Blu-ray Launch – Sony released the first batch of seven Blu-ray titles this week. They include The Fifth Element, The House of Flying Daggers, Hitch, and The Terminator. The first player – from Samsung – goes on sale this coming week. About 15,000 copies of each title have been shipped to big retailers such as Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.com – who will also be carrying the players. The disks have so far 25GB storage and some may not carry all the extras found on the standard DVD version. The Blu-ray camp is looking toward having a 50GB disc available towards the end of summer. The HD-DVD launch was about two months ago.
Concord, Telarc & Heads Up Labels Garner Eight Awards – Five industry awards from the Jazz Journalists Association and three from JazzWeek were scored by the Concord labels this past week =
Concord Music Group: Jazz Record Label of the Year
Sonny Rollins: Musician of the Year
Dianne Reeves: Female Jazz Singer of the Year
Sonny Rollins: Tenor Saxophonist of the Year
Joey DeFrancesco: Organist/Keyboardist of the Year
JazzWeek Awards
Concord Music Group: Major Label of the Year
Jaco Pastorius Big Band “The Word Is Out!” (Heads Up): Record of the Year
Vikki Rzepka of Telarc: Record Co. Promotional Rep of the Year
Panasonic Shows World’s Largest Plasma Display – The largest hi-def plasma television was demonstrated at the New York Stock Exchange recently. At 103 inches diagonal, it delivers more than two million pixels (1920 x 1080p) and is equivalent in size to four 50-inch panels. A Panasonic rep offered that since plasma is a self-illuminating device, it offers superior dynamic contrast, true-to-life color reproduction, quick response time with fast-moving images, and a wider viewing angle. The company is the industry leader in plasma manufacturing and sales.