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Duplicators
Kanguru Solutions has announced the release of the world's first stand-alone USB duplicator. According to their press release, the Kanguru USB Duplicator has the ability to copy information to as many as 24 USB devices at once.
Kanguru Solutions, announces the release of the Kanguru USB Duplicator(TM), a high speed, standalone USB duplicator that allows users to copy to up to 24 USB devices at once.

Designed to streamline data distribution among portable USB storage devices, the Kanguru USB Duplicator is great for back ups, IT work, sales and marketing preparation, PC rollouts and more. The Kanguru USB Duplicator (compatible with both USB 2.0 and USB 1.1) uses eight main function modes to copy and verify data, offers five different setup modes, and works with USB memory sticks as well as USB hard drives. The USB Duplicator comes in 2 sizes: 1 Master to 9 Targets and 1 Master to 24 Targets.
No word yet on pricing or availability. If you'd like to read more, Kanguru's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
While HD DVD fans in the UK won't be getting the Venturer SHD7001 in time for the holidays, the European HD DVD Promotional Group is making up for it by including a voucher with the player good for five free HD DVD titles.
Not only will the new SHD7001 be supplied with a fantastic add on package worth around £50.00 (two fantastic HD DVDs; Hulk and Troy, and a free HDMI cable) it will also now include a voucher that enables customers to redeem 5 more free HD DVDs courtesy of the European HD DVD Promotional Group.

Until 31st January 2008 customers can use their redemption voucher to select 5 of their favourite titles for free from a list of HD DVDs, giving them complete freedom of choice. No additional charges will be made as postage and packaging will also be completely free.
If you'd like to read more, Venturer's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Microsoft recently announced the release of its Xbox 360 HD DVD Emulator. By offering this new tool, Microsoft hopes to streamline the development and testing process by giving film studios and disc authoring companies the ability to model the behavior of HD DVD disc content in a virtual environment.
Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Emulator, enabling film studios and disc authoring companies to model the behavior of HD DVD disc content, including encoded video and HDi interactivity, in a virtual environment before committing to burning a single HD DVD disc. This comprehensive tool is among the first commercially available, software-based solutions of its kind, eliminating the need for expensive hardware or time-consuming and costly trial-and-error processes for testing HD DVD titles, helping to ensure that titles ship error-free.

The enhanced content and rich interactive capabilities of HD DVD increase the need for an efficient way to troubleshoot coding to maintain the highest-quality consumer experiences. The emulator uses a combination of available hardware (the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player) and specialized emulation software to ultimately enable playback of near-final assets from a network storage share, portable hard drive or optical disc. This allows focused testing of the layout, the menus, and the behavior of the interactivity functionality of a title. Detailed log reports from the Xbox 360 HD DVD Emulator deliver valuable tracing information to help quickly and easily pinpoint problems with advanced interactivity code that otherwise could take hours of manual debugging.
The emulator is available now via Xbox LIVE for a one-time licensing fee is $2,999. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Addonics Technologies has announced a new optical storage solution that can play back both Blu-ray and HD DVD movies. According to their press release, the Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player can also play standard DVDs and CDs in various file formats and burn DVD±R/RW and CD-RW media.

Addonics Technologies today announced its Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player an optical storage solution that allows your PC to play Blu-ray and HD DVD movies from the same tray.

The Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player also plays standard DVDs and CDs in various file formats and burns DVD±R/RW and CDRW media, which makes it one of the most flexible optical drives available. Users can turn their laptop or desktop computer into a high definition movie player and enjoy high definition video quality of 1080p format at 1920x1080 resolution and the dynamic 7.1-channel audio output that comes with the Blu-ray or HD DVD format.
The Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player is available with an eSATA interface for $409 with a combination eSATA/USB 2.0 interface for $429. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Verbatim Europe sent out a press release earlier today, announcing their new color LightScribe DVD+R media. Along with the original gold color, these discs are available in red, orange, yellow, blue and green.

Verbatim, the storage media specialist, is the first and only company in the world to bring colour LightScribe DVD+Rs this year onto the market. Alongside the current Golden colour, the discs are now available in Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue and Green. In addition, an update for the LightScribe system software allows even more brilliant results. The new Verbatim LightScribe DVD+R discs are available from December and cost €4.99 for 5 discs in a slim case (RRP). In addition, Verbatim will offer the Golden LightScribe CD-R, with proven AZO quality, on a spindle holding 25 discs for €10.49 (RRP).
If you'd like to read more, Verbatim Europe's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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ASUS EN8800GTS TOP (GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB) @Hardware Zone
DangerDen M5 & MC-TDX CPU Waterblocks @Virtual-Hideout
Foxconn MARS (Intel P35) Motherboard @Hardware Zone
Microsoft Wireless Media Center Keyboard @OCModShop
Nanoxia Dualcontact Hybrid Base CPU Cooler @Tweaknews.net
SteelSeries 3H USB Headphones @HardwareLogic
Thermaltake DuOrb VGA Cooler @ThinkComputers.org
PNY IronKey 4GB Flash Drive @I4U
Ultra Products m998 Mid-Tower ATX Case @Bigbruin.com
Ultra X3 Modular 600 Watt PSU @Hi-Techreviews.com
XFX 8800 GTS 512MB XXX Graphics Card @I4U
ZOTAC GeForce 8800GTS 512MB G92 @TweakTown
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Home Entertainment
Last week, Business Week reported that Warner Home Video could choose a side in the war between Blu-ray and HD DVD. The article also included a rumor stating that Warner was currently leaning towards Blu-ray. In a statement issued to Current.com.au, Warner Brothers Home Video Australia and New Zealand managing director Roger Clarke responds to these claims, saying that their position has not changed and would continue to support both HD DVD and Blu-ray for the foreseeable future.
“Our position hasn’t changed and certainly any comments that were published in the US were not intended to suggest that we had changed our stance. We support both formats and we have not made any decision towards that policy and nor are any such announcements planned or in the pipeline,” he said.

“In terms of the short-term scenarios around the Q4 sales results, Warner Brothers are always reviewing our strategies and we can’t say what might happen in five or ten years, but for now, there’s been no decision made to change course.”
While there is probably some truth to these rumors, we probably won't hear any official announcements until the Consumer Electronics Show in January. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
DigiTimes has reported that Taiwan's first and second-tier DVD+R/-R disc manufacturers have been at full capacity for the fourth quarter of 2007. While this would normally give manufacturers an excuse to raise prices, OEM quotes have remained unchanged at $0.15 for 16x discs and $0.11-0.12 for 8x discs.
Leading and second-tier Taiwan-based optical discs makers have had their production capacities for blank DVD+R/-R discs fully occupied for the fourth quarter of 2007, but corresponding OEM prices have remained unchanged at US$0.15 for 16x discs and US$0.11-0.12 for 8x discs, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

The fully book capacity is mainly due to increased order volume from retail channels in the US and Europe as well as emerging markets in Latin America and Russia, the sources pointed out. Despite booming sales, leading makers including CMC Magnetics, Ritek and Prodisc Technology have not adjusted OEM quotes, making second-tier makers unable to raise their prices, the sources indicated.
The article also points out that CD-R discs have fallen short of expectations. As a result, first tier manufacturers have lowered their quotes to compete with second-tier manufacturers. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Sony NEC Optiarc Europe recently announced that they have started distributing Sony branded burners to retail outlets. Along with the BWU-200S Blu-ray Disc writer, the company will distribute two new 20x DVD writers, the DRU-190S and DRU-190A.
The BWU-200S burns single and double-layer Blu-ray discs at up to 4x speed, and DVD media at up to 16x speed. It needs around 45 minutes to write a 50 GB BD-R - which is only half the time required by the predecessor model, the BWU-100A. Up to 230 minutes of video film in HD quality can be recorded on a 50 GB Blu-ray disc.

BD-REs are processed by the BWU-200S at double speed. It processes DVD+R blanks at 16x speed and DVD+RW media at 8x speed, DVD-RAMs at 5x speed and DVD+R discs in double-layer versions at 8x write speed. The BWU-200S has a SATA interface and is supplied with CyberLink BD authoring software for Windows, which inputs video recordings in 1080i and provides editing functions. The software also supports video playback, including DVDs in AVCHD format.

In addition to the BWU-200S, Optiarc starts to distribute two new multi-write DVD burners in retail outlets. The DRU-190S and the DRU-190A achieve up to 20x write speed on single-layer DVD blanks. They burn rewritable and double-layer DVDs at up to 8x DVD speed, and DVD-RAMs at a maximum of 12x speed. The DRU-190S is connected up via a SATA interface which enables even faster data transfer. The DRU-190A has an E-IDE interface.
The BWU-200S, DRU-190S and DRU-190A are now available from retail outlets. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Case @HardwareLogic andInsideHW.com
Dell XPS M1730 Gaming Notebook @HotHardware.com
Gigabyte 3D Galaxy II Water Cooling System @[OC]ModShop
Gigabyte GV-NX88T512HP (GeForce 8800 GT 512MB, TurboForce Edition) @Hardware Zone
Inno3D GeForce 8800GT OC 512MB @TweakTown
Leadtek WinFast 8500 & 8600GT With HDMI @TweakTown
Nexus Caterpillar Silent ATX Case @Madshrimps
Rosewill RX81-CW-US Hard Drive Enclosure @ThinkComputers.org
Thermaltake iXoft Notebook Cooling Pad @Virtual-Hideout
Thermaltake Xaser VI Case @DV Hardware
Ultra m998 Aluminum Mid-Tower ATX Case ULT40069 @Benchmark Reviews
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