The rumors are true. Toshiba switching to solid state for movie delivery.

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Samsung, Phillips and I believe Toshiba sell smaller (32") HDTV's with a USB port.

Originally Posted by Dare

Oh wow, I just predicted this in another thread two seconds ago. I'm really ahead of the curve.

Originally Posted by mobiushky

I got that. What I meant was, I could take my 64Gb* card down to the local wherever and dump the movie onto it. Take it home and watch it on the PS3. That would be sweet. The problem is, that most consumers don't have a method for displaying video contained on an SD card (or other flash memory) on their spiffy new HDtv's. With the exception of the PS3 or an HTPC, I don't know of any that do it. Which means new hardware.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it if it works out and is more convenient. But I still think it'll be a hard sell for a while since people REALLY like that physical disc still. It's why you don't see an entire season of SD TV shows on one BD. People don't want to pay $100 for one disc. or whatever. But I think that's changing slowly with more tech savvy kids.

*by the time this really takes off, which I have no doubt it will, the cards will be 128 or even 256Gb I'm sure so you could "rent" all the movies you want in one trip.

Originally Posted by DonnyDC

My post came before yours so Im more aheader :P

Anyways I didnt think this would actually happen until transfer rates improved. How fast is SD currently? USB 2.0 is only around 400Mb/s so even just a 1-2gb movie will take a few minutes. If its a good(enough) quality HD movie then it would be around 5-6gb.

Originally Posted by v1001

I KNEW this was going to be the future it just makes to much sense. I was commenting a few weeks ago that flash is the future and the very near future. And that flash cards will just plug right into the TV someday. I was thinking the next 1-2 years we'd see announcements though even though the negative nancys were saying 10 years. I just don't see discs around much longer or Blu-ray really taking off as big as they thought.

Originally Posted by TechON

Mobile Phones Evolve toward Pocket HDTV

The development of HDTV-compatible mobile phones is progressing apace. 720p-compatible processors are already here, and 1080p-compatible products will likely arrive in 2008. By 2009, mobile phones will incorporate HDMI connectors.

There are limits to handset size: there is little point in displaying a high-definition HDTV video stream on only a tiny screen. People really want to view HDTV content on a big screen. HDTV capability will demand that mobile phones are provided with functions to connect to large-screen TVs and other audio-visual (AV) equipment to swap content.

Putting a projector in the handset will change the way mobile phones are used. "The restrictions on display size in mobile phones have limited them to personal use until now. A handset capable of projecting an image of about 20-inch size, though, will be an entertainment system capable of storing photos, video and other media for enjoyment by groups of people," said Kazuhiro Ohara, senior manager, Product Marketing, Technical Support Center, DLP Products Japan of TIJ.

The ISDB-Tmm being promoted by NTT DoCoMo Inc and Fuji Television Network Inc, both of Japan, for example, assumes that tuners will be able to receive full-segment broadcasting for download service. Tomoyuki Okamura, senior director, Digital Technology Planning Office, Technical Department of Fuji Television Network, said, "We have been pressing the tuner manufacturers to push ahead with development."
Mini Tuners Available

One tuner manufacturer that is already answering such demand is Sharp Corp of Japan. The firm plans to complete development of a full-segment tuner for mobile phones by 2009.

Originally Posted by PFC5

I have card readers built into my Panasonic plasma and that is for the lower end model. I think it will become "normal" for HDTVs to have such readers more and more in the future.

I do have an issue with requiring a new playback device to use this like Mobi does, but I think this will just be another method available to people down the road to get their movies. It will create more competition for BD and just dilute it's adoption some as a result of more and more different home video source options, but for me, BD is where it is at for a few years.

They didn't say whether this was rental or buying, and if it is buying the movie, where do you store these movies safely?

Originally Posted by PFC5

They didn't say whether this was rental or buying, and if it is buying the movie, where do you store these movies safely?

Originally Posted by ars technica

PlayStation 3 video DRM: two strikes and you're out
By Ben Kuchera | Published: September 21, 2008 - 08:40PM CT

The Sony Video Store on the PlayStation Network is filled with a good selection of movies, and you can't beat the convenience of renting or even buying movies from your couch and watching them on your big screen with your PlayStation 3. Renting movies is a joy on the system, although it would be nice to have longer than 24 hours to watch the content, but what happens when you buy a movie? As one Ars reader found out, and Sony confirmed for us, you have to be careful about what happens to your system once it's filled with video content: you have one download, one redownload, and that's it.

Noise, a forum-goer, sent out a warning after he deleted some video content to make room on his hard drive and then found he couldn't redownload the content. The PlayStation 3 support page is perfectly clear on this matter. "Purchased content can be downloaded to a single PLAYSTATION 3 or a single PSP system," it reads. "Content cannot be redownloaded once it has been downloaded to either a PLAYSTATION 3 or PSP system."

You're allowed to keep the content on one system, and you can move it to up to three PSP systems, but if you have to delete the content for any reason, it's gone? Sort of. Lincoln Davis, who handles media relations for the PlayStation Network, told Ars that you are in fact allowed one extra download, but you have to contact Sony. "If a consumer deletes a purchased movie from their PS3, they will not be able to redownload the movie without assistance from SCEA's consumer services," he told Ars. "Consumer service can issue a redownload as a one-time courtesy, as provided by our guidelines, for the title to allow the consumer to go back and download the movie from their PSN download list."

It's hard to know if this limit is Sony's doing, or if content providers have demanded this level of DRM on the movies sold through Sony's online service. Nonetheless, this could cause customers to be very cautious with their hardware or space managements; no one would dare free up the space knowing that after the one redownload their purchase is gone forever. It's also unknown what will happen with these files when you purchase a PS4—if you'd like to look that far into the future.

Sony's policy is a sobering reminder that DRM can turn your purchases into rentals at anytime, with Sony and the content providers tightly holding onto the key.