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Sony sent out a press release this morning, announcing that their subsidiary, Sony Shiroishi, is currently the industry's leading producer of blue-violet laser diodes, turning out more than 1.7 million units a month. The company has also shipped more than 2 billion (yes, billion) laser diodes since it started production in 1986.
Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor Inc. (hereafter Sony Shiroishi), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation (hereafter Sony), today announced that as of March 2007, cumulative shipments of laser diodes have reached 2 billion units since it started production in 1986.

As of April 2007, Sony Shiroishi has also established industry-leading monthly production capacity of 1.7 million blue-violet laser diodes, offering a comprehensive product lineup of blue-violet laser diodes for the wide-ranging needs of external customers as well as for use in Sony products. Furthermore, with Sony Shiroishi scheduled to start mass production of high-power output 240mw diodes from November this year, Sony and Sony Shiroishi will continue to stand at the forefront of the technological development and market for laser diodes going forward.
Sony also plans to ship a low cost (~$8) blue-violet laser diode for Blu-ray Disc players in June. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
If you've been following the Nielsen VideoScan sales data published by Home Media Magazine, it shouldn't be too surprising that they've declared Blu-ray the winner for the 1Q of 2007. According to their stats, 70% of the high-def discs purchased during 1Q were Blu-ray while only 30% were HD DVD.

Of the high-definition discs consumers bought in the first quarter of this year, 70% were Blu-ray Discs and just 30% were HD DVDs, according to sales figures provided by Home Media Magazine's market research department.

Blu-ray took the lead in February, and its percentage of total sales accelerated to the point that, in March, the format accounted for nearly three out of every four high-def discs sold.
While HD DVD backers are hoping that new releases and cheaper players will narrow the ever widening sales gap, they're going to need more than a mass buy by fanboys to pull it off. If you'd like to read more, Home Media Magazine's entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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In the fall of 2005, we reported that Toshiba was making HD DVD technology available to Chinese manufacturers with the hope that they would be able to produce low cost players. It took longer than expected, but Chinese manufactured HD DVD players are finally on the way. According to an article at Engadget, Walmart has ordered 2 million HD DVD players from China's Great Wall corporation and plans to sell them for about $299.
Get ready to get your cheap HD on kids. Wal-Mart just threw down some serious green for a batch of Chinese-made HD DVD players. Just as they brought DVD players down to near-disposable status, their deal for 2 million HD DVD players produced by China's Great Wall corporation will ultimately do the same for hi-def optical. The guts are developed by Taiwan's Fuh Yuan with a touch of help from Japan's TDK. How much? A magical $299, that's how much -- $100 less than the cheapest available HD DVD rig (Toshiba's A2) and half of Sony's $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player. It's not clear when we'll see the first units on Wal-Mart shelves, only that the final shipment from the order is expected before 2008 is over.
With the Toshiba HD-A2 already selling for less than $330 on Amazon, the price of Walmart's player is a bit high. Then again, its very likely that the price will come down before it actually ships. If you'd like to read more, Engadget's entire report can be found here. Add a comment

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Due to the growing DVD recorder market, Panasonic has announced that they will double production of its dual-wavelength high-power laser. At this rate, the company will be turning out more than 10 million units a month.

Panasonic, the leading brand by which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, will double production of its dual-wavelength high-power laser for DVD recorders to 10 million units a month in FY'07.

Panasonic led the industry in November 2005 by pioneering production of a dual-wavelength high-power laser as a light source for DVD recorder pickups. This product has enjoyed a good reputation for high quality. The device offers several advantages over use of monochromatic lasers for each wavelength because it combines two laser wavelengths in a single chip: an infrared beam (with a wavelength of 780 nm, for CD use) and a red beam (with a wavelength of 650 nm, for DVD use) As a result, light source point adjustment is unnecessary, the optical pickup system can be simplified, and the number of peripheral parts can be halved. These benefits helped dual-wavelength lasers to capture a 15% share of the total market for DVD recorder pickups in FY'06.
If you'd like to read more, Panasonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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For the last month or so, there have been reports that Sony's more recent DVD releases will not play on some DVD players, including one of their own models, the DVP-CX995V. According to Video Business, Sony has come clean about the problem, stating that it was caused by an update to their ARccOS copy protection scheme. While Sony claims that they've received a very small number of complaints, they are offering replacement discs to those that are affected.
Sony said the problem was due to an update of its ARccOS copy-protection system, an additional layer of protection meant to prevent ripping. The studio has included ArccOS on its DVDs for the past two years. The copy-protection is continually updated to keep ahead of hackers.

"Recently, an update that was installed on approximately 20 titles was found to cause an incompatibility issue with a very small number of DVD players (Sony has received complaints on less than one thousandth of one percent of affected discs shipped)," the company said in a statement. "Since then, the ARccOS system has once again been updated, and there are no longer any playability problems."
While I'm sure this will give Sony haters one more reason to go off, you have to give the company credit for making things right. It's too bad they didn't do the same with the whole rootkit debacle. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
Until now, if you wanted a copy of Nero BackItUp, you had to buy the entire Nero suite. Starting in May though, you will be able to buy a stand alone version of the software through Nero's volume licensing program.
Nero, leaders in digital media technology, today announced it will release of the stand alone version of BackItUp 2, a complete data backup and disaster recovery solution. BackItUp 2 is Vista-ready and provides versatile capabilities such as highly configurable automatic backup scheduling, data encryption, virus protection, and extensive media and storage device compatibility. BackItUp 2 will be available early May in North and South America through Nero's volume licensing program.

"The BackItUp 2 application and our volume licensing program make it easy for businesses to ensure the preservation of their mission-critical data," said Udo Eberlein, Chief Operating Officer, Nero AG. "In addition to offering category-leading disaster recovery, backup scheduling and data security tools, BackItUp 2 delivers unprecedented support for media formats and devices, including a broad assortment of network storage solutions."
While Nero has not provided pricing information yet, you can bet it will be a fraction of what you'd pay for the entire Nero suite. If you'd like to read more, Nero's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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The North American HD DVD Promotional Group announced on Tuesday that more than 100,000 standalone HD DVD players have been sold in the US since the format was introduced last year. This number is even more impressive considering it does not include HD DVD drives for the PC nor the one for the Xbox 360.
Marking the first anniversary of HD DVD hardware and movies sold to consumers, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group announced today that sales of dedicated HD DVD consumer electronics players reached more than 100K units sold in the United States, ahead of any other high definition format. This figure does not include sales of HD DVD PC drives or the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, which are also selling strongly.

As consumers see lower prices for high definition players, the manufacturing efficiencies of HD DVD are keeping the format one step ahead. As the first to bring CE player prices down below the $400 mark, Toshiba is hearing encouraging news from retailers.
With more than 70 new titles scheduled to be released by the end of July and player prices already hovering around $300, HD DVD is definitely ready to give Blu-ray a run for its money. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Pioneer recently debuted their BDC-S02 Blu-ray Disc combo drive in Beijing. According to a report at DigiTimes, the drive will initially be sold in China before being made available in other markets later this year. The price of the BDC-S02 is expected to be about $299.
Pioneer on April 17 debuted its BDC-S02 Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo drive model in Beijing, for immediate launch in China and later in other markets around the world at a recommended retail price of US$299, according to Pioneer's Taiwan subsidiary Pioneer High Fidelity Taiwan.

The BDC-S02 can playback high-definition movies on BD-ROM, BD-R (recordable), BD-R DL (single-sided double-layer), BD-RE (rewritable) and BD-RE DL discs as well as common DVD and CD discs, according to Pioneer's Optical Disc Drive Sales general manager Shannon Yu for the Asia-Pacific region.
While the BDC-S02 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, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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