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Optical Storage

18 October 2007

Sony NEC Optiarc Europe recently announced the launch of their new slimline Blu-ray combo drive. The BC-5500A supports the playback of Blu-ray Disc movies and can read and write to all current CD and DVD formats.

Sony NEC Optiarc Europe GmbH (Optiarc Europe) has launched its first Blu-ray Disc Combo (BD Combo) for notebooks. The Optiarc BC-5500A supports BD playback at double speed as well as read and write of conventional DVD and CD media. This versatile product gives even mid-range notebooks the BD capability that is currently a privilege of the top-of-line notebooks.

Optiarc BC-5500A is a fruit of successful integration of the advanced components technologies from Sony and NEC. It sports Sony’s optical pickup module and NEC’s system LSI in the heart of the drive, that enable 2x BD reading speed for flawless playback of high definition video. Thus the BC-5500A is the ideal device for notebook users that are interested in burning DVDs and CDs and additionally are looking to be able to play back Blu-ray Discs and watch HD-movies.

The BC-5500A will be available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, starting in September. More information, including a full list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

17 October 2007

ASUS Blitz Formula P35 Motherboard @TweakTown
ASUS EN8600GT OC Gear Graphics Card @Virtual-Hideout
Cooler Express CE-48-S-1C Phase Change CPU Cooler @PC Apex
CoolerMaster Gemin II CPU Cooler @Virtual-Hideout
Corsair Padlock Secure USB 2.0 Flash Memory Drive @Futurelooks
Envision H190L 19" LCD Monitor @ThinkComputers.org
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 M0 Stepping CPU @Madshrimps
Logitech MX620 Cordless Laser Mouse @InsideHW.com
OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-9200 DDR2 1150MHz RAM Kit @Benchmark Reviews
OCZ ProXstream 1000W PSU @OCModShop
Wolf King Trooper Gaming Mouse @I4U
Zalman CNPS8700 LED INTEL/AMD CPU Cooler @Tweaknews.net
Zalman Z-Machine GT1000 @HotHardware.com

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Flash Memory

17 October 2007

SanDisk sent out a press release earlier today, announcing an 8GB version of its SanDisk Extreme III SDHC card. Developed for high-performance digital cameras, the 8GB SanDisk Extreme III SDHC card has a maximum read/write speed of 20 MB/s and can store more than 4,000 high-resolution pictures or up to 16 hours of MPEG 4 video.

More capacity and fast transfer speeds are the chief benefits of the SanDisk Extreme III 8-gigabyte (GB)1 SDHC (SD High-Capacity) flash memory card, which was introduced today by SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK). This and other imaging products from SanDisk will be displayed in Booth 1808 at PhotoPlus 2007 International Conference & Expo, which opens Thursday at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The 8GB SDHC card will be packaged with a SanDisk MicroMate USB 2.0 Reader - a $20 value - so that users have a one-stop solution for capturing, storing and transferring their images. The bundled card and reader are expected to ship within the next 30 days to U.S. retailers at a suggested price of $179.99. It will also be available in Europe.

If you'd like to read more, SanDisk's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

17 October 2007

Panasonic has officially announced their 4x Blu-ray Disc writer, the LF-PB271JD. This new drive sports a Serial ATA interface and is capable of writing to both BD-R and BD-R DL media at 4x. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

The Panasonic marketing headquarters sells the Blu-ray Disc drive for the personal computer data from November 10th. The Blu-ray Disc format of BD-R, BD-RE and BD-ROM which the blue ray disk association standardizes is supported not only, the DVD-RAM disk (5 time speed) and the like DVD MULTI and the CD format were supported, wide compatibility high record playback efficiency was actualized. High picture quality treble quality of the hi-vision times which have started spreading quickly it is the Blu-ray Disc drive for the personal computer data which actualizes bulk data retention such as digital image.

The LF-PB271JD will be released to the Japanese market on November 10th. While Panasonic has announced a price, AV Watch expects the drive to cost about 55,000 Yen ($471US). More information, including a full list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment

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Software

16 October 2007

CyberLink sent out a press release today, announcing that CyberLink PowerDVD has been certified for playback of the BD-RE 3.0 format. With support for BD-RE 3.0, PowerDVD users can now play BDMV content, including interactive menus, on rewritable Blu-ray Discs.

CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, announced today that CyberLink PowerDVD has been verified by the Sony Verification Center to support playback of rewritable Blu-ray Discs BD-RE 3.0 (BDMV format on BD-RE).

Continuing its tradition of delivering superb quality for movie playback on the PC, CyberLink PowerDVD's support for BD-RE 3.0 allows users to play the BDMV content they have authored on rewritable Blu-ray Discs, and navigate the advanced interactive menus of the Blu-ray Disc format. PowerDVD has already been certified for BD-ROM Profile 1.0, BD+, AVCHD, and HD DVD.

If you'd like to read more, CyberLink's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Software

16 October 2007

Roxio has announced the launch of their new media protection suite, BackOnTrack 3. This suite of applications provides real-time protection from system corruption and can backup individual files or an entire hard drive to any storage device, including CD, DVD, Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs.

Roxio, a division of Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today launched BackOnTrack 3, a comprehensive suite of applications that provide consumers a straightforward way to safeguard their irreplaceable personal media and critical documents. BackOnTrack uses a unique three-level protection strategy that includes instant system restoration in the event of a major system crash, disaster recovery in case of a lost or damaged hard drive, and automated data backup to secure important files such as treasured family photos, videos and financial records.

BackOnTrack 3 is available now and can be purchased directly from Roxio for $49.99. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Flash Memory

16 October 2007

Transcend recently announced the launch of its latest USB flash drive, the JetFlash T3. This ultra-tiny flash drive measures only 30.2mm x 12.3mm x 2.4mm and weighs in at a mere 2g.

Transcend, a world leader in flash drives and memory products, today launched the JetFlash T3, a brand-new ultra-tiny USB flash drive. Measuring only 30.2mm x 12.3mm x 2.4mm (L x W x D), the T3 is incredibly compact, and only weighs a mere 2g. Unlike other miniature USB flash drives which are fragile and bend or break easily, the JetFlash T3 is designed to be extra-rugged. Using a special COB (Chip On Board) manufacturing technique that molds the memory chip and circuit board into the drive’s unbreakable Polycarbonate casing, the T3 is more solid and robust than even full-sized flash drives. JetFlash T3’s durability and tiny footprint allows it to be carried in places where ordinary flash drives just do not fit. It can be used as a mobile phone dongle or a keychain accessory, and can be stored safely in a wallet without risk of compression damage.

Transcend’s T3 is available now in 1GB and 2GB capacities. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

15 October 2007

Antazone AS-N1000 & AS-N2000 Copper Heatpipe Northbridge Coolers @Tweaknews.net
Antec P190 PC Case @ThinkComputers.org
ASRock 4Core1333-Viiv Motherboard @Phoronix
BFG GeForce 8600 GTS OC2 @HotHardware.com
Corsair VX450W Power Supply @HardwareLogic
Enzotech CPU Waterblock @BCCHardware
GIGABYTE GA-P31-DS3L Motherboard @Virtual-Hideout
GIGABYTE U60 UMPC @TweakTown
Logitech G9 3200 dpi Laser USB Gaming Mouse @Benchmark Reviews
Logitech z-5300e THX-Certified 5.1 Speakers @OCModShop
MSI P6NGM (NVIDIA GeForce 7150/nForce 630i) Motherboard @Hardware Zone
Prestigio Officer 375 @InsideHW.com
Razer Diamondback 3G Gaming Mouse @I4U
Synology Disk Station DS107+ NAS @Virtual-Hideout
Zalman ZM-DS4F Dual Stereo Headphone @Futurelooks

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Duplicators

15 October 2007

Aleratec sent out a press release this morning, announcing their new desktop LightScribe DVD/CD publishing system, the 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro HLX. In its stand alone mode, the DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro HLX can duplicate DVD's at speeds up to 20x. It can also be connected to a PC via USB, giving users the ability to burn or label two discs at once.

Aleratec, leading developer and manufacturer of "Prosumers' Choice" solutions for the Blu-ray, DVD/CD, USB duplicating, and DVD/CD publishing markets, is excited to announce another "Only from Aleratec" product, the next generation of the popular, award winning, scalable desktop LightScribe DVD/CD Publishing System. The innovative 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro HLX can operate as a stand alone 1:1 DVD/CD Duplicator. When connected to your PC via USB 2.0, it becomes a 1:2 DVD/CD Duplicator. And with LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling technology, it can laser burn silkscreen quality labels on two discs at once.

This exciting new disc publisher can be easily expanded to a DVD/CD publishing system with double this capacity. Since the included Aleratec DVD/CD Disc Publishing Software Suite supports simultaneous use of multiple drives, the 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro HLX easily scales to a system capable of double capacity by simply plugging in another unit to your PC. Customers now have a 1:4 DVD/CD duplicator, a four drive direct to disc labeler, and two stand alone duplicators when they need them.

The 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro HLX is available now for an estimated retail price of $479. More information can be found on Alera's website. Add a comment