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In a brief statement from Chris Stephenson, a general manager at Microsoft, the giant of Redmond, Washington said that Zune will be a new music and entertainment project covering a "family of hardware and software products" and that it will launch in 2006. Zune will use a hard drive to store music and will have a feature that could ripple through all portable music devices: a WiFi wireless connection to download music.While Microsoft has not announced an official launch date, the first Zune devices are expected to ship by the end of the year. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found DigiTimes. Add a comment
Stephenson also confirmed that a video player version is under development. And there are reports that a new subscription-based music service will accompany the hardware release.
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- Optical Storage
A local court has imposed a provisional seizure of assets on Optodisc Technology, a second-tier maker of optical discs in Taiwan, as well as on the personal assets owned by company chairman David Wang and president Jasper Chao, according to the company's filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) on July 21.If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Two Taiwan-based banks, TC Bank and the Bank of Kaohsiung, asked for the provisional seizure to protect their creditor rights, according to the filings. According to the local court's decision, the provisional seizure covers a portion of Optodisc's factory buildings and manufacturing equipment as well as part of the personal assets of Wang and Chao, noted the filings.
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MPEG LA announced today that the first meeting of essential Blu-ray Disc(TM) patent owners, consisting of 17 companies, was held in Los Angeles on July 6-7 for the purpose of creating a joint license providing fair, reasonable, non-discriminatory access to essential patents, as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses. Participating companies included CyberLink Corporation; Dell Inc.; Hewlett-Packard Company; Hitachi Ltd.; Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.; LG Electronics Inc.; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic); Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Pioneer Corporation; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.; and Warner Home Video Inc.According to MPEG LA's press release, additional patent holder meetings are planned, and work on the joint license will continue. More information can be found here. Add a comment
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CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, announced today that CyberLink BD Solution is being shipped with Sony's first BD-R/RE burner, the BWU-100A drive.The Sony BWU-100A is expected to ship in August for about $750. If you'd like to read more, CyberLink's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Optimized to keep 1080i HD video in native high-definition format from capture to playback, the Sony BWU-100A drive also supports recording of standard single layer 4.7 GB DVD+R/+RW/RAM discs, 8.5 GB DVD+R Double/Dual Layer Discs, and CDs, making it a true multi-format burner. CyberLink's BD Solution offers a complete software suite for a host of advanced authoring and burning functions optimized for the Blu-ray Disc (BD) format, allowing users to capture HD video from an HDV format camcorder and record it to 50 GB or 25 GB BD discs.
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The DVD+RW Alliance, in light of Taiwan's importance in the production of optical discs and drives, will set up a Taiwan branch of its DVD+RW Compatibility and Convergence Group (DCCG), the Taiwan Compatibility and Convergence Group (TCCG), tentatively by September of this year, according to the alliance at a seminar in Taipei on July 19.The article also mentions that DCCG has offered certification for 8x DVD+RW DL discs to several makers and plans to finish the specs for 16x DVD+RW DL media at the end of this year. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Currently, Taiwan-based makers of DVD+R/RW burners and discs have to send their products to DCCG in Japan for compatibility testing and verification and the establishment of TCCG will reduce time and costs for the makers, according to industry sources.
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Nero, leaders in digital media technology, today announced that the Nero ShowTime application of its Nero 7 digital media software suite received Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) certification. The Microsoft Windows Logo Program is designed to help customers identify products that deliver a high-quality computing experience with Windows operating systems.If you'd like to read more, Nero's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
The Nero ShowTime application of the Nero 7 software suite allows consumers to playback all digital recordings. Providing improved H.264/AVC and DVD-Video playback, Nero ShowTime enhances consumers' enjoyment and ability to manage HD video content on a PC. Also, a new navigation jog-shuttle and the integration of the Nero Scout application provide faster access to all digital files in the home.
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CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, today announced cooperation with YouTube, Inc., a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience. The collaboration between the two companies has delivered a unique feature for the consumer editing software market, the ability for users to upload video files directly from CyberLink PowerDirector 5 Premium to YouTube.com.PowerDirector 5 Premium is available now as an online download and is expected to hit retail stores in August for $89.95. More information can be found here. Add a comment
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Don Eklund, executive vice president of advanced technologies at Sony Pictures, noticed that the player's image did not match the quality of the master tapes from which the Blu-ray titles were encoded. He contacted Samsung, whose engineers determined that the noise-reduction circuit in the player's Genesis scaler chip was enabled, causing the picture to soften significantly.It's good to see that Sony and Samsung are responding to the problem. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
According to Jim Sanduski, senior vice president of marketing for Samsung's Audio and Video Products Group, "Samsung is currently working to revise the default settings on the noise-reduction circuit in the Genesis scaler chip to sharpen the picture. All future Samsung BD-P1000 production will have this revision and we are working to develop a firmware update for existing product."
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Lite-On IT delivered 500,000 slim-type DVD burners a month last quarter, for the first time gaining the upper hand over Quanta Storage in monthly shipment volume of slim-type DVD burners, according to industry sources. (Slim-type DVD burners are used in notebook PCs.)If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Quanta Storage is currently the largest maker of slim-type optical disc drives (ODDs) in Taiwan and shipped 300,000 slim-type DVD burners a month last quarter, the sources indicated. Since Quanta Storage obtained Dell's certification for slim-type DVD burners last quarter, the company's monthly shipment volume is expected to increase in the second half of this year, the sources noted.
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The VRD-MC3 and VRD-VC30 will ship in October and will cost about $250 and $200 respectively. More information can be found on Sony's website. Add a comment
Sony Electronics today expanded its DVDirect DVD recorder family with two new models - the video- and digital photo-capable VRD-MC3 and the video-only VRD-VC30 recorders.
Both sport "computer-free" synchronization with Sony's new Hard Disk Handycam camcorders, making it easier than ever to preserve and share memories.
The next-generation DVDirect recorders also enable easy, real-time recording of home video footage, digital still images (VRD-MC3 only) and TV shows from digital video recorders to DVDs, all without the need for a computer.
