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Optical Storage
Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) is setting their goals high this year. According to DigiTimes, the joint venture between Philips and Lite-On aims to be among the world's top two ODD suppliers by the end of 2007.
Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS), a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics and Lite-On IT for the production and marketing of optical disc drives (ODDs), aims to be among the top two ODD suppliers in the world in terms of shipment volume, according to general manager Charlie Tseng for the Optical Disc Drive Business Unit of PLDS.

Lite-On IT took over BenQ's 49% stake in Philips BenQ Digital Storage, the predecessor of PLDS, for NT$260 million (US$7.8 million) at the end of 2006 to complement its own resources, according to industry sources in Taiwan. Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) is currently the world's largest supplier and OEM/ODM maker of ODDs, with its 2007 shipment volume estimated to be 80 million units, the sources said.
The article also points out that PLDS has had some troubles integrating the engineering staff at Philips, BenQ and Lite-On IT. Now that they've created a cohesive team, they're expecting the business to take off. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Toshiba announced today that they've released a new set of firmware updates for their HD DVD players. The update adds support for web-enabled network capabilities, giving consumers the ability to access additional content and bonus features.
Using the Ethernet ports found on all Toshiba HD DVD players, and thecurrently available firmware update, once connected to the network, userscan download bonus features, as available, from a movie studio's server.This data is then saved in the player's persistent storage and can beaccessed by the user. In addition to downloading new bonus features, someHD DVD discs may even include locked prerecorded content which can beunlocked with a downloadable key from the studio's online server.

In addition to downloading content, HD DVD users also have the abilityto upload content and interact with content providers. For example, withthe award winning title, "Blood Diamond" from Warner Home Video, users canparticipate in interactive polls. After providing feedback, results aredelivered back to users via the HD DVD player.
Toshiba plans to release another firmware update in September that will enable 1080p/24 output on the HD-XA2 and HD-A20. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
For the last month or so, Toshiba has been running a promotion, offering $100 instant rebates on two of their entry level HD DVD players. This promotion has been a big success, boosting sales in some locations by as much as ten-fold. According to a report by Video Business, Toshiba has decided to make these price cuts permanent. Starting July 1st, the HD-A2 and HD-A20 will be priced at $299 and $399 respectively.
Toshiba is sticking with the $299 price-point for its bottom-line HD DVD player after seeing a sales jolt when it introduced the lower price in May as part of a limited-time offer.

The company said during a press event in New York Thursday that promotional prices introduced in May on its two lower-priced players would go into permanent effect July 1.

The entry-level HD-A2 player will stay at $299 and the HD-A20 at $399. The top-line HD-XA2 remains $799.
With more affordable Blu-ray players on the way, its going to be an interesting holiday season. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Duplicators
Primera and TitleMatch have announced that they will be holding the first public demonstration of a fully-integrated, DVD On-Demand solution with Qflix copy protection at the ESCA's Digital Supply Chain Developers Conference. Here's part of their press release:
Primera Technology, Inc.(r), the world's leading developer and manufacturer of CD, DVD and Blu-ray Disc duplication and printing equipment, and TitleMatch Entertainment Group(tm) (OTCBB:PCLI), an innovator of on-demand content distribution, today announced they will be the first companies to publicly demonstrate a completely functional and fully-integrated DVD On-Demand(tm) solution that includes Qflix(tm) copy protection from Sonic Solutions. The demonstration will take place at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy's (ESCA) Digital Supply Chain Developers Conference, July 27-28, 2007, in Los Angeles, California.

TitleMatch DVD On-Demand service is a new burn-on-demand service for retailers that allows customers to purchase DVD movies and home entertainment directly from a touch screen. Customer-selected content is automatically recorded and printed using a Primera Bravo-Series Disc Publisher for immediate delivery at point-of-sale. The TitleMatch service expands product availability in the retail channel and eliminates physical inventory.
With complete TitleMatch DVD On-Demand systems starting at $4995, you'll probably start seeing them in retail outlets very soon. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Warner Home Video unveiled its Total HD disc. Developed to eliminate consumer confusion, Total HD put both HD DVD and Blu-ray content onto a single disc. While Warner originally planned to release its first Total HD titles during the second half of 2007, Video Business is reporting that they've pushed the launch back until early 2008.
Warner Home Video looks to be pushing the launch of its dual-format high-definition disc, Total HD, into 2008, from the second half of this year, as was originally planned.

Studio VP of sales and planning and operations Dan Miron said at a session during the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy conference here today that Warner will release its first titles in Total HD in early 2008.

Separately, Warner senior VP of marketing management Steve Nickerson said the studio hasn't yet set a launch date but acknowledged it's unlikely it will be in the fourth quarter.
While Warner does not give an explanation for the delay, its possible that they're waiting to see who wins the format war. If Blu-ray titles continue to outsell HD DVD, there might not even be a need for Total HD. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

Antec MX-1 External HDD Enclosure @HardwareLogic
Thermaltake PurePower RX 600 Watt Power Supply @Tweaknews.net
HP Officejet 5610 All-in-One USB Printer @Bigbruin.com
Evercool HPD-815 Sharks CPU Cooler @ThinkComputers.org
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Flash Memory
While Toshiba is just now reaching the 4GB mark, SanDisk has raised the bar once again with the industry's first 6GB and 8GB microSDHC cards. With the 8GB card, users will be able to store more than 2,000 songs on their phone or other portable device.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced that it is has begun sampling 6- and 8-gigabyte (GB) microSD High Capacity (microSDHC) flash memory cards to major phone manufacturers and mobile network operators (MNOs) for testing and evaluation. The new cards are ideal for the growing number of feature-rich multimedia handsets that bring together phones, music players, hand-held computers, digital cameras and more. An 8GB microSDHC card can store more than 2,000 digital songs, or more than 5,000 high-resolution pictures, or up to 5 hours of high-quality MPEG 4 video.
SanDisk has not determined a price yet. However, they plan to released the cards later this year. More information is available on their website. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Call/Recall has unveiled a new multi-terabyte optical storage technology. According to their press release, 2-photon 3D technology will enable development of 5-10 TB disk drives with 100-500Mb/second transfer rates.
Call/Recall Inc., a pioneer in affordable, ultra-high-capacity optical disk storage, today announced availability of licensing for its patented 2-photon recorded 3D optical storage technology that can provide 40 times the capacity of Blu-ray and over 200 times the capacity of DVD optical storage technology. Call/Recall's innovative optical storage technology is based on the work of company co- founder, Dr. Peter Rentzepis. A former head of Bell Laboratories, Rentzepis is a world-renowned scientist who authored approximately 85 patents; his innovations are referenced as prior art by 45 of the world's top optical technology providers, including IBM, Panasonic and Hitachi.

Call/Recall is recording a 1TB disk and has established a product roadmap delivering solutions capable of storing multiple terabytes of information per disk. The versatile 2-photon 3D technology can be applied to solutions such as a 100+ terabyte optical library using DVD-size disk for enterprise data storage, or a 1-inch diameter 50 GB disk for consumer electronics devices such as cell phones, portable media players, and game systems. Using the Call/Recall technology, manufacturers of consumer electronics devices as well as large-scale enterprise and government customers can store and manage more data in less space while reducing cost and improving overall I/O performance.
While Call/Recall's 2-photon 3D technology sounds impressive, it will ultimately come down to cost. Hopefully, by using commercially available, off-the-shelf components, they'll be able to offer it at an affordable price. If you'd like to read more, Call/Recall's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
NetBlender announced today that it will be integrating Corel’s PureHD Authoring Multiplexer into the next release of DoStudio. With Corel’s PureHD Authoring Multiplexer, DoStudio will have the ability to multiplex elementary video and audio streams with HDi and BD-J code.
Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL; TSX:CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, and NetBlender today announced a new partnership to deliver tools for next generation DVD authoring to the professional market. NetBlender will integrate Corel’s PureHD Authoring Multiplexer into the upcoming release of DoStudio, which creates the Advanced Content Layer for HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs. The combined offering, called DoStudio MX, will create a complete solution for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc creation at an affordable price.

Corel’s PureHD Multiplexer Technology delivers a complete end-to-end high definition video content solution for optimum quality with minimum post production interruption. The technology streamlines the process of capturing high definition content and maintains crisp content quality at every stage - editing, authoring and final production. Working in conjunction with NetBlender’s DoStudio advanced layer technology, videographers and production teams can easily add a new level of interactive features that consumers are coming to expect in their HD DVD and BD movies.
A public beta of DoStudio MX will be available beginning in July with the final release scheduled for September. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
For the last few months, Toshiba has been giving away five free HD DVD movies with each player purchased. The Blu-ray Disc Association is finally responding with their own promotion. People purchasing a Blu-ray player (including the PS3) between July 1st and September 30th will be able to get five free movies by mail.


Once the promotion starts, you'll be able to get complete details at BluraySavings.com. If you can't wait that long, a copy of the ad, as well as a list of available titles, can be found here. Add a comment

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