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Sony sent out a press release today, announcing a new series of its MicroVault Click USB flash drives pre-loaded with movies and music. Starting in December, the company will be offering a 2GB Click drive pre-loaded with the “Thriller: 25th Anniversary Edition” album as well as the movies “The Da Vinci Code” and “Men in Black" on a 4GB drive.
Sony is bringing some of the top music and movie titles in entertainment history to consumers in an easy-to-use, portable electronic format. The company is introducing a new series of its MicroVault® Click USB flash drives pre-loaded with a choice of either “Thriller: 25th Anniversary Edition” – the best-selling album of all time – or the blockbuster movies “The Da Vinci Code” and “Men in Black.”
“We’re excited to provide consumers with a new way to enjoy some of today’s most popular titles, using our MicroVault Click USB flash drives,” said Shane Higby, director of marketing for Sony Electronics’ consumer media group. “By pre-loading content in this way, we are expanding the applications for flash drives, while offering a unique value that only Sony can deliver.”
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Canadians will soon be paying more for their blank CDs. The Copyright Board Of Canada recently issued a decision that will increase the private copying levy on all blank CDs from 21¢ to 29¢ for the years 2008 and 2009.
The Copyright Board of Canada issued today a decision on private copying levies for the years 2008 and 2009. The decision maintains the rate for audiocassettes at 24¢, and increases the rate for all CDs to 29¢. Since 2001, the certified rate for CDs had been 21¢.
“Two main factors led the Board to raise the CD levy rate to 29¢”, said Claude Majeau, Secretary General of the Board. “First, the mechanical royalties that record labels pay to record a song onto a prerecorded CD have increased. Second, because consumers now use compression technology when they record music, the average number of music tracks copied onto a CD went from 15 to more than 18.”
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OCZ Technology today announced the launch of its new Gold Series Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) flash memory cards. Designed and optimized for HD video enthusiasts and photography professionals, this Class 6 rated card is capable of a 150X write rate and is available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities.
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the launch of its new Gold Series Secure Digital™ High-Capacity (SDHC) flash memory cards, to offer professional phographers and videographers unbridled performance combined with ample storage capabilities for high-resolution pictures and video. These premium memory cards offer photography enthusiasts incredible speeds and capacities to deliver the tailored storage they demand.
“OCZ’s new Gold Series SDHC cards are designed for professional photography and high definition video applications where enthusiasts demand the highest level of performance to match the file sizes and speed capabilities of their specialized cameras and video equipment,” commented Alex Mei, Chief Marketing Officer of the OCZ Technology Group. “The new Gold Series cards make use of premium quality flash and are optimized for shooting large RAW files with the latest D-SLR cameras and exceed the performance requirements of the latest 1080 high definition camcorders.”
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A new survey conducted by the NPD Group has found that consumers who have purchased a video on DVD or Blu-ray Disc are enthusiastic about the Digital Copy feature available on many new releases. The survey found that one third of DVD or BD buyers in the U.S. were aware of the Digital Copy feature. Of those who had already purchased a Digital Copy version, more than 80% were interested in buying another with this feature. Consumers also made it clear that they prefer to receive a digital copy on a video they've purchased, rather than downloading it from the Internet.
According to NPD more than half of DVD or BD buyers have watched a full-length TV show or movie on a portable device. One-third of DVD or BD buyers in the U.S. are aware of the Digital Copy feature. Three out of four DVD or BD buyers who view movies or TV shows on a portable device expressed interest in buying a physical disc with Digital Copy. More than 80 percent of consumers who have already purchased a Digital Copy version claimed they were interested in purchasing other titles published with this feature.
“At this point every major studio is offering video buyers the option for a portable, digital copy of films and TV shows,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. “For consumers who don’t have the time or know-how to download full-length movies or TV shows, Digital Copy provides a flexible and safe solution for transferring a legal version from a purchased disc to a portable device.”
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As of January 1st, 2009, SlySoft will change its update policy from free lifetime updates to an annual subscription fee. All license purchases made before January 1st, 2009 will not be affected by this change; as promised, all licenses purchased before 2009 will still be honoured under Slysoft's free lifetime update policy.
SlySoft announces this step in advance in order to provide its customers with the choice between the old and new licensing model. Buyers who act quickly can get an additional discount with the current ongoing special promotion.
Until Wednesday, December 31 2008 Slysoft offers a 20% discount on all software products--except upgrades. If you are entertaining the thought of purchasing one of Slysoft's products, now is the right time to act!
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- Network Storage
Addonics Technologies (www.addonics.com) today announced the Addonics NAS (network attached storage) adapter, a low-cost way to add USB storage devices onto a local area network.
Once on the network, USB storage can be shared by any network user just like any NAS device. In addition, the new solution allows users to custom build their own NAS appliance with unlimited expansion and RAID capability by using Addonics family of drive enclosures, port multipliers and IO converters. When used with Addonics storage towers or racks, users can instantly add to any LAN multi-tera bytes of storage with RAID capabilities.
The NAS adapter supports both SMB (Server Message Block) and the open source Samba network protocols. This allows for cross-platform access of all shared data for most versions of Windows, Mac OS X, and various Linux distributions. The adapter comes with a USB 2.0/1.1 connection and a fast Ethernet 10/100Mbps connection.
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GfK Retail and Technology announced this week that Blu-ray sales have reached record levels in Japan. Their latest sales figures revealed that unit sales of Blu-ray Disc recorders surpassed that of DVD recorders during the first week of November. GfK also reports that Blu-ray Disc recorders are replacing DVD Recorders 1.5 times faster than DVD recorders replaced VHS recorders.
Latest GfK Retail and Technology Japan figures have revealed that in the first week of November 2008, Blu-ray Disc Recorders have surpassed a 50% market share for DVD Recorders in unit terms.
Looking back to October 2007, Blu-ray Disc Recorders accounted for a market share of 10% and have since exhibited rapid growth.
The average sales price has begun to come down in 2008. In the first week of June 2008, the average sales price of Blu-ray Disc Recorders was between 110,000 – 120,000 JPY. By the third week of October, it dropped to between 100,000 – 110,000 JPY.
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- Flash Memory
OCZ Technology sent out a press release this morning, announcing its new Vertex Series of Solid State Drives (SSDs). Available in capacities up to 250GB, the Vertex Series features OCZ's newest architecture and controller design complete with 64MB of cache, which allows the drives to reach 200MB/sec read and 160MB/sec write speeds.
OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the OCZ Vertex SATA II 2.5” Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, a premium offering for enthusiasts demanding the latest technology in this fast-developing sector of the storage market. The latest high-performance and cost-efficient SSD, OCZ has gained momentum in pioneering flash storage technology while maintaining a price point that is truly within the reach of a wide range of consumers.
“The new Vertex Series of SSD drives are a premium MLC based SSD solution that are designed for consumers that require fast, rugged, and reliable solid state storage,” commented Eugene Chang, Director of Product Management for the OCZ Technology Group. “The Vertex makes use of our newest architecture and controller design complete with 64MB of cache to offer faster transfers and superior overall system response times in a broad range of applications and games.”
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Advanced Media, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of the popular Ridata brand of recordable DVD, flash media, electronic storage products, solar power and digital accessories announces a new 300X speed CF flash Memory card for professional photographers and other critical mobile devices. The Ridata 16GB/300x SLC (Single Level Cell) Supreme CompactFlash card boasts a large capacity (16GB) and one of the fastest transfer rates available.
"Professional photographers are faced with shooting larger, high resolution - once in a lifetime photos. They cannot risk losing these photos or their clients. We developed the Ridata 300X SLC CF card for these people," remarked Harvey Liu, president of Advanced Media, Inc. "In today's world of sophisticated mobile digital products needing secure SLC data storage and faster read times it just makes sense."
The Ridata 16GB/300X CF card is ideal for users of higher megapixel digital cameras, MP3 players, and PDAs. Its large 16GB capacity allows more storage while virtually eliminating the nagging wait time for data to record. Designed to work with most devices and operating systems, it can withstand extreme operating temperatures, ranging from below freezing to excessive heat.
Its 300x high-speed reading capability equates to approximately 45MB/per sec, while the high-speed writing capability is about 31MB/per second. (Note: Speeds may vary depending on device used.)
