Sony has just launched not just one, but four new HDTV systems. Yeah, fine, we are all aware that Sony produces TVs anyway. But wait, these HDTVs are special because they will be running Google TV, a new operating system for televisions that are connected to the internet. Of course, we also know that Google more »

In much the same way Blu-ray hopes to eventually ‘kill’ the inferior DVD, DVD has finally buried VHS. “Old news!” I hear you cry, and yes, I appreciate that the VHS has been facing this impending doom for a while, but the day has finally come where we can officially say that it is a thing of the past.

Up until now JVC, the developers of VHS, have been the only major company to still make standalone VHS players, with companies like Panasonic blaming the obviously empty market for them stopping production. The last film to be released on VHS, “A History of Violence,” was released in 2006, completing 30 years of VHS dominated home visual entertainment, which started with “The Young Teacher.” Continued after the break.

I’ll admit it: every Christmas will probably be a Disney Christmas in my house for the next few years, thanks to a four-year-old daughter who knows why Ariel has daddy issues and a two-year-old son who wants to be Lightning McQueen when he grows up.

As an unrepentant tech enthusiast who also wants to keep his kids happy ever after, you can imagine my curiosity about the announcement from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment about the company’s plans to maximize Blu-ray technology for its DVD releases, beginning with “Sleeping Beauty” in October. Disney is promising live chat rooms as the story of Princess Aurora unfolds on your flat-screen HDTV. Division president Bob Chapek pictures grandparents in one part of the country chatting with grandkids in another part as they all watch the movie together. He also previewed video messaging and an onscreen DVD menu reflecting the weather conditions where you are, all thanks to Blu-ray’s Internet capabilities:

Two legendary movie producers, Samuel Goldwyn and Jack Warner, are both credited with telling some studio underling, “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.”It now appears that the men (and yes, it’s still mostly men) who now sit in the corner offices at the studios that Goldwyn and Warner built are sending a clear message to consumers: we’re willing to roll with the digital tide.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes told those listening on his company’s earnings conference call that Warner Brothers will release movies to video on demand (VOD) on the same day they become available on DVD. And the Hollywood Reporter tells us Apple now has a deal with nearly all the major movie studios to sell new releases on iTunes at the same time they hit brick-and-mortar retailer’s shelves.

Corporations as big as Warners, Sony, Disney, et al don’t suddenly “get” this digital revolution thing; most of them have been experimenting with day-and-date releases in some form or fashion. They’ve been studying sales figures to determine just how much a digital movie release eats away at real-world sales. The answer, at least for Warners Brothers, appears to be only 3-5 percent; not enough, it seems, to continue the 1-2 month window that has traditionally existed between DVD release and a movie’s appearance on your Comcast, Time Warner or Apple TV digital service.