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With Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell evaluating the feasibility of adopting half-height 20x DVD burners, and other PC brands already having decided to adopt such burners for market segmentation and the promotion of sales of desktop PCs equipped with Windows Vista in the second quarter, 20x stands a good chance of replacing 16x to become the mainstream writing speed of DVD burners in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to leading Taiwan optical disc drive makers.The article also mentions that Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS), Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) and Pioneer are preparing to start volume production of 20x DVD burners in the second quarter. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
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TDK has partnered with Primera to optimise the printable surface of its BD-R media for use with Primera's world renowned line of inkjet BD-R disc publishing and duplication products. In an extension of the existing close partnership between the two companies, TDK is delivering increased flexibility in printable media by broadening customisation options for the European duplication industry.TDK has also partnered with Rimage to develop thermal printable Blu-ray discs. These discs are coated with a special thermal-optimised surface that not only delivers bright, high-resolution full color images and text, but also prevents warping.
TDK's BD-R is manufactured to Rimage specifications for maximum color performance with Rimage's high-resolution Everest thermal printer technology. By using one of Rimage's DVD/CD compatible thermal printers, duplicators and publishers can customise BD-R discs by printing text and graphics directly on each disc's label-side surface, creating the potential for more visually vibrant designs. In addition, the new formats allow the printing of high quality custom text and graphics directly onto a wider printable area ranging from 24mm to 118mm in diameter.TDK's inkjet and thermal printable Blu-ray Discs will be available in April 2007. No word on price yet. However, more information can be found here and here. Add a comment
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Due to the long Chinese New Year Holiday, Taiwan optical disc makers saw their revenues drop sequentially in February, with leading players CMC Magnetics and Ritek seeing revenue drops of 21.3% and 14.0%, respectively. Second-tier players Gigastorage, Lead Data, Optodisc Technology and Princo also reported falling revenues for February.Revenue is expected to rebound but due to the price of DVD+R/-R discs, it may not reach the same levels as last year. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes Add a comment
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Sony NEC Optiarc Inc., launches its new sales company, Sony NEC Optiarc Europe GmbH ("Optiarc Europe"). The European headquarters will be at Ismaning near Munich, Germany. Optiarc Europe, the optical disc drive specialist, will present itself to a broad public at CeBIT for the first time before officially starting to trade in the EMEA region on 2nd April 2007.This is definitely good news for our European readers. Hopefully Sony NEC Optiarc will decide to tap into the American market and launch a sales company over here as well. If you'd like to read more, Sony NEC Optiarc's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
The new sales company will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony NEC Optiarc Inc. ("Optiarc Japan") based in Tokyo, Japan. Optiarc Japan is invested by Sony Corporation (55%) and by NEC Corporation (45%), set up in April 2006. The joint venture company develops and manufactures optical disc storage drives. In the EMEA region the new company takes charge of sales and marketing activities of optical disc storage drive products manufactured by its parent company.
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The global demand for 8.5GB DVD+R/-R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs, due to fast growing demand for full HD (high-definition) TV, may increase by 122% from an estimated 90 million discs in 2006 to 200 million discs in 2007, according to Japan-based market survey organization BOC at a round robin test seminar held in Taipei by the RW PPI (Re-writable Products Promotion Initiative) under the Japan-based DVD Forum on March 8.The article also points out that Blu-ray and HD DVD discs are expected to account for 2% of total disc sales in 2007 and 11% in 2011. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
