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Optical Storage

12 October 2007

While Sony's new $600 Blu-ray writer may be priced a bit too high for most consumers, the company reportedly plans to introduce an aftermarket Blu-ray Disc reader. According to TWICE, this unnamed drive will be introduced in early 2008 and be priced below $200.

Sony will introduce a sub-$200 Blu-ray disc reader for the PC aftermarket in early 2008.

The device will have no burning capabilities for any type of media, said Bob DeMoulin, Sony’s marketing manager, branded optical storage. This will be Sony’s first foray into the BD reader arena.

“A Blu-ray player at a sub-$200 price point becomes real attractive to the consumer. This is how it was done with DVD-ROM,” he said.

Sony is also considering an external version of the drive. However, a final decision has not been made. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Software

12 October 2007

SlySoft sent out a press release earlier today, announcing the release of AnyDVD 6.1.8.4. This new version includes a number of new features, including support for new copy protections, CSS brute force cracking and Slysoft's new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scanner. This new technology scans a DVD and automatically determines how to circumvent the copy protection. A full change log is listed below.

With today's release of AnyDVD 6.1.8.4, SlySoft has once again delighted its customers with the delivery of another masterpiece in the never-ending battle with manufacturers of DVD copy protection systems. The new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scanner analyzes the entire DVD within just a few seconds and through the utilization of voluminous rules and exceptions "decides" dynamically exactly how to circumvent the copy protection on this particular DVD.

Giancarlo Bettini, SlySoft CEO, enthusiastically sums up the achievement this way: "The AI Scanner in AnyDVD is a new, pro-active copy protection circumvention method. It allows the user to make safety backups of his DVD movies even if the newest anti-piracy technology is used. It is our belief that the AI Scanner will even work on protections yet to be released, so we see this as a future-proof technology. This is indeed a hard nut to crack for the copy protection industry."

6.1.8.4 2007 10 11

- New (DVD): New "AI Scanner(tm)" copy protection removal
- New (DVD): Added support for new copy protections
- New (DVD): CSS brute force cracking (region code mismatch) works now much better with Arccos/RipGuard/ProtectDVD/FluxDVD ... protected discs
- New (DVD): UDF remastering of .IFO and .BUP files
- New (HD DVD & Blu-ray): Support for new titles
- New: Automatic creation of .zip files containing IFO files and other useful debug information in the user's "My Documents" folder, if "Enable Logging" is enabled in AnyDVD program's settings.
- Fix (DVD) AnyDVD ripper could complain, that the destination directory has insufficient space
- Fix (HD DVD & Blu-ray): Large I/O requests could cause the "Magic File Replacement(tm)" to malfunction
- Fix: Integrity check could issue a false alarm
- Some minor fixes and improvements
- Updated languages

If you want to check out the latest version of AnyDVD, it can be downloaded here. Otherwise, more information can be found on SlySoft's website. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

12 October 2007

Last week we reported that owners of Samsung's BD-P1000 and BD-P1200 Blu-ray players were having problems playing back Fox's latest Blu-ray titles, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "Day After Tomorrow". Samsung has been quick to respond to the problem and has released a pair of firmware updates. According to a blog post at PC World, owners can download the updates from Samsung's website or, in the case of the BD-P1200, via its built-in ethernet connection.

Samsung today has issued a firmware update to its BD-P1000 and BD-P1200 Blu-ray players. The firmware is in response to these reported issues, but it also makes some other performance tweaks, according to Samsung.

The BD-P1000 firmware update may be downloaded from Samsung's site and burned to disc. The firmware fixes the freeze-up issue reported with Fox's BD+ titles.

The BD-P1200 firmware update, which may downloaded via Samsung's site or installed via the player's ethernet connection, improves playback compatibility in some movies, fixes the BD+ issue, enhances performance of in-movie games, and fixes audio noise in some movies.

It's good to Samsung responding this quickly. Hopefully, we'll see an update from LG in the near future as well. If you're having trouble finding the firmware updates, they can be downloaded here (BD-1000P) and here (BD-1200P). Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

11 October 2007

Panasonic has announced that they've started shipping samples of its new-generation UniPhier System LSI. This single chip LSI contains an MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoder capable of compressing HD video down to as little as 1/3 of its original size.

Panasonic, the leading brand by which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, starts sample shipment of a new-generation UniPhier system LSI (PH1-ProII = nickname, MN2WS0038) from October 2007, in which next-generation AV data compression/decompression (codec) technology is applied to UniPhier, Panasonic's original digital consumer electronics integration platform.

The new-generation UniPhier uses the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, a next-generation codec. It can compress full-HD large image data down to one third to half that of the conventional methods while keeping high level definition. It also extends the recordable time significantly for the same media, and can realize smooth image data communication.

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

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Other

10 October 2007

ASUS P5K Motherboard @TweakTown
Moneual Lab 932B Black HTPC Case With 7" Touchscreen @Tweaknews.net
MSI MegaBook PR200X Notebook @InsideHW.com
NZXT Precise Power 1200W Modular Power Supply @ThinkComputers.org
Scythe Katana 2 CPU Cooler @HardwareLogic/
Tagan CS-Monolith Mid Tower ATX Case @Benchmark Reviews

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Optical Storage

10 October 2007

While CEATEC has been over for nearly a week, news of new technologies is still trickling in. According to Tech-On!, Hitach-Maxell demonstrated a new read-only medium based on the holographic recording technology. This slightly larger than a postage stamp, this HROM medium will eventually hold 4GB of data and offer a data transfer rate of 16 Mbit.

Hitachi Maxell Ltd. demonstrated playback of music data read from HROM, a read-only medium based on the holographic recording technology at its booth at CEATEC Japan 2007.

Hitachi Maxell is focused on the development of holographic medium in collaboration with InPhase Technologies Inc., a US venture company. The HROM medium was also developed based on InPhase's proprietary holographic technology.

This HROM technology is still far from being perfected. Hitachi Maxell still needs to find a way to handle vibrations and extend the operating temperature range before it can be put in production. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

10 October 2007

Verbatim recently announced that they will be introducing their Mini Blu-ray media to the European market. These 8cm discs can hold 7.5 GB of data or one hour of high definition (1920×1080) video.

Verbatim, the storage media specialist, introduces recordable and rewritable Mini Blu-ray media (BD-R/BD-RE) to the European market. The 8 cm Blu-ray media will be available in specialist stores from November and will cost between €12,99 and €17,99 (RRP).

Measuring 8 cm in diameter, the new 7.5 GB discs provide approximately one hour of continuous video capture time on a single side when high definition (1920×1080) is used, and approximately two hours of video capture time with images recorded at 1440×1080. The new Mini BD media have been launched in Japan simultaneously with the new Hitachi BD-compatible camcorder in August. In Europe, the Verbatim Mini Blu-ray media will be available at the beginning of November. The recordable Mini BD-R costs €12.99, the rewritable Mini BD-R costs €17.99 (recommended retail prices).

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

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Home Entertainment

10 October 2007

While HD DVD dominated the standalone player market early on, the introduction of lower cost players eventually swung the balance in Blu-ray's favor. According to an article at Video Business, HD DVD has regained its lead with 53% of the year's high-def player sales.

HD DVD set-tops have reclaimed their dominance over Blu-ray standalone players, according to weekly NPD Group unit sales figures cited by Toshiba.

HD DVD players began outselling Blu-ray models starting in mid-September and regained a year-to-date lead of a little over 50% through the rest of the month, said Jodi Sally, Toshiba VP of marketing of digital A/V products.

Year to date, according to NPD figures she cited, HD DVD players command 53% of sales; Blu-ray players, 44%; dual format players, 3%.

Video Business also reports that Toshiba expects to sell 5 million PC-based HD DVD drives in 2008. By putting the drives in desktop and notebook computers, Toshiba hopes to make the format competitive with the Playstation 3. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

09 October 2007

Acer AL2002W 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor @ThinkComputers.org
Antec Fusion Black 430 HTPC Case @Metku.net
boynq Sabre iPod Integrated Stereo Speaker And Dock @Futurelooks
Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1250W Power Supply @Bigbruin.com
Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 Motherboard @Virtual-Hideout
Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 Motherboard @Phoronix
ICY BOX IB-351StUS-B USB & eSATA 3.5" Enclosure @Benchmark Reviews
Lapworks Aluminum Desktop Stand @BCCHardware
Logitech Updated G15 Gaming Keyboard @I4U
OCZ Vendetta HSF @DV Hardware
PC Power & Cooling TURBO-COOL 1KW-SR PSU @Madshrimps
Razer Lachesis Gaming Mouse @OCModShop
Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard @OCModShop
Razer Piranha Gaming Headset @OCModShop
Super Talent Vidego24T MP3/MP4 Player @HardwareLogic,TweakTown
X-Arcade Trackball Mouse Game Controller @Futurelooks
XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 650M 320MB GDDR3 @Hardware Zone

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