Earlier this week, Edge magazine reported that Nintendo had plans to release a version of the Wii equipped with a DVD player. GamesIndustry.biz has confirmed this report and has learned that it will not be available outside of Japan.
Speaking to GI.biz, a spokesperson declined to comment on when the new machine will hit the shops, but did confirm, "There are currently plans to release a version of Wii in Japan featuring DVD playback."

He added, "There are currently no plans to bring this model to Europe or the US."
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 an external version of the PX-755A, the PX-755UF. Along with support for both FireWire and USB 2.0, the PX-755UF features 16x DVD±R and 10x DVD+R DL writing speeds.

Plextor LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the PX-755UF DVD+/-R/RW CD-R/RW drive. The new Plextor burner is designed for businesses, consumers, and professionals who demand industry leading performance and reliability. Bundled with PlexTools Professional software premium features, the latest Plextor drive achieves high-quality recording at optimum speeds using any media.

The new PX-755UF DVD/CD drive is the first Plextor external drive to feature 10X DVD+R Double-Layer recording speed. Users can quickly burn up to four hours of high-quality MPEG-2/DVD video on a single 8.5 GB disc using 10X DVD+R Double-Layer media (or 6X DVD-R on Dual Layer media). This makes the Plextor PX-755UF ideal for home users who want to record onto DVD disc digital movies purchased and downloaded from Internet sites such as Amazon, iTunes, and YouTube.
The PX-755UF is expected to ship in mid-November for a suggested retail price of $159.00. More information can be found here. Add a comment
CNET and the Consumer Electronics Association have released the results from their Next-Generation DVD study. According to the results, 81% of the people surveyed were unsure of which of the available technologies will be the market standard.
The overwhelming majority (81 percent) of tech enthusiasts remain skeptical about which next-generation DVD technology will be the market standard, according to a recent survey by CNET (Nasdaq:CNET - News; www.cnet.com) and the Consumer Electronics Association. The study, CEA / CNET Tech First Panel: Next-Generation DVD, gained information about early technology adopters awareness of, and interest in, high-definition capable DVD players as manufacturers prepare to release several players that run on varying formats.
It shouldn't be too surprising that the other big concerns were price, compatibility and copyright protections. More information on CNET's survey can be found here. Add a comment
Erik Deppe has released yet another version of CD-DVD Speed. Along with the usual bug fixes and improvements, this version features a number of new Disc Quality tests for BenQ and Lite-On drives.

CD-DVD Speed v4.70 - Download
  • Added Advanced Disc Quality test for certain BenQ drives
    Following parameters are measured:
    CD: E11,E21,E31,E12,E22,E32,BLER,Jitter
    DVD: 1-5 PIE,PIE,PIF,POE,POF,Jitter  
  • Disc Quality test:
    • Jitter can be reported with recent LiteOn drives
    • Added CLV and P-CAV settings for BenQ drives (CD scanning)
    • Added Advanced options button
  • Replaced 'Write and Verify' option by 'Streaming' option
  • Bitsetting: improved support for NEC drives
  • Small improvements and bug fixes
More information can be found on the CD Speed website. Also, feel free to share your experiences in our forum. Add a comment
Imation has announced that they've filed a Declaratory Judgment Action, asking the court to reaffirm a cross-licensing agreement between two companies. According to their press release, Philips has tried to interfere with Imation's suppliers, despite the existing agreement.
Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN) today announced that it has filed a Declaratory Judgment Action in the Federal District Court in St. Paul, Minn., requesting that the court resolve an ongoing dispute with Philips Electronics N.V., U.S. Philips Corporation, and North American Philips Corporation (collectively "Philips"). The action requests that the court reaffirm Imation's cross-licensing rights related to various optical products, including recordable and rewritable CD and DVD discs, based on a long-standing agreement between Imation and Philips.

Imation's cross-licensing agreement with Philips allows Imation to make, have made and sell various optical media products including CD and DVD discs. Based on Imation's cross-licensing rights under the existing agreement, Imation's action asks the court to stop Philips' recent attempts to interfere with Imation's ongoing business relationships with its customers and suppliers.
This is most likely due to Philips' Veeza licensing scheme. As we've reported in the past, Philips is trying to bar imports of non-Veeza discs in some of the world's major markets. More information can be found on Imation's website. Add a comment
DigiTimes has reported that Sony plans to stop selling optical drives for the PC some time in 2007. The company will instead focus on optical devices, like their DVDirect series, that are not dependent upon PC's.
With the view that the market for PC optical disc drives (ODDs) in Taiwan is approaching saturation, as seen by the NT$1,500 (US$45) price for 16x DVD burners, Sony Taiwan indicated it will shift its marketing toward optical disc devices not dependent on PCs, according to Sony Taiwan.

Although half-height DVD burner technology has advanced to 18x writing speeds and will be upgraded further to 20x next year, demand for DVD burners is not expected to increase, local industry sources pointed out.
I can't say I'm too surprised. It's hard to justify buying one of Sony's drives when you can essentially get the same thing, sold under another brand for half the cost. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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A few weeks ago, there were some reports that the Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive could be plugged into a PC and was recognized as an optical drive. Robert McLaws of Windows-Now has been in touch with Microsoft and has learned that this is true. However, you will need to buy additional software if you plan to play back HD-DVD movies.
A member of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD team confirmed for me today that the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive will in fact be recognized by Windows Vista, but it will NOT ship with decoder software. I'm assuming that Intervideo will have a version of WinDVD sometime in the future that supports HD-DVD. Personally, I think the drive should come with the required software to dual-use enable the device (adding value to a non-trivial purchase), but I'm not a PM at Microsoft.
Hopefully, InterVideo or CyberLink will release software that is compatible with the drive. If you'd like to read more, the entire report can be found here. Add a comment
Here's some surprising news. Due to diminishing profits, Lite-On has decided to stop selling consumer ODD products under the Lite-On brand name.
Lite-On IT, the largest Taiwan-based maker of optical disc drives (ODDs), on October 25 reported its financial results for the third quarter of this year, posting a very small net earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.033. The company also announced it has decided to stop production of consumer ODDs, mainly DVD recorders, to be sold under its Liteon brand in the global market, while keeping OEM/ODM production of such products.

Lite-On IT's average gross margin dropped from 16.7% in the first half of this year to 13.2% last quarter. Three main reasons for this were the following: the ongoing integration of Lite-On IT's own operating resources with those of BenQ's ODD business unit (acquired by Lite-On IT in April 2006); delays in R&D works on Blu-ray Disc drives, slim-type ODDs and Xbox ODDs; losses due to consumer returns of own-brand DVD recorders sold through the Wal-Mart chain, according to company CEO Danny Liao.
It really isn't clear whether this includes all of Lite-On's ODD products or just their DVD recorders. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes.

Update - Thanks to the Dutch website, Tweakers.net, we've learned that this only applies to Lite-On's standalone DVD recorders. Here's a translation (thanks RJW):
A moment ago Dutch Lite-On IT have communicated us that the source article of DigiTimes contained an incorrect reproduction of the facts. The brand Lite-On is still alive. Lite-On will definatly not stop with selling dvd - and cd-burners under its own brand, thus spokesman Maarten Souren. Only the standalone dvd-recorders that are sold under the lite on brand, will be removed from the Lite-On-catalog according to him.
So there you have it. Lite-On will continue to produce PC-based CD and DVD writers. Add a comment