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Nero, leaders in digital media technology, announced today an agreement with Audible, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBL; www.audible.com), the leading provider of spoken entertainment and information on the Internet to become Audible's preferred CD burning software provider. As a result, Nero 7, Nero's flagship digital media software suite, will support the Audible file format for CD burning and playback. Playback of Audible files will be possible with Nero ShowTime, the popular CD and DVD Media player included in Nero 7. In addition, Nero and Audible will enable CD file burning from within AudibleManager using Nero 7 burning capabilities. AudibleManager is a free download available from its website (www.audible.com). Audible will promote Nero as its preferred CD burning software in advertising and marketing materials.If you'd like to read more, Nero's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
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The PX-B900A is expected to hit store shelves in October for a suggested retail price of $999.99. If you'd like to read more, Plextor's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Plextor(R) Corp., a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the October 2006 release of the PX-B900A Blu-ray Disc drive, the first Plextor burner to support the next generation of optical data storage technology. The new multi-function drive, which carries an MSRP of $999.99 USD, comes bundled with a rewritable 25GB BD-RE media disc and a complete software package, including Ulead VideoStudio 10 and InterVideo WinDVD BD.
Offering up to 10 times more data storage capacity than DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD) has the support of more than 170 companies, including the top film studios and consumer electronics manufacturers. The Plextor PX-B900A Blu-ray Disc drive is capable of burning more than 9 hours of high-definition (HD) video, or approximately 23 hours of standard-definition (SD) video, on a dual-layer 50GB disc. The drive is backwards compatible with existing DVD and CD media formats, including DVD-RAM, Dual Layer DVD, Double Layer DVD, DVD+/-R/RW, and CD-R/RW. Designed for easy compatibility with Microsoft(R) Windows(R)-based personal computers, the drive features an ATA (ATAPI) interface.
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No word on pricing or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, more information, including a list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment
Besides the previously announced LH-2B1S, Lite-On IT will also launch an external version of their external drive, the LX-2B1U. Both are triple writers and therefore backwards compatible with DVD and CD formats as well.
The new drives use the revolutionary blue laser technology instead of red laser existing in today's optical drives. The new technology provides much precise laser focus and greatly increases storage capacity. LH-2B1S and LX-2B1U can store up to 50GB of data on a double-layer BD disc, equivalent to 9 hours High-Definition (HD) video, 23 hours of standard definition content or 72 CDs on a single disc.
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Japan-based Ricoh on August 24 filed legal proceedings at a US District Court in Wisconsin against Quanta Storage and Asustek Computer, two leading makers of optical disc drives (ODDs) in Taiwan, for infringing on four of its patents related to CD-RW and DVD+RW formats, according to industry sources in Taiwan.If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
In response, both Quanta Storage and Asustek indicated they have not received notification about the lawsuit and therefore could not make an assessment. Quanta Storage is the largest slim-type ODD maker in Taiwan, while Asustek is a large producer of PCs.
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The surprising disclosure was made by Senior Program Manager Steve Riley during a presentation on Windows Vista security at Tech.Ed 2006 Sydney today.If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. As usual, feel free to leave your comments in our forum.
"Any next-generation high definition content will not play in x32 at all," said Riley.
"This is a decision that the Media Player folks made because there are just too many ways right now for unsigned kernel mode code [to compromise content protection]. The media companies asked us to do this and said they don't want any of their high definition content to play in x32 at all, because of all of the unsigned malware that runs in kernel mode can get around content protection, so we had to do this," he said.
Update: APC has followed up with another article claiming that the statement made by Riley was only partially correct. According to a recent blog post, it is up to the software vendor as to whether or not you'll need a 64-bit CPU to play High Definition content. Add a comment
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Sony NEC Optiarc, a joint venture (JV) that combines Sony's and NEC's optical disc drive (ODD) businesses, will launch its first product, a 18x DVD burner (called the AD-7170A), next month, and the company will manufacture it at its own plant in Malaysia, according to industry sources in Taiwan. The sources also expect that in the future, the company will place OEM/ODM orders for its ODD products at Lite-On IT.The Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7173A and AD-7170A have already started to show up in some parts of the world. Unfortunately, the US isn't one of them. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
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CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, announced today that PowerDVD BD Edition incorporates Java technology, providing full BD-J advanced content support for Blu-ray Discs played via PowerDVD.If you'd like to read more, CyberLink's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
BD-J enables bonus content on Blu-ray Disc titles to support a wide range of compelling new features, including rich interactivity and advanced menus, movie-related gaming, and network access that supports features like the download of trailers or live events.
BD-J is based on the Java Micro Edition (JME) from Sun Microsystems, which is also found in over a billion mobile phones and millions of televisions, set-top boxes, automobiles, and other embedded devices. Sun worked closely with CyberLink to integrate Sun's Java CDC Hotspot Implementation into CyberLink PowerDVD BD Edition, ensuring best-in-class performance and compatibility.
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BenQ announced that it has decided to separate its own-brand and IMS (integration manufacturing and service) businesses, with the IMS segment to become independent in 2007, while BenQ to focuses on BenQ Mobile Business Group (BMG) and Digital Media Business Group (DMG) for its own-brand business, according to KY Lee, chairman and CEO of BenQ, at an investors conference on August 24.If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
The company has been evaluating the move for two years and decided to separate its own-brand business from IMS since the branding businesses of BenQ and BenQ-Siemens have reached economies of scale, Lee said.
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The version of Windows Media Player that will ship with Windows Vista won't include playback support for either Blu-ray or HD DVD movie titles.I can't say I'm surprised. The current version of Windows Media Player doesn't play back standard DVD movies without drivers from a 3rd party either. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
"In box we have the Microsoft VC1 decoder...but in order to do playback [of Blu-ray and HD DVD titles] you will need a third-party player such as...PowerDVD from Cyberlink," Mark O'Shea, OEM Systems Engineer for Microsoft Australia told CNET.com.au.
VC-1 is a Microsoft-developed video codec adopted by many movie studios as the video standard for their commercial HD DVD and Blu-ray titles.
