Blu-ray features heading to mobile phones

Blu-ray extras coming soon to smartphones
Blu-ray extras coming soon to smartphones

Let's face it: while we all want to watch the extras on our Blu-ray discs, sometimes there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to flick on the special features.

BluFocus and NetBlender know this, and have created a smartphone app which allows you to rip your extras on to your phone, so you can watch them on the go.

Major possibilities

The app, called BD Touch 2.0, will be unveiled at NAB 2009, which runs until 23 April, and will be available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the Palm Pre, Google's Android platform and BlackBerry phones.

BluFocus founder and CEO Paulette E Pantoja said that the app will be free and will also turn your phone into a remote control for your Blu-ray player.

"There was a huge difference between VHS to DVD," Pantoji explained. "What's the difference between DVD and Blu-ray? Right now, people just see high-definition, and you have these two major other possibilities – BD-J and BD Live – you can do. We think and feel that this is it."

One line of code

Pantoji is hopeful that Blu-ray developers will add the functionality to discs in the near future, saying that: "It's just one line of code they have to put in. We made it extremely, extremely simple."

Fingers crossed that BD Touch 2.0 will come to a BD-Live Blu-ray player via a firmware upgrade soon.

Via AfterDawn and Video Business

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.