AUGUST
Announcements of Blu-ray Releases

Twentieth Century Fox
First wave of BD releases: Behind Enemy Lines, Fantastic Four, Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut), Kiss of the Dragon, The Omen (666), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Speed and The Transporter.

MGM
Fourth Quarter Blu-ray Releases
For release on November 28, 2006:  Bryan Singer's thriller “Usual Suspects” (day-and-date with special edition DVD) and Nicholas Cage’s action/war film, “Windtalkers”.

Paramount
First and Second Wave of Blu-ray Releases
First wave releases: Tomb Raider, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Four Brothers and Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. Second wave releases: U2: Rattle and Hum, Aeon Flux and The Italian Job (October 10, 2006).

200GB Capacity Blu-ray Media is developed by TDK
Bruce Youmans, TDK Vice President of Product Research & Development, says: "The ultra-ambitious technology roadmap for Blu-ray has now been confirmed as realistic, with landmarks such as this proving the long term value of the format against its rivals.

Blu-ray Disc Association Board of Directors is joined by Sun Microsystems
"Sun's announcement today is another example of the tremendous support for Blu-ray Disc," says Victor Matsuda, Vice/President/Chair, Blu-ray Disc Association's Global Promotion Committee, Sony Corporation of America. "Sun has already played a key role in the powerful new interactive features that set Blu-ray apart, and we look forward to working with them as we bring this revolutionary new disc format to consumers."

50GB Dual-Layer Blu-ray Media is now being shipped by Sony
"The arrival of 50GB Blu-ray Disc media is an important milestone in the evolution of this new format," says Mike Lucas, director of marketing for Sony Electronics' Media and Application Solutions Division. "The capacity represents more than four hours of HD quality video, at a 24Mbps transfer rate, allowing users to take full advantage of Sony's Blu-ray Disc burners and VAIO desktop and notebook computers."

JULY
Announcements of Blu-ray Releases

Disney and Buena Vista
Titles will include: Walt Disney Pictures' Dinosaur and Eight Below; Miramax Films' Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and The Great Raid.

Warner
Warner Home Video (WHV) announces the launch of its first titles in the Blu-ray format on August 1, 2006.

JUNE

Industry's First Blu-ray Player launched by Samsung
Samsung announces the shipping of the industry's first Blu-ray player to US market retailers for availability on June 25th. Via a native 1080p HDMI output for films mastered digitally in 1920×1080p, the Samsung BD-P1000 plays Blu-ray software titles at the highest resolution available.

MAY

BDR-101A Blu-ray Drive for PCs is shipped by Pioneer
"In order to serve our clients' needs at the highest level, we must anticipate their needs for uses of new media formats," says Randy Hudson, member of the DVD Association, and president and CEO of Broadness, a media service company which offers A/V media services, digital cinema media services, and online video and audio media delivery solutions. "The professional DVD production community has always counted on Pioneer to deliver technologies, products and support that allows us to exceed our clients' expectations."

Blu-ray Releases are moved back to June by Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) president Benjamin Feingold says
"The majority of our retail base and hardware partners have requested that we reconsider this date to better coincide with the first commercially available Blu-ray-compatible hardware."

APRIL

Inkjet-Printable Blu-ray Media are announced by TDK and Primera
"Primera is pleased to partner with TDK to bring the first inkjet printable BD-R to market," says Mark D. Strobel, Primera Technology's vice president of sales and marketing. "TDK BD-R is the perfect solution for our customers who will be using high-capacity BD-R media for backup and archival, data storage, high-definition video and a host of other cutting-edge applications."

Blu-ray Drives for PCs in Japan are launched by Panasonic
Panasonic announces the company’s introduction of a half-height internal Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive for desktop computers in Japan (June 10, 2006). The LF-MB121JD BD drive is not only fully backwards compatible with DVD-ROM/DVD±R/DVD±RW/DVD-RAM as well as CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW, but it can read and write single-layer and dual-layer BDs.

Blu-ray Recordable and Rewriteable Media is shipped by TDK
TDK announces it has started shipping 25GB BD-R/BD-RE (recordable/rewriteable) media nationwide to retailers. This makes them the very first to market bare Blu-ray media.

Blu-ray Player launch is delayed until June by Samsung
Samsung delays US launch of their Blu-ray player, rescheduling from May 23 to June 25 to make time for complete compatibility testing with a number of Blu-ray test discs which will only be available to them from product manufacturers and content providers near the end of April.

MARCH

Availability and Pricing of Blu-ray Player is announced by Panasonic
"With the DMP-BD10, Panasonic proves its commitment to providing the best high-definition entertainment experience for the home," says Reid Sullivan, vice president, merchandising, Panasonic's entertainment group. "Our goal is to focus on the total solution for an uncompromised high-definition experience."

Availability and Pricing of Blu-ray Products is announced by Sony
Sony’s first Blu-ray Disc (BD) products debuts in the U.S. as well as suggested availability and pricing for the new products. The new products include: a stand-alone Blu-ray player, VAIO desktop and notebook computers, an aftermarket internal computer drive, and recordable/rewritable media

Announcement of PlayStation 3 Worldwide Launch in November 2006
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announces its simultaneous worldwide launch of PlayStation 3 (PS3) in November 2006 in Japan, North America and Europe. PS3 puts together the final specifications of Blu-ray Disc (BD), which allows playback of Blu-ray software at a high bit rate.

FEBRUARY

Announcement of Titles for Blu-ray Launch by Lionsgate
Lionsgate, an independent filmed entertainment company, announces the release of 10 titles on the high-definition Blu-ray Disc (BD) which will coincide with the first commercially available BD players in stores

May Launch is Targeted by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) announces that they’re targeting May 23 as the availability date of the first wave of Blu-ray Disc (BD) titles in retail. This is set to coincide with Samsung’s launch of the first commercially available BD player, followed by BD players from Pioneer and Sony, as well as Sony’s BD compatible VAIO PC.

AACS (Advanced Access Content System) is available for Interim Licensing
"While next generation HD players are in final assembly, and movies are being mastered, the AACS architects are ensuring consumers can enjoy the HD picture, sound and robust portability potential of AACS without any further delays," says Richard Doherty, Research Director for the Envisioneering Group. "Much more than just HD movies, AACS delivers new consumer interactivity, portability and feature enhancement after purchase on a scale like no other consumer digital entertainment system can."

Pricing for Blu-ray Movies is announced by Sony
Catalog Blu-ray Disc (BD) titles will wholesale for $17.95, similar to the rate of DVDs in 1997 when they first hit the market. New-release BD movies will wholesale for $23.45, a premium of 15%-20% more than the charge of suppliers of new theatrical DVDs back then. Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment says "From the retail perspective, this is going to be a hot product, and retailers will no doubt determine their own margin structure. We believe in a free market."

Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher is announced by Primera
Primera, the world's prime manufacturer/developer of automated CD/DVD duplication as well as printing equipment, announces its Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher. Bravo XR-Blu is the world's first automated burn and print device that displays a state of the art high-capacity Blu-ray recorder and media.

JANUARY

New Photos and CES 2006 Report
In Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2006, the world's biggest technology tradeshow, was held from January 5-8, 2006. The show displayed the newest Blu-ray players, recorders, writers, drives and media. Companies involved: BenQ, Dell, Hitachi, HP, InterVideo, LG, Mitsubishi, Nero, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sonic, Sony, Ulead and Verbatim.

Format Specifications for the Blu-ray Disc are Completed
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announces the completion of format specifications and the start of licensing for BD-ROM, BD-R and BD-RE. "We are very pleased to announce this very important milestone for the Blu-ray Disc format," says Victor Matsuda, global chairman, Blu-ray Disc Association Promotions Committee. "The completion of these specifications is an important step in establishing Blu-ray Disc as the premiere next-generation optical disc format and provides manufacturers with the information they need to launch products beginning this Spring."