Adult DVD Empire has today announced the release of the first ever mature-rated UMD movie.

"Virtual Lap Dances #1", published by Bouncy Pictures, is the first such UMD title available. The UMD contains full nudity and a selection of 12 virtual girls performing first person perspective lap dances.

Silver Platter, the first fuly independent UMD movie label, announced the debut release of three full-length.

The first full-length titles available from SilvePlatter focus on Skate, Ski and Snowboard. The UMD titles, The DC Video, Teedybear Crisis and The Community Project will be available for purchase in major retail outlets from January 3rd 2005 with more (titles and genres) promised to follow.

SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment) look set to be on track to deliver its target of 6 million units of the popular PSP (PlayStation Portable) handheld device by the end of the year.

In an October interview with Reuters, SCEA American President and Chief Executive Kaz Hirai revealed the company's aim to sell a further 2.5 - 3 million PSPs by the end of the holiday season.

As the news article archive of this site clearly shows, despite some scepticism, the Sony PSP and its proprietary UMD (Universal Media Disc) format have grown from strength to strength in sales figures, both in the US and the other markets it has been introduced in.

Sony's ambitious target was strengthened by the recent news that the PSP was beating rival device the Nintendo DS in Amazon.com's Top Sellers list for computers and video games.  Overall Sony’s PSP Value Pack ranks third, with the closest DS appearance in at nine.

Sony have started a Portable TV show rental service, currently exclusively for Japanese PSP owners. 

Under the new scheme, PSP owners are able to download episodes of popular TV shows from the Sony Communication Network, as well as other video content, directly onto a Memory Stick.

The "rental" aspect of the service comes in to play, as the videos, costing between $1 - $3 each, expire after a set amount of time.

Plans to distribute the service into other areas of the world are being kept as pure speculation, perhaps favourably so for the UMD format.

Warner Home Video became the 6th and final major studio to announce that it will release products using the Universal Media Disc (UMD) format. 

The initial line up includes 9 titles -- eight movies and one TV show, including a mix of older releases in addition to new titles, being released on UMD alongside their DVD counterparts.

From 6th December - The Dukes of Hazzard, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 4 (Cartoon Network).

From 20th December - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins, Constantine, House of Wax, The Matrix, Terminator 3, Enter The Dragon.

The news bolsters what has been an impressive series of events for the PSP (PlayStation Portable) and it sibling UMD format in recent weeks. 

Sales of UMD movies are eclipsing those of UMD game titles in terms of expected sales, with UMD movies keeping chasing sales of game with a 3:4 ratio. Recently, global sales totals for the PSP surpassed 10 million before the anticpated Christmas boost, prompting Sony to up targets.

Unsuprisingly, in terms of major studio take up of the Sony UMD media format, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment represents the most activity.  51 UMD movie titles already available with scheduled to follow.

UProduction of Universal Media Discs (UMD) has increased to a capacity of 500,000 per day at Sony's DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corp). 

The new ability, up from 100,000 when production started, required the hiring of an additional 55 staff to help cope with the expansion for UMD.  Current actual production figures stand at 300,000 per day

Acceptance of the new PSP (PlayStation Portable) format, despite reknowned initial scepticism has led to increased demand for UMD media and the subsequent expansion at the Terre Haute plant.

Over $70 million has been invested into the DADC plant for various expansion and addition of new processes.

January 2006 will mark the beginning of production for Sony's high definition Blu-ray disc, slated to supercede the domestic DVD.  Initial production targets indicate 150,000 discs per day.

http://www.sonydadc.com

Details have been released which detail the first trojan virus code in existance which threatens the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable).

The Format.A trojan, first detected on the 4th October 2005, presents itself as a tool for running unsigned code on the PSP, but the actual payload attempts to delete files which are required for the correct functioning of the unit, and as a result, prohibits boot up.

Known Aliases: Format.A, PSP/Brick.A, PSP/Format.A, PSPbrick, Troj/PSPBrick-A, Trojan.PSP.Brick.a, TROJ_PSPBRICK.A

Format.A tries to removes the following files/locations from the device 'flash0':

\VSH\ETC\INDEX.DAT \KD\LOADCORE.PRX \KD\LOADEXEC.PRX \KD\INIT.PRX

Format.A is 3,848 bytes in size.

Sony Computer Entertainment today announced milestone sales figures of its PlayStation Portable (PSP), with over 10 million units in total being sold worldwide.

Such swift penetration puts the PSP in place as the fastest selling PlayStation in history. Expected increases in sales for the Christmas market sets Sony on target for 13 million units by year end.

Despite only being released at the beginning of September in the UK & Europe, sales figures in the territory top 2.5 million, with the US topping the leader board with 4.4 million, followed by Japan/Asia at 3 million units. While the figures are impressive, it is worth noting that the distribution figures represent sales of the PSP units to retailers rather than units in the possession of consumers.

Interestingly, the associated UMD disc sale figures show strong support for the UMD video format. While the amount of UMD game discs shipped sits just below 20 million, UMD movies numbers top 15 million. While the ratio of games to units sold is less than encouraging, the ratio of UMD games to UMD movies does much to answer criticism of the UMD movie format.

Sony Europe have cleared the way for UMD titles to become available for rental within the UK.

Online movie and games rental outfit LoveFilm have confirmed it will carry a selection of UMD movie and game titles from Sony's PSP portfolio.

LoveFilm, currently offering a free trial to its services, will offer 'combo' packages allowing PSP owners to rent both UMD movie and game titles along with selections from traditional DVD and PS2 (PlayStation 2) films and games respectively.

Single disc monthly subscriptions normally cost £12.99, with 4 discs available for £24.99. Unlimited exchanges mean film and game buffs can keep their selections varied throughout the month.

UK first week sales of the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) have surpassed its rivals, selling over 180,000 units since launch on September 1st. The Nintendo DS, the nearest rival device, sold 87,000 units in its first week after launch in March earlier this year. PSP sales reach the slightly sub 200,000 figure in just four days, according to official Chart-Track figures.

From the same source, the UK games chart has been swamped with 9 of the 24 available game titles entering the Top 10. Of course, the difference in figures between the sales of the PSP and the Nintendo DS should not be taken as indicative figures of 'console' sales. Not only do the devices differentiate in price, we know that Sony intend the PSP to be much more than just a portable gaming device so it is clear that while similar, the two devices are targetted towards slightly different markets over the lifespan of one of the devices.

Time to keep a close eye on UMD movie sales.

Statistically, the numbers do not appear to match the market, future or otherwise, or the thoughts of the average user looking in. However with Sony reporting that targets of having UMD Video account for 60% of all UMD's sold by 2008 are on track, thinks seem to be continually looking up for Sony's proprietary format. Considering that gaming is what many would consider to be the principal use for the PSP device, recent (we would assume worldwide...) sales figures of 9 million UMD games and 8.2 UMD movies suggest that take up of UMD Video is grossly outgunning the initial scepticism. Falling prices and a hungry and as yet nowhere near exhausted European market may prove to spin the figures once or twice more before 2008.

Despite much publicised scepticism, it appears that US sales of movies in the currently PSP native UMD Video format have hit the 500,000 mark, and in a much shorter timeframe managed by its DVD counterpart when it was released in 1997.

While I doubt anyone is slating the UMD as a successor, or even an alternative film medium in the domestic market and as such it may be unwise to compare the two by distribution figures, it is still impressive reading.  With the recent release in Europe, this figure, along with public opinion, is set to swell and it may not take such a long time to hit the magic one million mark.

An indicative figure of unique user yield would be useful to take such news in relative context.  Have half a million users each purchased one disc in order to test out the much famed UMD video feature of the their latest prized possession?  Or, does the average number of discs per user make those sales figures look less impressive when expressed as numbers of users who have purchased UMD video separately from those acquired in Spider Man 2 early bird packs?