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Home Entertainment
New Medium Enterprises has reportedly found a way to manufacture cheap, multi-layer DVD's, capable of holding a movie in a number of different formats.
Britain-based New Medium Enterprises (NME) (NMEN.OB: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it had solved a technical production problem that makes it possible to produce a cheap multiple-layer DVD disk containing one film in different, competing formats.

"Current technologies to create multiple layer disks mostly don't work. We've created a technology for mass production of multiple layers that does not suffer from the well known problem of low yields," said NME Chief Technology Officer Eugene Levich. A low yield means that many DVDs coming off the manufacturing lines are not working and have to be discarded.

The production costs of a multi-layer DVD using the new NME technology are estimated to be around 9 cents, compared with the 6 cents for a standard single-layer play-back DVD, according to Dutch company ODMS, one of the world's leading makers of production lines for optical disks.
While NME's new technology probably won't end the format war, it will hopefully lower the cost of multi-format discs. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
As we reported yesterday, Ritek has joined Philips' Veeza licensing system. According to an article DigiTimes, they are the first Taiwanese disc manufacturer to do so.
Royal Philips Electronics on September 25 announced Ritek has joined Veeza, its new licensing system for CD-R disc patents, with Ritek being the first Taiwan-based optical disc maker to sign on. Philips also announced a 41.7% reduction in its royalty charge for recordable DVD discs from US$0.06 to US$0.035, a step toward extending Veeza from CD-R to recordable DVD discs.

Ritek's five-year contract with Philips for licensed use of CD-R patents expired a few months ago and the company agreed to join Veeza to continue licensing the patents, Ritek pointed out. However, optical discs makers in Taiwan had originally boycotted Veeza, so Ritek's sudden reversal may cause some discontent among its fellow makers. As Ritek is currently the second largest maker of optical discs in Taiwan, its action will bring pressure on other makers, industry sources indicated.
With Ritek on board, it will probably be only a matter of time before other manufacturers start using Veeza. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Software
CyberLink has announced that they will be demonstrating an optimized version of PowerDVD at Intel Developer Forums in the US and Asia. With support for Intel Clear Video Technology, this new version of PowerDVD offers features like true HD video playback and ddvanced digital display support.
CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, will share the stage with Intel at developer forums in the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea, showcasing the developmental experience of optimizing PowerDVD for Intel motherboards and personal computers.

Supporting the latest generation of digital video content, discs formats, and technology, CyberLink delivers high-performance high-definition video playback on the PC. To achieve this, CyberLink has optimized PowerDVD 7 for Intel Clear Video Technology, enabling a wide range of features including MPEG-2 hardware acceleration decoding, advanced de-interlacing, and ProcAMP-enabled support on Intel G965 Express Chipset motherboards and personal computers.
If you'd like to read more, CyberLink's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Memorex has announced that they've expanded their line of inkjet printable media, adding quick-drying, water-resistent DVD-R and CD-R discs.
Memorex, the leading brand of optical media at U.S. retail and a portfolio brand of Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN), delivers a superior choice for the design and labeling of keepsake-quality CDs and DVDs. Memorex Inkjet Printable media with AquaGuard technology offers a brilliant white smear- and water-resistant disc surface, ideal for creating personalized video, photo, music and data discs with full-color labels of your own design.

Featuring proprietary nanoparticle technology to grip and hold the ink in place, Memorex Inkjet Printable CDs and DVDs with AquaGuard surface resist smearing and color bleed of printed images, unlike standard inkjet media. Additionally, the bright white surface of each disc provides superior color reproduction and sharper images for eye-catching designs. Consumers can print directly onto the quick-drying surface of the media using inkjet printers that have a disc-printing feature. The discs are uniformly covered with the brilliant white AquaGuard surface from edge to hub, providing maximum real estate for a nearly continuous label.
Memorex Inkjet Printable Media with AquaGuard will be available next month. More information, including pricing, can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
Just a reminder that NTI will be releasing their new Ninja software at midnight tonight (Pacific time). To kick off the launch, NTI is offering free downloads for one day only.

Starting at midnight tonight, NewTech Infosystems (NTI) will be making their new Ninja software - a USB data storage and protection software solution - available free on their web site, www.ntius.com. Unlike most fixed partition USB software, NTI Ninja allows users to adjust the size of their public and private partitions on their portable storage device. In addition, the software provides users with complete storage area anti-tamper encryption and password protection.

The new software was developed to meet the dramatic increase in today's mobile workforce, the increased use of USB storage devices and the need to protect content and data from being stolen or compromised on the small, portable devices.
If you miss out on your free download, the software can otherwise be purchased for $24.95. More information on the launch of NTI Ninja can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
According to DigiTimes, Philips has revoked the CD-R patent license from a number of Taiwanese manufacturers, including CMC and Ritek. In most cases, this was due to violations of existing licensing contracts.
Royal Philips Electronics has revoked CD-R disc patent licenses for CMC Magnetics and Ritek, the top two producers of optical discs in Taiwan, as well as Prodisc Technology and Lead Data, two second-tier makers, according to a list of CD-R licensees published on Philips Intellectual Property & Standards' (PIPS') global website.

Philips' withdrawal of CD-R licensing was due to the Taiwan-based makers, except for Ritek, violating existing licensing contracts, industry sources in Taiwan cited Philips as saying. Ritek lost licensing because its contract with Philips expired in May of this year, the sources noted.
As the article points out, this is most likely an attempt to get these manufacturers to accept Philips' Veeza licensing scheme. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes.

Update: Thanks to Digital Dolphin and RJW, we've learned that Ritek is now licensed under Philips' Veeza licensing scheme. At the same time, Prodisc does not seem to be licensed for CD's nor DVD's. You can check the status of both companies here. Add a comment

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Duplicators
Aleratec has announced their third generation LightScribe DVD/CD publishing system, the 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser LS. When connected to a PC, this new duplicator is able to copy or label two discs at once.
Aleratec, a leading developer and manufacturer of "Prosumers' Choice" USB, DVD/CD duplicating, and DVD/CD publishing solutions, today announced its third generation LightScribe Personal Publishing system, the new Aleratec 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser LS. When connected to a PC via USB 2.0, the Aleratec 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser LS is a 1:2 DVD/CD Duplicator, that enables small and medium businesses to simply, conveniently and affordably burn or LightScribe label 2 CDs or DVDs at once. The new system will be available at 300 Best Buy for Business retail locations nationwide as well as www.BestBuy.com and www.aleratec.com.
The 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser LS is available now for an estimated retail price of $299. More information can be found on Alera's website. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
AOpen sent out a press release this morning, announcing their new 18x DVD±RW drive, the DSW1218P. Along with 18x DVD±R and 8x DVD±R DL writing speeds, the DSW1218P can write to DVD-RAM media at 12x.
The DVD burner DSW1218P from AOpen Inc. is a versatile and powerful half-height (5 1/4") optical disc drive that can read and write DVD +/- R/RW, DVD +/- R DL, DVD-RAM, and CD-R/RW formats at speed up to 18X. It is a complete DVD/CD burning solution that allows you to access all optical disc types!

AOpen DSW1812P is a rare burner that can support 18X burning, 12X DVD-RAM, 8X DVD +/- R DL (Double/Dual Layer), and CD-R/RW. This means AOpen DSW1812P is the fastest DVD burner ever!

AOpen DSW1812P burns DVD+R/-R at 18X, DVD+RW at 8X, DVD-RW at 6X, CD-R at 48X and CD-RW at 32X. With 2MB buffer memory, DSW1812P provides more stable and faster burning which is very suitable for personal and working purposes. And it equips the special silent technology that can help to remain quiet working environment while burning.
No word on pricing or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, AOpen's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Here's some good news for those planning to play Blu-ray movies on their PS3. At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced that they will be adding an HDMI port to the 20GB version of the console.
Sony's forthcoming 20GB version of the PlayStation 3 video game console will feature an HDMI 1.3 output, the company announced Friday at the Tokyo Game Show.

The port, which had been previously announced as standard on the stepped-up 60GB model, allows games to be played in full high-definition video and audio.

The company said its decision was made in part by the "sharp increase" in flat-panel televisions now sold with high-definition multimedia interface ports, or HDMI.
Sony also announced that they have dropped the price of the 20GB PS3 in Japan to 49,980 yen ($426), including tax. Unfortunately, it will still cost $499 in the US. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Other
BCCHardware has put together a review of LG's new "Super-Multi" drive, the GSA-H10N. Here's what they had to say about it:
Basically at the end of the day, this drive met my expectations. It seems that lately there really haven't been many exciting new technologies when it comes to DVD/CD Burners, and when I started this drive I was pretty sure there wasn't going to be anything that jumped out and surprised me. It really makes giving this drive a final score tough, I couldn't give it a perfect score just since it really didn't blow me away or anything, however it has very solid numbers and therefore scored quite high in the end.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to BCCHardware and check out their review. Want a second opinion? Our review of the GSA-H10N can be found here. Add a comment

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