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In an attempt to become profitable, Sony has begun to cut jobs and sell off some of its less than lucrative ventures. The company recently sold off its chemical business and scaled back its mobile phone workforce by 15%. Sony has now announced that it will be pulling out of the optical drive market. Citing fierce competition and decreasing prices as reasons for this decision, Sony plans to shut down its subsidiary, Sony Optiarc, at the end of March.
Most of the employees at Sony Optiarc will be let go through an early retirement program. Sony also plans to reassign some of the remaining employees to other divisions within the company.
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Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Laboratories Limited today announced the development of the PC industry's first recycling system that collects used CDs and DVDs at Fujitsu Group recycling centers and reuses the plastic in the bodies of notebook PCs. Fujitsu began using this recycled plastic for part of the front panel of its LIFEBOOK P772/E notebook PC for enterprise customers, a model in its summer 2012 lineup.
To avoid the risk of contaminants being mixed into the recycled plastic, the new recycling system performs quality control based on a chemical substances risk management database developed by Fujitsu Laboratories, thereby ensuring that notebook PCs and other ICT devices comply with legal requirements for chemical components. Compared to conventional notebook PC manufacturing processes, this system is expected to reduce the amount of newly produced plastic used by 10 tons per year while cutting CO2 emissions by approximately 15%.
Going forward, Fujitsu plans to expand the use of this system to other notebook PCs and products as a way to reduce its environmental footprint and resource consumption. The Fujitsu Group is proud to promote the recycling of end-of-life ICT products in Japan and around the world to help create a recycling-minded society.
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The ASUS SDRW-08D3S-U external 8X DVD writer adds instant optical media to various devices via USB 2.0 and the exclusive AV Function, including smart TVs and tablets. It maintains full compatibility with Windows and Mac OS, and keeps data safe through multiple security methods plus 256-bit encryption. Its Zen-like design sets it apart from generic drives as it delivers ASUS AVWHERE optical media convenience, just as the slender 20mm profile and 365g weight factor allow it to integrate easily into any home entertainment center as well as complement portable devices that require easy mobility.
Connecting instantly to different devices via USB 2.0, the SDRW-08D3S-U offers one-press AV Function switching that automatically syncs it with PCs, smart TVs and tablets, turning it into their external optical media drive for setup-free multimedia playback. Customers can therefore easily enjoy content in living rooms as well as anywhere in homes via portable devices. It is therefore highly useful in situations where devices do not have a built-in optical drive. For better flexibility and to accommodate more customers, the SDRW-08D3S-U ships with support for multiple versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple’s Mac OS. The feature set remains full and consistent across all compatible operating systems.
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Digital Flex Media Inc., a leading manufacturer of CD replication, DVD replication, Flex-DVD replication, Anti-Piracy Disc Protection and other CD DVD duplication services, has launched an innovative line of Rub’n Smell Discs to help businesses, marketers and advertisers cost-effectively connect with and influence target markets in an extraordinarily powerful way.
Digital Flex Media Inc.’s Rub’n Smell Discs integrate a desired scent into the inks that cover the company’s CDs, DVDs, and Flex VCD DVDs. The scented varnish is transparent, activates when rubbed, dissipates in a few seconds, and can be re-activated any time for years to come. Smell intensity can also be modified by enlarging or reducing the physical size of the scented area.
Available scents include fresh fruit, flowers, various perfumes, coffee, pizza, chocolate, apple pie, and many others. Digital Flex Media can source new scents that are ideal for a particular product or campaign, or clients can supply their own fragrance oils (provided that they meet quality, composition and safety standards).
“All flavors come from smell, and smells alter and influence how we behave, the state of our mood, and even the kinds of thoughts we have,” commented Mohab Sabry, CEO of Digital Flex Media Inc. “Plus, smells typically have a certain feeling associated with them, and they’re more connected to our emotions and memories than any other sense. Given all of this, it makes total strategic sense why businesses, marketers and advertisers would want to engage target markets on the olfactory -- or sense of smell – level as much, or even more, than other traditional levels, such as visual, tactile and auditory.”
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One-Red LLC (“One-Red”) will become the authorized entity to administer a new joint DVD Disc and DVD Player license program on behalf of its licensors, which include Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (“Philips”), Sony Corporation (“Sony”), Pioneer Corporation (“Pioneer”) and LG Electronics, Inc. (“LG”).
Today’s announcement means that optical storage manufacturers and brand owners will now be able to benefit from lower patent royalty rates by licensing through One-Red.
As the new licensing authority owned by Philips, Sony and Pioneer, One-Red delivers the following benefits to its stakeholders:
Essential Patent Licensing: Beginning July 1, 2012, One-Red will offer a new DVD license for all essential patents of LG, Philips, Pioneer and Sony that are related to DVD Video and ROM and CD-Audio and ROM technologies.
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PlexTV is a brand new feature designed to add TV compatibility to CD/DVD drives, and has been integrated exclusively in the latest external writer from Plextor.
The PX-612U with PlexTV is another forward-thinking development from Plextor, who have delivered generations of best-in-class and award-winning products since the early 90s, including optical disk drives, digital video converters and solid state drives.
Available now for approx £48, the 8X external slim CD/DVD writer boasts a small profile and lightweight design. With USB power, two essential software packages and a 2 year warranty, it is a versatile solution for any user who wants to share, back-up and view media on their TV, projector or other media player – at home, in the office and whilst travelling.
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Millenniata today announced its award winning M-DISC optical discs are now available in all Fry's Electronics retail stores and provide the only permanent storage option for consumers and businesses. All LG branded DVD or Blu-Ray optical drives bearing the M-DISC logo can write to M-DISC.
Fry's will sell M-DISC 5-packs and 10-packs at the following prices:
- M-DISC 5-Pack: $19.99
- M-DISC 10-Pack: $29.99
M-DISC provides permanent storage. Standard and archival-rated DVD and Blu-Ray discs, hard drives, and tape provide daily and short-term storage and backup, but will degrade over time – they do not provide long-term permanent storage.
“Many people have the misconception that their important digital files – memories and personal items – are permanent on standard DVD or Blu-Ray discs,” said Paul Brockbank, Millenniata CEO. “Only the M-DISC will allow today's digital files to be around many generations from now.”
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Millenniata today announced it has entered a manufacturing and license agreement with RITEK Corporation, the leading manufacturer of optical storage media in the world, to manufacture M-DISC optical discs.
“We are pleased to have RITEK join our M-DISC consortium of global partners who will help create a new data storage category centered on providing permanent storage to the masses,” said Paul Brockbank, Millenniata CEO. “RITEK’s manufacturing strength and expertise will help us meet the growing demand for the M-DISC.”
RITEK will begin manufacturing M-DISCs utilizing the technology and specifications of Millenniata. The RITEK manufactured M-DISCs will be available through Millenniata’s global sales and distribution channels, bringing permanent storage to a growing global user base.
“In a growing digital world, that until now has yet to find a true permanent storage solution, we believe M-DISC will define now and for the future how data will be used and preserved for generations,” said Gordon Yeh, CEO of RITEK Group. “It is an honor to be a manufacturing partner for M-DISC with Millenniata.”
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As the world leader in storage media, RITEK Corporation will showcase its complete series of Blu-ray discs at Computex, Taipei, from June 5th through June 9th. RITEK offers BDXL Blu-ray discs with multi-layers, high density, and 100GB capacity, to accommodate the growing needs for 3D Digital TV and Blu-ray hardware and software. Also, RITEK will present a series of USB 3.0 storage products and high-speed memory cards.
The increasing penetration of 3D video media has been accelerating the world's demand for storage discs of mega capacities. According to data from Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA), the global demand for Blu-ray discs totaled 210 million units in 2011 and is expected to reach 400 million in 2012. The era of Blu-ray has arrived, with the strong demand for high-quality video and audio. RITEK introduced PTM technology from the electronics and optoelectronics division of Industrial Technology Research Institute and successfully cast the fine-recording process for Blu-ray discs. This will speed up RITEK's ramp-up and cost control in the high-end Blu-ray products. In fact, RITEK is the only optical disc manufacturer in Taiwan receiving government support.
In addition to premier Blu-ray products, RITEK will also present 50GB BD-R DL (dual layers) and 25GB BD-R (single layer) at Computex. RITEK's Blu-ray discs are highly compatible, reliable and durable. The specially-designed hard coating ensures the Blu-ray discs are resistant of scratches, finger-prints or dirt. RITEK also offers printable Blu-ray discs, a beautiful and efficient storage media that allows consumers to print out the texts and graphs they enjoy.
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Buffalo Japan sent out a press release this morning, announcing its new portable, BDXL compatible Blu-ray Disc writer, the BRXL-PC6VU2. Available in four glossy colors, this USB-powered drive is capable of 6x BD-R, 6x BD-R DL, 4x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 6x. The BRXL-PC6VU2 also writes to triple- (100GB) and quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 4x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.
The BRXL-PC6VU2 comes with a software bundle from CyberLink that supports BDXL recording as well as Blu-ray 3D playback. While the red color won't be available until June, the black, silver and white versions of the drive are scheduled to ship at the end of May for a suggested retail price of 11,500 Yen ($143US).
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