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Optical Storage

28 June 2006

The Japanese website, AV Watch, has posted some pictures from the 8th annual Data Storage EXPO. On display were prototypes of TDK's 6x BD-R and 100GB BD-R media. Here's part of their report, translated from Japanese:

With the TDK booth of data storage EXPO, besides the fact that last year the exhibition of the BD-R disk of similar 4 layers /100GB was done as a technical exhibition of the BD-R disk, the sample of the BD-R disk which corresponds to 6 time fast record was displayed.

But with Blu-ray Disc Association, the stage which standardization has not ended concerning BD-R of 4 time fast record "standard deciding, if the device appears and only does, when it can put out the product even directly. But timewise circumstance of decision, we would like to sell 4 time fast BD-R disk within 2006", that we have done, the possibility standard of 4 time fast disk deciding within year was suggested.

If you'd like to read more, AV Watch's entire report can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

27 June 2006

Here's an interesting bit of news. At a recent shareholders' meeting, Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida announced that the company is still interested in developing a unified DVD format.

Toshiba Corp. (6502.T) said on Tuesday it would still like to develop a unified format for advanced optical DVD discs, but two competing -- and incompatible -- products are likely to hit the market at first.

Toshiba is a leading proponent of next-generation HD DVD optical disc technology, which competes with the Blu-ray standard promoted by Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). (6758.T) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (6752.T), a maker of Panasonic brand electronics.

"We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told an annual shareholders' meeting.

This late in the game, we're not going to see a unified format. Both sides have already invested a lot of time and money developing and promoting Blu-ray and HD DVD. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

27 June 2006

Here's an interesting bit of news. At a recent shareholders' meeting, Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida announced that the company is still interested in developing a unified DVD format.

Toshiba Corp. (6502.T) said on Tuesday it would still like to develop a unified format for advanced optical DVD discs, but two competing -- and incompatible -- products are likely to hit the market at first.

Toshiba is a leading proponent of next-generation HD DVD optical disc technology, which competes with the Blu-ray standard promoted by Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). (6758.T) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (6752.T), a maker of Panasonic brand electronics.

"We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told an annual shareholders' meeting.

This late in the game, we're not going to see a unified format. Both sides have already invested a lot of time and money developing and promoting Blu-ray and HD DVD. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

27 June 2006

According to an article at DigiTimes, Behavior Tech Computer has decided to stop marketing optical disc drives under the BTC brand.

Behavior Tech Computer (BTC), a leading Taiwan-based maker of PC keyboards and mice, on June 26 announced it will discontinue marketing optical disc drives (ODDs) under the BTC brand name at a press conference following the company's 2006 shareholder meeting.

BTC cited intense market competition as the reason for its move. BTC originally made own-brand ODDs itself but shifted production on an OEM basis to Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) last year.

If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

26 June 2006

At a recent press conference, Sony's Chief Executive Officer, Howard Stringer, expressed confidence in the Blu-ray Disc format, stating that its greater capacity is winning over hollywood movie studios.

Sony Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said movie studios are starting to favor the company's Blu-ray DVD, which can store high-definition films and other media, because its capacity is higher than rival formats...

..``This capacity, which seemed too luxurious a year ago, suddenly seems absolutely necessary,'' said Stringer, 64. ``Studios that went with HD DVD assumed they would have enough bandwidth,'' he said. ``Now more studios realize they will need two-language versions and multichannel audio,'' on movie discs, favoring Blu-ray's bigger capacity, Stringer said today in Tokyo at a meeting with reporters.

Greater capacity or not, the price of Blu-ray players isn't winning over consumers. Of course, this will probably change with the introduction of the PS3. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

26 June 2006

According to an article at DigiTimes, CMC and Ritek have started volume production of 15GB HD DVD-R media and plan to begin production of 30GB HD DVD-R DL discs as early as the 4Q of this year.

CMC Magnetics and Ritek, the top two makers of optical discs, have recently started volume production of 15GB HD-DVD-R SL (high-definition DVD recordable single-sided single-layer) discs and are prepared to begin production of 30GB HD-DVD-R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs in the fourth quarter of this year at the earliest, according to industry sources.

If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

23 June 2006

Here's an interesting bit of news. According to an article at Reg Hardware, Toshiba's $499 HD DVD player costs over $700 to make.

Toshiba is subsidising its HD-A1 HD DVD player by at least $175 in a bid to buy the next-generation optical disc format success. So claims market watcher iSuppli, which took the machine to bits and totted up the cost of all the parts.

Available in the US, the HD-A1 is priced at $499. iSuppli's assessment of the cost of the players' components puts the product's bill of materials at $674 - and that's before the cost of assembly, packaging, peripherals, distribution, advertising, software development and so on. Oh, and that $499 is the retail price - Toshiba will be charging resellers even less for the player.

So why is Toshiba willing to lose this much when Blu-ray players are going for $1000? Reg Hardware speculates that this is due to Sony's PS3, which will ship with a Blu-ray drive. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

23 June 2006

As we reported a few weeks ago, Taiwan's top four media manufacturers filed a complaint with the FTC about Philips and its Veeza licensing system. DigiTimes has reported that they are now asking the FTC for permission to negotiate together for CD-R patent licensing.

The Taiwan-based disc makers on June 5 filed a legal complaint with the FTC against Philips for its Veeza CD-R patent licensing scheme, claiming Philips has violated Taiwan's Fair Trade Law, according to the Taiwan Information Storage Association (TISA), which spoke on behalf of the four companies.

Philips has been aggressive in asking individual disc maker to accept unreasonable conditions for patent licensing, the disc makers indicated. Therefore, they are now asking FTC for permission to negotiate together about patent licensing for the CD-R technologies, the companies said.

If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

23 June 2006

As we've reported in the past, Taiwanese disc manufacturers have not been happy with Philips' Veeza licensing system. According to DigiTimes, four of the country's top manufacturers have now filed a complaint with the FTC claiming that Veeza violates their Fair Trade Law.

CMC Magnetics, Ritek, Prodisc Technology and Daxon Technology, the top four makers of CD-R discs in Taiwan, jointly filed a legal complaint with Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on June 5 against Philips for its Veeza CD-R patent licensing scheme, claiming that it violates Taiwan's Fair Trade Law, according to the Taiwan Information Storage Association (TISA) on behalf of the four companies.

In response, Philips Taiwan indicated that it has not received notification from the FTC and therefore knows nothing about the complaint. This is the first time CMC and Ritek, the top two makers of optical discs in Taiwan, have taken action in protest against Philips' licensing program, industry sources pointed out. The joint complaint is aimed at forcing Philips to set reasonable CD-R patent licensing conditions, noted the sources.

Its going to be interesting to see what happens with this. Traditionally, Philips isn't one you want to mess with, especially when it comes to licensing. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment