Mitsubishi Chemical has announced that they will be releasing their "ARLEDIA" DVD-R media to the Japanese market in late March. These archival grade discs feature DYN-AZO dye and a Au/Ag (gold/silver) reflective layer which offers twice the lifetime of conventional DVD-R media. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

Mitsubishi chemical media Ltd. (The headquarters: the Tokyo Minato Ward and president: Otsuka heavy morality) will put one DVD-R for the long preservation to preserve important data for a long term 'ARLEDIA' on the market by packing in the end of March.

The chance to preserve important memories of a private image and the image, etc. as data has increased by the spread of the digital camera and the video camera. Strong DVD-R was developed in compliance with the demand from a lot of users that it wanted to leave data for a long term safely in that long preservation.

ARLEDIA (the Al redia) with the designation from of Au/Ag Reflective Layered mEDIA, in the reflected membrane of the disk the gold (Au) with the silver (Ag) (the gold and silver reflected membrane),durability of the disk was raised by the fact that you use. Until recently in comparison with the item, long-term conservation (long-lived) is the disk archival which it improves. The gold which is strong in aged deterioration, the respective merit of the silver where the compatibility for drive is high was utilized.
Mitsubishi's ARLEDIA DVD-R media is expected to cost about 600 Yen ($5.70US) per disc. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
With Blu-ray winning the format war, many companies are stepping forward, pledging their support for the technology. While not new to Blu-ray, Primera announced this week that it will be offering full support for the format across its entire product line.
Primera Technology, Inc., the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of automated CD, DVD and Blu-ray Disc duplication and printing equipment, today announced its full and complete support of Blu-ray Disc technology across its entire product line.

During the past several weeks, the “format war” between HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc has come to a swift and decisive end. HD-DVD has been withdrawn from the market and Blu-ray Disc has become the new worldwide standard for high-definition video. Video production professionals and others who may need high-definition disc burning and printing in the future can now confidently make the decision to upgrade their CD/DVD disc publishers to include Blu-ray Disc capabilities without the worry of obsolescence.
If you'd like to read more, Primera's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
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Earlier this week, Aleratec announced the launch of its new robotic LightScribe disc publisher, the DVD/CD RoboRacer LS. While small and lightweight, the DVD/CD RoboRacer LS is capable of duplicating or labeling up to 100 discs automatically.

Aleratec Inc., leading developer and manufacturer of "Prosumers' Choice" solutions for the USB, Flash, HDD, Blu-ray, DVD/CD, duplicating, and DVD/CD publishing markets, introduces its innovative new DVD/CD RoboRacer LS, the simplest ever robotic autoloading disc publisher. For improved reliability, the Aleratec DVD/CD RoboRacer LS has fewer moving parts than any other robotic publisher. Yet, it is capable of unattended direct to disc LightScribe labeling and unattended disc duplication. Customers just connect it to a PC, load it with up to 100 blank LightScribe discs, use the powerful Aleratec Disc Publishing Software Suite included with purchase to select the disc image or label and start duplicating or labeling up to 100 discs automatically.
The DVD/CD RoboRacer LS is available now for a suggested retail price of $839. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
If you've been looking to score a cheap HD DVD player at Best Buy, you're out of luck. According to Punch Jump, the retailer has already sold their entire stock of players.
Best Buy Co. Inc. this week sold out of two HD DVD player SKUs following Toshiba Corp.'s announcement that it will exit the HD DVD business.

The HD-A3 HD DVD Player and the HD-A35 HD DVD Player held a sold out status at Bestbuy.com after the retailer price cut the hardware to as low as $99.99.
While Best Buy may be sold out, my local Walmart still has plenty of players in stock. I keep checking, in the hope that they'll clearance them out for $50. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
While Universal and Paramount have announced plans to release titles on Blu-ray, DreamWorks is still locked into an exclusive agreement with Toshiba. According to Reuters, Dreamworks is waiting to hear from Toshiba before breaking their agreement and releasing their titles on Blu-ray.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc said on Tuesday it was locked in an exclusive deal to distribute DVDs on Toshiba Corp's HD DVD format even though the Japanese electronics maker plans to quit the technology.

"We have a partnership with Toshiba and have an obligation to see this through," DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said on Tuesday.

"As you know, we have been well-compensated for our support. It really is in their court at this point to really declare what the next step will be. We're poised either way to jump into the marketplace when the conditions are right to do so," he said.
Hopefully, Toshiba lets DreamWorks break their agreement. If not, we won't see any of their titles on Blu-ray for another year. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
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Toshiba has announced the launch of its new line of high-performance 1.8-inch HDDs. With their Serial ATA interface and 5,400 RPM rotation speed, Toshiba claims that these new HDDs are 29% faster than its current offerings.

Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD), the industry pioneer in smallform factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today added a line of high-performance 5,400 RPM SerialATA (SATA) 1.8-inch HDDs to its product offerings for mobile PCs. Available in 120GB1 and80GB capacities, these new HDDs integrate design elements from Toshiba's flagship 2.5-inchline into its proven 1.8-inch platform to offer enhanced performance for ultra-thin and light PCapplications.

These new 1.8-inch HDDs leverage the interface architecture from Toshiba’s 2.5-inchSATA HDDs, which carry the industry certification for SATA compliance, providing seamlesscompatibility across Toshiba’s full line of SATA HDDs. The combination of 5,400 RPM spinspeeds with SATA features expands Toshiba’s market-leading 1.8-inch product lineup into thehigh-performance segment of the growing ultra-portable computing market.
Toshiba will begin mass producing its 80GB and 120GB 1.8-inch HDDs in April 2008. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Sony NEC Optiarc Europe has announced that they will be showcasing a number of Blu-ray Disc drives at CeBIT 2008. Along with the Sony BDU-X10S BD-ROM, the company will have two new BD combo drives on display, the half-height BC-M110S and the slimline, slot loading BC-5600S.
The Optiarc BC-M110S BD Combo drive is a versatile drive which plays Blu-ray and burns DVDs and CDs. The BC-M110S is connected to the computer’s SATA interface, and it fits in a conventional 5.1/4 inch drive aperture.

As announced, Optiarc will be putting the Sony BDU-X10S BD-ROM drive onto the retail shelves in February. It’s part of a retail package being marketed under the Sony brand name which upgrades the PC to a Blu-ray Disc player so that it can play BDs as well as DVDs and CDs. The package also includes the CyberLink PowerDVD BD Edition program. At the end of last year, Optiarc also began marketing the flagship product Sony BWU-200S, which writes Blu-ray recordable discs at 4x speed. Optiarc has additionally launched two fast 20x DVD burners, the Sony DRU-190A (PATA) and the DRU-190S (SATA). drive onto the retail shelves inFebruary. It’s part of a retail package being marketed under the The package also includes the program. At the end of last year, Optiarc also began marketing the flagship product Sony BWU-200S, which writes Blu-ray recordable discs at 4x speed. Optiarc has additionally launched two fast 20x DVD burners, the Sony DRU-190A (PATA) and the DRU-190S (SATA).

Additionally Optiarc is extending its notebook drive portfolio. There is a new drive specifically for ultra-thin notebooks in the pipeline, plus the Optiarc BC-5600S slot-in BD Combo drive, a high performer when space is limited. It reads Blu-ray Discs at 2x speed and burns DVD blanks at up to 8x speed. at 2x speed and burns DVD blanks at up to 8x speed.
No word yet on pricing or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, Optiarc's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Sony sent out a press release this morning, announcing two new Blu-ray Disc players. The BDP-S350 and BDP-S550 feature an ethernet port and are capable of accessing advanced interactive features such as Bonus View and BD-Live. Both models also offer 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema output as well as Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus decoding and bit-stream output. The BDP-S550 ups the ante even further with a 1GB storage device and support for dts-HD High Resolution Audio and dts-HD Master Audio decoding.

The BDP-S350 and BDP-S550 models both support Bonus View (Picture-in-Picture) featured on some of the new Blu-ray Disc theatrical releases. The BDP-S350 model is BD-Live ready featuring an Ethernet port for an easy firmware update and access to Internet-based interactive content features. The BSP-S550 is Bonus View and BD-Live capable when it ships.

Both models also feature an external port for local storage, so users can add optional USB flash-based memory. The BDP-S550 ships with a 1GB storage device.

“Building on the exceptional picture and sound quality of previous players, Sony’s next-generation Blu-ray Disc models bring exciting interactive features to life and offer consumers a ground-breaking experience,” said Chris Fawcett, vice president of marketing for Sony Electronics’ Home Product Division. “These new devices bring home movie experience beyond the cinema and into a whole new realm of entertainment.”
The new BDP-S350 ships this summer for about $400 and BDP-S550 will be available this fall for about $500. Full details can be found here. Add a comment