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Microsoft Streets And Maps 2008 With GPS Locator @Futurelooks
MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo (GeForce 8600 GT) @Hardware Zone
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With a population of more than 1.3 billion people, it was only a matter of time before the Blu-ray Disc Association set its sights on the Chinese market. According to ContentAgenda.com, the group recently announced that they are evaluating the AVS (Advanced Video System) and DRA (Digital Rise Audio) codecs for use in Blu-ray players made and sold in China.
After initially turning a cold shoulder to China, the Blu-ray Disc Assn. is warming up to Chinese OEMs and consumers, BDA spokesman and Pioneer Electronics senior VP Andy Parsons tells Content Agenda.

The BDA has begun formal evaluation of AVS (Advanced Video System), a Chinese-developed video codec, and DRA (Digital Rise Audio), a Chinese audio format, for possible inclusion in Blu-ray players made and sold in China.

The decision to evaluate the codecs was announced at a press conference held in Beijing on Sept. 28.
If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Sony DADC sent out a press release this morning, announcing that they've produced their 10 millionth 50GB Blu-ray Disc. The ten millionth disc was manufactured at Sony DADC's Terre Haute facility and was "Spider-Man 3."
Sony DADC today announced theproduction of its 10 millionth 50 Gigabyte Blu-ray Disc (BD50). Sony DADCmanufactures BD50s in its three plants, located in Terre Haute, Indiana;Salzburg, Austria; and Shizuoka, Japan. The ten millionth BD50 wasmanufactured at Sony DADC's Terre Haute facility, and was "Spider-Man(TM)3" from Columbia Pictures.

Since the launch of this High Definition format, Sony DADC has producedmore than 50 million Blu-ray Discs in its three plants, In addition, thesethree plants have a combined Blu-ray manufacturing capacity of 21 milliondiscs per month.
The press release also points out that Sony DADC is seeing a yields of about 85% for 25GB Blu-ray Discs and between 75% and 79% for 50GB Blu-ray Discs. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
Sonic and Pioneer announced today that they have begun a joint licensing program for CSS recording. With this new program, the two companies hope to make it easier to for content distributors as well as media and drive manufacturers to bring managed recording products to market.
PioneerCorporation, a leading global manufacturer of consumer and business-useelectronics products, and Sonic Solutions(R), the leader in digital mediasoftware, have begun a worldwide joint licensing program of patents andother related IP for the encryption and burning of video content torecordable DVD media for playback on DVD players. To respond to consumerand industry interest in "electronic sell-through" of video content and tofacilitate the adoption of secure download and burn applications inaccordance with the approved industry specifications for recordingdownloads set by the DVD Forum and the DVD Copy Control Association,Pioneer and Sonic have established a royalty-bearing licensing program thatwill be administered by Sonic under the Qflix(TM) name. The program willbroadly license the companies' combined intellectual property that allowsDVD recording technologies to use CSS (Content Scramble System), which isthe same content protection found on commercially released DVD movies.
If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Panasonic unveiled three new hard drive equipped Blu-ray Disc recorders at CEATEC JAPAN 2007. The DMR-BW900, DMR-BW800 and DMR-BW700 offer support for 50GB BD-R/RE DL media and, by using an MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoder, can store up to 18 hours of full HD video onto a single disc.

The new recorders can store up to 18 hours of full HD video onto a 50 gigabyte (GB) double-layer Blu-ray Disc or up to 381 hours of full HD videos onto a 1 terabyte (TB) built-in hard disk drive (HDD). In terms of BS digital HD broadcasts, the new recorders can record four times more than previous MPEG-2 TS recorders (DR mode). In addition to video, the new DIGAs can record 5.1 channel surround sound broadcasts without deterioration in sound quality or surround effects.

Panasonic accomplished these achievements through innovative technologies including the new generation UniPhier system LSI based on the 45-nm process technology. A single chip supports real-time encoding of full HD videos. Additionally, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile HD video compression technology contributed to the significant increase in HD video recording hours. Panasonic also drew from the advanced technology cultivated by its Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory (PHL) that offers BD-ROM authoring service to major Hollywood movie studios.
While Panasonic has not announced how much their Blu-ray Disc recorders will be, AV Watch expects them to cost anywhere from 180,000 Yen ($1,554US) to 300,000 Yen ($2,590US), depending on the model. If you'd like to read more, Panasonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

ASUS Blitz Extreme Motherboard @Phoronix
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Nero released a new version of Nero 8 this morning. There is no change log yet. However, this new update brings the version count up to 8.1.1.0 . If you'd like to check it out, the update can be downloaded here. As usual, feel free to share your experiences in our forum. Add a comment
While Japan's optical disc manufacturers have been turning out recordable Blu-ray and HD DVD media for some time, those in Taiwan are still reluctant to invest in large-scale production of blue-laser discs. According to DigiTimes, the conservative attitude is primarily due to high royalty fees and the fear that the cost of production equipment may drop considerably in the future.
CMC Magnetics and Ritek, the top two Taiwan-based producers of optical discs, as well as Prodisc Technology, a second-tier maker, are unwilling to invest in large-scale production of either Blu-ray Disc (BD) or HD DVD discs, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

The disc manufacturers are reluctant to invest in blue-laser disc production because royalty fees are high and there is the possibility that the cost of production equipment may drastically drop in the future, noted the sources, adding that it is still uncertain which standard will become mainstream.
The article also points out that CMC and Ritek are producing HD DVD and Blu-ray media. However, in very limited amounts. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
According to our friends at Wesleytech.com, Samsung has cancelled plans to release their new high-end Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-2400. While Samsung has not given an official reason, general speculation is that they could not meet the October 31 deadline for BD 1.0 spec.
If you were looking forward to get the new Samsung BDP-2400, I have bad news for you; I just received word that Samsung has canceled all plans to release their upcoming high-end Blu-ray Disc player. All orders for the player have been canceled, and the model will not be brought to the market.
Wesleytech.com also reports that Samsung has pushed back the BD-UP5000 until December which means that it will meet the BD 1.1 spec. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
The CD-R patent dispute between Gigastorage and Philips is finally coming to an end. According to DigiTimes, Gigastorage has reached a preliminary settlement with Philips. The two companies will sign a final settlement once they can agree on which disc shipments Philips should be compensated for.
According to industry sources in Taiwan, Gigastorage stopped paying royalty fees to Philips in April 2001 and then Philips filed a charge in the US. After a long process of litigation Philips finally won the suit as judged by the US International Trade Commission in February 2007, the sources pointed.

For the settlement, Philips demands that the compensation be based on all of Gigastorage's shipments of CD-R and CR-RW discs and be paid in 10 years, but Gigastorage thinks only shipments to the US market are subject to the compensation and payment should be in installment over 10 years, the sources pointed out. In addition, it is not certain whether Gigastorage will accept Veeza, Philips' new CD-R licensing system, in the final settlement, the sources noted.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment