Disney goes LIVE with Blu-ray

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Disney reveals new details on their upcoming Blu-ray edition of "Sleeping Beauty."

USA Today reports that Disney plans to push the envelope with their first animated classic on the high-definition video format.

Using a new technology known as BD Live - which connects to the Internet - viewers will pop in the disc and get a customized version of the famed castle that serves as a backdrop for the menu. The sky will reflect weather conditions in the viewer's hometown.

Once viewers begin watching, they'll be able to chat with friends right on the movie screen, using a laptop, BlackBerry or other PDA, through Disney's protected network. They'll be able to insert customized video messages anywhere in the movie and send them to friends or family members via a "movie mail" feature.

They'll be able to play trivia games with fellow viewers across the country. And when they're done, they can get a constant supply of new trailers, plus trade in "reward" points, collected by using many of these features, for ringtones and wallpaper.

Disney hopes to help the Blu-ray format get more than the 5% of the total DVD sales that it currently has with the new features. "To really start the ball rolling, studios believe it'll take not just a clearer picture but a completely different and interactive experience" the paper wrote.

BD Live requires a profile 2.0 compatible Blu-ray player and current profile 1.0 and 1.1 players cannot be upgraded. USA Today talked to Farrell Rigney, 50, a contractor in Carlsbad, Calif., who bought a Blu-ray Disc player the day after Thanksgiving. "I hate that; it sounds like planned obsolescence," and continues "They plan it so you have to buy another one, just like with cellphones."

However, Russ Crupnick of the NPD Group believes that BD LIVE will help boost sales. "BD Live promises to move potential buyers off the sidelines," he says. "We are in an increasingly interactive environment, with online gaming, social networking and virtual communities like Second Life ingraining themselves into pop culture. Taking that experience into the living room is a natural next step."

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