According to a research conducted by HIS, Americans will watch more movies online in 2012 than they will on DVD or Blu-ray. HIS reported that the online movie consumption will be increased to 3.4 billion views or transactions at the end of this year while the consumption of DVD and Blu-ray may be just 2.4 billion views.

This figure means that online video will experience a real outbreak period because not long ago, Telecompetitor reported that Americans watched only 1.4 billion movies from online sites. Increase by over 135 percent in 2012? Is that possible? Considering the current situation of online video business, it’s likely that online video consumption will achieve that “goal”. Of course, Netflix is still the leader in online video business will contribute much to reach that figure. Following are Amazon, Verizon and Redbox, Hulu, UltraViolet, Dish Network, HBO Go, etc.

And it’s clear that DVD and Blu-ray will still have a place in the market the same as CDs (MP3 has led to the decrease of CD). But in general, watching videos online is still a better way to get access to video entertainment, especially for young people and those who have good networks.

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According to the Hollywood Reporter, in only two days after the release, the Twilight:Breaking Dawn – Part 1 has sold about 3.2 million DVD and Blu-ray discs. In addition, it also has achieved over 80,000 video on demand transactions and had been downloaded for more than 50,000 times. With this stunning sales, Breaking Dawn easily tops the overall disc sales chart and will probably be the most popular DVD release of the year.

So just bought the Breaking Dawn DVD or subscribe to some video streaming services that let you watch Breaking Dawn streaming videos? If it’s the case, then here are some tips for you:

1. Rip Breaking Dawn – Part 1 DVD to iPhone, iPad, iPod and more

Watching your favorite DVD movies on your iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc. will be great since you don’t need to carry the DVD disc and it will be more convenient to share the movies with family and friends. To play Breaking Dawb Part -1 DVD movie on your portable devices, you can use Aimersoft DVD Ripper to convert DVD to MP4, MOV, MKV, WMV, AVI, FLV, 3GP, etc. for playing and sharing anywhere you like.

2. Record and convert Breaking Dawn – Part 1 video

For streaming videos, you are unable to download them because of some special protection. However, if you’d like to keep them forever and watch them anywhere and anytime you like, you can use Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate to record the videos from Netflix, Hulu, etc.

For videos purchased from iTunes, Amazon, etc. you can use Aimersoft DRM Media Converter to remove the DRM protection from Breaking Dawn – Part 1 video and convert them to the format you prefer so that you can put and play them anywhere with ease.

Bob Iger, chief executive of Disney, said that the company would make DVD rental companies like Redbox wait at least 28 days before getting the latest DVD and Blu-ray movies like other major Hollywood studios in order to protect the sales of the DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Iger said the reason why Disney hadn’t imposed a delay on DVD rental services in the past is that “it was not seeing any effect from these dollar-rentals on their sell-through business.” But it seems the soft DVD sales should be responsible for the 16% decrease in revenue during its first fiscal quarter compared with that of the same time in the year before. So they have decided to take this step.

In fact, lots of movie studios like Fox, Universal, NBCUniversal, etc., have imposed the 28-day rental window on DVD rental services like Redbox and Netflix. And last month, Warner Bros. has switched the delay to 56 days. All the measures aims to encourage consumers to by DVDs and Blu-rays instead of renting.

Till now, the details of the plan haven’t been revealed by Disney. And it’s still unknown whether Netflix will be included in the 28-day delay.

As Valentine’s Day is coming closer, now everyone should be well-prepared for this day, a great time to express your care and love to your sweetheart. Watching a romantic movie with someone you love will surely warm your heart. This Valentine’s day, just lie on the couch and watch the great love stories and celebrate the wonderful love in a beautiful way. Here is our list on the best 10 romantic movies for 2012 Valentine’s Day.

Top 10 2012 Valentine’s Day movies

1. The Notebook

2. Titanic

3. Casablanca

4. When Harry Met Sally

5. Sleepless in Seattle

6. Just Like Heaven

7. Serendipity

8. Love Actually

9. An Affair to Remember

10. The Wedding Singer

Play Valentine’s Day DVD movies on iPhone, iPad, iPod and more

Got the DVD movies and want to watch them on your iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android tablet or edit them in video editing software like Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, etc.? All is very easy with Aimersoft DVD Ripper. (The equivalent Mac version is Aimersoft DVD Ripper for Mac)

With it, you can easily convert DVD movies to MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV, MKV, WMV, etc. for playing and sharing on iPhone, iPad, iPod, PSP, Zune, Sony, Motorola, Google Nexus One, Archos, iRiver, Cell Phone, Blackberry, Xbox 360, Nokia, Apple TV, and more.

Are region-free DVD players legal? This has been a controversial topic for a long time. In theory, due to the region code, a certain copy of movies and games can be played only in a certain region. For example, the USA is in Region 1 for DVDs. That means DVD discs and player sold in USA are locked to Region 1 and you cannot play imported movies like Region 4 DVD from Australia, Region 2 DVD from Europe, etc. This region coding is used to ensure the benefits of movie studios.

However, it brings inconveniences to consumers, especially for those who have overseas friends and family and want to send them some DVDs. That’s why region-free DVD players rise. With a region-free DVD player, you can play DVD disc from any region at ease.

At first, only some small manufacturers sell region-free DVD players. Later, big DVD player manufacturers keep up with the pace and started selling region-free DVD players. However, they will not reveal it publicly. For those region-free DVD players, some are unlocked in the factory while some need to be unlocked with secret codes by retailers or users. This makes it’s hard for shoppers to know what they are buying.

Then with the development of technology, Blu-ray players come out. Region code is also applied on Blu-ray players. However, there are much fewer regions. To cater to the consumers’ needs, some Australian Blu-ray players are also region-free for playing DVDs.

Now the confusion rises: whether region-free players are legal in Australia. Some people think the DVD players must be region-free according to the ACCC rule while others think that region-free DVD players are illegal under the free trade agreement with the US. To make things worse, vendors of region-free players are reluctant to talk about whether their players are region-free or not and even be dishonest about this. For example, Sony Australia says they don’t endorse region-free playback on DVD and Blu-ray players and the player sold are not region-free. However, there are a lot of reports saying people are buying region-free player from Sony.

So are region-free players legal in Australia? The ACCC and ACMA said that they never regulate such things. The Attorney-General’s department said that region-free DVD and Blu-ray players are exempt from the Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) included in the US Free Trade Agreement as it is stated as below:

To make a conclusion, vendors are not obligated to sell region-free players, but they are not forbidden. However, the current situation  is that when you are buying a player, the only way to know whether it is region-free or not is to check with the retailer or to test a foreign DVD disc. Maybe the some manufacturers are dishonest about the region-free players is due to the prudence of powerful forces like the Motion Picture Association of America instead of the Australian law.

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At CES 2012, there hasn’t been much news for the standalone Blu-ray player. But Samsung’s flagship BD-E6500 comes with some great attractive new features.

Samsung’s BD-E6500 has two HDMI inputs on the back so that you can switch between two devices easily. This feature is appealing to those who have run out of the HDMI inputs of HDTVs and don’t have an HDMI-switching AV receiver. However, this may cause some problems for Harmony remotes that usually don’t take Blu-ray players as switchers.

Another great feature of Samsung’s BD-E6500 is disc-to-digital, allowing you to “sync” your DVD in the cloud so that you can access to the movie from any device using the Flixster app. When you pop a DVD in the BD-E6500, it will scan the disc automatically. If the DVD is legitimate, you can pay a nominal fee around US$1 to copy the DVD to cloud. If you want an HD cloud copy, you can pay more. Till present, this Blu-ray player doesn’t have the function to scan and copy Blu-ray to cloud. This disc-to-digital feature will also be available on most other Samsung’s Blu-ray players and all its Blu-ray home theater systems. And this will definitely contribute to the promotion of UltraViolet.

Other features of Samsung’s BD-E6500 include built-in Wi-Fi and support for 3D and Samsung Apps. It is said to be released in the spring. However, now the price of this great Blu-ray player is not revealed.

Tips: Wanna play Blu-ray movies on your portable devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc.? Just get Aimersoft Blu-ray Ripper and convert DVD movies for playing on iPhone, iPad, iPod, PSP, Zune, Archos, iRiver, BlackBerry, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, etc. wherever you go!

According to a report by Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), Blu-ray discs sales rise significantly in 2011 while DVD sales falls markedly. The data shows that consumers spent about $18 billion purchasing and renting discs and movies in 2011, a 2% decrease from 2010. Blu-ray discs sales increase to $2 billion, a 19% increase from 2010 due to the number of U.S. households with at least one Blu-ray playback device rising 38% to nearly 40 million while the DVD sales dropped to $6.8 billion, a 20% decrease from 2010.

The total movie sales in packaged media, Blu-ray and DVD dropped about 13% to $8.95 billion from $10.52 billion in 2010. Sales of digital copying renting (packaged media only) slipped slightly to $7.54 billion from $7.6 billion in 2010.

Observers say that those declined are expected as digital delivery and online video streaming are becoming more and more popular. According to the report, total spending on digital delivery rise 51% to nearly $3.42 billion with VOD ($1.87 billion), subscription streaming ($993.6 million) and electronic sellthrough ($553.7 million).

At the mean time, DEG announced the 10 best-selling DVD titles of 2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Tangled, Cars 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Bridesmaids, Rio, The Help, The Lion King and The Hangover Part 2.

HBO confirmed that it had decided to stop setting discounted DVDs and Blu-ray disks to Netflix from Jan.1 for its video rental service. That means Netflix will have to buy DVD sets of shows like “True Blood” at retail in order to rent them to customers.

However, this shift will not have any huge impact on Netflix. According to a Netflix Spokesman, Netflix will continue to provide DVDs and Blu-ray disks to its customers since the company can get the DVDs and Blu-ray disks from other sources.

Tough Netflix firmly believes that its future should be in the streaming video business instead of the DVD-by-mail business, it still has many customers who want DVDs by mail. And Netflix will keep serving these customers.

For the streaming videos, Netflix now doesn’t have the rights stream HBO’s TV shows or films. These content are available in HBO GO, HBO’s own streaming service. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that HBO is the chief competitor. Netflix had about 23 million streaming customers as of September, while HBO has around 29 million pay TV customers.

Amazon is offering a $5 coupon for the Puss in Boots two-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack and the three-disc 3D Blu-ray edition. So the two-disc combo pack will cost only $23.99 and the three-disc 3D Blu-ray copy is only $29.99. It is reported that Puss in Boots DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray will be released on February 24 and the bonus features are still unknown.

If you want to get the $5 coupon, you will need to do some work. First, you need to go to Amazon and add the copy of Puss in Boots you’d like to order to your shopping card and start the check process. Then in the “Gifts Cards & Promotional Codes” box, enter “SOFTPAWS” and the $5 will be deducted from your deal total.

This promotion will run for a limited time. So if you like the movie and want to buy a copy, hurry up to pre-order it now!