Apple may turn its nose up at Blu-ray, but that's not stopping Universal from bringing the format's features to the iPhone.
Coinciding with the upcoming Blu-ray release of Fast & Furious, Universal said it will release a free iPhone app with BD-Live features on July 28. The same functionality will come alongside other Blu-ray releases later this year.
These iPhone apps will allow for remote control of the disc's features, access to additional information on the films and integration with social networking sites. For example, Fast & Furious will feature a "Virtual Car Garage" for ogling 360-degree views of vehicles and browsing their technical specs. Universal says this is "just one of many exciting features" included in the Blu-ray release.
Just in case anyone's thinking it, I strongly doubt Apple would reject these Apps for any reason, even if Steve Jobs famously called Blu-ray a "bag of hurt." If anything, the BD-Live features are as big a draw to iPhones as they are to Blu-ray -- though I tend to think gimmicks like this don't add much to either experience.
What's more interesting is that Universal doesn't seem to be targeting other smartphones with BD-Live features. The press release makes no mention of Android, Windows or Blackberry phones, though one would think they're just as capable of interacting with the movie. Is this a deliberate snub, or a ploy to use the iPhone name for newsmaking power? Either way, Apple's got to feel pretty good.
