In preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the China government in April 2008 asked the three TFP makers and other chemical producers to cut or stop production for 100 days in an attempt to reduce air pollution, the sources pointed out. In addition, the China government placed a temporary ban on the transportation of dangerous goods, including TFP for export, beginning June 2008, the sources indicated.This comes at a bad time as the third quarter is traditionally the peak period for blank optical discs. The decreased production could push up OEM quotes for the quarter. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
The situation has resulted in a short supply of TFP for second-tier disc makers, the sources pointed out. CMC Magnetics and Ritek, the top-two Taiwan-based makers of blank optical discs, have not been substantially affected by the shortages because they have supplies guaranteed by long-term contracts, the sources indicated.
Singulus received orders for 21 Blu-ray dual-layer machines in the first quarter and said on Monday the figure showed the new technology was being adopted faster than its predecessor, DVD, 11 years ago.If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
"This means that the orders for Blu-ray in the first year of the dual layer technology already by far exceeded the volume at the start of the DVD eleven years ago with 17 machines," Chief Financial Officer Stefan Baustert said.
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Asus Striker II NSE Motherboard @I4U
Cooler Master Centurion 590 @InsideHW
Corsair XMS3 DHX DDR3-1600 EPP 2.0 Certified 4GB Dual Channel Memory Kit @ThinkComputers.org
Crucial Ballstix PC3-16000 2GB EPP Memory Kit @HardwareLogic
MSI N9600GT Hybrid Freezer Graphics Card @TweakTown
Samsung 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor 2220WM-HAS @Benchmark Reviews
SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4GB USB Stick @Madshrimps
Thermaltake BlacX SE SATA to USB Dock @TweakTown
Toshiba Satellite X305-S6845 Notebook @HotHardware.com
NEC Electronics today announced the sale of 100 percent subsidiary of NEC Electronics Taiwan (President: Shiniti Kubo, Headquarters: Taipei City) in the drive for optical storage device embedded firmware development and support to become the center of "Taiwan optical storage and Development Center (hereinafter Development Center) "to open.If you'd like to read more, NEC's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
The development center is built-in system LSI chips for optical storage and firmware development support and marketing activities with the goal established by the original staff of 10 local technology, new products to LSI device built into the drive The firmware development and marketing of optical disc business activities in Asia.
LaCie today announced LaCie Remote Burn software for both its Portable DVD±RW with LightScribe, Design by Sam Hecht and d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe drives for FireWire that also include Toast Titanium. With LaCie Remote Burn, users can take full advantage of the LaCie DVD±RW burners' fast write speeds from any Macintosh located on the local network. Exclusively available to LaCie, Remote Burn can easily burn files with simple drag and drop, while automatically calculating the type of DVD/CD needed. When ready to burn, the software sends data across the network to selected computers with attached LaCie burners.LaCie's Remote Burn software is available now and comes bundled with its Portable DVD±RW with LightScribe, Design by Sam Hecht and d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe drives for FireWire. More information about Remote Burn can be found on LaCie's website. Add a comment
“LaCie Remote Burn is a complete solution for easily sharing multiple burners plugged into a Macintosh at home or in the office,” said Christelle Dexet, LaCie Product Manager. “With three clicks of a mouse, one can burn their data to a remote LaCie DVD±RW drive or duplicate a custom DVD/CD using multiple burners over the network. In addition to our drives' stylish design, LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling technology and the bundling of a complete version of Toast Titanium, LaCie continues to offer the most advanced burning solution for Macintosh users.”
No word yet on pricing or availability. With all this though, the Xonar HDAV1.3 probably won't be cheap. If you'd like to read more, ASUS' entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
ASUS, a leading name in high quality computer components and solutions, announces the world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio/video enhancement combo card - the Xonar HDAV1.3. Capable of outputting uncompressed multichannel high definition audio from Blu-ray movies, the Xonar HDAV 1.3 also enhances video with an onboard Splendid HD processor - providing ultimate multimedia enjoyment.
The Xonar HDAV 1.3 features Protected Audio Playback Systems (PAPS) and full Advanced Access Content System (AACS) certification. Without both of these certifications, typical PCs will need to downsample Blu-ray audio to DVD quality (48K/16bit). By closely working with ArcSoft's Total Media Theater, ASUS' Xonar HDAV1.3 is capable of decoding Blu-ray movies and takes full advantage of lossless digital audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio for professional, high-fidelity sounds at 24bit, 96-192Khz. The PCI Express based Xonar HDAV1.3 is designed from the ground up for next generation home theater PCs (HTPC); and is equipped with the proprietary AV200 audio processor and HDMI1.3a certified Splendid HD video processor - making it capable of delivering the highest quality 7.1 channel 192K linear pulse code modulation (LPCM) audio and high definition video through the HDMI port.
If you'd like to read more, Traxdata's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Traxdata, a leading brand of optical and flash media products, has today announced that it has extended its Blu-ray Recordable media range to incorporate BD-R 4x, making it one of the few brands to currently supply certified Blu-ray Recordable 4x Media.
The Traxdata Blu-ray range consists of Blu-ray Rewritable (BD-RE) 2X and Blu-ray Recordable (BD-R) 2x and 4x media, all of which have passed official Blu-ray certification and are also available as white inkjet printable media. With Traxdata's white inkjet printable media, users can personalise their Blu-ray disc by creating and printing their own design onto it.
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Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP 24" Widescreen LCD @HotHardware.com
Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX OC 512MB Video Card @Benchmark Reviews
Hiper Osiris ATX Tower Case @Bigbruin.com
Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler @ASE Labs
Twintech GeForce 9600GT XXT OC Edition @TweakTown
VIZO Propeller 2 System Cooler @BCCHardware
Nero, creators of liquid media technology, announced today that the company has entered into a new cooperation with PLDS (Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions) to introduce the first Lite-On SecurDisc drives to the market.The Lite-On iHAP622 is scheduled to ship during the second half of 2008. If you'd like to read more, Nero's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
SecurDisc technology provides a full feature set of data security-related functions through a combined hardware/software solution. It offers encryption with password protection, digital signature, higher data reliability through data storage redundancy and defect management, as well as copy protection for PDF files and a data integrity checker. SecurDisc offers users strong access controls, and Nero continues to set the standard for what end-users will come to expect in ensuring the security of their files on CDs and DVDs.