Mark Fleischmann

Remember Warner's DVD2Blu program, which lets DVD owners trade in their old standard-def discs for brand-new high-def Blu-ray discs? Disney is going one better by offering factory-fresh BDs to DVD owners while allowing them to keep their old discs.

Disney Movies Anywhere is the studio’s foray into cloud-based content distribution. Buy a Disney movie title on iTunes, and you can enjoy it on multiple platforms—for starters, iOS devices, Apple TV, and major Web browsers, with others to follow. The digital rights management scheme is Disney’s own long-rumored KeyChest, a notable departure from the UltraViolet cloud DRM supported by other major studios. DMA is launching with 400 titles to start, including Frozen. Those who activate DMA and connect it to an iTunes account get a free digital copy of The Incredibles. If you’ve bought a Disney title on Blu-ray or DVD over the past six years, your disc may include a code for cloud access on the DMA platform.

It includes 35 test patterns for everyone from beginners to experts and will be available November 2 on both Blu-ray and DVD. BD copies disappeared almost instantly from the press room. See TWICE and Disney press release at Engadget HD.

Talk about lost in space. Intelsat, a communications company, says it has lost control of one of its satellites. The rogue satellite is likely to drift into the path of another satellite, possibly interfering with the latter's ability to transmit cable and satellite TV programming to the United States.