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FUJIFILM today announced the availability of recordable media for the Labelflash enabled laser-labeling DVD drives. This technology is being introduced in the U.S. market with select models of the new Toshiba Satellite A205/P205 Notebook computer series.Let's hope that Pioneer and Optiarc decide to bring their Labelflash compliant drives to the U.S. as well. If you'd like to read more, Fujifilm's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Labelflash technology was created as a joint project between engineers at Yamaha Corporation and Fujifilm Corporation. DVD drives enabled with Labelflash allow users to create customized, professional-looking DVDs with clear, finely detailed labeling by inscribing high-quality images and text directly into a specialized dye within the disc. The process eliminates the need for specialized printers, inks or sticky labels.
Fujifilm recordable media for Labelflash is initially available in DVD-R (16x) format and are capable of burning images in as little as five (5) minutes in ‘Fast’ mode and 15-20 minutes for the highest contrast.
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While Toshiba has not announced a price, AV Watch expects the RD-A600 and RD-A300 to cost about 200,000 Yen ($1644US) and 150,000 Yen ($1233US) respectively. More information, including a full list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment
Toshiba Corporation today announced two high-end additions to its VARDIA digital video recorders (DVR) that add the capabilities of HD DVD recordable drives to a wide range of advanced functions. The new DVR introduce the ability to record two digital HD television programs simultaneously, and also integrate Toshiba's new "VARDIA engine", which supports significant enhancements to ease of use and performance, including faster drawing of the graphic user interface (GUI) and improved HD DVD disc operation. The HD DVD VARDIA RD-A600 and HD DVD VARDIA RD-A300 will be rolled out in the Japanese market from the end of June.
The new models offer consumers a choice of hard disk drive capacities. The 600-gigabyte (GB) RD-A600 can record about 78 hours*1 of digital HD broadcasts to its hard drive in HD picture quality, while 300GB RD-A300 can record about 39 hours*1. Both integrate an HD DVD recordable drive that can directly record HD television programs to an HD DVD-R disc or transfer HD images stored in HDD to an HD DVD-R disc. Like standard DVR, the new recorders allow users to build libraries of their favorite content, whether dramas, movies or sport, but add the ability to do so in vibrant, high definition detail, by storing HD content to HD DVD-R discs.
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Japan's Toshiba Corp. has slashed its sales target for high definition DVD players and recorders after disappointing sales in the U.S., putting a damper on prospects for one of its growth businesses.While the price of HD DVD players have come down considerably, most consumers are still holding off, waiting to see which format wins. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
"Sales in the U.S. have been slower than expected, and we are going to have to lower our U.S. sales forecast," said Yoshihide Fujii, head of Toshiba's digital consumer business.
The electronics group now expects to sell 1 million next-generation optical disc players in North America by the end of calendar 2007, down 44 percent from its previous estimate of 1.8 million unit sales, a Toshiba executive said on Tuesday.
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Transcend's Ultra-Speed JetFlash Drives are available now in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB (JetFlash 2A only) capacities. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Transcend Information Inc. (Transcend) released today its Ultra-Speed USB2.0 Flash Drives, the JetFlash 160, the JetFlash 168, the JetFlash 110 and the JetFlash 2A. These JetFlash models are equipped with dual Hi-Speed SLC NAND Flash chips (Max. Read 30MB/s, Max. Write 25MB/s), and are engineered using top quality components to ensure better performance and a longer lifespan. This device is a combination of style and superior performance that will be appreciated by those who need high-speed data transfer rates. The Ultra-Speed JetFlash Drives conveniently plug into the USB port on any desktop, or notebook computer, so you can fast transfer, store, and share files.
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Three weeks into its aggressivespring retail and marketing campaigns, the North American HD DVDPromotional Group today announced HD DVD is significantly ahead in thededicated consumer electronics player market with 60% of all highdefinition set-top players sold. At the same time, high definition moviesales for HD DVD reached an all time high for the month of May, exceeding75,000 movies the last week of May alone.While these numbers are impressive, its going to be interesting to see what happens when Blu-ray backers respond with their own price cuts. If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Overall high definition sales hit a record last week as well, hitting$5.2 million in actual consumer spending, which was 31% higher than theprevious record for the two formats. This highlights the growing consumerappetite for HD content across the board.
Sales of dedicated consumer electronics players are a criticalindicator in the adoption of the high definition formats, given the highattach rates to these players. With the successive price drops by Toshiba,weekly player sales doubled in April when the price dropped from $499 to$399, doubled again during the first week of the latest promotion in lateMay, and increased again last week.
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If I had to guess, I'd say that the BC-1205PT and HR-0205T are based on the Pioneer BDC-S02 and Toshiba SD-H802A. I'm sure we'll find out when they ship later this year. In the mean time, you can read more about ASUS's new drives here. Add a comment
At COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2007 being held in Taipei, Taiwan, Asustec computer Inc. (ASUS) of Taiwan is exhibiting the BC-1205PT Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive and HR-0205T HD DVD drive, both for a desktop PC.
These models are available at very low prices of about $270 and $180 (USD), respectively, because they do not have data writing functionality for BD and HD DVD. Reportedly, the company is also planning to launch the products in Japan, targeting the release as early as summer 2007.
The BC-1205PT boasts a high reading speed of 5x from BD-ROM/R/RE. It is capable of both reading and writing various types of DVD and CD formats. The HR-0205T can read at 2.4x speed from HD DVD-ROMs.
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Corel Corporation, a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today announced that Dolby Laboratories, Inc. has approved its InterVideo WinDVD 8 HD DVD/Blu-ray software for Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus playback.If you'd like to read more, Corel's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Dolby TrueHD unlocks the ultimate high-definition audio experience, delivering studio-master-quality sound from HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats, while Dolby Digital Plus delivers up to 7.1 channels of dramatic surround sound for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems.
