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Optical Storage

10 October 2007

While CEATEC has been over for nearly a week, news of new technologies is still trickling in. According to Tech-On!, Hitach-Maxell demonstrated a new read-only medium based on the holographic recording technology. This slightly larger than a postage stamp, this HROM medium will eventually hold 4GB of data and offer a data transfer rate of 16 Mbit.

Hitachi Maxell Ltd. demonstrated playback of music data read from HROM, a read-only medium based on the holographic recording technology at its booth at CEATEC Japan 2007.

Hitachi Maxell is focused on the development of holographic medium in collaboration with InPhase Technologies Inc., a US venture company. The HROM medium was also developed based on InPhase's proprietary holographic technology.

This HROM technology is still far from being perfected. Hitachi Maxell still needs to find a way to handle vibrations and extend the operating temperature range before it can be put in production. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

10 October 2007

Verbatim recently announced that they will be introducing their Mini Blu-ray media to the European market. These 8cm discs can hold 7.5 GB of data or one hour of high definition (1920×1080) video.

Verbatim, the storage media specialist, introduces recordable and rewritable Mini Blu-ray media (BD-R/BD-RE) to the European market. The 8 cm Blu-ray media will be available in specialist stores from November and will cost between €12,99 and €17,99 (RRP).

Measuring 8 cm in diameter, the new 7.5 GB discs provide approximately one hour of continuous video capture time on a single side when high definition (1920×1080) is used, and approximately two hours of video capture time with images recorded at 1440×1080. The new Mini BD media have been launched in Japan simultaneously with the new Hitachi BD-compatible camcorder in August. In Europe, the Verbatim Mini Blu-ray media will be available at the beginning of November. The recordable Mini BD-R costs €12.99, the rewritable Mini BD-R costs €17.99 (recommended retail prices).

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

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Home Entertainment

10 October 2007

While HD DVD dominated the standalone player market early on, the introduction of lower cost players eventually swung the balance in Blu-ray's favor. According to an article at Video Business, HD DVD has regained its lead with 53% of the year's high-def player sales.

HD DVD set-tops have reclaimed their dominance over Blu-ray standalone players, according to weekly NPD Group unit sales figures cited by Toshiba.

HD DVD players began outselling Blu-ray models starting in mid-September and regained a year-to-date lead of a little over 50% through the rest of the month, said Jodi Sally, Toshiba VP of marketing of digital A/V products.

Year to date, according to NPD figures she cited, HD DVD players command 53% of sales; Blu-ray players, 44%; dual format players, 3%.

Video Business also reports that Toshiba expects to sell 5 million PC-based HD DVD drives in 2008. By putting the drives in desktop and notebook computers, Toshiba hopes to make the format competitive with the Playstation 3. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

09 October 2007

Acer AL2002W 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor @ThinkComputers.org
Antec Fusion Black 430 HTPC Case @Metku.net
boynq Sabre iPod Integrated Stereo Speaker And Dock @Futurelooks
Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1250W Power Supply @Bigbruin.com
Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 Motherboard @Virtual-Hideout
Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 Motherboard @Phoronix
ICY BOX IB-351StUS-B USB & eSATA 3.5" Enclosure @Benchmark Reviews
Lapworks Aluminum Desktop Stand @BCCHardware
Logitech Updated G15 Gaming Keyboard @I4U
OCZ Vendetta HSF @DV Hardware
PC Power & Cooling TURBO-COOL 1KW-SR PSU @Madshrimps
Razer Lachesis Gaming Mouse @OCModShop
Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard @OCModShop
Razer Piranha Gaming Headset @OCModShop
Super Talent Vidego24T MP3/MP4 Player @HardwareLogic,TweakTown
X-Arcade Trackball Mouse Game Controller @Futurelooks
XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 650M 320MB GDDR3 @Hardware Zone

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Optical Storage

09 October 2007

Sony has unveiled its second generation Blu-ray Disc writer, the BWU-200S. The new drive features 4x BD-R and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and, according to Sony's claims, can burn an entire 50GB BD-R disc in as little as 45 minutes.

Sony Electronics today announced its second generation internal Blu-ray Disc (BD) writer drive for the computer aftermarket, which boasts 4X BD-R and 16X DVD+R recording speeds.

The new BWU-200S model cuts BD-R burning time by half compared to the first generation model, allowing for a full 50GB BD-R disc to be recorded in about 45 minutes. It also features improved DVD burning speeds, making it a multi-format combo burner that eliminates the need for more than one drive in a system.

The drive comes with CyberLink BD Solution software that provides a comprehensive application for capturing, authoring, editing, burning and viewing high-definition personal content captured in the native HDV 1080i format from an HDV camcorder. In addition, the software supports recording on DVDs and CDs, as well as playback of DVDs recorded in the AVCHD format.

The BWU-200S will be available directly from Sony at sonystyle.com next month for about $600. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Flash Memory

08 October 2007

Advanced Media sent out a press release today, announcing its new 32GB SATA Solid State Disk (SSD) drive. This 2.5" SSD is nearly twice as fast as conventional notebook hard drives and, with no moving parts, is more resistant to vibration, shock and temperature extremes.

Advanced Media, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of the popular Ridata brand of recordable CD and DVD media, electronic storage products, and digital media accessories, announces its new, non-volatile 32 GB SATA Solid State Disk (SSD) drive. The new SSD drive offers performance that is almost twice as fast a conventional Hard Disk Drive. Look for a 64 GB version of this 2.5" SATA drive to be available in late November.

"Our new Ridata SSD offers exceptionally consistent high performance in all environments," remarked Harvey Liu, Advanced Media President. "Compared to a traditional HDD the Ridata SSD is smaller; uses half as much power; is ultra lightweight; offers incredibly fast boot and access times; and operates at a low temperature with no mechanically moving parts. It is the ideal HDD replacement for OEMs, ODMs and system integrators as well as consumers," Liu added.

No word on pricing or availably. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, Advanced Media's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Software

08 October 2007

Corel announced today that the KDDI Corporation has selected their DVD burning technology for use with its new direct-to-disc movie distribution service. According to Corel's press release, this new service will allow consumers to download and burn a movie to DVD in as little as 11 minutes.

Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL) (TSX:CRE), announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with KDDI Corporation, the largest international information carrier in Japan. Under the agreement, KDDI will use Corel’s DVD burning technology with its high-speed broadband network to provide a new service that enables consumers to download a full two-hour movie from the Internet and burn it directly to a DVD disc in as few as 11 minutes. Launched on September 27, the KDDI DVD Burning service will only be available in Japan.

KDDI’s advanced direct-to-disc movie distribution service is the first of its kind to be delivered anywhere in the world and the first business model to provide CPRM security for network downloading. By incorporating Corel’s DVD burning technology with KDDI’s unique movie download service, consumers can enjoy the movies they want, whenever they want without having to visit a video rental outlet or purchase online and wait for delivery. There are no subscription or monthly fees, no buy/wait/return problems; only a single, low-cost transaction for each movie selected from KDDI’s robust library of titles.

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

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Home Entertainment

08 October 2007

As most of you already know, a lower-priced version of the PS3 is coming to the European market later this month. While this stripped down version of the console sports a smaller hard drive and lacks many of the features found on higher priced models, it retains its Blu-ray Disc drive, making it the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market. According to Pocket-link.co.uk, the European HD DVD Promotions Group has already commented on Sony's price cutting measures, stating that it will have "minimal impact on the adoption of next generation HD formats" and that the winner will be determined by the sales of standalone players.

Quick to respond to the PS3's European price-cut, the HD DVD Promotional Group has issued a statement to say that they believe it will have "minimal impact" on the next-gen DVD market.

"The European PS3 price cut will have a minimal impact on the adoption of next generation HD formats. The real battleground is in sales of standalone players and HD DVD is out in front by a massive margin." said Ken Graffeo, co-chairman of the Group.

As well as giving Sony a much-needed sales boost in the gaming market in the run up to Christmas, the new 40GB PS3, that will be £299 when it's available later this month, will also be one of the cheapest Blu-ray players on the market.

In my opinion, the HD DVD Promotions Group should be concerned. While they once dominated the high-def standalone player market, they've started to fall behind in recent months due to the introduction of cheaper Blu-ray players. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

05 October 2007

Fastmac sent out a press release today, announcing the first and only 2x Blu-ray optical drive for Mac laptops. This slot loading drive read and writes to single and dual layer Blu-ray discs at 2x and is backwards compatible with standard CD and DVD media.

Fastmac today announced the first & only 2X Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade for Apple's PowerBook, iBook & MacBook Pro computers. The new slimline, slot loading drive uses the fastest & most compatible Blu-ray mechanism available to provide up to 50 GB of storage on 1 disk, without sacrificing compatibility with standard DVD & CD recordable media...

...Fastmac's slimline Blu-ray slot loading optical drive supports reading, writing and re-writing to single and dual layer Blu-ray media at up to 2x speeds. The drive is also compatible with standard DVD and CD media and can write to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 8x speed in single layer and up to 2.4x speed in dual/ double layer mode. It can rewrite to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 4x speeds. The drive also supports DVD-RAM reading and writing at up to 5x speeds and standard CD-R and CD-RW burning at 8x speeds.

While Fastmac's 2x Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade won't ship for another month or so, you can pre-order it from www.fastmac.com for a special introductory price of $999.95. More information can be found here. Add a comment