM) products. This license, which covers essential patents for Blu-ray Disc(TM), DVD and CD, will be introduced in the middle of this year. The license program will be offered by a new independent licensing company that will be based in the United States with branch offices in Asia, Europe and Latin America. The CEO of the new license company will be Mr. Gerald Rosenthal, former head of IP at IBM and more recently CEO of Open Invention Network.

"By establishing a new licensing entity that offers a single license for Blu-ray Disc(TM) products at attractive rates, I am confident that it will foster the growth of the Blu-ray Disc(TM) market and serve the interest of all companies participating in this market, be it as licensee or licensor." said Mr. Rosenthal.

The three founding companies believe that the introduction of this simplified one-stop shop product license will stimulate the growth of the market for Blu-ray Disc(TM) products. Any holder of essential patents for Blu-ray Disc(TM), DVD and CD patents is invited to join this licensing entity as a licensor and also as shareholder.

The fees for the new product licenses are US$9.50 for a Blu-ray Disc(TM) player and US$14.00 for a Blu-ray Disc(TM) recorder. The per disc license fees for Blu-ray Disc(TM) will be US$0.11 for a read only disc, US$0.12 for a recordable disc and US$0.15 for a rewritable disc.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

As a result of the efficiencies obtained with the combined license offering, the royalty rates for Blu-ray Disc(TM) products are expected to be at least 40% lower than the current cumulative royalty rates for individual Blu-ray Disc(TM), DVD and CD format licenses.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

We might see some price drops in stuff now.

[toast]

Would current licensees be able to renegotiate their deals?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Don't know...seems to imply that ,...but doesn't explicitly state that....

Would seem that if not ...and new players got a better deal ....there might be some law suits...

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the HDTV list..
Special thanks to Ernest_at_the_Beach, for his ping.

HDTV pings!

[FreedomPoster]

I was amazed at how affordable Blu-ray burners have become. I wonder how long before the blanks become affordable? Say, under $1 for single-sided.

[Varda]

This looks like an attempt to monopolize the market of physical media. I thought Toshiba held many of the DVD patents. Did Sony buy them out?

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the HDTV list..

HDTV pings!

Walmart Drops Blu-ray Player Price to New Low of $128

At what may soon become the norm price for entry-level Blu-ray players, Walmart is selling Magnavox's NB500MGX Blu-ray disc player/DVD upconverter for $128.

The Blu-ray player doesn't have Ethernet (so it's just Profile 1.1), but it'll play all the Blu-ray movies in full 1080p.

For Father's Day, Walmart is also featuring 2-for-$20 Blu-ray movie bundles and a Garmin nuvi 250—with a 3.5'' touch screen and voice guidance—for $128 too. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, these deals are not available online and can only be found in Walmart stores.(Note: Blu-Ray Model#: NB530MGXLVD 1s available on-line for $128 at wal-Mart.com - LVD)

Note: Walmart refers to the player as both NB500MGX and NB530MGX. We are assured that this is a sales-reference difference, and not a spec or appearance difference.

Player is limited quantities and the sale is 6/14/2009 - 6/20/2009.

[Dysart]

Is there any reason why anyone should purchase a stand alone BD player with very limited web connectivity/application, when they can simply connect a HTPC to their HDTV? I can’t think of any reason other than perhaps cost. But I would think the incredible versatility of the HTPC would more than compensate for that consideration.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

I bought one for the wife, she doesn't need all the extra crap, just something to play blu-rays. Samsung for $179 at Frys, which was a good deal at the time.

I'm sticking with my PS3, it's working fine for me so far.

[aft_lizard]

While this is nice, as well as the price drop for the players the biggest news to come out this week for BD is the allowing of a managed copy per disc, legally. IF you are like me and have a HTPC this is great. But since I already over paid for AnyDVD HD it’s a little too late for me.

[aft_lizard]

I considered buying a PS3 but I found I could build a HTPC cheaper than I could buy a PS3, so now I get all of the capabilities of a PS3 plus a lot more expandability options.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the post and the ping Las Vegas Dave. I appreciate it.

[SunkenCiv]

I’ll predict right now that by Christmas 2009, BluRay players of this level will be sub-$50, and the middle of the road players will be in the $100-$130 range. :’)

[Las Vegas Dave]

Of possible interest to the ping list? (Additional Father’s Day deals at Wal-Mart.)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10262147-1.html

Following the demise of Circuit City, Wal-Mart’s been making a big push into the electronics market, and one of its PR folks let us in on a couple of upcoming “deals” on certain LCD TVs. The sale runs from June 14-20, or while supplies last.

Vizio VO420E 1080p 42-inch LCD ($697)
Sony Bravia KDL-52S5100 1080p 52-inch LCD ($1,788)
Sanyo DP37649 720p 37-inch LCD ($398)

We’ve seen lower prices on the Sony, but the Vizio and Sanyo look pretty close to rock-bottom. (Note: Just checked and Walmart is selling the Vizio VO420M) online for $697. The “M” and “E” series appear to be the same model—or at least very similar).

Update—Here are a few more electronics deals Walmart will be throwing out there for Father’s Day:

Magnavox NB500MGX Blu-ray Disc player ($128 )
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play Wii bundle with Wii Motion Plus Accessory and protective sleeve ($59.96)
PS3 (80GB) Bundle including Quantum of Solace on Blu-ray Disc and the MLB ‘09: The Show ($399 )
Dell Inspiron Black Notebook Computer ($398—not sure which model) or Dell Studio One 19 All-in-one Touch Desktop Computer ($848)
Canon Pixma Ink Jet Photo Printer with Fax($69)
Seagate Free Agent Go 250GB Portable Hard Drive($69)
Note: Due to pricing laws, prices may differ in some states, such as Alaska, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, and on Walmart.com.

[SunkenCiv]

The Walmart prices had already dropped almost two weeks ago, at least, noticed while zooming through on the way to something else. It’s important to keep an eye on the spec though, right? 120HZ sets are preferable to 60HZ sets, and the 720p sets at all retailers and wholesale clubs have been getting prices which aren’t necessarily blowout prices, particularly in comparison with the plasma sets. Thanks LVD.