NetBlender has introduced BD Touch technology, a software toolkit that could enable iPhones and iPod touches to interact with content on a Blu-ray Disc. The technology will require a BD Touch-compatible Blu-ray Disc—as yet unreleased—and an iPhone OS application that interacts with the company’s BD Touch SDK. It leverages the network connection built into Blu-ray players and the Wi-Fi connectivity of the iPhone and iPod touch to create two-way communication between the devices, allowing for transfer of video, audio, text, and player commands. Possible applications of the technology include pushing digital copies of a movie to an iPhone from the Blu-ray Disc menu, cataloguing a viewer’s Blu-ray Disc collection and providing movie suggestions, and more. “By releasing the BD Touch SDK to the iPhone developer community we’re excited to see creative possibilities for Blu-ray interactivity flourish,” said Denny Breitenfeld, NetBlender CTO. “The BD Touch framework is built into our Blu-ray disc authoring solution, DoStudio, so Blu-ray authors at every level of the industry will be able to take advantage of these exciting new applications on their discs with point and click ease.”
Charles Starrett
Charles Starrett was a senior editor at iLounge. He's been covering the iPod, iPhone, and iPad since their inception. He has written numerous articles and reviews, and his work has been featured in multiple publications.