As BD burners are still very expensive, international PC brands are adopting them only for high-end PC models while DVD has remained as the mainstream standard of burners, the sources indicated. Therefore, their order volumes of BD burners are low, typically 2,000-3,000 units for a single order, the sources pointed out.Toshiba really needs to get going if they want to grab a share of the PC market. While the company has shown off a few HD DVD writers, they've been limited primarily to high-end laptops. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
However, American and European retail channels have recently made inquires to Taiwan makers about OEM/ODM production of built-in BD burners and some of them have placed relatively large orders, as many as 20,000-30,000 units per order, the sources noted. These channels may plan to promote sales of BD-burner equipped PCs during the peak period prior to the 2007 holiday season, the sources pointed out.
LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling announced today the LightScribe Travel Kit that enables consumers to preserve their vacation memories and add that personal touch to their DVD and CD label designs. The LightScribe Travel Kit's DVD / CD label tips, templates, and resources are available for free download on lightscribe.com - just in time as people return from summer holidays.If you'd like to check it out, the Travel Kit can be downloaded for free from the LightScribe website. More information can also be found here. Add a comment
To ensure that discs containing their travel memories stand out, customers owning a LightScribe-enabled drive can go to the Travel Kit (www.lightscribe.com/go/create) and download travel DVD and CD label designs, mailers, and disc sleeve designs that reflect their favorite trip memories to share with family and friends.
Blu-ray high-definition movie discs outsold films on the rival HD-DVD format by 2-to-1 in the United States in the first half of 2007, Home Media Research said on Tuesday.If you look outside the US, the gap is even larger. Media Control GfK International has reported that Blu-ray is currently selling HD DVD by a 3:1 margin. At this point, I don't think price cuts or promotions like free movies are going to save the format. If Toshiba, Microsoft and Universal can't pull off a win this holiday season, they might as well pack it up and go home. Add a comment
The division of Home Media Magazine said total sales of Blu-ray discs, using a Sony Corp-backed technology, totaled 1.6 million units from January 1 through July 1, compared with 795,000 HD-DVD discs sold in that period.
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AENEON XTUNE AXT760UD00-19D 2GB Kit (DDR2-1066) @Hardware Zone
Antec Sonata III ATX Enclosure @Metku.net andVirtual-Hideout
Corsair Flash Padlock USB Drive @HotHardware.com
Pinnacle PCTV HD Stick @The TechZone
SteelSeries QcK Mousepad @DV Hardware
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) today announced an increase in total Blu-ray Disc(TM) (BD) sales across six emerging markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Eastern Europe, South Africa and the Middle East -- illuminating the positive reception from retailers and consumers for the new high-definition format since its launch just four months ago in April 2007.If you'd like to read more, SPHE's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Since April, Blu-ray Disc sales have accounted for 10% of SPHE's business in the regions. The company saw a 21% increase in BD orders across the month of June alone. "It is extremely positive to see an increase in volume of BD software sales in these markets where piracy has previously ravaged the DVD business," said T. Paul Miller, Senior Vice President, International, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Verbatim and its Japanese parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM) will be unveiling the world’s first single-sided dual-layer HD DVD-R. The twin-layer storage medium offers a capacity of 30 Gigabytes and can be written to at 1 x speed. The European official market launch will be held at the end of August at the IFA in Berlin.No word on price or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, Verbatim's entire press release can be found her e. Add a comment
Verbatim is the first brand to launch a single-sided, writeable dual-layer HD DVD-R with 30 GB of data capacity, which is compatible with current drives and burners in the market. The new, high-definition medium offers space for up to four hours of film material in HD quality. “The growing popularity of high-definition TV and programmes in particular is pushing up demand for recording media with a high storage capacity for high-resolution content," says Torsten Leye, Marketing Manager Optical at Verbatim.
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Abit IN9 32X-MAX Wi-Fi Motherboard @InsideHW.com
Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive @ThinkComputers.org
D-Link DNS-323 SATA RAID Gigabit NAS @Benchmark Reviews
ECS P35T-A Motherboard Review @HardwareLogic
GIGABYTE GT-U8000-RH Digital TV Tuner @ TweakTown
Hiper Type-R 530W Power Supply @PC Apex
Kodak EASYSHARE 5300 All-in-One Printer @I4U
Yamaha, the innovator in home theater and digital audio and video reproduction, today introduced the DVD-S1800 universal DVD player and the DVD-C961 Super Audio CD/DVD-Audio Changer. Both feature a host of advanced features and capabilities designed to maximize the performance of high-end home theater installations. Ideal for those who demand the ultimate in video and audio realism, the DVD-S1800 and DVD-C961 not only offer 1080p video output via HDMI, but also support DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD playback. Both units will be on exhibit at Yamaha's CEDIA 2007 booth (#450).The DVD-S1800 and DVD-C961 will be available in August for a suggested retail price of $449.95 each. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
The DVD-S1800 DVD player and DVD-C961 changer both utilize industry-leading video processing technologies to deliver remarkable performance. In addition to upconverting video to 1080p, the units can also output 480p, 576p, 720p and 1080i signals, all over a pure digital HDMI connection. To ensure the highest possible video quality even through their analog outputs, the models also feature a 216MHz/12-bit high-performance video DAC. Noise Shaped Video(TM) technology from Analog Devices uses oversampling and sophisticated techniques such as multi-bit sigma-delta processing and bit-shuffling to relocate converter noise to a part of the spectrum where it can be removed by an analog filter. This improves signal accuracy, allowing signals to be displayed at much higher resolutions.
At Ultimate Electronics and Abt Electronics, Toshiba’s second-generation players are still the best-selling individual models, but collectively, Blu-ray players have been outselling HD DVD Toshiba models in recent weeks.The article also points out that set-top Blu-ray player sales could be even higher, but manufacturers are having a hard time meeting demand. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
At Ultimate, the shift began in June when Sony rolled out Blu-ray’s cheapest set-top player to date, the $499 BDP-S300. Ultimate also carries second-generation Samsung and Pioneer Blu-ray models.
“It’s a slight lead, not a huge margin, but we expected this to happen as [Ultimate] is selling three HD DVD players, versus five Blu-ray players. There is a depth point of view now,” said Matt Duda, Ultimate director of merchandising for video. “But there is no single Blu-ray player overtaking Toshiba’s models.”
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Alienware Area-51 7500 Desktop System @ThinkComputers.org
Antec NP-100 Notebook Power Adapter @DV Hardware
Asus Blitz Formula and Blitz Extreme @HotHardware.com
eVGA 650i Ultra Motherboard @HardwareLogic
Insignia NS-LCD37 37-inch LCD HDTV @I4U