The Sony PlayStation 3 is one of the handful Profile 2.0, or "BD-Live enabled", Blu-ray players. With more to come the question rises if BD-Live is Sony's secret weapon or a bust. BD-Live is a Blu-ray feature that enables a consumer to interact with a Blu-ray movie through an Internet connection. The future will give buyers chat sessions with actors and friends while watching Batman Returns.
Many do like the fact this is possible, but don't like Sony's current strategy with releasing players that are not BD-Live enabled and are better known as Profile 1.1. To enjoy BD-Live you need an Internet connection, Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player and a movie that offers interactive features.
Toshiba's HD DVD format was more customer-friendly when it comes to interactivity, but lost due to a major studio shift in Blu-ray's favor. Now some say better sound and picture won't be enough to persuade customers in buying high-definition, and Disney seems to agree with this statement by proudly announcing more interaction on their movies.
Walt Disney Studio recently released Sleeping Beauty for its upcoming 50th anniversary. The new, Blu-ray version of the movie is stunning, but the studio hardly mentioned the improved picture and sound quality, says David Carnoy at Cnet.com. Instead, the studio's representatives mainly showcased Disney's new BD-Live functions, showing the studio's believe in the interactive technology. So, is this Sony's secret weapon?
Disney calls its BD-Live network a "platform" that can be used as a community or social network, meaning you can live-chat with friends and play director with Movie Mail. The latter allows you to record your own movie with a webcam, and embed it in a scene of the movie. Other things to expect are games and trailers, which both will mean long download times.
Currently Disney promises that the company will have a strong backend system to support and shorten these download times. If this is the fact, this could be a succesful product and maybe a secret weapon, but how do you explain this to those who paid hundreds for a Profile 1.1 player?
