Details
Home Entertainment
While adult film makers in the US have primarily been pro-HD DVD, those in Japan are reportedly embracing the Blu-ray Disc format. According to PC World, finding companies to mass produce their adult titles hasn't been an issue either, as there are companies in Taiwan more than willing to do the work.
Until now, only a handful of companies operated the stampers needed to copy thousands of Blu-ray Disc movies at a time. But the Japanese company handling most of the early Blu-ray Disc adult film releases in Japan says it has partnered with a Taiwanese company able to secure the necessary equipment from Sony.

"In Japan, there are some problems. Companies cannot press Blu-ray discs because they cannot touch adult-related contracts," said Kiyotaka Konno, director of administration at Assist Corp., a Japanese company that authors and replicates DVDs for the adult industry in Japan. "So we asked some makers in Taiwan to do the work, and then we import the discs back to Japan. The Taiwanese company was able to obtain a pressing machine from Sony and will start mass production in August."
The Japanese adult film industry has already put out ten movies on Blu-ray and more are on the way. In comparison, only one adult film has been released on HD DVD in Japan. If you'd like to read more, then entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Home Entertainment
The research group, Parks Associates, has released a new report on next generation DVD players. According to the report, Blu-ray currently has the lead due to recent retail developments, support from major Hollywood studios, and inclusion of the format into the Playstation 3. The report also states that sales of next generation players will reach 32 million units by 2011.

As consumers continue to embrace more high-definition products and services, next-generation DVD players are poised to experience significant growth over the next five years, according to a new report from Parks Associates titled Next Generation DVD Players: Will History Repeat? The new report estimates that, with set-top box models and game consoles combined, more than 32 million Blu-ray and HD DVD players will be sold in United States by 2011, an 85% increase from the 4.9 million units estimated to be sold in 2007.

“Purchasing or renting DVDs will continue to be a dominant way for consumers to view content,” stated Chris Roden, Research Analyst at Parks Associates. “What has yet to be determined is which format will become the standard, HD DVD or Blu-ray?” According to the report, consumer confusion is still prevalent with less than 10% of U.S. consumers stating that they are familiar with the HD DVD or Blu-ray formats.

“However, we are starting to see the pendulum swing slowly in one direction,” said Roden. “Recent retail developments, support from major Hollywood studios, and inclusion of the format in the PlayStation 3 puts the Blu-ray format in the lead.”
It's going to be interesting to see how HD DVD backers respond to this report. If you'd like to read more, Parks Associates' entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Optical Storage
ASUS has released some details on their latest "Super-Multi" drive, the DRW-2014L1T. Along with support for LightScribe and Serial ATA, the DRW-2014L1T features 20x DVD±R and 14x DVD-RAM writing speeds. Here are some of the drive's specs:



Writing Speeds:
DVD+R: 20X, 16x, 12X, 10x, 8X, 4X
DVD+RW: 8X, 6X, 4X, 2.4X
DVD+R DL: 8X, 6X, 4X, 2.4X
DVD-R: 20X, 16X, 12X, 10X, 8X, 4X, 2X
DVD-RW: 6X, 4X, 2X, 1X
DVD-R DL: 8X, 6X, 4X
DVD-RAM: 14X, 12X, 5X
CD-R: 48X, 40X, 32X, 16X, 10X, 4X
CD-RW: 32X, 24X, 16X, 10X, 4X

Read Speeds:
DVD-ROM (Single Layer): 16X Max
DVD-ROM (Dual Layer): 8X Max
DVD-RAM: 12X Max
DVD±R DL: 8x Max
CD-ROM: 48x Max
CD-R/RW: 40x Max

Access Times:
DVD-ROM: 150ms
CD-ROM: 140ms


At this time we have not heard if or when the DRW-2014L1T will be available in the US. As soon as we find out, we'll let you know. Until then, more information can be found on ASUS's website. Add a comment

Details
Flash Memory
MICRODIA recently announced the launch of their Flash-Key Fruit-A-Roma USB drives. These new drives have a capacity of 8GB and come in four fruity scents: orange, strawberry, grape and green apple.

MICRODIA Ltd. (MICRODIA), a world leader and innovator in flash memory technologies, announced today the newlylaunched Flash-Key Fruit-A-Roma USB drives that add fragrant fruity scents and colours to MICRODIA’s high quality range of USB flash drives. Aunique and novel concept, Fruit-A-Roma USB drives are the first of their kind to offer fresh fruit flavors that you can actually smell, encompassingMICRODIA’s high quality USB flash drive technology for superior data storage.

MICRODIA’s Fruit-A-Roma USB drives offer a twist of fun for the younger generation and the young-at-heart who enjoy novel products and expect thehighest quality. Fruit-A-Roma comes in four fruity scents of orange, strawberry, grape and green apple. Built-in software maximizes user’s mobilecomputing experience, enabling easy data storage and transfer in a handy and fashionable way. With its compact size of 4.3 x 1.8 cm, this fun andhassle-free product is easy to carry and simple to use with no driver installation required1. The USB 2.0 interface enables hot plug-and-play and thehigh quality memory chip can be re-written 1 million times and keep data more than 10 years.
No word on pricing or availability. If you'd like to read more, MICRODIA’s entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Home Entertainment
Target isn't the only retailer deciding to go promote Blu-ray in their stores. Video Business has reported that BJ's Wholesale Club has decided to drop HD DVD and will carry Blu-ray exclusively at all of its stores.
East Coast chain BJ’s Wholesale Club will drop HD DVD from its shelves and carry the Blu-ray Disc format exclusively by the fourth quarter, according to sources at the retailer and several Hollywood studios.

Sources said the chain will carry Blu-ray exclusively at all its 170 stores, although it continues to carry both formats on its Web site.
Toshiba better do something because if large retailers like Walmart or Best Buy follow this trend and decide to go Blu-ray, the format war is pretty much over. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Software
CyberLink announced this morning that PowerDVD Ultra and PowerDirector have been optimized for Intel's Core 2 Quad processor. Here's part of their press release:
CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a leader in digital home solutions, announced significant performance gains for playing, analyzing, and producing high-quality video content using CyberLink's leading applications on systems featuring the Intel Core 2 Quad processors.

CyberLink's optimization of the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD playback software PowerDVD Ultra improved frame-rate performance by up to 66%. Automated video editing software PowerDirector improved editing and transcoding times by up to 68%. All software was tested in controlled conditions and was verified with significantly improved performance on Intel's quad-core technology.
If you'd like to read more, CyberLink's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Home Entertainment
Good news for Blu-ray fans. Target has reportedly decided to promote the format through the upcoming holiday shopping season. According to an article by the Associated Press, Target stores will start selling the Sony BDP-S300 in October and will display Blu-ray titles from three studio at the end of aisles.
Target Corp., the nation's second-largest retailer, will start selling a Sony Blu-ray high-definition DVD player during the critical holiday shopping period and feature the player along with Blu-ray discs in store displays, dealing a potential blow to the rival HD DVD format.

The move, which the companies will formally announce Thursday, is another step in resolving a format war that has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players until they can determine which format will dominate the market.

Target said it will sell the Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) BDP-S300 for $499 in October and display it along with Blu-ray DVDs from three studios, including Sony Corp. and The Walt Disney Co., at the ends of store aisles.
Take note that Target isn't exclusively Blu-ray. The company still sells Toshiba's HD DVD players on their website and the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive in stores. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Software
Sonic Solutions has announced a new version of its Scenarist Designer PS Software. By using this plugin, graphic designers can design menus in Photoshop and export them for use with both Blu-ray and HD DVD. With version 2.1, Sonic has broadened the applications reach by supporting non-Scenarist-based authoring systems.
Sonic Solutions today introduced Scenarist Designer PS Software Version 2.1, a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop that brings increased power, flexibility, and automation to the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc menu design process. Offering seamless integration with the title-creation workflow in Sonic's industry-leading Scenarist Workgroup authoring applications, Designer PS enables simultaneous format-compliant output of color-optimized menu graphics for both Blu-ray Disc (HDMV and BD-J) and HD DVD (HDi). New in version 2.1 is support for non-Scenarist-based authoring systems, which broadens the application's reach and effectiveness for graphics professionals joining the high-definition format evolution. Scenarist Designer PS 2 is available immediately through Sonic's resale channels worldwide.
If you'd like to read more, Sonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Home Entertainment
Like Toshiba, Microsoft is doing their part to help promote the HD DVD format. The company announced today at Comic-Con that it will lower the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $199 to $179. Anyone buying the player between August 1st and September 30th will also get five free HD DVD movies.
Today at Comic-Con International 2007, Microsoft Corp. announced it will lower the price of the popular Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 ERP (United States only) starting Aug. 1, 2007, and will add five free HD DVD movies for anyone purchasing an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30. In addition, Microsoft further solidified the Xbox 360 as the ultimate high-definition (HD) entertainment platform, with key announcements around the HD DVD launches of “300” from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and “Heroes: Season 1” from Universal Studios.
The five free HD DVD movie promotion is very similar to the one Toshiba is offering. People buying the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player will be able to choose five HD DVD titles from a selection of 15 through a mail-in offer. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Other

BoomChair 2.1 Multimedia Chair @I4U
Cirago CST2010 Smart Mobile Storage @OCModShop
GeCube GC-XHD2600XTG4-D3 (Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR4) @Hardware Zone
Gigabyte's Digital TV GSmart t600 Mobile @TweakTown
Hiper HPU-4K530-MS Type R Modular 530W PSU @Benchmark Reviews
Logitech V220 Notebook Mouse @DV Hardware
OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-8500 2GB Memory Kit @ThinkComputers.org
Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu LED CPU Cooler @PC Apex
Add a comment

Latest Reviews

Latest Headlines

Latest Forum Threads