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Optical Storage
As promised, Pioneer is bringing their new Blu-ray combo drive to the US market. The company announced this morning that the BDC-2202 will be available beginning next month for a suggested retail price of $299.
Demonstrating its continued commitment to high definition optical disc technology, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today announces the BDC-2202, a robust Blu-ray Disc computer drive, which will be available to consumers beginning next month for a suggested price of $299. When installed in a properly configured PC, the Pioneer Blu-ray Disc combination drive allows users to playback new high definition Blu-ray Disc film titles as well as read and write digital content to DVD and CD, fulfilling their storage and entertainment needs.

The drive can read BD-ROM/BD-R/BD-RE at up to 5X and can read BD-ROM (DL) and BD-R/-RE (DL) at up to 2X speed. It comes bundled with media software that ensures compatibility with commercially released Blu-ray Disc movies. It also allows users to create personal DVD movies and digital photo slideshows, securely backup personal data and media files to DVD or CD, and create and burn favorite music to CD. The software also offers a Direct-to-Disc feature allowing aspiring filmmakers to capture movies directly from the camcorder to DVD without the inconvenience of using vital hard drive space.
While the BDC-2202 is still a bit pricey, its considerably cheaper than most of the Blu-ray drives currently on the market. If you'd like to read more, Pioneer's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Flash Memory
Earlier today, Memorex unveiled a new version of the TravelDrive for 2007. Boasting a "sport utility" inspired look, the new TravelDrive features a jack-knife design, security software and Readyboost capabilities.

Memorex, a portfolio brand of Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN), today announced a new addition to its popular line of USB flash drives. The latest Memorex TravelDrive combines today’s most popular flash drive features in a distinctive sport utility design. Sporting a range of off-road inspired colors, Memorex equipped its new TravelDrive with a jack-knife design, security software and Readyboost capabilities for use with Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system. With up to 8GB of capacity, the all-new TravelDrive allows consumers to capture, save and share their digital files in an ultra-portable, stylish and secure device.
Memorex's new TravelDrive will be available beginning in May in capacities of 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB. Prices range from $19.99 to $129.99 depending on capacity. If you'd like to read more, Memorex's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Flash Memory
Lexar sent out a press release this morning, announcing their new ExpressCard SSD. While smaller in size than other PC card solutions, the ExpressCard SSD offers capacities as high as 16GB and is enhanced for use with Windows Vista's ReadyBoost technology. To top it off, it comes bundled with auto-backup software.

Lexar Media, Inc., a world leader in advanced digital media technologies, today announced the introduction of its new ExpressCard SSD with auto-backup software. Roughly half the size of current PC Card solutions, the Lexar ExpressCard SSD is a high-capacity removable solid state drive (SSD) that promises to set a new standard for delivering high-performance, lower-cost storage expansion to notebook computers. The Lexar ExpressCard SSD comes bundled with auto-backup software, an innovative solution for protecting laptop computer files and data that allows for automatic regular (daily, weekly, or monthly) backup without user intervention after the initial setup. During this setup, the user will be able to set the folder and specific file types to be included or excluded from the backup process. In addition, this automatic backup software can also support multiple computers by recognizing the computer name and the appropriate backup setting for each computer.
No word on pricing or availability yet. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, Lexar's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Last month, the AACS licensing authority sent legal threats to various websites and blogs, demanding that they remove the AACS processing key as well as any links pointing to a certain thread on the Doom 9 forums. Digg.com initially gave in to the AACS LA's demands. However, after receiving a flood of complaints from their readers, they decided not to delete stories or comments containing the processing key. Here's part of a blog post made by Digg founder, Kevin Rose:
In building and shaping the site I’ve always tried to stay as hands on as possible. We’ve always given site moderation (digging/burying) power to the community. Occasionally we step in to remove stories that violate our terms of use (eg. linking to pornography, illegal downloads, racial hate sites, etc.). So today was a difficult day for us. We had to decide whether to remove stories containing a single code based on a cease and desist declaration. We had to make a call, and in our desire to avoid a scenario where Digg would be interrupted or shut down, we decided to comply and remove the stories with the code.

But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.
The AACS LA might as well throw in the towel. While legal threats may slow it down, there is no way they're going to prevent the key from spreading. I think at this point, the only thing left to say is "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0". Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
For the last month or so, owners of Universal titles like 'Children of Men' and 'The Good Shepherd' have been complaining about playback issues. While the company quietly cancelled other combo HD DVD/DVD releases, they did not publicly acknowledge the problem until now. In a statement made to High-Def Digest, Universal has announced that they are looking into the problem and will be offering replacement discs to those affected by it.
While the studio had been mum on the topic for over a month, today they issued a statement to High-Def Digest acknowledging the problems, and initiated a disc replacement program for affected consumers. The studio's full statement follows below:

"Universal is currently investigating reports that Children of Men, The Good Shepherd, and select other discs not playing properly in some HD DVD players. While we believe this is limited to a small number of HD DVD discs, Universal is offering a replacement service for any customers who are experiencing this problem. We are still investigating the cause and will provide further updates as we get them. Any customer problems should be directed to USHE.ConsumerRelations@worldmarkinc.com."
While I must commend Universal for offering replacement discs, they should have responded to the problem much sooner. If you'd like to read more, head on over to High-Def Digest. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
DigiTimes has reported that CMC Magnetics recently received level A certification for its single layer BD-R media. According to the article, they are the first Taiwanese manufacturer to do so.
CMC Magnetics, the largest producer of optical discs in Taiwan, on April 30 announced it has obtained level A certification for its Blu-ray Disc (BD)-R (recordable, write once) SL (single-sided single-layer) disc from an international vendor. The company stated that it is the first among makers of optical discs in Taiwan to receive this certification.
If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
A few weeks ago, we reported that people were experiencing playback problems with Universal's HD DVD/DVD combo discs. Unfortunately, these problems also seem to apply to the HD DVD version of 'Digital Video Essentials'. According to High-Def Digest, people on the AVS Forum have experienced a number of playback issues with the Xbox 360's HD DVD add on drive.
While Joe Kane's highly-anticipated calibration disc finally hit stores last Tuesday, many owners of the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on had a rude awakening when they attempted to boot up the disc, experiencing a series of hiccups and outright stalls that rendered key portions of the disc unplayable.

Needlesstosay, the complaints quickly found their way online, and onto the boards at AVS Forum. But as readers there were relieved to find out, the disc's distributor is aware of the problem, and promises that the next Xbox 360 dashboard update will solve it.
Xbox 360 owners shouldn't have to wait long for a fix as the next dashbord update will be released on May 7th. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Plextor LLC has announced a completely redesigned and updated version of the ConvertX Digital Video Converter. The PX-AV200U is not only considerably smaller than previous models, it can be used to convert videos for playback on portable devices like the iPod and PlayStation Portable.

The PX-AV200U is rebuilt from the ground up to deliver a host of new benefits to users. The plastic enclosure case has been replaced by a dongle with connectors for USB 2.0, S-Video In, Video In, and Audio In. It takes up no desk space at all and fits in a shirt pocket for easy portability. In addition to MPEG-1/2/4 video formats, the new ConvertX model supports iPod and PlayStation Portable file formats, enabling videos to be viewed anywhere on portable players. The PX-AV200U runs on the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, as well as Windows XP.
The PX-AV200U will be available in May 2007 for a suggested retail price of $69. More information is available on Plextor's website. Add a comment

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