iPhone to become Blu-ray remote

Yet another reason why Blu-ray owns your face. From PC World:

The iPod touch and iPhone seem set to enter a special relationship with Blu-ray discs and players, with the imminent launch of new software that networks Apple’s devices with Blu-ray technology.

NetBlender will this week announce a new technology that links Blu-ray content to the Apple devices, called BD Touch. The solution leverages the network capabilities of Blu-ray players, and means iPhone and iPod touch users could soon be able to use their devices as remote controls for their Blu-ray players.

“The sophisticated user interface of the iPhone enables greater user interaction as well as the power to leverage the iPhone’s existing network. Search, e-commerce and advertising possibilities related to movie content abound when one imagines real-time communication between the iPhone and the content currently being displayed on a Blu-ray player,” the company says.

The company says that a number of features are supported by the technology, such as automatically updating film collections held on an iPhone, including a feature which lets Blu-ray players/discs send a digital copy of a video to an iPhone.

NetBlender will officially announce its new solution on Thursday.

Link to article

I’ll probably be getting an iPhone in August when my contract with Verizon is up.  I really hope the 3G’s will be out by then.