- Details
- Optical Storage
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. has developed a 4-layer Blu-ray Disc (BD) medium using Te-O-Pd film for inorganic recording layers. Total capacity reaches 100 GB with each layer having 25 GB storage capacity. This is the company's first report of four-layer BD discs. By revising a Te-O-Pd composite proportion, the company reportedly achieved durability that allows data playback after 100 years.I wouldn't get too excited yet. TDK developed their 100GB disc back in 2005 and the technology still has not made it past the prototype stage. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
- Details
- Optical Storage
Lite-On IT has landed an OEM order from Hewlett-Packard (HP) to produced its HD100 external HD DVD-ROM drive with shipments to begin soon, according to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN). Lite-On IT confirmed the report on October 18 but declined to release any further information.I can't say I'm too surprised by this. As one of the world's leading manufacturers of optical drives, Lite-On is best suited for this sort of thing. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
- Details
- Home Entertainment
Apple joined the Blu-ray Disc Association in March 2005 but has kept largely mum on its support and adoption of the next-generation disc technology. At the time, Apple's decision to put its weight behind Blu-ray was seen as a coup for Blu-ray and blow to the competing HD-DVD format, but documents recently obtained by Think Secret indicate that Apple may in fact be planning to support both formats equally.With there being no clear winner in the format wars, it makes sense for companies like Apple to straddle the line, providing support for sides. Of course, at this point its just a rumor so I wouldn't get too excited yet. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
While members of the Blu-ray camp, which include Dell, Panasonic, Pioneer, and Sony, have kept their distance from HD-DVD, which is backed by Microsoft, Toshiba, and Intel, among others, Apple would not be the first vendor to side with both formats: Hewlett Packard actively supports both formats.
- Details
- Optical Storage
Innovative LightScribe technology enables consumers and businesses to burn silk screen-quality labels on to LightScribe-enabled CDs or DVDs right in the driveno printing supplies are required. LaCie¹s LightScribe Labeler for Linux offers direct-to-disc label burning for projects burned with K3b. New Mac software is Universal and supports simultaneous printing to multiple drives. Free software downloads for Mac and Linux are available at www.lacie.com/lightscribe for anyone with a LightScribe-enabled drive.This is great news for anyone that owns a LightScribe enabled drive, especially considering LaCie is making the software available for free. If you'd like to check it out, LightScribe Labeler for Linux and the Mac can be downloaded here. Otherwise more information is available on LaCie's website. Add a comment
LaCie Product Manager Anne Bordet said, "We're the first company to offer an all-in-one data writing and LightScribe labeling solution for all operating systems. LaCie was first to ship a LightScribe-enabled CD/DVD drive for the Mac, and now our user-friendly LightScribe labeling software is available for free to Mac and Linux users with LightScribe-enabled drives. With LaCie¹s complete burning solution, people can easily and simply create professional looking CDs and DVDs on Mac, Linux or Windows."
- Details
- Optical Storage
Blu-ray Disc burners have been shipping for months now--why is HD DVD taking so long to catch up? Chalk it up to a philosophical difference, not a technological one, says Brzeski. Toshiba, he says, views HD DVD more as a technology for delivering prepackaged (Hollywood) high-definition video, not for creating your own disc-based content. "I honestly don't believe in these early days that many people will be using HD DVDs and Blu-rays to back up content. If you look at the cost per GB to back up to disc, it's not cost-effective."These specs aren't exactly impressive. Hopefully, second generation HD DVD burners will be faster and include support for rewritable HD media. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
The HD DVD specs of the first drive will be limited to recordable, write-once HD DVD-R media at 1X, to both single-layer 15GB and dual layer 30GB discs; the drive won't support any of the HD DVD flavors of rewritable discs. However, the drive will support writing to standard DVD: 4X DVD±R (2X for double- and dual-layer), 4X DVD±RW, 3X DVD-RAM, and 16X CD-R.
- Details
- Software
TMPG, Inc. (www.tmpg-inc.com), the company that makes digital video easy, is set to add its new DVD Source Creator 4 software to its growing TMPGEnc-brand lineup. The product provides effortless editing and enhancing of almost any video file, which it then encodes to standard DVD compliant MPEG files. Multiple clips can be encoded into one file, or separate files can be encoded for each clip. Release date is scheduled for Wednesday, October 18.DVD Source Creator 4 will be available for purchase through TMPG's website on October 18th for $39.95. More information can be found here. Add a comment
"This powerful new software is based on our award-winning TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress engine," commented Kimi Matsuki, TMPG CEO. "DVD Source Creator 4 utilizes the engine's most important features, such as an easy-cut editor, video filtering, and automatic scene-change detection. Furthering its functionality, the TMPGEnc DVD Source Creator 4 is optimized for the latest Intel Core 2 Duo technology."
- Details
- Software
InterVideo, Inc. (NASDAQ: IVII) and its subsidiary Ulead Systems, Inc. (TSE:2487), industry leaders in video, image and DVD software, today announced Ulead VideoStudio 10 and Ulead VideoStudio 10 Plus, the company's award-winning consumer video editing products, are optimized for Intel Core 2 Duo processors.Ulead has also added support for HDV camcorder write-back and the newest hard drive camcorders to VideoStudio 10 Plus. If you'd like to read more, then entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
"We are very excited that Ulead has added support for Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel Core 2 Extreme processors to VideoStudio 10 and VideoStudio 10 Plus," said Jason Chen, Country Manager of Intel Taiwan. "VideoStudio's friendly step-by-step workflow makes it an excellent choice for home users and people new to digital video editing. And when it comes time to burn video to DVD, VideoStudio users will love how fast things go with systems featuring Intel Core 2 Duo processors."
- Details
- Software
- Details
- Optical Storage
The PlexEraser PX-OE100E is expected to ship in November for a suggested retail price of $249.99. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Plextor LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced PlexEraser (PX-OE100E), the world's first CD/DVD drive to enable security-conscious organizations to destroy discs using a method that is both environmentally friendly and secure.
PlexEraser is a standalone unit that does not require a personal computer to operate. This high-tech alternative to the disc shredder was designed for organizations in such industries as finance, government/military, and research - as well as any company with commercially sensitive data. PlexEraser enables discs to be destroyed without the organic dye leaking from the disc - something not possible with a disc shredder/manual shattering - and leaves them ready to be recycled without any data being recoverable.
- Details
- Optical Storage
Royal Philips Electronics has scored no additional points in promoting Veeza, a new licensing system for its CD-R disc patents, in Taiwan since Ritek was the first among Taiwan-based makers of CD-R discs to join the program late last month, according to industry sources.The article also mentions that Philips is barring imports of non-Veeza CD-R discs in some of the world's major markets. While they see this as a way to eliminate the competition from manufacturers in China and Hong Kong, it also forces the remaining Taiwanese manufacturers to get on board. If you want to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
The Taiwan Office of Philips Intellectual Property & Standards (PIPS) is negotiating with several companies, including CMC Magnetics, Prodisc Technology and Optodisc Technology, to accept Veeza, the sources indicated. These Taiwanese makers are willing to sign up for Veeza, but are asking for favorable conditions, the sources pointed out.
