Resident Evil: Degeneration is on its way to your Blu-ray players this Winter, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. What are the specs for this package? Find out after the jump.

Good news that could lead to even more good news: Sony's looking at April 8 for the release date of their first batch of interactive Blu-ray movie titles. Hopefully, this also means that the PlayStation 3's firmware 2.20 is just around the corner. More in the full article.

There's potentially big news in blowing in today, and it comes straight from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Apparently, Sony's been demonstrating the "next level of disc copying" to a curious audience and successfully transferred an entire Blu-ray movie as a lower-res version to a PlayStation Portable's memory stick. More on that at the full story.

In light of the recent announcement of Lionsgate's BD-Live movies, the latest firmware update for the PlayStation 3 has been speculated to be released as early as this month already. We're not sure if it'll already have DivX technology, but here's what movie studios expect: the next PS3 firmware could pave the way for interconnectivity functions of BD-Live Blu-ray movies.

How far can this go? Read more to find out.

A group of major Hollywood studios and leading consumer electronics manufacturers have announced that they will be extending the 5 Free Blu-ray Movies promo through this year's holiday season.

The promo goes like this: Consumers who buy any qualifying Blu-ray player - this includes the Sony PlayStation 3 home video game console - between now and January 31, 2008 will be able to choose 5 free Blu-ray titles from a total of 18 titles being offered by participating studios.

Titles available in the promo are Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Wild Hogs, American Psycho, Chain Reaction, The Devil's Rejects, Flight of the Phoenix, Full Metal Jacket, Hart's War, The Last Waltz, Omen 666, The Patriot, The Prestige, Species, Stir of Echoes, Superman: The Movie, SWAT, Swordfish and Ultraviolet. All of these titles will be available through mail-in redemption.

Participating hardware manufacturers include Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony Electronics and Sony Computer Entertainment. The studios offering the free Blu-ray movies are Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, MGM Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has recently announced that they have sold over 250,000 Blu-ray disks in Europe, and are close to hitting the one million  markin North America. The President of SPHE World Wide David Bishop spoke about the strong surge of their sales and how their upcoming titles should further solidify their bid to win the format war:

These sales milestones across the world illuminate the positive reception from retailers and consumers alike for Blu-ray. Our strong fourth quarter line-up will underscore the confidence in this format.

The aforementioned line-up is pretty solid, with titles ranging from classics to cartoons. Among them are Spider-Man 3, Spider-Man HD Trilogy, Surf's Up, Memoirs of a Geisha, Underworld, Bram Stoker's Dracula, 20 Million Miles to Earth: 50th Anniversary Edition, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition. 

The Senior Vice President of Europe's SPHE Simon McDowell gave a few words on their success in the European market saying that Blu-Ray disks have been out-selling HD-DVD by a ratio of 2 to 1. He then mentions that the immediate fourth quarter "has a strong slate on deck and support from retailers, which should further propel momentum for Blu-ray."

If the press release is any indication, Sony's preferred format is doing very well. Their success with marketing the Blu-Ray format will undoubtedly pay off in spades if they can keep the momentum going.

Recent studies say that consoles don't really contribute to sales of movies in high-def format, but here's what Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Executive Vice President - International Matt Brown had to say:

The launch of the PS3 had a tremendous impact on Blu-ray software sales across the board. Recent sales figures are a clear indication that the PS3 is seen as an entertainment device.

Figures announced by Sony Pictures, as reported by Tech Digest, strongly support the statement. According to the announcement, 180,000 Blu-ray discs have been sold in Europe after experiencing a 1000% increase in sales since PS3's launch back in March.

"Casino Royale" got special mention for being one of the biggest titles. Combining 500,000 copies given away to PS3 owners and the actual number of copies sold easily makes it the most widely distributed Blu-ray film to date.

Sony Pictures added that more than 50% of Blu-ray titles in the UK, France, and Spain are tagged with the Sony Pictures brand. Looks like those guys investigating the dirty tactics Sony use on Hollywood studios would have to double-check.

When you combine a blockbuster movie and a hot new high-definition movie player, you will definitely get chart-breaking sales. "Casino Royale," the James Bond movie starring 007 newbie Daniel Craig has hit the 100,000 units shipped marked. The movie has set the record for the most number of high definition copies sold in one day.

So what's the point of getting a Blu-ray copy of "Casino Royale?" Director Martin Campbell says, "It’s just unbelievable. Clearly, it’s fantastic. The comparison between standard def DVD and Blu-ray is quite stunning and quite transparent to the master. It’s precisely what would make me want to buy a copy."

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment President David Bishop says that the Blu-ray company is committed to bring consumers the best picture and sound quality available. If you haven't tried watching a Blu-ray movie, maybe now is the time to. Sony Pictures has a great lineup of movies still to come.

Sony has announced its new Memory Stick Entertainment Packs. (We told you about the previous batch here.) These contain either 1GB or 2GB Memory sticks bundled with an installer DVD. This is (obviously) a collaboration between Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Sony Electronics.

Aside from being able to use the Memory Sticks in devices such as Sony's digital cameras, camcorders and some Sony Ericsson phones, you can also use these to watch movies in your PSP.

The Packs come with installer DVDs for PCs which contain four Sony movies, one of which you can access with the complimentary unlock code, and then transfer to your PSP's Memory Stick media.

The movies included in the Memory Stick Entertainment Pack are "S.W.A.T.," XXX: State of the Union," "The Grudge" and "Hitch."

The 2GB and 1GB Memory Stick Entertainment Packs will become available next month and will cost $100 and $60 respectively.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that its first seven titles in high-definition Blu-ray format are to be released on the 20th of this month.

The release of these titles will coincide with the commercial release of the first Blu-ray DVD player from Samsung Electronics and of Sony's Blu-ray compatible PC. Sony's Blu-Ray will be competing with HD-DVDs which is another high-definition standard from other companies.

So far, "50 First Dates," "Hitch," "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Fifth Element" are the titles that have been confirmed for the June 20 release. Information on the other titles will be released in the coming weeks.