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Parallel to the new announcements to LiteOn BenQ communicated that one will withdraw oneself until further notice at least into Europe from the business with optical drive assemblies. The last DVD burner, which is sold under the label BenQ, is the DW-1670. The Blu ray burner planned first will appear no more. Support and warranty, inclusive firmware updates are however further ensured for past customers, since BenQ on other markets will offer further drive assemblies.We've heard rumors that BenQ is also pulling out of the US market. Considering that the company never released the DW-1670 over here, I'd have to say that this is probably true. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
As reason BenQ Germany indicated the extremely small profit margins in the range of optical data storage. BenQ had entered only 2003 by a Joint venture with Philips into the market of the DVD burners and in relatively short time a name with qualitatively high-quality DVD burners had made themselves.
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Royal Philips Electronics is pressing makers of pre-recorded discs in Taiwan to accept a licensing scheme similar to Veeza, a licensing scheme that was not well received by disc makers, according to industry sources. The new scheme is applicable to pre-recorded CD-R and DVD discs, and so far, only Bestdisc Technology has sign up for it while leading and second-tier makers are still watching developments, the sources said.The article also mentions that Philips is urging vendors not to place orders with unlicensed manufacturers. They're also going as far as to get customs agencies to confiscate discs without a Philips license. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
To date, there has been no disc makers in Taiwan and China who have accepted the Veeza licensing system, which applies to blank CD-R discs, the sources indicated. Philips is now pushing its new licensing scheme for pre-recorded discs on Taiwan-based makers by attaching it to existing contracts, the sources pointed out.
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The first new drive, the BDR-102 will also support CD-R/RW discs, another disc format missing from the company's current product, the BDR-101. The BDR-102 is due to ship early next year, possibly in two versions, one with an IDE interface, the other with a SATA connector. It's not clear at what speeds the BDR-102 will write single- and dual-layer, 25GB and 50GB BD-R and BD-RE discs.Talk about surprising news. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here.
Further out, the BDR-103 will bring on board support for HD DVD, presumably recordable and rewriteable versions of the format as well as pre-recorded discs.
Update: The German website, heise online, has reported that the BDR-103 will only be able to read HD DVD media and not write to it. They also mention that Pioneer plans to ship the drive in October of 2007. Add a comment
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The SPD7000 is expected to ship in September with the MCP8480i being available some time before the end of the year. The BDP9000 will also launch in the US this fall and be available in Europe in early 2007. Complete details on Philips' new Blu-ray Disc products can be found here. Add a comment
Philips, a founding member of the Blu-ray Disc Association is exhibiting its first range of Blu-ray Disc products at IFA 2006, including the Philips Showline Media Center MCP9480i, the Philips TripleWriter SPD7000 multi-format PC drive, the Philips BDP9000 Blu-ray Disc player and a full scope of Blu-ray Disc media, including single-layer BD-R (Recordable) and BD-RE (Recordable and Erasable) discs.
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On average it takes the PlexEraser 3 minutes to destroy a CD or single layer DVD and 6 minutes for a dual layer DVD. No word on price yet. However, the PlexEraser is expected to be available in September 2006. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Plextor today launches the environmentally friendly and high-tech alternative to the disc shredder - PlexEraser PX-OE100E. Designed for security-conscious organisations such as financial institutions, Government departments, the military, research establishments - and any company with commercially sensitive data - it is the first security device in the world which destroys data on a CD/DVD. The PlexEraser enables discs to be destroyed without the organic dye leaking from the disc - something not possible with a disc shredder/manual shattering - and leaves them ready to be recycled without any data being recoverable.
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TDK, a world leader in digital recording solutions, has reached a landmark in the development of recordable blue laser technology, achieving a groundbreaking capacity of 200GB. Surpassing existing optical media technologies several times over, a 200GB blue laser disc would double the capacity of TDK's existing 100GB Blu-ray prototype. One of TDK's new 200GB blue laser discs could store approximately 18 hours of high definition video (encoded at 24Mbps).If you'd like to read more, TDK's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
The initial Blu-ray Disc standard allows for 25GB single layer Blu-ray Discs and 50GB dual layer Blu-ray Discs. However, a recent signal processing innovation stretches the physical limits of optical media, realizing 33.3GB capacity for each of the disc's six layers. As with the 100GB disc, and other Blu-ray Disc media, TDK's 200GB blue laser disc is single sided.
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The OEM version of the AWG170A drive is available now in four color variations. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Sony Europe's IT Peripherals division today announced its AWG170A DVD-RAM compatible DVD writer - the first Sony drive developed by Sony NEC Optiarc Inc, as part of the newly established joint venture. The AWG170A offers the industry's fastest level writing capability, supporting 18x DVD±R overspeed* writing on 16x single layer media. The Sony drives now also offer 12x DVD-RAM write/read speed, an increase of over 50%.
The AWG170A supports all DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW media including the latest double and dual layer DVD Recordable discs as well as DVD RAM. The Sony AWG170A delivers swift performance with over 400 tested and supported media types, including 8x recording of both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL double/dual layer discs. Rewriteable DVDs are recorded at 8x (DVD+RW) or 6x (DVD-RW) speed but can be read at up to 13x. The drive also supports CD-R writing/reading of 48x CD Speed. The AWG170A is an Ultra DMA66 Mode 4 ATAPI device.
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No 12X-DVD-RAM-Medien for Europe Maxell, one of the most important medium manufacturers for DVD-RAM, will not sell DVD RAM media, which can be described and read with 12X or 16X in Europe. As reason Maxell indicated serious compatibility problems among other things as Toshiba drive assemblies. The high-speed media (DVD-RAM2 called) are incompatible generally to the past DVD-RAM, which is specified to 5X. In older drive assemblies the Discs is not recognized not only, they could put also the entire computer lamely and in exceptional cases even the hardware damage.I can't see Maxell selling their 12x DVD-RAM media in the US either as the demand is even smaller than in Europe. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Maxell estimates the problem as extremely serious, it has however nothing with the quality of the media to do. Since the European market for DVD-RAM is very small eh, one will sell the fast DVD-RAM2-Discs exclusively in Japan.
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Memorex, the leading brand of optical media at U.S. retail and a portfolio brand of Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN - News), brings double the recording time to its Mini DVD-Rs, with a simple flip of a disc. Memorex Double-Sided Mini DVD-R media, the latest in Memorex's broad line of home video products, offers the highest capacity in the mini DVD format, providing up to one hour of recording time or 2.8GB of storage capacity for preserving precious memories and valuable data.Memorex's Double-Sided Mini DVD-R media is available now in packs of five for a suggested retail price of $19.99. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Ideal for home video enthusiasts and professional videographers alike, Memorex Double-Sided Mini DVD-R discs provide the convenience of one disc for capturing twice the video, photos, music and data. For superior ease-of-use, Memorex Double-Sided Mini DVDs are compatible with most of the direct-to-disc camcorders on the market. For added protection, both sides of each disc feature Memorex's DuraLayer(TM) Technology, a special scratch-resistant hard coating that protects media from dust, debris and rough handling. Each package also includes a DVD cleaning cloth to keep the discs spotless for peak performance and ultimate longevity during on-the-go recording and frequent disc swapping.
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Judging by their specs, these drives are based on the AD-7170A from Sony NEC Optiarc. While I have not seen any reports of these drives showing up at local stores, they can be purchased through SonyStyle.com. Add a comment
Writing Speeds: DVD+R: 4X CLV, 8X P-CAV, 16X, 18X CAV
DVD+RW: 2.4X, 4X CLV, 6X, 8X Z-CLV
DVD+R DL: 2.4X, 4X, 6X, 8X Z-CLV
DVD-R: 4X CLV, 8X P-CAV, 16X CAV, 18X CAV
DVD-RW: 2X, 4X, CLV, 6X Z-CLV
DVD-R DL: 2X, 4X CLV, 6X, 8X Z-CLV
DVD-RAM: 5X, 6X CLV, 8X, 10X, 12x P-CAV
CD-R: 8X ~16X CLV, 24X ~40X P-CAV, 48X CAV
CD-RW: 4X ~ 16X CLV, 24X ~ 32X Z-CLVRead Speeds: DVD-ROM: 16X Max
Access Times:
CD-ROM: 48X MaxCD-ROM: 130ms
Buffer Size: 2MB
DVD-ROM: 140ms
