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Home Entertainment
Sales of the PlayStation 3 have more than doubled in the weeks following a $100 price cut and the launch of a lower-priced version of the console. According to Reuters, sales rose to 75,000 in the week of Oct. 29 and more than 100,000 in the following week.
U.S. sales of Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 (PS3) more than doubled in the weeks following a price cut and the launch of a lower-priced version, the company said on Friday, in a sign of changing fortunes for the game console.

Sony said it sold about 75,000 PS3 consoles in the week of October 29 in the United States, and more than 100,000 in the following week, compared with weekly sales of 30,000 to 40,000 before.

Sony cut the U.S. price of its PS3 with an 80-gigabyte hard disk drive by 17 percent to $499 in mid-October. It started selling a new model with a 40-GB hard drive on November 2 for $399 in an effort to ignite demand ahead of the crucial holiday season.
While these price cuts have given PS3 sales a much needed boost, it still has a long way to go to catch up to the Wii and Xbox 360. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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The DVD Forum held their 40th Steering Committee meeting earlier this week. Among other things, the group approved the logo for the China HD DVD format as well as version 2.0 of the physical specifications for the triple-layer 51GB HD DVD-ROM disc. Here are some of the highlights from the meeting:
  • Approval of
    DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc [HD DVD-ROM (51G)] Part 1 Physical Specifications, Version 2.0
  • Approval of
    Logo/Mark for China HD DVD Format
  • Approval of
    Be it resolved: That representative companies of the DVD Forum on the License Enforcement Committee specified in the China HD DVD Format and Logo License Agreement be; 1. Members of the DVD Forum Steering Committee, 2. Selected by vote of the Steering Committee following each SC election for a 2 year term, 3. Collectively represent industry segments including content publishing, consumer electronics, and information technology.
  • Approval of
    CHINA HD DVD FORMAT/LOGO LICENSE AGREEMENT (FLLA) with the following conditions:
    1. Territorial Restriction Plan agreement
    2. Forum counsel finalizing the language for FLLA, which will include the resolution of LEC membership
  • Approval of
    -HD DVD-VR Recorder for HD DVD-RW Test Specification, Version 1.0
    -HD DVD-VR Recorder for DVD-R/RW/RAM Test Specification, Version 1.0
If you'd like to read more, the Steering Committee's entire list of resolutions can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Philips announced this week that they will be reducing the royalty rate for CD Rewritable discs by 44% from USD 0.045 to USD 0.025 per disc. The reduction shall be valid from the 4th quarter of 2007 and will be available to licensees who are in full compliance with Philips' terms and conditions.
Royal Philips Electronics announces today that it will reduce the royalty rate for compliant licensees in the CD Rewritable discs license program by 44% from USD 0.045 per disc to USD 0.025 per disc.

The reduction shall be available to all licensees who are in full compliance with the terms and conditions of their license agreement with Philips. The reduction shall initially be valid from the 4th quarter of 2007.
If you'd like to read more, Philips' entire announcement can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

AirLive WMU-6500FS Wireless Hard Drive @HardwareLogic
Antec Veris MX-1 Actively Cooled Hard Drive Enclosure @Futurelooks
ASUS Radeon HD 3870 512MB G-DDR4 @TweakTown
Galaxy 8600GE Overclocking Adventure @Madshrimps
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Optical Storage
Good news for American Blu-ray fans. Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) USA has announced that the DH-4O1S Blu-ray BD-ROM drive will be available through retail outlets in the U.S. in late November at a suggested list price of $199.99.

Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) USA, proudly introduce its first internal BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc Reader) drive to the market. The new Lite-On DH-4O1S is the perfect all-in-one disc reading device for most popular media formats including Blu-ray Disc, DVD and CD discs. The DH-4O1S Blu-ray BD-ROM drive will be available at retail outlets in late November with an affordable suggested list price of $199.99.

“With the increasing availability of Blu-ray Disc movies and other video content, consumers now have an affordable way to view the brilliant picture quality Blu-ray technology offers right on their personal computers,” says Christine Hsing, Marketing Manager at PLDS. “Beyond that, the BD-ROM can serve as a playback device to their HD TVs by connecting an HDMI cable from the PC to the TV. This would save consumers hundreds of dollars on the purchase of a standalone Blu-ray player solely for that purpose,” Ms. Hsing added.

The DH-4O1S BD-ROM retail pack comes with an extra silver bezel to match some computers, and a SATA cable for easy connection. Also included in the package is the latest Cyberlink Power DVD software for playback of Blu-ray disc media, DVD, or CD multi-media content.
If things go as planned, we should have a review of the DH-4O1S in the coming weeks. In the mean time, PLDS USA's entire announcement can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
PC Advisor has reported that PLDS (Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions) plans to introduce a read-only Blu-ray drive in time for the holidays. According to the article, the DH-4O1S is able to read both single and dual layer Blu-ray media at 4x and is backwards compatible with most CD and DVD formats.
PLDS (Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions) says the world’s first BD-ROM (Blu-ray DVD-ROM) drive will be a versatile read-only device capable of reading every major optical disc type. As well as Blu-ray discs, the PLDS DH-401S will be able to access and read content from any DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW drive and any type of CD-R/RW media.

Jelmer Veldman, marketing manager for PLDS Europe, explained that because it is a read-only device, the Philips-Lite-On partnership was able to keep retail costs down. They hope the probably price tag of £125 will entice consumers to swap their existing PC CD-ROM drives for the DH-401S Blu-ray drive.
While I applaud PLDS for introducing a read-only Blu-ray drive, the £125 ($258US) price tag is still a bit high for consumers, especially when they can get a Blu-ray combo drive for nearly the same price. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP@n @InsideHW.com
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Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6950 @ChileHardware
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Optical Storage
According to DigiTimes, Philips is currently working on a new licensing scheme for DVD drives and players. Once it is completed, this DVD patent LSCD (Licensed Status Confirmation Document) system will be imposed on electronics manufacturers. As with Philips' Veeza licensing scheme, the LSCD system will prevent unlicensed products from entering the US, European and Japanese markets.
Royal Philips Electronics plans to extend its patent licensing scheme for blank optical discs - such as Veeza for CD-R discs -to DVD drives as well as any consumer electronic DVD device, such as players and recorders, through imposing its DVD patent LSCD (Licensed Status Confirmation Document) system on such makers, with the system being drawn up and possibly coming into force soon, according to the Taiwan Office of Philips Intellectual Property & Standards.

Philips' LSCD system will not substantially influence Lite-On IT and Quanta Storage, the largest Taiwan-based makers of half-height DVD burners and slim-type DVD burners, respectively, according to industry sources in Taiwan. This is because Lite-On IT and Philips have set up the joint venture Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) in Taiwan and Quanta Storage has a shelter from the patent claim through its cross-licensing with Sony which, along with Philips, is among the members of the DVD 3C Patent Group, the sources pointed out.
The LSCD system is expected to have a negative impact on second-tier manufacturers in China and Taiwan, as many of them have not obtained licensing from the 3C DVD or DVD 6C patent groups. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Hard Disks
Plextor Europe recently announced a new range of external hard disk drives. In addition to a USB interface, the PX-PH120US, PX-PH160US and PX-PH250US feature a eSATA (external Serial ATA) connection which allows them to reach speeds of 200 Mb a second.

Plextor Europe (www.plextor-europe.com) announces the launch of its new range of external hard disk drives: PX-PH120US, PX-PH160US and PX-PH250US. The digits in these product models refer to the disk capacity in gigabytes. In addition to a USB interface, users benefit from an eSATA (external Serial ATA) connection to boost the speed of these external drives. They are still as small and lightweight as the highly successful range of previous PX-PH08U2, PX-PH12U2 and PX-PH16U2 hard disks. Good news all round.

PCs are generally fitted with a Serial ATA interface to connect their internal hard disk drives to the motherboard. We are now extending this connection to external hard disks to deliver the same performance as with internal hard disks. Rudy De Meirsman, Sales & Marketing Manager for Plextor Europe, gives the details: “Hard disks using the USB 2.0 interface typically operate at 33 Mb a second. With the eSATA interface, we can reach speeds of 200 Mb a second. As users are becoming far more mobile, they need a larger capacity external disk so they can carry their office without their PC. I’m convinced this is the way forward!”
No word on price yet. However, the PX-PH120US, PX-PH160US and PX-PH250US will be available in Europe at the end of November. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Antec Nine Hundred Case And Trio 650w Power Supply @NGOHQ.com
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