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For the last few years, Sony NEC Optiarc has operated as a joint venture between Sony and NEC. The two companies announced today that they have signed an agreement to transfer NEC's stock to Sony, making Sony NEC Optiarc a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sony group.
Sony Corporation (hereafter Sony) and NEC Corporation (hereafter NEC) today announced that they have signed an agreement to transfer NEC's 45% stock in Sony NEC Optiarc Inc. to Sony.
Sony and NEC separated their optical disc drive businesses and combined each company's respective strengths in the Sony NEC Optiarc Inc. joint venture, established April 3, 2006, with the aim of achieving further business expansion.
As a result of this agreement, Sony will make Sony NEC Optiarc Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sony group, and will seek to strengthen its interaction with Sony group's product and device businesses to further streamline decision-making processes, enhance management responsiveness and further reinforce its next-generation optical disc drive business.
NEC will continue to contribute to the advancement of Sony NEC Optiarc Inc.'s optical disc drive products through the LSI development being carried out at NEC Electronics Corporation.
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Lite-On announces the introduction of a new generation external slim DVD writers. The eSAU208 is a fully featured, USB-powered, 8X slim DVD writer. A perfect solution for those users who are looking for a compact, stylish and portable DVD writer.
Mobility is an important aspect of the eSAU208. The drive can be powered through a USB connection instead of a traditional power adapter, so the mobile user does not longer needs to rely on a power socket to operate the DVD writer. The drive will consume its power directly from the notebook trough the USB cable. Even though the eSAU208 is USB powered, the retail pack still includes a power adaptor for those users who prefer to use a direct power source.
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Verbatim will be presenting the BD-R 2x Dual Layer with 50GB of storage space in a jewel case and a 10-disc spindle at the IFA. The new Verbatim Blu-ray Disc is suitable for recording films in high definition, backing up large amounts of office data and the long-term archiving of photos and music.Add a comment
Verbatim presents its first ever recordable dual layer Blu-ray Disc, which offers the very high quality standards for which Verbatim is famous. The Blu-ray BD-R 2x Dual Layer has a storage capacity of 50GB with 2x writing speed as well as extremely long recording times of up to 270 minutes (MPEG2). Burning takes about 93 minutes. “Our new BD-R 2x Dual Layer offers even more capacity along with outstanding burner compatibility and a long service life,” says Torsten Leye, Marketing Manager Optical at Verbatim EUMEA.
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Since the contract between Pioneer and Asustek Computer for ODM/OEM optical disc drive (ODD) production expired in July 2008, Pioneer is very likely to select one or more new ODM/OEM partners to make less profitable models, and the priority may be given to Taiwan-based makers, especially Lite-On IT and Quanta Storage, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
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Japan-based Mitsubishi Chemical, in view of global short supply of Blu-ray Disc (BD) pick-up heads (PUHs), is planning to step into production of high-power (200-300mW) laser diodes (LDs), the key component of PUHs for BD burners, according to sources in the Taiwan optical disc drive (ODD) industry.
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ODM/OEM quotes currently stand at US$120-130 for a BD Combo drive and US$95-100 for a BD-ROM drive, but PC vendors have asked for the lowering of the former by US$20-30 to US$100 and the latter by US$5-10 to US$90, the sources pointed out. However, none of ODM/OEM makers are willing to cut prices because they are unable to keep down component costs and are reluctant to sacrifice profitability for orders, the sources explained.Add a comment
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Although CMC Magnetics, the largest Taiwan-based OEM maker of blank optical discs, has raised its OEM quotes for CD-R and DVD+R/-R discs by 10% on average and some fellow makers in Taiwan have followed or will follow suit, a few leading Taiwan-based makers have received so many urgent orders for CD-R and/or DVD+R/-R discs recently as to fully occupy their production capacities, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
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Ritek has an existing BD production line capable of turning out 250,000 discs a month and thus its total monthly capacity will increase to 500,000 units when the second one starts operation, the company indicated. The upgrading of a DVD production line for BD production is much cheaper than installing a new line, Ritek emphasized.Add a comment
The expansion of BD production capacity is because Ritek has received increased orders from existing clients, with the increased demand mainly attributable to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Ritek pointed out. In expectation of growing demand, Ritek plans to set up a third production line to increase its total monthly capacity to 750,000 discs at the end of 2008, the company indicated.
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Prodisc Technology asserted that it will continue producing optical discs following its request with a local court for corporate restructuring and emergency measures, according to company chairman Ming-fa Lin.Add a comment
This is the clarification Lin made in response to a rumor that Prodisc will stop production of optical discs due to its financial difficulties.
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Buffalo Japan has announced a new external 20x "Super Multi" drive based on the Pioneer DVR-116. The DVSM-SL20U2 features a "Turbo USB" interface and is capable of 20x DVD±R, 10x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. The drive can also upscale standard DVDs to 1080p using the bundled PowerDVD software. Here are some of the specs:
