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Optical Storage
According to an article at DigiTimes, Philips BenQ Digital Storage has been reorganized and will become a royalty agent for Philips. This change was due to Lite-On acquiring BenQ's ODD business earlier this year.
Philips BenQ Digital Storage (PBDS), a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics and BenQ established in February 2003, has been reorganized to manage Philips' patent royalties for optical disc drives (ODDs) with operations to begin on August 7, according to PBDS.

The reorganization was due to Lite-On IT acquiring BenQ's ODD business unit in April of this year, noted PBDS. Philips originally negotiated and collected royalty fees for its ODD patents but has authorized PBDS to act as its agent after the Lite-On IT buyout, according to PBDS.
As part of the reorganization, PBDS has taken over BenQ's ODD R&D and sales staff and has set up a branch offices in the US and Europe. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
CyberLink sent out a press release this morning, announcing that PowerDVD and PowerProducer have passed the testing requirements for the Blu-ray Disc logo.
CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, announced today that CyberLink PowerDVD has passed the testing requirements for the playing of BD-ROM and BD-R/RE discs. CyberLink PowerProducer has passed testing for the recording of video content onto BD-RE discs.

The tests, conducted by the Blu-ray Disc Testing Center, now allow PowerDVD BD Edition and PowerProducer to carry the Blu-ray Disc logo from the Blu-ray Disc License Entity. The products strengthen the next-generation features of CyberLink BD Solution, CyberLink's playback, burning and creativity suite for Blu-ray Discs.
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
Verbatim has announced the world's first Mini DVD-R DL media. Developed primarily for camcorders, these new discs provide 54 minutes of continuous video capture or 2.66GB of storage capacity.
Verbatim Corporation, a first-tier media producer known for developing advanced DVD and Dual Layer technologies, announced today the world's first Mini DVD-R Dual Layer (DL) disc. Measuring only three inches (8cm) in diameter, the new discs provide nearly a full hour of continuous video capture time or 2.66GB of storage capacity on a single side. Verbatim Mini DVD-R DL media will be available at the end of August 2006 in North America, where the new Canon DC22 Mini DVD-R DL-compatible camcorder will be launched. Shipments to other parts of the world will begin when the new Mini DVD-R DL-compatible camcorders become available locally

Featuring two recording layers on a single side, Verbatim's new Mini DVD-R DL discs provide almost twice the capacity of current mini DVD-R discs. Fully compatible with the DVD-R DL specification approved by the DVD Forum, the media can be recorded with compatible camcorders and played back with the majority of DVD players. It is ideal for applications such as recording and sharing home movies, sporting events, training videos and business presentations as well as digital audio, photos and graphics.
Verbatim's Mini DVD-R DL discs are expected to hit store shelves at the end of August and will cost about $24.99 for a pack of three. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Other
The guys over at CD Freaks have put together a review of Panasonic's first Blu-ray Disc writer, the SW-5582. Here's what they had to say:
The Panasonic SW-5582 is able to read and write the latest media generation, Blu-ray Discs, offering a huge 25 to 50GB of data which is needed for high definition video materials or high capacity data storage. Our tests show that the drive has no compatibility issue with all kinds of BD-R and BD-RE media we've tested. The drive also produces very good write quality on DVD+R/-R and DVD+RW/RW media we tested. From the Kprobe scans we can see that error levels are low and read back curves (Transfer Rate tests) are smooth. The Panasonic SW-5582 was able to burn CD-R media with very good quality given the low error levels shown by our Kprobe scans.
We received a SW-5582 a few months ago. Unfortunately, it was DOA and we still have not received a replacement. The good thing is, we have a number of other Blu-ray writer reviews on the way. In the mean time, head on over to CD Freaks and check out their review of the SW-5582. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Plextor Japan has also unveiled a new slim, slot loading "Super-Multi" drive this morning. Along with 8x DVD±R and 4x DVD±R DL writing speeds, the PX-608AL can write to DVD-RAM media at 5x. Here are some of the drive's specs:



Writing Speeds:
DVD±R: 8x
DVD±R DL: 4x
DVD+RW: 8x
DVD-RW: 6x
DVD-RAM: 5x
CD-R: 24x
CD-RW: 24x

Access Times:

DVD-ROM: 180ms
CD-ROM: 160ms

Read Speeds:
DVD-ROM (Single): 8x Max
DVD-ROM (Dual): 6x Max
DVD±R: 8x Max
DVD±RW: 8x Max
DVD±R DL: 6x Max
DVD-RAM: 5x Max
CD-ROM: 24x Max

The PX-608AL will ship in mid September and is expected to cost about 13,000 Yen. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
Sony Media Software has announced the availability of their new Blu-ray Disc authoring software, Blu-print. According to their press release, Blu-print gives users access to many of Blu-ray's more advanced functions and capabilities.
Sony Media Software, a leading provider of professional video and audio editing software applications, has announced the availability of Blu-print(TM), a complete and cost-effective software solution for use in authoring DVD's in the new Blu-ray(TM) format.

The Blu-print authoring application, developed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, runs on most high-end Windows-powered workstation and enables postproduction facilities and movie production studios to utilize the advanced features of the BD-ROM format. In addition to ensuring proper encoding, users can use Blu-print to create menu navigation for their Blu-ray discs and utilize the advanced features of the format such as BDMV (Blu-ray(TM) Disc Movie) "popup" menus and BD-J (Blu-ray(TM) Disc Java) interactivity.
While Sony Media Software calls Blu-print a "cost-effective software solution", the $50,000 price tag will probably scare away most people. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Mitsubishi Chemical has announced that they will be releasing their new 8cm DVD-R DL media on the Japanese market in late August. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

Mitsubishi chemical media Ltd. (The headquarters: the Tokyo Minato Ward and president: Otsuka heavy morality) begins two one side layers DVD-R for DL (The write-once type: for one time recording) as 8cmDVD disk for the video camera, and it begins to appear in the world and sales will begin in the end of August this year. Moreover, it will begin to sell it at the same time by one one side layer 8cmDVD-R and as much as one one side layer 8cmDVD-RW widely widespread for the video camera.
This new media has a capacity of 2.6GB, giving video camera owners the ability to record 54 minutes of video in SP mode. Mitsubishi has not announced a price. However, the media is expected to run about 3000 Yen. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Plextor Japan has unveiled a new standalone CD/DVD eraser. Aptly named the PLEXERASER, this new device destroys the recording layer of a recordable CD or DVD, making it unreadable.



The PLEXERASER takes about three minutes to destroy a CD or single layer DVD. As you might imagine, it takes twice as long to destroy a double layer disc. And no, the PLEXERASER cannot be used to record discs, only destroy them.

Plextor Japan plans to ship the PLEXERASER PX-OE100E in mid September for about 25,000 Yen ($218US). No word yet on whether or not it will make its way to the US. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, more information can be found on Plextor's website. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
DigiTimes has reported that Taiwanese drive manufacturers are hoping to obtain additional OEM orders for consumer DVD burners from Japanese companies like JVC and Sony.
Leading Taiwan-based optical disc drive (ODD) makers retain good chances to obtain additional OEM orders for producing consumer DVD burners, such as JVC CU-VD10 Everio Share Station (direct DVD-video burner) and Sony VRD-MC1 (external DVD+RW/-RW burner), from Japanese brands, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Consumer DVD burners can be used to directly record digital video and photos from a camcorder or another source onto a DVD disc without being connected to a PC. Considered as more profitable than PC-use DVD recording drives, the consumer burners are currently priced at US$200-300, the sources indicated. Sony VRD-MC1 is already produced by Lite-On IT, the largest maker of optical disc drives in Taiwan, on an OEM basis, the sources pointed out.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
If you've been hoping for a hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD player, you're probably not going to want to read this. According to an article at The Inquirer, LG has canned the hybrid Blue-ray/HD-DVD player that was planned for launch at the end of this year.
According to Bob Perry, VP of LG sales and channel marketing, hybrid product has been canned. Bob continued: "LG remains part of the Blu-ray camp and will make a product announcement later in the year". Perry was speaking on product plans at the company's '2006 Summer Line Show' this week in New York.
Let's hope that Samsung can come through with their hybrid player. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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