Gigastorage, a second-tier maker of optical discs in Taiwan, on April 23 applied at the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to terminate its compulsory license to use CD-R disc patents belonging to Royal Philips Electronics, bringing to an end the long-time dispute between the two companies, according to industry sources.While the move to Thailand will mean lower labor costs and relaxed export laws, Gigastorage will probably still be under pressure from Philips to license the necessary patents. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Gigastorage has decided to shift its production of CD-R discs to Thailand and the TIPO-granted compulsory license will thus become meaningless, the company pointed out.
No word on price yet. However, the PX-AV200U is scheduled to ship in May 2007. More information is available on Plextor's website. Add a comment
Transfer analogue footage to DVD easily and cost-effectively - from VHS tapes and footage captured on an analogue camcorder. Plextor's new ConvertX PX-AV200U is a digital video converter with the emphasis on ease of use.
Plextor's ConvertX preserves old and treasured analogue footage by digitising it for posterity. Everything is included to get consumers up and running immediately - simply plug it into a PC via USB, attach the analogue source and let the powerful software do the hard work. It enables editing of digital files, creating Hollywood-style movies including professional transitions and titles, and sharing of CDs, video CDs and DVDs with family and friends.
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Blu-ray Disc has become the first high definition format to sell more than one million discs, a milestone it has achieved in less than a year. Blu-ray Disc sales also accounted for 70 percent of the high-definition movies sold during the first quarter of 2007, according to sales figures published today by Home Media Research.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
Blu-ray's sales lead has increased each month since the first of the year and nearly three out of every four high-definition movies sold in March were on Blu-ray Disc, according to the HMR sales figures.
Industry projections suggest that this steady growth trend will continue based on the fact that seven of the eight major studios are releasing an increasing number of blockbuster movies on Blu-ray Disc, most of which will only be available in high-definition on Blu-ray Disc. In 2006, 18 of the top 20 selling DVD's were released by studios that are publishing their movies on Blu-ray Disc.
Acoustica Inc. has released Acoustica CD/DVD Label Maker Version 3.08, which adds support for simultaneous multi-drive LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling.Acoustica CD/DVD Label Maker is available now for $21.95. If you'd like to give it a try, a 7-day trial can be downloaded from their website. Otherwise, more information can be found here. Add a comment
Users with multiple LightScribe drives attached to their computers can print multiple copies of LightScribe labels simultaneously, or can now print multiple label designs on different drives concurrently.
Only the number of LightScribe drives attached to a user's computer limits the number of simultaneous LightScribe print jobs. LightScribe (www.lightscribe.com) -- a laser disc labeling technology found in many popular brands of disc burners, laptops and PCs -- gives people the ability to easily burn silkscreen-quality photos, graphics, images and text directly onto discs.
ImationCorp. (NYSE: IMN) and TDK (NYSE: TDK) announced today that they havereached a definitive agreement under which Imation will acquire TDK brandworld wide recording media business and use of the TDK brand name forrecording media products, for $300 million in a combination of Imationcommon stock and cash with potential for payment of up to an additional $70million based on future financial performance of the acquired business. TDKwill retain its R&D, manufacturing and OEM business. The boards ofdirectors of both companies have approved the transaction.As with Memorex, Imation will continue to supply TDK brand products to the market. TDK will also continue R&D and manufacturing operations for recording media and will supply Imation as well as its other OEM customers. If you'd like to read more, Imation's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor Inc. (hereafter Sony Shiroishi), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation (hereafter Sony), today announced that as of March 2007, cumulative shipments of laser diodes have reached 2 billion units since it started production in 1986.Sony also plans to ship a low cost (~$8) blue-violet laser diode for Blu-ray Disc players in June. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
As of April 2007, Sony Shiroishi has also established industry-leading monthly production capacity of 1.7 million blue-violet laser diodes, offering a comprehensive product lineup of blue-violet laser diodes for the wide-ranging needs of external customers as well as for use in Sony products. Furthermore, with Sony Shiroishi scheduled to start mass production of high-power output 240mw diodes from November this year, Sony and Sony Shiroishi will continue to stand at the forefront of the technological development and market for laser diodes going forward.
While HD DVD backers are hoping that new releases and cheaper players will narrow the ever widening sales gap, they're going to need more than a mass buy by fanboys to pull it off. If you'd like to read more, Home Media Magazine's entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Of the high-definition discs consumers bought in the first quarter of this year, 70% were Blu-ray Discs and just 30% were HD DVDs, according to sales figures provided by Home Media Magazine's market research department.
Blu-ray took the lead in February, and its percentage of total sales accelerated to the point that, in March, the format accounted for nearly three out of every four high-def discs sold.
Get ready to get your cheap HD on kids. Wal-Mart just threw down some serious green for a batch of Chinese-made HD DVD players. Just as they brought DVD players down to near-disposable status, their deal for 2 million HD DVD players produced by China's Great Wall corporation will ultimately do the same for hi-def optical. The guts are developed by Taiwan's Fuh Yuan with a touch of help from Japan's TDK. How much? A magical $299, that's how much -- $100 less than the cheapest available HD DVD rig (Toshiba's A2) and half of Sony's $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player. It's not clear when we'll see the first units on Wal-Mart shelves, only that the final shipment from the order is expected before 2008 is over.With the Toshiba HD-A2 already selling for less than $330 on Amazon, the price of Walmart's player is a bit high. Then again, its very likely that the price will come down before it actually ships. If you'd like to read more, Engadget's entire report can be found here. Add a comment