Corel has announced a new version of their DVD authoring and burning application, DVD MovieFactory. According to their press release, DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus offers a number of new features including "Edit Room" video editing tools and support for all Blu-ray and HD DVD formats.
Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL; TSX:CRE) today announced the release of Corel Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus, available in English, with German and French versions to follow next month. This latest release of the award-winning consumer DVD authoring package is the first consumer entry-level product to offer HD DVD burning capability and is also the first product to be launched from the recently merged Corel/InterVideo/Ulead portfolio.

Packed with features galore to breathe new life into videos, photos and create Hollywood-style menu motion effects, Corel Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus maintains the ease of use and affordability associated with previous versions. Requiring very little time or effort, users can produce fun and creative DVD projects, with a professional-looking feel, in either HD DVD or standard DVD format. For high definition video aficionados choosing the Blu-ray Disc format, DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus also includes the ability to record HD video directly to Blu-ray Disc. It also comes complete with a free version of WinDVD, the world's number one DVD and video playback software and a free version of DVD copy enabling you to copy your videos and music in three easy steps.
The Standard and Plus editions of Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 are available now and are priced at $49.99 and $79.99 respectively. More information is available on Corel's website. Add a comment
Back in January, we reported that Philips had filed a complaint with the European Union over Taiwan granting compulsory licensing of their CD-R patents to local disc manufacturers. DigiTimes has reported that the European Union has finally responded to Philips' complaint and is launching an in-depth investigation.
The European Commission announced on March 1 that it has launched an in-depth investigation into the WTO consistency of the granting of compulsory licenses by Taiwan for recordable compact discs (CDRs) under the Trade Barriers Regulation...

...The case is a result of a July 2004 ruling by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), that called for the compulsory licensing of five Royal Philips Electronics' CD-R disc patents to Gigastorage, a second-tier optical disc maker in Taiwan. TIPO based its decision on the fact that Philips had refused to renegotiate the CD-R fixed royalty charge rate of US$0.035 per disc, despite the fact that OEM prices had fallen from US$5 in 1997 to US$0.19 in the first half of 2003.
While Taiwan has agreed to cooperate in the investigation, Philips has gone ahead and appealed to the Taipei High Administrative Court in an attempt to cancel the compulsory licensing of its patents. Either way, this is going to get messy. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
BenQ has reportedly pulled out of the settop DVD recorder market. According to an article at DigiTimes, the company recently informed retailers that they will no longer be selling these products and has removed them from their website.
BenQ confirmed it is discontinuing sales of DVD recorders mainly because it had been overly optimistic about the market and was plagued by disappointing sales. Since prices have been dropping, BenQ has decided to drop the segment when adjusting its product structure, the maker said, adding that it will determine whether to enter the Blu-ray or HD DVD recorder markets based on market demand.
I can't say that I'm too surprised. With Lite-On pulling out of the DVD recorder market back in October, BenQ was one of the few Taiwanese manufacturers left. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
The folks at Slysoft have released another public beta of AnyDVD HD. What makes this version special is that it supports Blu-ray as well as HD DVD.
6.1.2.8 2007 03 01
- New: Added Blu-Ray support.
- Change: I/O on 64bit OS (WinXP64/Vista64) moved to kernel mode
- Updated ElbyCDIO layer, fixes "cannot get exclusive access" in CloneDVD and CloneCD under XP64 and Vista64
- Change: ElbyCDIO uses less CPU cycles under Windows XP and Vista
- Change: After using CloneCD or CloneDVD, AnyDVD does no longer rescan the disc under XP64 and Vista64.
- Fix: HD DVDs without iHD menus did not work
- Some minor fixes and improvements
- Updated languages
According to reports on Slysoft's forum, this version does not make Blu-ray region free. However, their team is working hard to implement this feature. If you'd like to try it out, the beta version of AnyDVD HD can be downloaded directly here. If you find a bug or have a suggestion, leave your comments in Slysoft's forum. Add a comment

Samsung CLP-300 Color Laser Printer @BCCHardware
Palit Radeon X1950GT "Super" 512MB Graphics Card @TweakTown
Dell Inspiron 6400 Multimedia Notebook (Centrino Duo) @HardwareZone
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The DVD Forum has announced that it will be celebrating its 10th anniversary at the annual general meeting being held today in Tokyo, Japan.
The DVD Forum, the international organization that defines formats for DVD products and technologies, today celebrated its official 10th anniversary at the annual general meeting of its members held in Tokyo. The Forum, which has been hailed as a model for collaboration between the consumer electronics, IT and entertainment industries, was founded in August 1997, to assume and extend the work of the DVD Consortium, the ten-company organization that initially developed the DVD format. When it started its work in developing the DVD format and promoting its widespread dissemination, the DVD Forum could count 86 members. Today, it has about 220 member companies, drawn from all over the world.
Technically, the DVD Forum's anniversary isn't until August 7th, but considering all that they've done, they deserve to celebrate. If you'd like to read more, the DVD Forum's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Earlier this week, there were some reports that Toshiba had submitted their new 51GB HD DVD disc to the DVD Forum for approval. Some even went as far to say that the format had been approved and would be launched by the end of the year. InfoWorld has now reported that none of this is true. According to their article, Toshiba's 51GB HD DVD disc is still in development and has not been submitted for approval.
In the last few days a number of Web sites and blogs have reported the format has been submitted for approval to the DVD Forum and some have said that approval has been received, but Toshiba says nothing of the sort has happened.

"We're puzzled ourself by where these reports came from," said Junko Furuta, a spokeswoman for the company in Tokyo. She said Toshiba hasn't made any further announcements about the disc since CES, and it wasn't submitted to any steering committees during this week's DVD Forum meetings in Tokyo.

When Toshiba first announced the disc in January, it said it hoped to get approval for the disc some time in 2007.
Sorry HD DVD fans. It looks like Blu-ray still has the upper hand in regards to capacity, at least for the time being. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling has announced the launch of its new labeling tool, LightScribe Simple Labeler. Available for computers running Windows, Mac and Linux, this new tool lets you create and customize a label in three fast and easy steps.
LightScribe Direct Disc Labelingannounced today that the LightScribe Simple Labeler, an intuitive labeling tooldesigned to enhance customers' initial CD and DVD labeling experience, isimmediately available for free download and is also now bundled with manyLightScribe-enabled PCs and aftermarket drives. LightScribe customers can labeldiscs in a few easy clicks.
If you'd like to check it out, LightScribe Simple Labeler can be downloaded for free from the LightScribe website. More information can also be found here. Add a comment

SplitFish edgeFX Sony PS2 Mouse Controller @I4U
VIZO Propeller Dual-Fan Card Cooler @Futurelooks
Foxconn N68S7AA-8EKRS2H (NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI) @HardwareZone
Noctua NC-U6 Northbridge Cooler @BCCHardware
Samsung SyncMaster 940BW Widescreen LCD Monitor @Tweaknews.net
Samsung 226BW LCD Monitor @Overclockers Online
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Back in November, we reported that Sonic Solutions had filed a patent infringment suit against Nero, claiming that their video editing software infringes upon a patent related to certain techniques for "digital multimedia composition." After months of talks, Nero has announced that the suit has been voluntarily withdrawn by Sonic.
Nero, leaders in digital media technology, today announced that the patent infringement suit brought against it by Sonic Solutions in November 2006 has been voluntarily withdrawn. The suit, filed in the United States district court in Marshall, Texas, alleged that Nero's video editing software infringed on Sonic's U.S. Patent No. 6,204,840.

"Throughout this process we were adamant that the allegations were baseless and that Nero is not guilty of any improprieties in the design and performance of its video editing software," said Udo Eberlein, COO, Nero AG. "We commend Sonic for realizing the unwarranted basis of this claim and voluntarily dropping the lawsuit."
If you'd like to read more, Nero's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment