Nero sent out a press release this morning, announcing that its Nero Vision application has recieved the Blu-ray Direct to Disc certification.
Nero, leaders in digital media technology, today announced it has received BD-RE/BD-AV Direct to Disc certification for its Nero Vision application. With this certification, Nero 7, the company's premier digital media software suite in which Nero Vision resides, guarantees consumers that the software is fully compatible with Blu-ray Disc specifications.

Nero Vision enables the recording of video content directly onto rewriteable Blu-ray Discs (BD-RE) with full image resolution. Video may be recorded directly from a DV camcorder or video inputs on the customer's PC in real time. Discs recorded in BD-AV format can contain up to 6 hours of full-quality video on a single layer 25GB rewritable BD-RE.
If you'd like to read more, Nero's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
According to article at DigiTimes, Ritek has started producing LabelFlash CD-R and DVD+R/-R discs for Fujifilm.
Ritek has begun OEM production of LabelFlash CD-R and DVD+R/-R discs for Fujifilm, with an initial small shipment volume of several million discs a month, according to industry sources. LabelFlash technology allows users to directly burn a label onto an optical disc.

Following Plextor's launch of the world's first LabelFlash-enabled DVD burners in the first quarter of this year, NEC, Pioneer, LG Electronics and I-O Data Device have subsequently offered such DVD burners, boosting the adoption of LabelFlash, the sources indicated. Fujifilm is currently the sole supplier of LabelFlash discs, and has outsourced production to Ritek because its own production capacity is not sufficient, the sources pointed out.
Plextor offering a LabelFlash enabled DVD burner? I think someone has their facts mixed up. In any case, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
According to Reuters, Disney currently plans to develop original content for Blu-ray. These short films will be shot in high-definition and will accompany films the company plans to release in the Blu-ray format.
Raising the bar in the Blu-ray Disc vs. HD DVD battle, Walt Disney Co. is creating a series of short films to be shot in high-definition to accompany select films the company will release in the Blu-ray format.

It's the first move by any studio to develop original content for the Sony-developed Blu-ray, a step observers feel is critical to giving the format the upper edge over Toshiba's rival HD DVD.
Disney's Blu-ray titles are expected to begin shipping on September 19th and will come in two waves. Out of the initial nine titles, five of them will come with the exclusive shorts. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Sonic Solutions sent out a press release today, announcing that Movielink has licensed their DVD-on-Demand technology. With DVD-on-Demand, Movielink subscribers can now burn their downloaded movies to disc and play them back on DVD players.
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ:SNIC - News), the leader in digital media software, and Movielink (www.movielink.com), the leading broadband video-on-demand (VOD) service, announced today a licensing agreement for technology that, when authorized for use by content providers, will enable consumers to burn downloaded movies onto recordable discs in a protected format for playback on standard DVD players. As part of the agreement, Movielink has licensed Sonic's DVD-on-Demand technology to permit home users to securely download, format and burn movies to recordable DVD media. Additionally, Sonic will include the Movielink Service within its Roxio CinePlayer(TM) and other Sonic software applications distributed through OEM and retail channels.
If you'd like to read more, Sonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
DigiTimes has reported that Lite-On will unveil their 18x DVD burner models this quarter or early next quarter and plans to offer 20x DVD burners in the 4Q of this year.
Lite-On IT, given the fact that several global leading brands will follow Japan-based Plextor and unveil 18x DVD burner models this quarter or early next quarter, is preparing to offer 20x DVD burners in the fourth quarter to enhance its competitiveness, according to industry sources.

Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST), NEC, Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS), Pioneer and I-O Data Device are among the brands expected to release 18x DVD burners soon, the sources indicated.
If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
According to an article at DigiTimes, quotes for 16x DVD burners have continued to fall during the 2Q of 2006 due to competition from manufacturers like Foxconn Electronics and NEC.
The quotes for 16x DVD burners have fallen 5-10% during the second quarter of 2006 amid competition from makers such as Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) and NEC, according to Taiwan-based optical disc makers.

Sources said Foxconn was competing for orders by initiating a price war for the 16x DVD burner segment while other sources said NEC was strategically dumping products to clear out inventory, causing market quotes to sink to a new low.
The article also mentions that several manufacturers are shifting to "Super Multi" drives or 18x DVD burners to raise their average selling price. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Imation sent out a press release this morning, announcing the availability of its Blu-ray Disc media. Available in recordable (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) formats, these single layer discs can store up to 25 GB of data.
Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN - News) today announced the availability of its Blu-ray media to major IT and data storage channel partners at its "Blue Technology" conference. Imation designed the conference and tour of its new advanced optical manufacturing facility at Imation world headquarters in Oakdale, Minn. to educate Imation channel partners on blue-laser optical technologies, and their application for high definition media in the enterprise. These leading optical media distributors and their customers know the challenge of keeping up with today's exploding data storage requirements, which are expected to triple by the end of the decade. Now, with Imation Blu-ray media, professionals have a simple solution for managing their growing quantity of critical data storage. Available in recordable (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) formats, Imation Blu-ray discs store up to 25 GB of digital files -- five times the capacity of standard DVDs -- and are ideal for reliable business backup, including medical and government imaging, photography, videography, as well as high definition video recording.
Imation's Blu-ray recordable (BD-R) and re-writable (BD-RE) media will be available in August for a suggested retail price of $19.99 and $29.99, respectively. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Warner Home Video has announced that the first wave of its Blu-ray Disc titles will be available on August 1st.
Warner Home Video (WHV), which distributes the largest film library of any studio, today announced that it will launch its first wave of titles on Blu-ray Disc. On August 1, WHV will release four titles -- "Training Day"; "Good Night, and Good Luck"; "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang"; and "Rumor Has It" -- on the Blu-ray format to support the initial roll out of Blu-ray players in North America. "Training Day" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" will be available for $28.99 SRP and "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" and "Rumor Has It" will be available for $34.99 SRP. Future waves of Blu-ray launch titles will be announced in the coming weeks.
If you'd like to read more, Warner's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Blu-ray backers like Sony and Pioneer aren't the only ones experiencing delays. Toshiba has reportedly pushed back the release of their first HD DVD recorder to July 27th.
Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it will postpone the sale of the first recorder for HD DVD high-definition video discs because of a production delay.

The new recorder, the RD-A1, had been slated to go on sale Friday, but the release will be pushed back to July 27, the Tokyo-based electronics maker said in a release.

The new machine combines an HD DVD burner with a one-terabyte hard disk and can record and store up to 130 hours of high-definition broadcasts.
Unfortunately, Toshiba still has no plans to offer the RD-A1 outside of Japan. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
According to research done by the Santa Clara Consulting Group, the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD will not impede the market. The group also expects sales to be nearly $2 billion in 2006 and more than $28 billion by 2010.
Paced by anticipated sales of blue laser players, game consoles, PC drives, and related media, the blue laser disc technology market is expected to exceed $28 billion in sales in 2010, according to Santa Clara Consulting Group (SCCG). Growth will be driven by six sub-segments, according to a report released today: Blu-ray and HD DVD Disc Technologies: Pursuit of a New Standard.

SCCG estimates that the game console segment, supported by sales of the PlayStation 3, will have the most important influence on the blue laser disc technology market, with more than half of the $2 billion in revenue for 2006. Content, including movies and games, will represent half of this market's revenues in 2010.
If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment