Details
Home Entertainment
The battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD isn't limited to just the movie industry. The two formats are expected to duke it out at this year's E3. While Sony will be showcasing the Blu-ray equipped Playstation 3, Microsoft is expected to unveil an external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360.
While most gamers are heading into the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) hoping to view the latest and greatest in video games and consoles, a key subplot will be Sony Corp.'s plan to use the PlayStation 3, the newest version of its market-leading video game console due late this year, to get its Blu-ray high-definition DVD standard into homes.

By offering DVDs with far more capacity than current standard DVDs, studios hope to breathe new life into the $24 billion home video market. But their failure to use a unified format has paved the way for a costly battle similar to the VHS/Betamax war that caused widespread customer confusion in the late 1970s through mid-1980s.

There are two rival next-generation DVD standards, including Sony's Blu-ray and HD DVD, championed by Toshiba Corp..

While Blu-ray has drawn more support among Hollywood and electronics firms, HD DVD has garnered an ally in software giant Microsoft Corp., which plans to offer an external HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 game console that will turn it into a high-definition DVD player.
While Sony has not announced a price, the PS3 is expected to run about $499. While not exactly cheap, its a great deal considering how much stand alone Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are expected to go for. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
Thanks to CD Freaks we've learned that Nero has released a FREE AAC encoder. In a nutshell, the Nero Digital Audio Reference MPEG-4 & 3GPP Audio Encoder will take your .WAV files and encode them using the MP4 format.
    Nero Digital Audio Reference Quality MPEG-4 & 3GPP Audio Codec
  • Compression Ratios ranging from ultra high (58 CDs fit on one!) to High-End Audio (2.5:1), for absolutely perfect audiophile encodings
  • Crystal Clear, Award Winning Sound Quality at every compression ratio and bit rate!
  • Support for Embedded Album Art (Covers, Booklets, Lyrics!)
  • Store Entire Audio Album in a Single .mp4 File with all the Features of an Audio CD embedded inside, but at a fraction of the space!
  • Reference Quality MPEG-4 Audio Codec
  • Fully Compatible with the Latest Version of the State-of-the-art MPEG-4 Audio Standard (LC-AAC, HE-AAC and HE-AAC v2)
If you'd like to check it out, the Nero Digital Audio Reference MPEG-4 & 3GPP Audio Encoder can be downloaded here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Sony sent out a press release earlier today, announcing that they've started shipping their 25GB single layer Blu-ray Disc media. The company also announced that they will be introducing their 50GB dual layer discs in June.

Leading the charge toward the next generation of optical disc-based high-definition media, Sony Electronics has begun shipping its 25GB single layer Blu-ray Disc recording media with AccuCORE technology. In addition, a dual layer 50GB capacity disc is set to debut in June.

"Sony knows Blu-ray technology like no other company," said Mike Lucas, director of marketing for Sony Electronics' Media and Application Solutions Division. "Coupled with our uniqueAccuCORE technology, we expect our Blu-ray recording media to take the high-definition experience to a new level of performance."
According to Sony's press release, their 25GB BD-R and BD-RE media have suggested retail prices of $20 and $25, respectively. Expect to pay nearly double this when their 50GB media ships in June. If you'd like to read more, Sony's press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
Nero has announced the release of their new Fast CD-DVD Burning plug-in for Windows Media Player 10. This new plug-in not only gives users the ability to create their own CD's and DVD's, it offers support for MPV technology.
Nero, leaders in digital media technology, announced today the release of the new Fast CD-DVD Burning Plug-in including MPV (MusicPhotoVideo) technology support.

Leading off Nero's MPV push is the new Nero Fast CD-DVD Burning Plug-in for Windows Media Player 10. This Plug-in became immensely popular for Windows Media Player 9 owing to its considerable performance improvement for optical disc recording. Now, Nero takes Windows Media Player 10 a leap further by delivering not only a giant boost to burn speeds but plenty more functionality.

Windows Media Player 10 users leveraging the Nero Fast CD/DVD Burning Plug-in will find they have the ability to create audio CDs, data DVDs under WMP's Burn tab as well as Nero Digital Audio format discs. What's more, the new plug-in delivers MPV support. This function creates a multimedia-rich table of contents on the disc that can be easily and conveniently read by or viewed on a wide range of software applications and consumer electronics devices, such as MPV-compatible DVD players. Music, photo, and video collections burned through the Nero Fast CD-DVD Burning Plug-in for Windows Media Player 10 will be more accessible and enjoyable than they ever could have been before.
Nero's CD/DVD Burning plug-in is available now and is free to owners of Nero 7. More information can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Home Entertainment
If you've been waiting for the first Blu-ray titles to ship, you're going to have to wait a little longer. According to an article at Reuters, the first batch of releases has been pushed back until June 20 to coincide with the launch of Samsung's new Blu-ray Disc player.
While high-definition DVD titles trickle into stores, the arrival of the first titles in the rival Blu-ray Disc format has been pushed back by a month until June 20.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president Benjamin Feingold said his studio's first batch of Blu-ray releases will be ready May 23, as planned.

"But the majority of our retail base and hardware partners have requested that we reconsider this date to better coincide with the first commercially available Blu-ray-compatible hardware," Feingold said.

The decision to hold off shipping Blu-ray titles to retailers comes several weeks after Samsung announced its first Blu-ray player wouldn't arrive in stores until June 25, a month behind schedule.
I'm sure Toshiba is enjoying this. Of course, its not like they didn't delay the launch of HD DVD... twice. In any case, 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 today, announcing the release of PowerDVD 7. Along with a new look, version 7 includes support for H.264 playback and a number of advanced features for DVD enthusiasts.
CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, today launched the latest version of its industry-defining DVD player software, PowerDVD. Featuring new-look controls and advanced features for audio and movie enthusiasts, PowerDVD 7 delivers a fun home theater experience on both desktop and notebook computers.

New features for PowerDVD 7 include:
Integrated support for high-definition H.264 playback
Five interface modes, new skins and colors
Say-it-Again - one-click dialog looping
Read-it-Clearly - moveable subtitles
See-it-All - automatically activated time stretching for when mobile PCs run low on power
Power-saving settings for notebooks and an onscreen battery meter
UPnP media player support and premium content protection
PowerDVD is available online and in retail shops. The standard and deluxe versions are priced at $49.95 and $69.95 respectively. More information on both versions can be found on CyberLinks's website. Add a comment

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Software
InterVideo has announced that WinDVD and DVD XPack now support NVIDIA's PureVideo technology. With PureVideo, the decoding tasks are divided between the GPU and CPU, offering ultra-smooth video with minimized CPU usage.
InterVideo, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVII - News) announced today that its new WinDVD and DVD XPack supports the revolutionary NVIDIA PureVideo(TM) technology. Delivering superior clarity and picture quality, XPack enables DVD playback using Windows Media Player on Windows XP.

"With NVIDIA's unrivaled high-definition support, we're delighted to offer the ultimate DVD playback solution," said Steve Ro, CEO and President of InterVideo. "People can now install and enjoy the same DVD decoding engine as used by the over 125 million users of WinDVD -- the world's number one DVD player software."
If you'd like to read more, InterVideo's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
CyberLink has announced the retail release of their new Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD burning application, Power2Go 5.5 Next-Gen Edition. Here's part of their press release:
CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in digital home solutions, today strengthened its credentials in the field of burning of Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD disc media with the online retail release of CyberLink Power2Go 5.5 Next-Gen Edition. The new release delivers an extremely versatile burning solution for data, videos, photos, and music by offering an application that supports all disc formats.

Next-generation disc support provides a major leap in the capacity to store personal data, with 15 GB for single-layer HD DVDs and 25 GB for single-layer Blu-ray Discs. Power2Go 5.5 offers total flexibility for burning discs, with support for today's complete range of disc formats: CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM, double-layer DVD-R and DVD+R, BD-R, BD-RE, HD DVD-RAM, and HD DVD-R.
Power2Go 5.5 Next-Gen Edition is available now for US$39.95 and can be purchased from CyberLink's online store. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
TMPG, Inc. sent out a press release this afternoon, announcing MPEG Editor 2.0. This new version of their video editing software includes a number of advanced features as well as a wizard-like interface.
TMPG, Inc. (www.tmpg-inc.com), the company that makes digital video easy, is about to make it even easier. The newest addition to its TMPGEnc product line, MPEG Editor 2.0, is a video editing software package that offers a variety of advanced features, along with a wizard-like interface, which combine to make digital editing faster and easier than ever before. The product will be available for download on the company's website beginning May 10, 2006, with an MSRP of $59.95.

"Digital and high-definition recording is quickly becoming more and more prevalent in American households," commented TMPG CEO Kimi Matsuki, in announcing the new product's availability. "Our TMPGEnc MPEG Editor 2 software provides users with an array of easy-to-use features that make editing any MPEG-2 or MPEG-1 file unbelievably fast, abundantly easy, and incredibly precise. It is the next logical step in the evolution of our MPEG editing software."

The software allows anyone with a DVD recorder to import footage directly from their DVD recorder into TMPGEnc MPEG Editor 2.0, where annoying commercials and unwanted scenes can be edited out and the file played back on a DVD Recorder, since MPEG Editor 2.0 processes the video with practically no re-encoding. Likewise, the software can edit high-definition content, giving users a product that helps maintain HD's razor-sharp picture from start to finish with no compromise in quality.
MPEG Editor 2.0 will be available for purchase through TMPGEnc's website on May 10th for $59.99. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Other
The results are in and our readers have chosen the BenQ DW1655 as the top DVD writer for the month of April. Here are the top five drives:
  1. 1. BenQ DW1650/1655
  2. 2. BenQ DW1640
  3. 3. Plextor PX-716A
  4. 4. LG GSA-4167B
  5. 5. NEC ND-4550A/4551A
Your favorite drive didn't make it onto the list? Then go and vote for May's top DVD writer. Add a comment

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