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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) launches the first slate of Blu-ray Disc (BD) titles today. The delivery of the first seven BD titles, timed to coincide with the first commercially available BD player from Samsung Electronics and BD compatible VAIO PC from Sony, marks the beginning of a new era in home entertainment that will forever change the way consumers look at, listen to and play movies, music and games.With the launch of Samsung's BD player still 5 days away, I don't see too many people running to their local Best Buy today. If you'd like to read more, Sony's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Titles available at retail today from SPHE include: "50 First Dates," starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore; Luc Besson's visually stunning "The Fifth Element"; the hit blockbuster comedy starring Will Smith, "Hitch"; "House of Flying Daggers" from director Zhang Yimou; "XXX," starring Vin Diesel; "The Terminator," featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and the follow-up to the hit action-thriller "Underworld," from director Len Wiseman and starring Kate Beckinsale, "Underworld Evolution."
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- Optical Storage
Counterfeit entry-level DVD burners under various brand names, including BenQ and Plextor, are being sold in the China market. Recent price cuts for entry-level models to 380-400 yuan (US$48-50) have boosted sales but reduced margins for distributors and retailers of branded products, according to Taiwanese makers of DVD burners.Just keep this in mind if that BenQ or Plextor DVD burner on eBay seems to be too good of a deal. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
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If you'd like to read more, Taiyo Yuden's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Taiyo Yuden acted to improve on this performance by utilizing its high-level core technologies in thermal design and substrate design to achieve a DVD-R DL capable of 8x recording speed, the fastest in the industry. This product can record on DVD-R DL up to 215 minutes of video data of standard definition in about 15 minutes.
The new DVD-R DL product is available in two types, one for regular analog broadcast video, and the other with CPRM compatibility for digital broadcast "copy once programs," so-called because they limit digital recording to one copy only. Moreover, a wide printable label extends the printable range by 10mm further inside than regular printable label type, allowing more flexibility for inkjet printers. Sales are to start July 1 with a 5-disc pack in a slim plastic case. Prices will be set as open prices.
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Advanced Media also plans to introduce 30GB dual-layer HD DVD-R and 15GB single-layer HD DVD-RW by the 4th quarter of 2006. If you'd like to read more, their entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Advanced Media, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of the popular RIDATA brand of recordable CD and DVD media, electronic storage products, and digital media accessories, is set to be one of the first optical disc manufacturers to introduce the new HD DVD-R medium in the United States. The disc supports up to 15GB of capacity on a single-layer. Availability is scheduled for late July, concurrent with the introduction of many hardware products designed to support the new format.
"High-definition displays continue to gain consumer acceptance," stated Harvey Liu, Advanced Media president. "That, along with high-speed broadband Internet interactivity becoming more and more a part of our daily lives, led us to develop the RIDATA HD DVD-R optical disc. This new high-capacity disc allows users to record and enjoy the phenomenal picture resolution of high-definition TV programs as well as satisfy computer users' demands for huge gigabyte storage. Advanced Media is proud to be one of the first companies to offer it in the US."
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- Duplicators
Aleratec, developer and manufacturer of advanced USB, DVD/CD duplicating, recording, and digital imaging solutions is excited to announce today another "Only from Aleratec" product, the first Expandable LightScribe DVD/CD Publishing System. The 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro LX is a stand alone 1:1 DVD/CD Duplicator; when connected to your PC via USB 2.0, it becomes a 1:2 DVD/CD Duplicator, a 2 drive external DVD/CD recorder, and with LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling technology it can laser burn silkscreen quality labels on 2 discs at once. This exciting new disc publisher can be easily expanded to a DVD/CD publishing system with double this capacity. Since the "Only from Aleratec" Software Suite included supports simultaneous use of up to 4 drives, the 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro LX is easily expanded to a desktop publishing system capable of double capacity by simply plugging in another unit to your PC. Now you have a 1:4 DVD/CD duplicator, a 4 drive DVD/CD recorder, a 4 drive direct to disc labeler, and two stand alone duplicators when you need them.The 1:2 DVD/CD Copy Cruiser Pro LX is available now for an estimated street price of $549. More information can be found on Aleratec's website. Add a comment
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Japanese electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Tuesday it plans to close operations at its Panasonic AVC Networks Germany GmbH unit at the end of March 2007 due to increased global competition and sharp price declines.While DVD recorder development will be shifted to Japan, production will continue at the Matsushita's Panasonic AVC Networks Slovakia s.r.o. subsidiary. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
The division was primarily responsible for manufacturing and product development for the European DVD recorder market.
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Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, announced today that its Roxio Blu-ray Disc (BD) software has been selected by Fujitsu Limited to power its DESKPOWER TX95S/D. Expected to be the first desktop computer available with an integrated Blu-ray Disc drive when it launches in Japan at the end of June, Fujitsu's DESKPOWER TX95S/D will usher in a new era of high-definition optical recording on the PC.If you'd like to read more, Sonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
"Sonic's design win with Fujitsu underscores the performance, quality and know-how Sonic brings to PC Blu-ray editing, recording and playback," said Richard Doherty, Research Director for The Envisioneering Group. "By leading the market in professional tools, Sonic is extremely well prepared to craft authoring and playback solutions for PC makers, CE device manufacturers and consumers now eager to embrace the quality and performance of High Definition."
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Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today launched Roxio Labs, a customer and technology-driven initiative to rapidly bring innovative digital media technologies and services to Roxio's digital media-savvy customer base. Through the Roxio Labs Web site (http://labs.roxio.com), consumers will have the opportunity to try a wide variety of emerging technologies - developed both in-house as well as by 3rd parties - and provide valuable feedback that will help shape a new generation of compelling, web-connected, digital media software applications.Sonic already has a number of applications for download. Unfortunately, most of them are not free. More information on Roxio Labs can be found here. Add a comment
"Innovation is innate to the Sonic culture and has been a key component of our long-term strategy and successful track record of industry firsts," said Mark Ely, Sonic's executive vice president of strategy. "With Roxio Labs, we're building on this culture of innovation by enabling our global teams of digital media experts to rapidly develop exciting new products and services and deploy them directly over the web. In addition to providing applications that integrate into and complement our flagship Easy Media Creator and Toast platforms, Roxio Labs will launch a broad range of tools and technologies essential to today's digital media lifestyle."
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Lite-On IT will begin volume production of 18x DVD burners in July and plans to start production of 20x DVD burners in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Michael Gong, the company's Optical Disc Drive Business general manager, at a press conference following the company's 2006 shareholders meeting on June 15.The article also mentions that Lite-On will start volume production of Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD optical drives in August. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
As OEM prices of 16x DVD burners drop further due to intense competition, the switch to production of more profitable 18x and 20x DVD burners is aimed at keeping overall gross margins from falling, Gong indicated.
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- Optical Storage
The global supply of DVD+R/-R discs currently exceeds global demand, but the oversupply will begin to diminish next quarter and largely decrease or even disappear in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Ritek CEO Gordon Yeh, who spoke at a press conference following the company's 2006 shareholder meeting on June 14.If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Although global DVD+R/-R demand is estimated to grow from four billion discs in 2005 to six billion discs this year, fast expansion of production around the world has resulted in the current oversupply, Yeh pointed out. But because leading makers of DVD+R/-R discs are shifting part of their production capacity for 4.7GB (single-sided single-layer) discs to making 8.5GB DL (single-sided double-layer) discs, the global oversupply is being reduced, Yeh indicated.
