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Leading Taiwan-based optical disc drive (ODD) makers retain good chances to obtain additional OEM orders for producing consumer DVD burners, such as JVC CU-VD10 Everio Share Station (direct DVD-video burner) and Sony VRD-MC1 (external DVD+RW/-RW burner), from Japanese brands, according to industry sources in Taiwan.If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Consumer DVD burners can be used to directly record digital video and photos from a camcorder or another source onto a DVD disc without being connected to a PC. Considered as more profitable than PC-use DVD recording drives, the consumer burners are currently priced at US$200-300, the sources indicated. Sony VRD-MC1 is already produced by Lite-On IT, the largest maker of optical disc drives in Taiwan, on an OEM basis, the sources pointed out.
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According to Bob Perry, VP of LG sales and channel marketing, hybrid product has been canned. Bob continued: "LG remains part of the Blu-ray camp and will make a product announcement later in the year". Perry was speaking on product plans at the company's '2006 Summer Line Show' this week in New York.Let's hope that Samsung can come through with their hybrid player. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
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The three patents named in the complaint are: U.S. patent 4,847,132, which covers a protective layer for a reversible data storage disc; patent 5,790,487, which relates to optical data recording media; and patent RE 37,185, which covers an optical recording head for use in an optical disc data storage system.If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Panasonic asserts that CMC and two U.S. affiliates, Hotan and KHypermedia, infringed on all three patents. The company is asking the court for damages relating to the infringement and an injunction against further infringement.
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The production of blue-laser pick-up heads (PUHs) by only a few makers, including Pioneer, Philips, Hitachi and Sony, is insufficient to meet increasing global demand for blue-laser DVD players, recorders, drives and burners, and the shortage is expected to be significant in the fourth quarter of this year, according to industry sources in Taiwan.If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Although the global market for next-generation blue-laser drives, burners and players/recorders is still in its infancy, international vendors of desktop and notebook PCs as well as consumer electronics have placed OEM orders for such products to test the market during the traditional peak season next quarter, the sources indicated. The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3, with a built-in Blu-ray Disc drive), which is scheduled to be launched in November, accounts for part of the demand, the sources noted.
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Overall, I'm extremely impressed with this drive from Plextor. While it may not be the fastest unit on the plant, in testing it has been rock solid. If this is the drive that begins to bring Plextor back to the forefront of the "King of Quality", this is a good start. We had absolutely no issues with this drive during testing and the benchmarks above reflect our experience. It's not 100% perfect in our tests as it does have some slowdowns when reading disks, but it bounces back up and finishes in top form.If you'd like to read more, head on over to BCCHardware and check out their review. Want a second opinion? Our review of the PX-750A can be found here. Add a comment
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European Commission antitrust officials are probing the licensing strategies of two rival new generation DVD developers, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, the EU executive said on Thursday...Once the EU receives more information, it could decide to open a formal investigation or drop the case. More information can be found here. Add a comment
...The Commission wants to know whether the licensing terms of the DVD formats could break European Union competition rules, but it said this was not the start of a formal investigation.
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Technicolor Home Entertainment Services' next-generation DVD replication lines are installed at the company's worldwide headquarters in Camarillo, Calif. The company has three HD DVD replication lines, and three Blu-ray Disc replication lines, in place to meet early studio and consumer requirements. In addition, Technicolor Home Entertainment Services has installed dedicated, state-of-the-art mastering and testing equipment for both of these new formats in its Advanced Media Development Center in Camarillo. This facility also houses complete printing, custom packaging, and distribution facilities to support North American retail operations. The company plans to add future capacity for both formats in different geographies to meet projected demand, and to satisfy the ongoing needs of studio and independent right holder customers.If you'd like to read more, Thomson's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
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Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic) on July 26 announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, charging that DVD discs made by CMC Magnetics Corporation (CMC), a Taiwanese disc manufacturer, infringe Matsushita Electric's patents. The lawsuit also names two US affiliates of CMC, Hotan Corporation and KHypermedia Corporation.It will be interesting to see how this turns out. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
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The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) announced today that it has signed an agreement with Ecma International to work together to finalize an industry-wide archival-grade optical disc specification. The purpose of this initiative is to address end user needs calling for established practices in media archive life testing and classification. The final goal is the issuance of an ISO standard available to industry for broad implementation.According to OSTA's press release, the two groups plan to develop an optical media archival test methodology and promote its implementation. More information can be found here. Add a comment
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LightScribe today announced that an additional 25 hardware brands, personal computer and optical drive manufacturers, media brands and software developers have licensed its Direct Disc Labeling technology. These new licensees include leading hardware brands Ahtec Computer, Buffalo, Candy Technology, CompUSA, Gericom, LG Electronics, Mad Dog Multimedia, Paradigit and Samsung; personal computer manufacturers Founder and Targa; optical disc drive manufacturer TEAC; media brands Digitex, Esperanza, Infiniti, Omega, Platinet, PRIMEON, Ricoh and River Pro Audio; hardware component manufacturer MediaTek; software developers B.H.A., Honest Technology and NEATO; and disc publishing systems manufacturer Alea.If you'd like to read more, LightScribe's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
The expanded base of over 70 licensees highlights broad LightScribe technology adoption and reflects enthusiastic customer response. Over 12 million LightScribeenabled drives and 90 million CDs and DVDs have shipped to date. Additionally, LightScribe-enabled drive shipments account for 10% of all DVD burners manufactured on a monthly basis.
