Sharp has announced that it will begin volume production of its new 3.3mm blue-violet semiconductor laser in July. With its small size and heat-dissipating CAN package, the GH04020A4G is ideal for notebook Blu-ray and HD DVD drives. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

Sharp, the royal purple which adopts the package of industry smallest diameter φ3.3mm mass-produces the low power output semiconductor laser , from July. The blue ray disk of the next generation DVD of the notebook PC (BD) and it is the device which is optimum to the playback of HD DVD...

...This product, when miniaturization is assured, in order to overcome the trade-off that temperature inside the package rises, mounted on the package of the high thermal insulation construction which developed the laser tip/chip which to electric power consumption is converted low anew. Because of this, the long-lived design of small-sized size and the highest level was actualized simultaneously.
Sharp will ship out samples on June 13th and plans to eventually produce 500,000 units per month. If you'd like to read more, Sharp's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
On Friday, the Helsinki District Court threw out a case against two men charged with violating Finland's copyright laws. According to PC World, the court ruled that CSS is "ineffective" as a form of DRM.
He, as well as another man, were charged in February. But on Friday, the court dismissed the cases, determining that CSS is "ineffective" and does not "achieves the protection objective" as stated by law.

The court heard from two technical experts, one for the prosecutor and one for the defense, who testified the CSS copy protection technology does little to stop consumers from copying DVDs due to an abundance of programs and decryption tools. CSS was cracked just a few years after its release by three hackers, including a 16-year-old Norwegian.
While this decision could make DVD copying legal, at least in Finland, it will probably have a larger effect on AACS. The way things are going, this new DRM could be declared "ineffective" as well. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
As we reported last week, support for LightScribe is on the decline. According to DigiTimes, a number of drive manufacturers are looking to LabelFlash as a more affordable alternative.
Although Plextor, NEC and I-O Data have offered LabelFlash-enabled DVD burners for a while, the technology has lagged far behind LightScribe in adoption by brands/makers of DVD burners, the sources pointed out. However, probably because LabelFlash has the advantages of much lower royalty charges and burns labels onto discs faster, there may be more brands/makers adopting the technology, including the largest Taiwan-based OEM maker Lite-On IT, the sources noted. In contrast, many newly launched DVD burners are not equipped with LightScribe, the sources said.

The competition between LabelFlash and LightScribe hinges on royalty charge rates and prices of the corresponding CD-R, DVD+R/-R discs. For example, LightScribe discs are up to 100% more expensive than standard discs of the same format, the sources noted.
Unfortunately, LabelFlash drives and media have yet to make their way to the US nor do I think they will in the near future. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Pioneer Japan sent out a press release this morning, announcing their latest 18x DVD writer, the DVR-S12J. Along with support for Serial ATA, the DVR-S12J features 18x DVD±R, 12x DVD-RAM and 10x DVD±R DL writing speeds. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

The knitting machine 18 time speed of DVD±R, DVD-RAM the record precision which is stabilized even at the high-speed record time of 12 time speed of 2 actualized the quiet sound conversion which it is thorough simultaneously with “the air induction slit” on the disk tray which is succeeded and this corporation individual “disk resonance stabilizer” from “the DVR-A12J” series.

In addition, besides the fact that high-speed record of record playback and single sided 2 layer media Dual of various record types DVD and record type CD Layer DVD-R and DVD+R Double Layer (the maximum of 10 time speed) it is corresponding, drawing is possible to the label surface of the private disk which corresponds “Labelflash (the label flash) technology” and, you adopt also the stylish front panel design which is glossy to continue.
While Pioneer has not announced a price, AV Watch expects the DVR-S12J to cost about 11,000 Yen($90US). If you live in Japan, expect to see the drive on store shelves some time in June. More information, including a full list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment
Earlier this month, Sony was sued by a California company called Target Technology. According to Ars Technica, Target Technology claims that the Blu-ray discs manufactured by Sony infringe upon a patent it owns for reflective-layer materials used in optical discs.
Target Technology, a company that manufactures and sells thin film alloys for optical discs, has sued Sony in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana for violating a patent it holds on reflective layers used in optical storage media. The patent in question, no. 7,018,696, was filed for in April 2004 and issued in March 2006.

Target Technology's complaint doesn't go into detail on exactly how Blu-ray infringes on its patents, but alleges that all Blu-ray discs manufactured, sold, and marketed by Sony are infringing. Target Technologies is demanding a jury trial, a declaration that the patents are valid and enforceable, damages, and an injunction barring Sony from future infringement.
If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
DigiTimes has reported that support for HP's LightScribe technology is on the decline. According to their article, the number of LightScribe-enabled DVD burners has dropped by 30% in the second quarter of 2007.
Support for Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) self-developed direct disc labeling technology, LightScribe, appears to be on the decline as the percentage of LightScribe-enabled DVD burners to all DVD burners has dropped from 80-90% in the first quarter of 2007 to 50-60% in the second, according to sources from both Taiwan's optical disc and optical disc drive (ODD) making industries.

HP won support of LightScribe from global leading ODD brands and OEM makers, including Sony, Pioneer, Asustek Computer, Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS), Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST), and Lite-On IT, the sources pointed out. In mid-2006, HP's promotion of LightScribe culminated in more than 70 licensees, the sources indicated. A licensee of LightScribe has to pay initial lump-sum royalty fee of US$250,000-300,000, the sources noted.
The article also mentions that the declining support is most likely due to extra cost associated with the technology as well as the continued drops in OEM drive prices. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Maxell recently announced that they will be releasing their new 50GB BD-R DL media to the Japanese market on June 20th. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

The hitachi [makuseru] corporation (President execution part: Yosihito Tsunoda), digital hi-vision broadcast program 260 minutes * the for video recording Blu-ray Disc which can be videotaped (the blue ray disk), postscript type BD-R DL (single sided 2 layer 50GB) it sells from June 20th. Together, for video recording postscript type BD-R for the data (single sided 1 layer 25GB)/transfer type BD-RE (single sided 1 layer 25GB) each 5 packs of the disk are sold, the line-up of Blu-ray Disc is expanded.
According to AV Watch, Maxell's BD-R DL media is expected to cost about 4,500 Yen ($37US). More information can be found here. Add a comment
Corel has announced that the retail version of InterVideo WinDVD now supports NVIDIA's GeForce 8 Series graphics processing units (GPUs). By dividing the decoding tasks betwen the CPU and GeForce 8 Series GPU, WinDVD is able to deliver superb Blu-ray and HD DVD playback on modestly powered PCs.
Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL;TSX:CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today announced a retail version of InterVideo WinDVD 8 Platinum that leverages the NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology and GeForce 8 Series graphics processing units (GPUs) to deliver superb Blu-ray and HD DVD playback on desktop and notebook PCs. By combining WinDVD 8 with an NVIDIA GPU, consumers and OEMs have a proven solution for quickly and cost-effectively enhancing their PCs with amazing, theater-like high-definition playback.

Offering all of the benefits of the high-definition experience without the complexity, WinDVD is the world’s most popular video playback and navigation software. In addition to providing crystal-clear playback of interactive content on BD and HD DVD discs and drives, the universal player also supports DVD/video/audio in a wide range of formats, eliminating media compatibility issues.
If you'd like to read more, Corel's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
InfoWorld has reported that Managed Copy may actually be implemented this year. One of the main features of AACS, Managed Copy would let you make a backup of a Blu-ray and HD DVD movie or transfer it to a portable device or home media server.
Under a licensing agreement in its final stages, consumers may get the right to make several legal copies of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies they've purchased, a concession by the movie industry that may quell criticism that DRM (digital rights management) technologies are too restrictive.

The agreement, if supported by movie studios and film companies, could allow a consumer to make a backup copy in case their original disc is damaged and another copy for their home media server, said Michael Ayers, a representative of an industry group that licenses the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) copy-prevention system.
Ars Technica has reported that Managed Copy will not be implemented until AACS has been finalized. However, a few studios are expecting it to be in place by the 2007 holiday season. Of course, the way things are going, AACS could be cracked wide open by then. Add a comment
Nero sent out a press release this morning, announcing the release of Nero Linux 3. This new version of the program has been fully redesigned and features native support for 64-bit operating systems and data recording for Blu-ray and HD DVD.
Nero, leaders in digital media technology, announced today that Nero Linux 3 is now available worldwide. The first Linux application to offer Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD data burning support, Nero Linux 3 has been redesigned to maximize ease of use, efficiency, and speed with next-generation disc formats...

...The advanced features of Nero Linux 3 make it the most powerful and versatile burning application available for Linux. In addition to offering Blu-ray and HD DVD burning capabilities enabled through full UDF support, Nero Linux 3 natively supports 64-bit systems. For worldwide usability, Unicode supports Nero Linux 3 in 26 languages. Nero Linux 3 is fully compatible with numerous Linux distributions including the following and any later versions: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, SuSE Linux 10.0, Fedora 4, Debian GNU/Linux 3.1, and Ubuntu 5.10.
Nero Linux 3 is available now and can be purchased through the Nero Shop for $24.99. More information can be found here. Add a comment