With Plextor's new 20x and 22x DVD writers being manufactured by Lite-On, it shouldn't be too surprising that their upcoming Blu-ray drives are also based on Lite-On designs. According to our sources, Plextor will soon be introducing two 6x Blu-ray combo drives based on the DH-6E2S (iHES106). The internal PX-B310SA and external PX-B310U read single layer Blu-ray discs at 6x and are capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. At this point, it is unknown whether or not these drives will be supported by Plextor's PlexUTILITIES software.

Plextor also has a number of Blu-ray drives on tap for 2009. In the fall, the company plans to introduce a 10x Blu-ray combo drive based on the DH-10E3S/L as well as an 8x Blu-ray Disc writer based on the DH-8B2S/L. Unfortunately, not much is known about these drives at this time.

As I hinted at the other day, Plextor will also be basing their external slim drives on Lite-On designs. Our sources indicated that the company will soon be releasing the PX-610U. This battery powered drive is based on the DB-8A2SB and is capable of 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds. Plextor will also be releasing another slim 8x DVD writer based on the DB-8A3U in the spring of 2009 with a DB-6B1U based slim Blu-ray Disc writer coming later in the year.

And yes, you can expect to see a series of Plextor drives based on the DH-24AAU some time next year. Aside from the fact that it will burn DVD's at 24x, not much is known about the drive at this time.

With the world economy sliding into a depression, companies everywhere are facing difficult times. According to DigiTimes, Taiwan's optical disc manufacturers are being hit especially hard. Despite recent price hikes, CMC Magnetics and Ritek suffered net losses of NT$1.733 billion and NT$970.1 million, respectively, in the third quarter of 2008.

CMC Magnetics and Ritek, the top two Taiwan-based makers of blank optical discs, suffered net losses of NT$1.733 billion and NT$970.1 million, respectively, in the third quarter, according to their financial reports for the third quarter of 2008. However, CMC's third-quarter 2008 net loss shrank by 24.6% and Ritek's by 15.8% from the second quarter of 2008 mainly because the two companies increased their OEM prices for DVD+R/-R discs by about 10% in August, according to industry sources.

CMC and Ritek aren't the only disc makers losing money. Second-tier manufacturers Prodisc, Gigastorage and Princo also saw net losses per share for the first three quarters of this year.

Plextor LLC has officially announced its new Qflix-enabled DVD writers. With the internal PX-806SA and external PX-Q840U, users can download movies and TV shows and then burn a permanent copy that can be played back on a standard DVD player. The two drives also offer 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and support for Plextor's new PlexUTILITIES software.

Plextor LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, reenters the market with the availability of two new drives, the PX-Q840U external and the PX-806SA internal. Both drives feature Qflix recording technology from Sonic Solutions, enabling consumers to download and burn movie and TV titles at home.

The Qflix-enabled Plextor drives make it easy for consumers to download and burn their favorite movies and TV titles directly to a DVD for immediate viewing. Developed by Sonic Solutions and Pioneer in 2007, the unique Qflix software uses Roxio® Venue, a rich, user-friendly application that allows consumers to search for and download their favorite Hollywood hits from digital entertainment innovator, CinemaNow (www.cinemanow.com). Once downloaded, users are able to create a permanent and portable DVD-format copy onto Qflix- enabled optical media.

“The Qflix technology makes it easy for all consumers, not just the tech-savvy, to access and manage digital entertainment at home,” said Bob Gronski, vice president of sales and marketing for Plextor. “In an economic time when people are going out less and taking advantage of home entertainment more, it’s exciting for us to offer a solution with such limitless entertainment capabilities.”

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Western Digital unveiled its new HD TV Media Player this morning. While lacking a built in hard drive, the WD TV HD Media Player lets users plug in up to two WD My Passport portable drives or other USB mass storage devices and play movies, photos and movies on their TV at resolutions up to 1080p.

WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced a simple way for consumers to play their stored digital content on their HDTV in Full-HD 1080p resolution. The WD TV™ Media Player connects to a user's TV or home theater and plays digital movies, music and photos from WD's My Passport™ portable drive or other USB mass storage device. The WD TV Media Player is available now at WD's online store (www.shopwd.com) and select retailers.

According to research firm IDC, nearly 334 million GB of photos and more than 3.1 billion GB of video will be stored on consumer desktop and laptop computers in 2008. The research firm expects that to increase to 400 million GB and 5.8 billion GB, respectively, by 2010.

These large personal digital libraries are all but trapped on users' computers. In order to play their content on their TV, consumers have struggled with clumsy solutions such as copying onto multiple CDs and DVDs or connecting their PCs to their TV via wires or complicated home networking solutions. The WD TV HD Media Player enables consumers to easily and elegantly access their high-definition content on the biggest screen in the home.

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