Short Circuits

short circuits

New and noteworthy experiences among DVDs, video games, gadgets and the Web.

DVD

"Up" isn't the only Pixar masterpiece making its Blu-ray debut today. Also out in the high-definition format is 2001's frightfully delightful "Monsters Inc." (Disney, $40), from the same filmmakers. "Monsters, Inc." follows master frighteners Sulley and Mike Wazowski as they deal with the aftermath of a little girl's scary visit to Monstropolis. Like "Up," the four-disc set offers three ways to see the movie -- on a Blu-ray disc for high-def displays, on a standard DVD for car displays or a second viewing room and in a digital copy for portable devices. Besides the bonus material from a previous DVD release, the new set's Blu-ray exclusives include a roundtable conversation with the filmmakers, one of whom is Minnesota native Pete Docter.

RANDY A. SALAS

Also out: "The Accidental Husband," "The Christmas Clause," "JAG" (Season 9), "Justice League" (full series), "Logan's Run" (Blu-ray), "Love Finds a Home," "Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days," "SpongeBob SquarePants: Truth or Square," "Spread," "The Ugly Truth," "Up."

GADGET

Motorola's new smart phone, Droid, debuted Friday on the Verizon network. While many want to compare how it stacks up against the iPhone, does it really matter? After all, you can use the Droid only if you are a Verizon customer and the iPhone only if you're with AT&T. The coolest gee-whiz feature of the Droid is its voice-prompted turn-by-turn GPS navigation, part of Google's Android 2.0 operating system. Unlike the iPhone, the Droid can run multiple apps at the same time. So, for instance, you could cue up Internet radio and then work on other things while the music streams in the background. The Droid launched with 10,000 apps, about a tenth of what's out for the iPhone. The Droid includes a 5-megapixel camera, and it has a slide-out keyboard for those who don't care for the touch-screen interface. Like the iPhone, the Droid costs $200 with a two-year contract. The website Bill Shrink estimates that a Droid user on Verizon's average plan will spend $2,839 for the two-year contract, the same as an iPhone user on the average AT&T plan. If that's your measure, the Palm Pre on Sprint or the MyTouch on T-Mobile should be your choice, because they each cost $2,309 over two years, according to the website.

RANDY A. SALAS