14 DAY TRIAL // The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), an industry-funded, non-profit corporation that compiles industry data on home entertainment, has been keeping an eye on the developments on the Blu-ray player front. Recently, it learned that household penetration of Blu-ray players has reached 18 million, and that global sales of such devices will grow to 40 million by the end of the year. Now, in order to further propel the growth of the industry, DLNA has announced that the number of certified players has doubled compared to last year, reaching a total of 105 distinct models.
DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) submits electronics to rigorous interoperability tests. Basically, if a product carries the DLNA-certified logo, it will work together with, or networked with any other DLNA-certified device, regardless of manufacturer. The 105 Blu-ray players are just a small part of the over 7,500 products that have gained this logo, and this includes personal computers, televisions, NAS devices, printers and digital cameras. JVC, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony Blu-ray players have all received this certification.
“Consumers have high expectations for interconnectivity between devices to watch movies, listen to music and even share photos,” said John Revie, SVP of Home Entertainment Marketing, Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung's Blu-ray players with AllShare and multimedia sharing across DLNA Certified devices are meeting the consumers demands for an easy, seamless experience and access to their media from one place.”
“At Philips Consumer Lifestyle, we believe that freedom in sharing and accessing multimedia content in the home is very important. However, we also believe this only works when various products can easily communicate and connect to each other,” said Jeroen Steenblik, senior marketing manager at Philips Consumer Lifestyle. “The DLNA certification program is highly important because it enables interoperability between the various products in the DLNA eco-system, delivering a hassle free experience to the users of our products and therefore ensuring our products fit our Sense & Simplicity brand promise. To demonstrate our commitment to making DLNA a success, we are adding DLNA support to the majority of our Blu-ray Players and Blu-ray Home Theater Systems launching this year.”