Amidst the slew of new Blu-ray players showcased at IFA comes word that two new forces are pledging their alligiance to the BD camp. Reportedly, both Acer and China Huala Group have joined on as hardware partners, and the latter is supposedly looking to establish a "Blu-ray Disc authoring center in China." The announcements were purportedly made by the Blu-ray Disc Association while in Berlin, and while we're not exactly sure how long Acer will make us wait for more Blu-ray-equipped lappies, the more intriguing question -- you know, the one regarding concerns over piracy from a newfound authoring center in China -- has yet to be tackled by the BDA.

[Thanks, AG23]

The Blu-ray Disc Association has wasted no time, issuing a statement that it is victorious as the premiere high definition format of choice. With 25 different companies having released Blu-ray related products, over 170 movie and music titles announced so far and of course, more than one million PlayStation 3s shipped to the U.S. Andy Parsons, chair of the U.S. Promotions committee is comfortable citing Blu-ray's industry support as a reason customers have voted with their wallets and will continue to do so. In 2007 the BDA looks forward to second generation PC and and standalone Blu-ray drives, like the BD-P1200, the Sony Vaio XL3 and a strong lineup of movie releases as why its market share will continue to increase this year, all but eliminating any competition by 2010. Check out our live coverage of the BDA press conference going on right now for more propaganda/truth (depending on your viewpoint).

Now that the PlayStation 3 has launched in North America several members of the Blu-ray Disc Association (Twentieth Century Fox, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Sony and Warner Bros.) are pushing the "Experience Blu" ad campaign via print, online and television. The TV ads will be in high-def and only on Discovery HD, INHD and HDNet. HD DVD has been pushing "The Look and Sound of Perfect" with a bus tour, but according to Adweek the $150 million campaign is holding off on TV ads until next year when more players and titles are on the market. The HD DVD group recently announced it has shipped more than 1.5 million discs to market, but Blu-ray hopes to take the lead in installed base this holiday season and never look back. The creative director of the Blu-ray campaign thinks right-brain / left-brain attacks will sell the format but we see it as far more simple. While a roving HD DVD mobile experience is great, more HD ads on our TV compell us to watch any and everything (since its HD) without ever leaving the couch. Take a look at the various iterations of the marketing campaign below.


Read - TV advertisement (warning: sound)
Read - Print ad
Read - Online advertisement
Read - Adweek
Read - Blu-ray Disc Gets in Front of Target Market with Launch of High-Definition TV Advertising