Paramount seals Blu-ray sweep

All six major Hollywood studios are now in the Blu-ray Disc camp, a day after Toshiba has pulled the plug on HD DVD and Blu-ray became effectively the only next-gen game in town. Paramount Home Entertainment quietly came onboard via a statement sent exclusively to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday: "We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer," the statement reads. (Hollywood Reporter)

Apple shakes up online video plan

Apple has overhauled key elements of its online video strategy following an admission by Steve Jobs on Tuesday that the company’s early efforts had been a disappointment. The changes involve a new online rental service for movies, which was first reported in the FT last month, and a revamp of the Apple TV set-top box so that viewers can stream movies direct from the internet, without the need for a computer. In a rare admission that Apple’s first attempts had failed, Mr Jobs conceded that customers had not taken to watching online video the way Apple had expected. (Financial Times)

MusicGiants Launches VideoGiants with Films from Paramount Pictures

MusicGiants announced that they have entered into a distribution deal with Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment to distribute motion picture films from the Paramount library through their new VideoGiants home theater digital content delivery platform. The MusicGiants Download Media store is already being built into most of the media servers for the high-end home theater industry. (PR)

Analysis: Looks like Blu-ray Finally Have Won the High Def War

It looks like this year’s Consumer Electronics Show might be remembered for Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray disc winning the high def disc format war. With Warner (NYSE: TWX) announcing that they are going exclusively with Blu-ray and rumors that Paramount will do the same, it might just be checkmate for Toshiba's HDDVD format. (Digital Media Wire)