- Details
- Optical Storage
The sale of OM&T is part of Philips' program to divest certain components businesses, which have to that end been placed in its Corporate Investments portfolio. This transaction represents another step Philips is taking to focus on its Healthcare, Lifestyle and Technology activities supported by the strength of the company's brand.According to other sources, Moser Baer hopes that by purchasinging OM&T, they can jump start their Blu-ray media business. More information about the acquisition is available on Philips' website. Add a comment
OM&T employs approximately 50 people in Eindhoven and had turnover in 2006 of approximately EUR 10 million. The transfer of ownership to Moser Baer is effectuated retroactively from January 1, 2007.
- Details
- Other
Lite-On IT will invest US$2 million to establish a new subsidiary in China through its overseas subsidiary High Yield Group (BVI) for the production and marketing of electronic devices and components, according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) on February 5. The corporate name will be determined at a later date.Lite-On already manufactures many of their products in China so I'm not sure how they will benefit from this subsidiary. If you'd like more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Lite-On IT's board of directors, at a meeting on February 5, approved the investment in China, and in addition gave the OK to invest a further nine million euro in Lite-On IT's subsidiary in the Netherlands.
- Details
- Home Entertainment
LG Electronics today confirmed that U.S. consumers can now purchase the industry's first dual- format high-definition (HD) disc player at U.S. retailers.The BH100 currently goes for about $1199. If you'd like to read more, LG's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Unveiled less than a month ago at the 2007 International CES(R), the LG "Super Multi Blue" Player (model BH100) is now available at national retail stores, such as Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA, as well as regional retailers and local dealers.
With LG Electronics' Super Multi Blue Player, consumers now have the convenience and flexibility of playing both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD high- definition content. The unit blends both technologies for a consumer-focused solution to address the challenges and consumer confusion of the current HD disc format war.
- Details
- Other
Add a comment
Sapphire Radeon X1950 GT 256MB @HardwareZone
SilverStone Element 500W @Overclockers Online
GlacialTech Silent Blade 80mm Cooling Fan @Futurelooks
In Win F430 Xtreme Series ATX Computer Case @Tweaknews.net
Plextor PX-755UF External DVD±RW @BCCHardware
- Details
- Home Entertainment
Shops only have room for a few hundred top-selling titles on their shelves but DVD Download kiosks being introduced this year will be able to access thousands of digitised movies, burn them to disks and print labels and covers.While CSS will keep the average Joe from making copies, we all know that it can be easily circumvented using downloadable utilities. Most likely, we'll be seeing other copy protections being used, like Macrovisions RipGuard and ACP technologies. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Film studios' concerns over possible illegal copying of the disks had been a sticking point for the launch of the kiosks.
These fears have been overcome by the same content protection system already used on pre-recorded DVDs. This is being incorporated into the new standard, known as DVD-R for CSS Managed Recording, or "DVD Download", according to its new logo. DVD-R is the format of the blank recordable media and CSS is the Content Scramble System of encryption that will be used.
- Details
- Optical Storage
NEC, HLDS (Hitachi-LG Data Storage) and Matsushita Electric Industrial, the top three Japan-based suppliers of slim-type DVD burners for use in notebook PCs, are likely to push back the release of OEM orders to Taiwanese makers, mainly Quanta Storage and Lite-On IT, because the global demand for slim-type next-generation blue-laser burners will not take off this year as originally expected, according to industry sources in Taiwan.If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Japanese suppliers of half-height (H/H) DVD burners (for use in desktop PCs) have increasingly focused their self-production on Blu-ray Disc (BD) and/or HD DVD burners and released OEM orders for DVD burners to Taiwanese makers, and the same situation was originally expected to happen to slim-type DVD burners, the sources indicated.
- Details
- Optical Storage
Although tight supply of CD-R discs has become worse since the second half of 2006, the top two Taiwan-based optical disc makers, CMC Magnetics and Ritek, have still decided to schedule their annual maintenance during the Chinese New Year, with second-tier players Prodisc Technology, Gigastorage and Lead Data expected to continue running their lines during the period.This decision is expected to have a negative effect on the world's already tight supply of CD-R and DVD+R/-R media. For consumers, this probably means more price hikes in the near future. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
- Details
- Other
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC - News) known for its leading Panasonic brand, today announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Panasonic Corporation of North America, will establish a Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center (PHBTC) within the existing facilities of Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory and start testing services immediately.If you want to read more, Panasonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Blu-ray Discs feature strong copyright protection technology, and conducting logical format verification of entertainment content in replicated BD-Video discs requires technical sophistication. Until now there has been no testing service available for content verification before disc replication although many in the motion picture industry expressed the need for a testing center to provide such services, especially in the Hollywood area. The new Panasonic testing center, PHBTC, meets the industry's need and is expected to accelerate the release of BD-Video titles by the motion picture industry.
- Details
- Home Entertainment
There are eight companies worldwide able to replicate Blu-ray Discs, said Hirsch. Two of those companies are controlled by Sony, which won't allow them to handle pornography. Five other companies have contracts to replicate discs for the Walt Disney, which stipulate that they cannot handle adult films if they want to work with Disney.With Blu-ray outselling HD DVD by more than 2:1, Vivid is probably doing the smart thing by sticking with Blu-ray. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
That leaves one possible replicator for the adult industry, and Hirsch is keeping its name a closely guarded secret. He doesn't want to give rivals easy access to a company it was hard for him to find.
- Details
- Home Entertainment
According to VideoScan, during the first two weeks of January, Blu-ray discs outsold HD DVD by more than a 2:1 margin. It should be noted that the two weeks in question saw only two new high-def disc releases -- both from Blu-ray ('The Covenant' on Jan 2, and 'Crank' on Jan 9).Say what you want about Sony and Blu-ray, but the numbers don't lie. HD DVD is getting spanked when it comes to disc sales. Can the adult film industry pull HD DVD out of this slump? We'll have to wait and see. In the mean time, head on over to High-Def Digest and check out the entire article. Add a comment
More interestingly, VideoScan's numbers indicate that during the seven days between Jan 7 and Jan 14, Blu-ray managed to close the gap of total discs sold since inception with HD DVD by over seven percentage points, suggesting that if the current trend continues, the two formats could be at disc sales parity within weeks.
