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Software

23 January 2008

Roxio recently announced the launch of BackOnTrack Online. This new backup service automatically protects the files on your hard drive by storing them online.

Roxio, a division of Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today launched BackOnTrack Online, a digital media storage solution that automatically and continuously protects personal data and precious family memories. Trivially easy to set up and maintain, personal content is encrypted and uploaded to a remote and secure Roxio online backup center. In the event of computer data loss due to a crash, system theft, human error or even natural disaster, consumers' digital files can be quickly restored from any Web-connected computer. Consumers can begin safeguarding their digital lives today through a risk-free, 15-day trial available directly from Roxio at www.roxio.com. A 12-month subscription offering unlimited storage space is available for $49.99.

If you'd like to read more, Roxio's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

22 January 2008

Contrary to post-CES rumors, Universal Studios has no plans to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray. In a recent interview with BetaNews, Ken Graffeo of Universal has stated that the company is not making any changes to its strategy at this time.

First of all, I want to say that none of those rumors were substantiated. Nobody ever talked to us. I know nobody talked to Paramount because Brenda, their PR person, sent out a statement immediately. This is business as usual for us and there are no plans to make any changes. We just made an announcement of our new HD DVD titles yesterday, with American Gangster. We also have a lot of other things planned. It's business as usual.

If you'd like to read more, the entire interview can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

21 January 2008

ASUS EAH3850 Top ATI HD 3850 Video Card @I4U
B-Gear/B-Tarantula 550 Watt Power Supply @hi-techreviews.com
Intel QX9650 Core 2 Extreme @HardwareLogic.com
MSI X48 Platinum Motherboard @TweakTown
SimpleTech PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz S1024R5NP2QA @Benchmark Reviews
ZeroTherm HC92 CU 8800 @SweMOD

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Home Entertainment

21 January 2008

While Warner's decision to support Blu-ray has had little effect on national retailers like Best Buy, Video Business is reporting that a number of smaller retailers have begun to lean towards the format. By emphasizing Blu-ray in their stores, these retailers hope to end consumer confusion and get them to go high-def.

Predicting falling demand for HD DVD as consumers learn that the industry’s leading film supplier will stop producing in the format, Trans World Entertainment, Newbury Comics, Video Buyers Group members and Hastings Entertainment are among the retailers beginning to emphasize Blu-ray.

The format war is not over, however, as 1 million HD DVD devices are in households and plenty of HD DVD titles line shelves. But there is hope among some retailers that if they proactively push leader Blu-ray, they can spur the fledgling high-def business. To date, studios and retailers have blamed format war confusion for stopping consumers from adopting high-def.

While the war isn't over, its going to be hard for HD DVD to increase their disc sales without retailer support. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

18 January 2008

ASUS P5K3 Deluxe WiFi-AP Intel P35 Motherboard @Benchmark Reviews
D-Link Xtreme N Networking @BCCHardware
Intel D201GLY2 ITX Motherboard @ASE Labs
Logitech Harmony One @I4U
Mapower MAP-OT21 2.5 Inch eSATA / USB Enclosure @Bigbruin.com
OCZ PC2-8500/DDR2-1066 nVidia SLI-Ready Edition 2GB Kit @Redaktion ocinside.de
Super Talent 2GB Pico Series USB Drives @HardwareLogic
X-Arcade Tankstick Dual Controller With Trackball @HotHardware.com

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Home Entertainment

18 January 2008

For most of 2007, Blu-ray outsold HD DVD in the U.S. by a 2-to-1 margin. With Warner's recent decision to release titles exclusively on Blu-ray, HD DVD's sales numbers has dropped even further. According to the Home Media Magazine, Blu-ray accounted for 85% of last week's high-def disc sales, outselling HD DVD by more than 5-to-1.

The product announcements come in a week when the top 10 high-definition disc sellers are all Blu-ray Disc releases, according to an analysis of Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales numbers by Home Media Magazine’s market research department.

Net HD DVD sales, according to Nielsen, constituted only 15% of hi-def disc sales last week. And the top HD DVD seller, The Kingdom, sold just 10% as many copies as the top Blu-ray Disc release, 3:10 to Yuma.

While Toshiba may be able to keep HD DVD on life support by offering cheap players, the format won't survive long on sales numbers like this. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Please feel free to share your thoughts in our forum. Add a comment

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Hard Disks

17 January 2008

Earlier this week, G-Technology unveiled the world's first 500GB 2.5" portable hard disk drive. Designed specifically for the Mac environment, the G-DRIVE mini Triple 500 comes formatted HFS+ and is equipped with FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 ports.

G-Technology, Inc. (www.g-technology.com, G-Tech), a manufacturer of premium storagesolutions for the Apple Mac community that was acquired today by Fabrik Inc.(www.fabrik.com), announces a new addition to its G-DRIVE mini external storage family.With a FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interface, the new G-DRIVE mini Triple 500 isthe first portable drive in the industry at 500GB giving AV professionals and multimediaenthusiasts fast, high-capacity portable storage. Compact and light weight - around 10 oz - the G-DRIVE mini easliy slips into a computer, camara or camcorder bag, holding more than45 hours of high defenition video, 200,000 5 Mpixel JPEG photos, or 125,000 MP3 files.Because the device is bus-powered, no bulky AC adaptor is required.

G-Tech plans to ship the G-DRIVE mini in March 2008. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Flash Memory

16 January 2008

Transcend recently announced the release of its new 32GB 133X CompactFlash card. Designed for both reliability and performance, the card features built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) and is capable of 45MB/s read and 16MB/s writing speeds.

Transcend’s 133x CF cards target users who demand superior performance and reliability from their memory cards, including professional photographers, reporters and photography enthusiasts. To ensure ultimate compatibility and speed, these cards operate in both dual-channel and Ultra DMA mode 4 modes*. Transcend’s 133x CF cards achieve extraordinarily fast read/write speeds of up to 45MB/16MB per second on average**, making consecutive shooting and non-stop video recording with today’s high-performance digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLR) easier than ever. With impressive transfer speeds and enormous capacities up to 32GB, users are guaranteed to get the very best performance results from their high-tech digital equipment.

No word on pricing or availability. If you'd like to read more, Transcend's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

16 January 2008

I-O DATA Japan has announced two new "Super-Multi" drives based on the AD-7200A and AD-7203A from Sony NEC Optiarc. These new drives feature 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and, in the case of the DVR-AN20GL, support for LabelFlash technology.

Writing Speeds: DVD±R: 20x DVD±R DL: 8x DVD+RW: 8x DVD-RW: 6x DVD-RAM: 12x CD-R: 48x CD-RW: 32x

Read Speeds: DVD-ROM (Single): 16x Max DVD-ROM (Dual): 12x Max DVD±R: 16x Max DVD±RW: 13x Max DVD±R DL: 12x Max DVD-RAM: 12X Max CD-R/ROM: 48x Max CD-RW: 40x Max

The DVR-AN20GL and DVR-AN20GS will hit store shelves in late January and are priced at 8500 Yen($79) and 7400 Yen($69) respectively. Additional information can be found here and here. Add a comment