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Home Entertainment

15 February 2007

Earlier this week, Sharp announced their new Blu-ray Disc player, the BD-HP1. What makes the BD-HP1 unique is that, when paired with one of Sharp's Aquos LCD TV's, it can also function as a Blu-ray Disc recorder.

Sharp Corporation introduces into the Japanese market the BD-HP1 Blu-ray Disc Player, which has a Hybrid Recording function that works with the AQUOS LCD TV iLink connection to allow recording of high-definition programs on Blu-ray Disc (BD-RE), an industry first.

With the ability to record high-definition images from video software and digital broadcasting sources and give high-definition, high-resolution images and high sound quality superior to that of DVD, the Blu-ray Disc is expected to become an indispensable part of the high-definition equation.

The BD-HP1 will go on sale in Japan on March 20th for a suggested retail price of 150,000 Yen ($1,256). More information can be found on Sharp's website. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

15 February 2007

The Japanese company, Buffalo, has announced a new 18x "Super-Multi" drive with a Serial ATA interface. Based on the Pioneer DVR-212, the DVSM-X1218FBS features 18x DVD±R, 10x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. Here are some of the specs:

Writing Speeds: DVD±R: 18x DVD±R DL: 10x DVD+RW: 8x DVD-RW: 6x DVD-RAM: 12x CD-R: 40x CD-RW: 32x

Read Speeds: DVD-ROM (Single): 16x Max DVD-ROM (Dual): 12x Max DVD±R: 12x Max DVD±RW: 8x Max DVD±R DL: 8x Max DVD-RAM: 12X Max CD-ROM/CD-R: 40x Max CD-RW: 32x Max

The DVSM-X1218FBS should hit store shelves in the beginning of March for 8,500 Yen ($71US). More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Software

14 February 2007

Good news for people running Windows Vista. CyberLink has announced that their software products are "Vista Ready." The company is also providing a verification feature on its website where users can test to see if their software needs a patch or an upgrade for it to work with Vista.

CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, today announced that its complete range of home entertainment and personal creativity products are ready for the release of Microsoft Windows Vista.

CyberLink also launched a verification feature on its website that allows consumers to test if their existing software is "Vista Ready". The CyberLink Software Vista Upgrade Test quickly scans software and determines whether the versions of the software currently in use are ready for Vista. After testing, users can choose to update through available patches or purchase an upgrade to become "Vista Ready".

CyberLink's Vista Upgrade Center can be accessed directly here. Unfortunately, when I click on it, the page literally comes up in Chinese. Hopefully they'll fix it soon. In the mean time, a full list of "Vista Ready" products is available on CyberLink's website. Add a comment

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Other

14 February 2007

At one point, AACS seemed like an impenetrable wall. Lately though, its looking more like swiss cheese. Earlier this week, a person going by the name arnezami on the Doom9 forums discovered that volume keys could be extracted using what he calls a processing key. With this information, it would be possible to decrypt all HD DVD movies without needing to know the volume key first.

The author of the AACS bypass attempt code, whose screen handle is arnezami, described the process of locating the media key as a matter of creating a control program that slowed down the playback of an HD DVD disc, searching for changes in critical locations in memory. Once those changes are made, playback halts, and the changed memory contents are tested for a sequence of bytes that can be validated as a media key.

From there, arnezami needed a volume ID - a sequence which, when combined with the media key, could yield the VUK. In a bizarre twist, he learned the volume ID was actually guessable, at least for one disc: It was a decimal-encoded permutation of the production date of the disc (9/18/06).

While the AACS LA has acknowledged these hacks, they have yet to revoke any device keys. Even if they do, it probably won't set back people like arnezami very long. If you'd like to read more, head on over to BetaNews. Add a comment

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Other

13 February 2007

Rivet Fashion Wrap & MP3 Accessories @TechZone
A-DATA PD7 1GB Flash Drive @ChileHardware
ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA AMD Athlon 64 Socket AM2 Mainboard @Redaktion ocinside.de
Pioneer Elite 60 inch PureVision Plasma HDTV PRO-1540HD @I4U
GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB @HardwareZone
Altec Lansing inMotion iM510 Travel Speakers @BCCHardware
Brando Workshop 55-in-1 Card Reader @ThinkComputers.org

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Software

13 February 2007

The folks at Slysoft have released a public beta of AnyDVD HD. As many of you already know, AnyDVD HD will decrypt HD DVD movies on the fly, letting you copy them to your hard drive or play them on non-HDCP compliant hardware.

6.1.2.0 2007 02 12
- New: Added support for new versions of the SONY Arccos protection to the option to remove "Protection based on unreadable Sectors"
- New: Added HD DVD and AACS support. (Registered users need an upgrade key, currently only available to registered beta testers)
- Fix: Problem with multi-angle titles and Sony Arccos protection
- Some minor fixes and improvements

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. Please feel free to join the discussion in our forum as well. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

13 February 2007

Traxdata sent out a press release earlier today, announcing the launch of their new 25GB Blu-ray Rewritable (BD-RE) media.

Traxdata, a leading brand of flash and optical media storage products, has today announced the availability of its first Blu-ray rewritable (BD-RE) Disc. The single layer disc can store a huge 25GB of any form of digital data including photos, music, computer games, video or documents, enabling users to easily store and categorise all their data.

Due to the vast storage capacity necessary to support HD quality video, Blu-ray media is the perfect medium to support the highest quality HD video available today (up to 1920 x 1080 at 40Mbit/sec). When played-back with a Blu-ray Disc player the media provides image sharpness, digital surround sound, improved contrast and vivid colours for a superior cinema quality viewing experience.

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

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Optical Storage

13 February 2007

New Medium Enterprises (NME) recently announced that they've signed agreement, making DaTARIUS the preferred testing equipment provider for the HD VMD optical disc format. The two companies will also jointly own any intellectual property that may result from the project.

New Medium Enterprises (NME) (OTC BB:NMEN.OB - News) and the DaTARIUS Group, today announced that they have signed an agreement, where DaTARIUS becomes the preferred off-line testing equipment provider for the HD VMD optical disc format. NME and DaTARIUS will jointly own the Intellectual Property Rights that emerge from efforts in building testing equipment for the industry.

The agreement represents a major advancement in the global manufacturing and testing process for HD VMD, since many replicators use DaTARIUS' DaTABANK system. The availability of driveCubes for HD VMD on the DaTABANK system is a catalyst for the optical disc industry and promotes the growth of the HD VMD format alongside Blu-ray and HD DVD.

It's good to see HD VMD get support from industry leaders like DaTARIUS. The format is still going to need the blessing of Hollywood, if NME has any hopes of succeeding in markets like the US. If you'd like to read more, NME's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

13 February 2007

nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB @TweakTown
Jabra Bluetooth BT325s Bluetooth + MP3 Headset @BCCHardware
NZXT Zero Computer Case @Tweaknews.net
A4 Tech NB 99 Battery Free Wireless Mouse @Futurelooks
ECS AMD690GM-M2 Motherboard @TweakTown
BFG 8800 GTS OC 320MB Graphics Card @I4U
XFX 8800 GTS 320MB XXX Graphics Card @I4U

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