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Home Entertainment
While HD DVD is doing quite well in the set-top player market, its still lagging behind Blu-ray in regards to movie sales. In Europe, Blu-ray has sold more than one million units and has accounted for 73% of of the high-def discs sold this year.
Total Blu-ray Disc movie sales across Europe have topped one million units, it was announced today by the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee. Of the High Definition movie discs bought by consumers year-to-date in Europe, 73% were in the Blu-ray Disc format and 27% were HD DVD, according to sales data provided by Media Control Gfk International.

The only High Definition packaged media universally supported by the film, music, gaming and computer industries, BD is the #1 selling High Definition packaged media. The one million unit milestone relates to movies only. If BD game disc production is added into the equation, then total number of discs produced for sale in Europe already exceeds 21 million units. The so-called ‘PlayStation effect’ is important since it is creating major economies of scale and makes BD disc replication cost effective.

Blu-ray Disc movie sales experienced their highest weekly sales since the inception of the format, in week 44, topping 66,000 units. This is due to the launch of new release titles such as 300, Spider-Man 3, Die Hard 4.0 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
While selling a million discs is a commendable feat, its still a drop in the bucket compared to the number of standard DVD's being sold. If you'd like to read more, the Blu-ray Disc Association's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
The North American HD DVD Promotional Group announced today that that the sales of dedicated HD DVD players has exceeded the 750,000 mark. These sales numbers include standalone set-top players as well as the Xbox 360 HD DVD player.
Following landmark Black Fridaypromotions through major retail chains, the North American HD DVDPromotional Group today announced that sales of dedicated HD DVD playersexceeded the 750,000 mark. The data is based on retailer reports and otherpoint of sale data, and includes standalone set-top players as well as theXbox 360 HD DVD player.

"HD DVD continues to gain momentum and market share with consumers,"said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing forUniversal Studios Home Entertainment, and co-president of the HD DVDPromotional Group. "With more than four weeks left for holiday shopping, HDDVD is turning out to be a perfect consumer electronics gift."
The latest round of promotions and price cuts have apparently paid off. Nevertheless, Toshiba and other HD DVD backers still have a way to go if they want to catch up with the Playstation 3, which has already sold millions of units. If you'd like to read more, the HD DVD Promotional Group's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
Corel announced today that Samsung has chosen to bundle Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5SE with their new high-definition digital movie camera, the Xacti DMX-HD1000. Here's part of their press release:
Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL) (TSX: CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today announced that Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5SE will be bundled with the world's smallest and lightest high-definition digital movie camera, Xacti DMX-HD1000 from SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO). With Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5SE, users can import, edit and convert their HD movies and store their memories as creative DVD projects.

Based on Corel's award-winning Ulead DVD MovieFactory authoring software, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5SE for the SANYO Xacti DMX-HD1000 enables users to import and edit full HD (1920 x 1080) MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 movies taken with DMX-HD1000. Users can output their edited movies to MPEG2-HD format and burn to DVDs, or copy their movie files to their PCs and use Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5SE to edit and save them as they wish. With the added flexibility Corel’s software provides, users can easily share their projects with family and friends, viewing their creations on their television screen or creating HD-quality slideshows including high-resolution photos taken with the Xacti DMX-HD1000 and export them as MPEG2-HD files at 1440 x 1080 or 1920 x 1080 resolutions.
If you'd like to read more, Corel's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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On behalf of the staff here at CDRLabs, I just wanted to wish all of our American readers a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

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Software
Nero released a new version of Nero 8 this week. There is no change log yet. However, this new update brings the version count up to 8.1.1.4. If you'd like to check it out, the update can be downloaded here. As usual, feel free to share your experiences in our forum. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
New Medium Enterprises, Inc. announced this week that they have sold 10,000 HD VMD Multilayer Players to FKH Electronic, who will bedistributing them to retail outlets in central Europe.
New Medium Enterprises, Inc.(NME) (OTC Bulletin Board: NMEN), provider of the affordable, high-qualityHD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) format, announced today its sale of10,000 Multilayer Players for Central Europe to FKH Electronic, who will bedistributing its 1080p HD VMD Multilayer Players to retail outlets inPoland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. This initial order is valuedat US$1.3 million. The order will complement the HD VMD film contentcurrently available in Central Europe.
As I've said in the past, HD VMD is joining the party a bit late. With HD DVD player prices already dipping below $200, HD VMD really doesn't have much of an advantage anymore. If you'd like to read more, NME's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Here's an interesting bit of news. According to DigiTimes, Panasonic expects blue-laser optical disc drives to be built into 10% of desktop and notebook PCs by 2008. This increase adoption is primarily due to the drop in price of Blu-ray Disc writers and the willingness of large PC vendors to adopt blue-laser burners and drives.
The adoption of blue-laser optical disc drives (ODDs), Blu-ray Disc (BD) and/or HD DVD, built into desktop and notebook PCs will increase from less than 1% of all PCs in 2007 to 10% in 2008, according to general manager Masayuki Kozuka for the Storage Device Business Strategy Office of Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic).

In the case of BD burners, OEM price levels have dropped from US$1,000 in 2006 to US$800 in 2007 and may further fall to US$500 in 2008 mainly because of increasing yields and production capacity of BD pick-up heads and chipsets, Kozuka pointed out. This has increased the willingness of international PC vendors, including Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell, Acer and Asustek Computer, to adopt blue-laser burners or drives, Kozuka indicated.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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