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• Mitsubishi Chemicals Releases BD-R/RE Media

  Mitsubishi Chemicals will release its single-layer (25GB) BD-R/RE media for recording on the Japanese market on December 1.
  
  The company did not provide pricing details for the new BD-R and BD-RE media, although they are expected to be available for 1,800 Yen ($15.6) and about 2,500 Yen ($21.6), respectively.
  
  source: 'CDRInfo'
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  Tuesday, November 28, 2006

• Blu-ray Promotions Begin

  A consortium supporting the launch of the Blu-ray Disc format announced the start of a holiday advertising campaign targeting HDTV owners.
  
  The group, which includes Twentieth Century Fox, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Sony and Warner Bros., hired the ad agency SicolaMartin to develop the campaign.
  
  The effort includes a 30-second commercial shot for high-definition television that is running through the holiday shopping period.
  
  It will be combined with print and online media vehicles, and builds upon earlier advertising efforts directed at home-entertainment enthusiasts, the companies said.
  
  The high-definition TV commercial features movie clips and animation accompanied by music and an announcer who describes the various benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology.
  
  source: 'Broadcast Newsroom'
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  Wednesday, November 22, 2006

• Sony Says 50 GB Blu-ray Up and Running

  Sony DADC has announced that they now have six 50 GB Blu-ray Disc production lines up and running.
  
  The company, which announced its 50 GB Blu-ray production plans in May of this year, is currently ramping up production to 60K discs per day.
  
  "We are encouraged by the performance of both our 25 GB single layer and 50 GB dual layer production technologies, both of which are meeting our expectations," stated Michael Mitchell, Executive Vice President, Manufacturing and Engineering for Sony DADC. "My hat is off to our development and process engineering teams worldwide, all of whom have contributed tirelessly to bring these capabilities to life."
  
  source: 'CDRInfo'
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• Blu-Ray Versus HD-DVD search traffic on Google

  Just like the rest of the world we've been keenly monitoring the rise of these two Blue Laser giants. We created this graph from statistics based on Google searched data. As you can see there is a larger volume of searches for Blu-Ray based devices than HD-DVD. Both platforms seem to follow the same peaks and troughs most likely determined by press announcements, news coverage and the release of white papers.
  
  We'll be actively monitoring this new market in order to provide information regaring new markets and cross-selling opportunities.
  
  It should be noted that in our opinion google search stats can not be used in any way to determine the size or growth of a market. There is no scale so actual volume cannot be determined.
  
  source: 'CD-Writer.Com Blog'
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• Discover Blu-Ray and its Acronyms

  DRM - Digital Restrictions Management - technology to restrict what you can do with media you purchase
  
  AACS - Advanced Access Content System - the DRM infection used for both Blu-ray and HD-DVD
  
  BD+ - an addition to AACS for Blu-ray discs, that provides additional restrictions to what you can do
  
  MMC - Mandatory Managed Copy - a theoretical way for you to make a legal copy of a movie
  
  HDCP - High-bandwith Digital Content Protection - Encryption of data over digital connections
  
  HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface - A digital connection found on most new HDTV's, all HDCP compliant
  
  DVI - Digital Visual Interface - Precursor to HDMI, found on many older HDTV's. However, many DVI connections are not HDCP compliant, making them worthless for Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
  
  MPAA - Motion Picture Ass. of America - trade organization representing the major movie companies
  
  RIAA - Recording Industry Ass. of America - trade organization representing the major music companies
  
  source: 'CD-Writer.Com Blog'
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• JVC Releases Blu-Ray Media

  Japanese JVC announced that its first 25GB BD-R/RE media will be available on the market in December 15.
  
  Both "BV-R130A" and "BV-RE130A" packages of BD-R and BD-RE media have been manufactured according to the "Blu-ray Disc Recordable Format Version 1.1" and "Blu-ray Disc Rewritable Format Version 2.1" specifications. .
  
  The new discs feature JVC's "U-HD" hard coating technology and offer scratch resistance and durability. It can be recorded at 2x. JVC said that it has not decided the release of double-layer (50GB) media yet.
  
  source: 'CDRInfo'
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  Monday, November 20, 2006

• PlayStation 3 Launches With Shootings, Robberies, Riots and Other Crime

  Plus a few whacky Canadians decide to smash a PS3 in front of wide-eyed fans
  
  “Finally, the wait is over,” is probably the first thought on the minds of many eager PlayStation 3 campers across North America after sitting outside store fronts for hours, if not days.
  
  Chris Toribio was the first to receive a PlayStation 3 at Sony’s premiere launch event at the Metreon in San Francisco.
  
  “I’m going to go home and dream about it,” said Toribio according to Dean’s blog. “I’m going to go sleep. It was way worth it. I met a whole lot of people. The publicity is a good experience for me.”
  
  source: 'DailyTech'
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• For Sony, the PS3 is about more than gaming

  For a company with almost $64 billion in annual sales, Sony has an awful lot at stake with the launch of its latest game console, the PlayStation 3.
  
  No doubt, there will be lines of hard-core gamers waiting outside retailers across the country late Thursday night, and all expectations are that every PS3 available will be sold before Christmas. That certainly would be good news for Sony, a company that could use a dose of holiday cheer.
  
  source: 'C-Net'
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• Comparing The Playstation 3, Xbox 360, And Nintendo WII by Gary Ruplinger

  Finally, they're all here. The Xbox 360 has had the next generation gaming market to itself for a year. Now its two competitors, the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, are here. No more speculating about speed. No more guessing about memory. Now we can take a look and see exactly how they stack up compared to each other.
  
  Let the console wars begin again.
  
  source: 'Go Articles'
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• LG unveils world's first 4x Blu-ray disc writer

  Despite the slow sales of Blu-ray writers at present, according to Pocket-lint LG has just announced its 4x Blu-ray disc writer, which it claims to be the world's fastest Blu-ray writer this time. It also features up to 12x writing to DVD±R and 8x/10x writing to CD-R/RW respectively. Unfortunately, according to this article on Channel Register and this earlier DigiTimes report, the drive does not support dual-layer Blu-ray recording for either BD-R or BD-R formats.
  
  source: 'cdfreaks.com'
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  Friday, November 17, 2006

• Toshiba puts back UK HD DVD roll-out

  Toshiba has been forced to put back the UK release of its HD-E1 and HD-XE1 HD DVD players thanks to what it called a "minor reliability issue" with one of the machines' internal components. Due to ship this month, the HD-E1 will now arrive in December.
  
  Likewise, the HD-EX1, originally scheduled to ship before Christmas will now appear in shops in January 2007, Toshiba said in a statement.
  
  source: 'The Register'
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• Sony sold 88,400 PS3s in Japan in 2 days

  Sony Corp. sold 88,400 units of its PlayStation 3 game console in the first two days after the launch in Japan, leaving most stores without any stock, video game magazine publisher Enterbrain said on Monday.
  
  Sony started selling the latest version of its blockbuster game console in Japan on Saturday, and all indications point to a strong start. Sony plans to have the PS3 on shelves in North America on November 17, followed by a European launch in March.
  
  According to Enterbrain, Sony sold 88,400 units combined on Saturday and Sunday, depleting stocks at most electronics retailers that were able to get their hands on a limited supply of the console.
  
  source: 'Reuters'
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  Monday, November 13, 2006

• Samsung releases 22in widescreen monitor which supports Blu-ray and HD-DVD

  Samsung has announced its latest monitor – a 22in widescreen model that's designed for businesses and consumers alike.
  
  The SM225BW is an LCD screen that has a native resolution of 1680x1050 pixels and a response time – the delay between successive updates of the display – of only 5ms. The company says this will make the display of movies and pictures "clearer than ever".
  
  The screen is exactly the same size as two pieces of A4 paper placed side by side, meaning it's handy for business users working on documents as well as home buyers who want to watch DVD movies.
  
  The monitor supports HDCP content protection over its DVI port, meaning it can play new Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs from a suitable player.
  
  source: 'VNU Net'
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• LG's BD100 Blu-ray player makes its debut in London

  After raising eyebrows by having no Blu-ray plans to show at its dealer show in Orlando a few days ago, LG finally announced its new BD100 Blu-ray player at the Best of Stuff show in London yesterday. The BD199 player shown previously was cancelled abruptly, and for a moment LG seemed ready to replace it with a dual format HD DVD / Blu-ray player, but the company later backed off those plans. The BD100 will include HDMI, component, composite, coaxial, and S/PDIF outs, whether 5.1 audio output via analog is included is unclear. 1080p Blu-ray playback and DVD upconversion is definitely part of the package, plus DivX, WMA and MP3 compatibility. LG officials refused to commit to a price or launch date, only that it would be "competitively" priced. Whether that means competitive in Australia, relative to the Toshiba HD-E1 HD DVD player (£499) or the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player (£1000) -- both were also on display at the show -- is unknown.
  
  source: 'Engadged.com'
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  Wednesday, November 08, 2006

• WinDVD 8 hits the high notes

  Intervideo's latest software DVD player is not only Vista compliant but is able to support high-definition discs as well.
  
  Developer Intervideo said WinDVD 8 Gold is designed for movie fans and business travellers who just want an easy way to enjoy high-quality movie playback.
  
  Like the previous versions, WinDVD 8 has tools, such as the Boss Key, which instantly pauses and hides the player, and colour themes for personalising the player. The QuickClip2 feature enables the user to capture video to save in GIF format.
  
  With more and more high-definition Blu-ray and HD DVD discs entering the market, the player complies with all the requirements for playing back these formats.
  
  Sony and Toshiba have chosen the player to be bundled with the high-definition version of their first-to-market HD DVD and Blu-ray-capable PCs.
  
  source: 'VNU Net'
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• Dual-Format Blue Laser Players Expected Next Year

  The first HD players capable of playing both both Blu-ray and HD-DVD disks are expected to appear by the end of 2007, possibly ending the format war in next-generation DVD.
  
  Chip vendors such as NEC, Broadcom and STMicroelectronics are currently developing ICs that allow high-definition optical drives and players to comply with the two competing specifications.
  
  Broadcom's chip could help PC and DVD manufacturers sidestep the choice between two high-definition recording standards with a chip that can decode signals recorded in either format.
  
  The chip company has launched the BCM7411D chip, that supports the H.264 and VC-1 compression standards, both of which are used by Blu-Ray and HD DVD recording technology. It also supports video recorded in the high-definition MPEG-2 format. The company released a reference design with the BCM7411D and a companion chip that gives manufacturers a blueprint to build high-definition DVD players.
  
  The company claims that by providing a single-chip high definition decoder that supports all three compression standards, manufacturers will be able to build media players that support both high definition optical discs as well as existing DVD video titles.
  
  The chip's integrated audio codec supports Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus, DTS 5.1, DTS-HD, MLP Lossless, LPCM and MPEG audio formats. The chip also supports Thomson's Film Grain Technology.
  
  For developing Blu-ray and HD DVD media players using the BCM7411D chip, Broadcom also announced the release of the BCM97438 reference platform. The platform includes a reference board featuring the BCM7411D HD A/V decoder chip and the company's BCM7038 dual-channel HD digital video system chip, as well as a software platform that offers OEMs a wide range of integration options.
  
  The dual HD/BD decoder chip has been designed into the first-generation Toshiba HD-DVD player and into Samsung's Blu-ray Disc player.
  
  source: 'CDRInfo'
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• Nvidia ships final ForceWare drivers for Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD

  Nvidia has updated its ForceWare 90 drivers package, it said yesterday. The company touted the new version's support for its PureVideo HD video-image processing system - essential, it said, for anyone keen to add an HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc drive to their PC. So far, PureVideo HD has been supported in pre-release beta drivers.
  
  The new ForceWare release, version 93.71, also fixes a stack of issues relating to Nvidia's graphics chips running under 32- and 64-bit operating systems, either in single- or dual-GPU configurations.
  
  However, the key thrust of Nvidia's pitch is the support it gives to system builders and individuals keen to incorporate next-generation optical disc support into their machines. Of course, drivers are only part of the story - you'll still need a GeForce 7 series GPU with HDCP support and at least 256MB of memory. Nvidia also admitted you'll need an HDCP-compliant display, a dual-core processor and at least 1GB of system RAM.
  
  It goes without saying a Blu-ray or HD DVD optical drive is an essential part of the package, as is playback software.
  
  PureVideo HD allows the player app to offload HD content decoding onto the GPU and to adjust the image using the graphics chip's pixel shaders.
  
  source: 'The Resigster'
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  Friday, November 03, 2006

• Fox puts rush on "X-Men" for PS3 Blu-ray

  Seeking to ride PlayStation 3 momentum, 20th Century Fox is rush-releasing "X-Men: The Last Stand" to Blu-ray Disc on November 14, three days before Sony's next-generation video game console makes its U.S. debut.
  
  Executives from studios supporting the high-definition optical disc format believe PS3 will be the Trojan horse that gives Blu-ray an unbeatable advantage over rival HD-DVD. Both formats are vying to succeed standard DVD as consumers transition to HDTV.
  
  PS3, which will hit stores at retail prices starting at $499, comes with a built-in Blu-ray Disc drive, while the other hot game console in the market, Microsoft's Xbox 360, has an add-on HD-DVD drive available for about $200.
  
  "The demographics between 'X-Men' and PlayStation 3 are a near-perfect match," said Steve Feldstein, senior vp marketing communications for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. "This is the biggest new release yet for Blu-ray, and we're working closely with retailers and others to ensure that when people are buying their PS3s, they're going to know they can get 'X-Men' to play on it.
  
  "PlayStation is by far the dominant game platform, and this should put questions about format wars to rest."
  
  Fox's other Blu-ray titles coming November 14 include "Behind Enemy Lines," "Fantastic Four," "Kingdom of Heaven," "Kiss of the Dragon," "The Omen," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "Speed" and "The Transporter."
  
  The Blu-ray version of "X-Men: The Last Stand," which lists for $39.98, includes both the film -- with a domestic gross of $234.4 million, the year's No. 3 movie -- and all bonus materials in high-definition. The film itself is authored in HDMV with AVC (MPEG 4 compression) and features 6.1 DTS ES HD Lossless Master Audio. Bonus features include two commentary tracks (one from director Brett Ratner with writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, the other with producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter), 12 alternate or extended scenes, and a "Marvel Trivia Track" consisting of color graphics that pop up throughout the film with inside information on characters and events in the Marvel universe.
  
  The standard DVD of the third film in the "X-Men" franchise was released October 3 and has since sold more than 6 million units.
  
  source: 'Reuters'
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  Thursday, November 02, 2006

• Adult movies will not decide outcome of HD DVD, Blu-ray

  Smutty movies, long touted as the pivotal factor in the VHS vs Betamax war of the 1980s, will not play a similar role in deciding whether HD DVD will beat Blu-ray Disc or vice versa, it has been claimed.
  
  Instead, porn producers will sit on the fence and release content on both formats, sources from within Taiwan's optical disc drive manufacturer community have alleged, according to a DigiTimes report.
  
  The source pointed to US-based mucky movie maker Vivid Entertainment's decision to support both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Apparently, creating an adult feature for either of the next-generation optical disc formats costs five times as much as it shooting for DVD does. With players still very pricey, porn peddlers worry they may not yet cover their costs.
  
  Consoles, however, may change that. According to the source, adult film-makers are keenly anticipating the arrival of the Sony PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360-oriented external HD DVD drive to bring high-def pre-recorded content to a broader audience.®
  
  source: 'The Register'
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