According to an article at DigiTimes, the Taiwanese media manufacturer Postech has decided to stop production of DVD+R/-R discs.
Postech, a second-tier producer of optical discs in Taiwan, has decided to stop production of DVD+R/-R discs in the first half of this year and shift to other products, according to industry sources. Postech declined to comment on the report.

Postech made the decision because its 8x DVD+R/-R discs are not competitive and the company has had difficulties upgrading to production of 16x DVD+R/-R or 8x DVD+R/-R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs, the sources pointed out.
I don't think many will be saddened by this as Postech had a very small market share, especially here in North America. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Samsung sent out a press release today, announcing that they've completed the technical development of its Blu Ray Disc Drives.
TSST Korea (Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation) announced today that it has completed the technical development of its Blu Ray Disc Drives. These revolutionary products for the Optical Disc Drive market offer a massive storage capacity up to 25GB at a single layer disc.

"As a global technology leader, Samsung is always on the forefront of cutting-edge technologies, working to provide consumers with best-of-breed products," said Albert Kim, national sales manger, Storage Systems for Samsung SSI. "Samsung's announcement of the completion of its Blu Ray disc drive is a major step ahead in the ODD technology battleground."
According to Samsung's press release, the company plans to simultaneously launch both internal and external Blu Ray drives later this year. More information can be found here. Add a comment
While many companies have chosen sides in the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD, Lite-On has remained fairly neutral. According to the Inquirer, Lite-On has not decided which one to chose and will likely introduce separate drives supporting both formats.
The chaps said that they will probably go "both ways" and introduce separate computer drives supporting both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Now we are not talking about combo drives, it will be two separate drives - one HD DVD manufactured device and one Blu-ray marchitecture based drive.
We have not heard anything from our contacts at Lite-On so I really cannot confirm any of this. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Philips has announced a new way to license CD-R disc patents. Using their new Veeza system, traders and retailers will have a much easier time recognizing unlicensed discs. Here's part of Philips' press release:
Veeza makes it simple for everyone involved in the trade of CD-R discs to recognize unlicensed goods. With traditional patent licensing methods traders and retail companies tend to have difficulty in verifying that the goods they have purchased, are licensed and royalties have been paid. Veeza will make it easier to sell licensed CD-R discs and more difficult to sell unlicensed discs. Discs distributed under a Veeza-license can easily be traced and recognized by three clear marks: a logo that is embedded in the disc, a serial number on each package carton and an authenticity document, called Licensed Status Confirmation Document (LSCD). These three marks provide simple proof that a shipment with CD-R discs is licensed under Philips' patents.
To help promote their Veeza system, Philips will be reducing the royalty costs for Veeza-compliant companies by 44%. If you'd like to read more, additional information on Veeza can be found here. Add a comment
Imation has announced that they will be manufacturing both HD DVD and Blu-ray media. The company has already invested $10 million in R&D and to scale up the production capabilities of their Oakdale, Minn. facility.
Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN - News), a worldwide leader in removable data storage media, today announced it has begun its scale-up of manufacturing for HD DVD and Blu-ray optical recordable media in preparation for product introduction in early 2006. The company invested more than $10 million in 2005 in research, development and modular manufacturing capabilities to position Imation among the industry leaders delivering the newest high-capacity optical formats to customers.
Imation plans to ship their media during the first half of 2006. More information can be found here. Add a comment