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If you've been looking to buy a portable media player, you might want to hold off a bit. According to an article at DigiTimes, the retail price of portable media players is expected to drop by more than half to $99-199. The price drop is due mostly to the decreased costs of LCD panels and the availability of on-chip MP4 compression.
Retail prices of PMPs (portable multimedia players) are expected to drop from US$299-399 to US$99-199, due to significantly decreased costs of LCD panels and other key components as well as the availability of on-chip MP4 compression, according to Taiwan-based makers of MP3 players.

Sales of PMPs have been short of expectations mainly because of high retail prices and the poor quality of video playback, the sources indicated. With adoption of on-chip MP4 compression, PMPs can play video at 20-24 frames per second making the resolution comparable with that of DVD video, according to the Taiwan-based MP3/PMP maker Ergotech.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Panasonic has officially announced its next generation Blu-ray Disc player, the DMP-BD10A. While priced $700 less than their previous player, the DMP-BD10A features 1080p upconversion, BD-J interactive capabilities and an audio upgrade package which includes support for 7.1 channel surround, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD.

Panasonic, one of the industry leaders behind the development of Blu-ray Disc(TM) technology and the market leader in Plasma television, today announced the availability of the DMP- BD10A, Panasonic's next generation Blu-ray Disc player, at a SRP of $599.95. The DMP-BD10A features an audio upgrade package that brings high end surround audio to the viewing experience via the inclusion of 7.1 channel surround, Dolby True HD and 'dts-HD(TM) ' High Resolution Audio decoding technology. The DMP-BD10A also incorporates Panasonic's proprietary EZ-Sync(TM) system for integrated one-touch operation of Panasonic home-theater components. Panasonic's DMP-BD10A further distinguishes itself with the bundling of five mega hit Blu-ray discs. Included with each DMP-BD10A are - "Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl" and "Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest" from Disney, "Transporter" and "Fantastic 4" from Fox and "Crash" from Lionsgate.
More information, including a full list of features, can be found on Panasonic's website. Add a comment

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Duplicators
Aleratec has announced that it has started shipping its new Color Coded Duplicator Grade LightScribe CD-R Recording Media. These new discs ship in packs of 100, containing 20 of each color.

Aleratec, developer and manufacturer of Aleratec Award Winning DVD/CD Duplicating and Publishing Solutions, is now shipping its new Aleratec Color Coded Duplicator Grade LightScribe CD-R Recording Media. The new Aleratec duplicator grade LightScribe media is produced in 5 different colors to aid in segregating and organizing different types of data or multimedia. These color-coded discs are LightScribe-ready and can be direct-to-disc LightScribe labeled in LightScribe DVD-RW drives without a printer. The Aleratec Rainbow 100 Pack(tm) contains 20 each of 5 key colors (red, orange, yellow, green, and blue) for a wide range of disc identification options.
The Rainbow 100 Pack is available now for an estimated street price of $69.99. More information can be found on Aleratec's website. Add a comment

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Flash Memory
Lexar sent out a press release this morning, announcing their latest USB flash drive, the JumpDrive Secure II Plus. Building upon the original JumpDrive Secure II, the Plus includes a built-in capacity meter. With this meter, users can see how much storage space is available without plugging the drive into a computer.

Lexar, a world leader in advanced digital media technologies, today announced the introduction of JumpDrive Secure II Plus, a sleek, high-capacity USB flash drive designed for safely storing, transferring, and sharing multimedia and more. It offers the same advanced security software as original JumpDrive Secure II, including 256-bit AES encryption, but now includes an innovative, built-in capacity meter for ultimate convenience. Ideal for college students and traveling professionals, JumpDrive Secure II Plus is compatible with both PCs and Macintosh computers, and offers premium features at an affordable price.
The JumpDrive Secure II Plus is available now in capacities of MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB. An 8GB version will also be available in the near future. If you'd like to read more, Lexar's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
A few weeks ago we reported that Gigstorage was in the process of moving its CD-R manufacturing business to Thailand. According to a recent article by DigiTimes, the company's new factory is up and running and they've started volume production of CD-R discs.
Gigastorage, a second-tier maker of optical discs in Taiwan, early in May started volume production of CD-R discs at an initial monthly capacity of two to three million discs in Thailand, and will begin volume production of photovoltaic conductive paste, its new product, in July of 2007, according to the company.

Gigastorage completed its shift of CD-R disc manufacturing equipment from Taiwan to its factory in Thailand and then began production. While the factory's production will focus on CD-R discs for the time being, Gigastorage may also shift production lines of DVD+R/-R discs from Taiwan if demand in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) market grows to a certain level, the company indicated.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Today, CDRLabs brings you an in depth look at ASUS's new Serial ATA equipped "Super-Multi" drive, the DRW-1814BLT. Sporting some pretty impressive specs, the DRW-1814BLT is capable of 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL and 14x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. Along with support for LightScribe, the drive also includes features like ASUS's FlextraLink, FlextraSpeed and QuieTrack technologies.

In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the DRW-1814BLT and see how it compares to some of the 18x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does the DRW-1814BLT have what it takes? You'll have to read the review to find out.


ASUS DRW-1814BLT SATA 18x DVD±RW/RAM
If you have any comments or questions about this review or the ASUS DRW-1814BLT, please post them in the forum. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
To cope with falling media prices, some of the industry's smaller media manufacturers have started using second-grade polycarbonate and self-developed dyes. As a result, batches of discs with defect rates as high as 50% have started to show up on the Taiwanese market.
In the Taiwan retail market, small brands or brands without a reputation have recently provided a large volume of DVD+R/-R discs of which purchasers have found as many as 30-50% failed in performance. Such defect rates are historically very exceptional, according to Taiwan retail channels.

Currently, DVD+R/-R discs supplied by international brands, including Philips, Sony and TDK, sell at NT$8-12 (US$0.24-0.36) per disc while small or little-known brands charge only NT$6-7 for a disc, the sources indicated.
These failure rates are quite high, even for low grade media. Nevertheless, people shouldn't be surprised by the quality. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Flash Memory
Sandisk has announced that they're partnered with Microsoft to develop a replacement for their existing U3 Smart Technology. Expanding upon U3's current capabilities, this new hardware and software based solution will let users store data, applications and their own custom computing environment on a flash storage device.
Microsoft and SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced they have signed an agreement to deliver a next-generation software and hardware solution to place application programs and personal customization on USB flash drives and flash memory cards, expanding on and replacing SanDisk’s existing U3 Smart Technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will develop a new software experience and SanDisk will develop new hardware capabilities, including the addition of TrustedFlash security technology. SanDisk will incorporate the combined software and hardware solution on removable flash memory cards and Cruzer USB flash drives. The new offering is expected to be commercially available starting in the second half of 2008.
While U3 has been around for a few years, the technology really hasn't taken off. Hopefully, with Microsoft's help, Sandisk can make this new technology go mainstream. If you'd like to read more, Sandisk's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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