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Ritek, the second largest Taiwan-based maker of optical discs, will, in line with its overall adjustment in production, shift some of its blank CD-R and DVD+R/-R disc manufacturing equipment from Taiwan-based factories to those of Ritek Vietnam, its subsidiary in Vietnam, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) on August 3.The article also mentions that CMC and Gigastorage have started manufacturing CD-R discs in Thailand. Both companies plan to begin production of DVD+R/-R discs in that country later this year. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
The shift will be through Ritek's sale of manufacturing equipment to its wholly owned overseas subsidiary Score High Group for US$34.560 million, the current book value of the equipment. Score High will then resell the equipment to Ritek Vietnam, Ritek spokesman Eric Ai indicated.
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Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN), exclusive licensee of the "TDK Life on Record" recording media brand, today announced the global release of 8cm recordable Blu-ray Discs. Available in both BD-R (recordable) and BD-RE (re-recordable), each TDK 8cm Blu-ray Disc offers 7.5 gigabytes of capacity, ample to store 60 minutes of full-quality high-definition video. TDK BD-R (BD-R75A) and BD-RE (BD-RE75A) 8cm Blu-ray Discs will begin shipping in the U.S. in September at manufacturer suggested retail prices (MSRPs) of $24.99 and $34.99, respectively. TDK Corporation manufactures these 8cm recordable Blu-ray Discs using TDK advanced technologies and supplies the product to Imation for sale under the TDK Life on Record brand.If you'd like to read more, Imation's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
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Verbatim Corporation and its parent company, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), announced today the world’s first Mini Blu-ray Recordable/Rewriteable (BD-R/RE) media. Measuring three inches (8cm) in diameter, the new 7.5GB discs provide approximately one hour of continuous video capture time on a single side when high definition (1920×1080i) is used, and approximately two hours1 of video capture time with images recorded at 1440×1080i. MKM Mini BD media will be available in August in Japan, where the new Hitachi BD-compatible camcorder will be launched. Verbatim will begin shipments to other parts of the world, including North America, when the new BD-compatible camcorders become available locally.No word on price or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, Verbatim's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Verbatim Mini BD media combine with a BD-compatible camcorder to provide consumers with convenience features that hard disk camcorders cannot offer. With the ability to record priceless memories directly to a Mini BD disc, users can eliminate the time-consuming process of downloading captured video to their computer hard drive. They can also enjoy unlimited capacity by simply removing the disc from the camcorder and adding a new one.
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No word on price but you can bet that the BDR-202 will be expensive. More information, including a full list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment
Developed for professional users, the BDR-202 internal drive for PCs supports the writing of both write-once (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) single-layer Blu-ray discs.
The versatile writer, which is now available in Europe, is also compatible with a range of DVD and CD media; speeds include 12X writing to DVD-R/+R, 6X to DVD-RW/+RW and 24X to CD-R/RW.
The optical pickup unit is equipped with our newly developed BD/DVD/CD three-way compatible lens that realises high-speed recording at a maximum speed of 4X on BD-R media and 2X speed on BD-RE.
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| Writing Speeds: DVD±R: 16x DVD±R DL: 4x DVD+RW: 8x DVD-RW: 6x DVD-RAM: 5x CD-R: 40x CD-RW: 24x | Read Speeds: |
The DVSM-CX516FBV, DVSM-CX516U2/V and DVSM-CX516IU2/V will ship in August and are priced at 12,500 Yen ($105US), 15,700 Yen ($132US) and 17,900 Yen ($151US) respectively. More information can be found here. Add a comment
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Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN) today announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the TDK brand recording media business and use of the TDK brand name for recording media products worldwide, for a combination of Imation common stock and cash.According to the press release, Imation will continue to supply TDK brand products to the market. TDK will also continue R&D and manufacturing operations for recording media and will supply Imation as well as its other OEM customers. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
Imation issued to TDK Corporation 6.8 million shares of Imation common stock, representing 16.6 percent of shares outstanding after issuance of the shares to TDK. Additional cash consideration and customary closing costs and advisory fees brought the total cost to Imation to approximately $260 million. Additional cash consideration of up to $70 million could be paid by Imation to TDK Corporation contingent upon future financial performance of the acquired business.
By agreement, TDK's ownership stake will not exceed 22 percent of Imation common stock on a fully diluted basis. TDK becomes the largest shareholder of Imation and, under terms of the transaction, has the right to nominate a representative to serve on the Imation Board of Directors.
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| Writing Speeds: DVD+R: 20X, 16x, 12X, 10x, 8X, 4X DVD+RW: 8X, 6X, 4X, 2.4X DVD+R DL: 8X, 6X, 4X, 2.4X DVD-R: 20X, 16X, 12X, 10X, 8X, 4X, 2X DVD-RW: 6X, 4X, 2X, 1X DVD-R DL: 8X, 6X, 4X DVD-RAM: 14X, 12X, 5X CD-R: 48X, 40X, 32X, 16X, 10X, 4X CD-RW: 32X, 24X, 16X, 10X, 4X | Read Speeds: Access Times: |
At this time we have not heard if or when the DRW-2014L1T will be available in the US. As soon as we find out, we'll let you know. Until then, more information can be found on ASUS's website. Add a comment
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LightScribe today announced that an additionaltwelve hardware brands, personal computer and optical drive manufacturers, mediabrands and disc publishing systems manufacturers have licensed its direct disc labelingtechnology. These new licensees include hardware brands Apricorn, Ativa, Gear Head,and Sony; personal computer manufacturer MESH Computers; optical disc drivemanufacturer Sony NEC Optiarc; media brands Ativa, Intenso, KODAK Media Products,and Vakoss; and disc publishing systems manufacturers Advanced Digital Research,Amtren, and Mexty Productions.If you'd like to read more, LightScribe's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
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Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the availability of the Qosmio G45-AV680, a cutting-edge audio-video notebook computer with Dolby surround sound technology and the first U.S. model to feature an HD DVD-R optical drive and full 1080p playback resolution.The Qosmio G45-AV680 also comes equipped with a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 17-inch widescreen LCD, GeForce 8600GT graphics card and dual 160GB hard drives, resulting in an estimated price of about $3200. More information, including a full list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment
As the first U.S. notebook computer with an HD DVD-R optical drive, the Qosmio notebook provides users with a state-of-the-art multimedia machine that can burn up to 30 GB of data, including home-videos, entire photo albums and music libraries onto a single HD DVD recordable disc. In addition to storage capacity, the HD DVD-R optical drive also plays HD DVD movies at a resolution six times sharper than the DVD format.
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Tech-On! reports that Ricoh's optical device can only be applied to read-only applications. However, the company is continuing development, hoping to push prices below $1. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
When used in the optical system of the optical head in an optical disc drive, the device can eliminate the need of so-called two lens setup in which two lenses are provided for use with CD/DVD and the next-generation DVD such as Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD.
The company said that, while MFCP is required to be added, the number of optical parts in the entire optical head may be decreased compared with the case of the two lens setup, thereby reducing the size of the optical system of the optical head.
