Heroes Available To Pre-Order
The first season of NBC's smash hit TV series Heroes is available for pre-order on Amazon.com in DVD and HD-DVD format.
ISPs Unhappy Over BBC iPlayer's Bandwidth Usage
Internet service providers in the UK are reportedly upset that the BBC's new iPlayer is hogging too much bandwidth. The iPlayer, which the BBC launched in beta last month, will have a full rollout in the fall. The on-demand service allows viewers to download BBC content for free within the UK.
HD Disc Sales Revealed
New data released Tuesday by Home Media Research provides a first look at actual disc sales numbers for the first half of 2007, and it's more good news for Blu-ray.
Sony Unleashes HD Marketing Blitz
Sony Electronics launched its largest integrated marketing campaign in the U.S., centering on its high definition DNA known as "HDNA."
Hollywood Has Record Summer
For the first time ever, four summer films have broken the $300 million barrier at the domestic box office: "Spider-Man 3" ($336.4 million), "Shrek the Third" ($321 million), "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" ($307.6 million) and "Transformers" ($303.7 million), according to Rentrak.
Wii Gets DVD Player Mod
Onkyo Unveils First Non-Toshiba HD DVD Player
Onkyo, a Japan-based maker of consumer electronics including home theaters and audio playback devices, will launch the DV-HD805, its first HD DVD player model, in the fall of this year at a recommended retail price of US$899, according to an August 9 press release by its US subsidiary Onkyo USA.
Japanese Crackdown On Manufacturer Codes?
International brands of optical discs in the Japan market, including TDK, Imation and Verbatim, plan to ask Japanese authorities to ban the import of blank DVD+R/-R discs that pirate their M-Codes.
Copyright Holders Hire Human YouTube Crawlers
Google says it will implement an automated filtering system this autumn that will stop music videos and other copyrighted material from finding their way onto its YouTube site without permission. But for the work of identifying allegedly infringing material is done by humans.
European Youth Happy To Download
Children in Europe are aware of the risks of illegal downloading, but often rationalize their act by saying that everyone -- including their parents -- is doing it, according to a major European Commission survey.
Blockbuster To Put 3,000 Movies Online
The movie rental chain Blockbuster is moving into online video streaming by purchasing Movielink, a Californian internet download service which offers more than 3,000 titles.
Sony To Make PS3 TV Tuner
The PS3's capabilities could be expanded to include a digital tuner, enabling it to double as a programmable TV recorder, a Sony spokesman said. The changes are due to come into effect next year, but it's uncertain how many countries will benefit.
Pioneer Ships 4x Bluray Writer
Pioneer's versatile writer - the BDR-202 - is now available in Europe. As well as being 4x for Blu-ray it is also compatible with a range of DVD and CD media; speeds include 12X writing to DVD-R/+R, 6X to DVD-RW/+RW and 24X to CD-R/RW.
US Raids On Mod-Chippers
A US government agency has launched a big investigation into gaming console piracy. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has executed 32 federal warrants across the country, searching businesses and homes for clues surrounding the potential sale and distribution of illegal modification chips and disc copyright circumvention devices for games consoles.
Maxell Launches 8cm Blu-ray Discs
Maxell will launch its first 8 cm Blu-ray write-once BD-R/rewritable BD-RE discs (7.5GB) for video cameras on August 10.
NEC & Hitachi Develop Liquid Cooling System
NEC Corporation and Hitachi have jointly developed a new liquid cooling system for desktop PCs, which reduces PC operating noise to approximately 1/3 that of current models in Japan.
iTunes Sells 3 Billionth Track
Despite research from the EMR Digital Music Survey finding that illegal music downloading is on the rise, it seems that Apple can do no wrong.
LG Debuts 6x Blu-ray Burner
LG is preparing a internal optical drive capable of reading both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVD media, it has been claimed. The South Korean giant is also readying a BD writer capable of 6x burn speeds.
ABC.com Adds HD Streaming
ABC.com is now beta testing a player that will allow it to stream television shows in high-definition. The player is produced by Move Networks, and recommends a 2Mbps or faster broadband connection, 128MB of video RAM, 1 GB of RAM, and a resolution of at least 1300x770 pixels.
AllofMp3 Victory Only Covers Russia
It seems AllofMP3's recent legal victory over Rosbank, which meant that the Visa processing company did not have the right to break its contract with AllofMP3 only covers users accessing the site from Russia.
LiteOn Cuts Blu-Ray Drive Price
LiteOn announced its plans to cut the price of its LH-2B1S Blu-Ray drive in Europe by nearly 20%.
CompactFlash To Get SATA Interface
The CompactFlash Association (CFA) has announced the formation of a working group to develop a specification for a CompactFlash card with a SATA (Serial ATA) interface.
Ricoh Exhibits Super-Compatible Drive
Ricoh has exhibited it's Multiple Format Compatible Plate (MFCP), an optical device that enables the playback of CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats with a single objective lens, at InterOpto '07.
Disney Presents New CD Format
Disney's music label Hollywood Records is offering a new CD format with extra features to encourage compact-disc purchases in a bid to reverse declining CD sales.
Chinese Enter Cheap DVD Recorder Market
An increasing number of China-based optical disc drive (ODD) and electric home appliance makers, such as Shinco Electronic and TCL, have stepped into assembling entry-level DVD recorders using mechanical loaders, a key part of the drives, supplied by Taiwan-based makers.
New CD Discs Feature Braille
Mitsubishi has debuted a new series of CD-R media, specialy designed for people with weak vision.
Buy The iPhone, Avoid The Contract
Hackers have found a way to unlock the popular Apple iPhone, less than a month after the phone hit retail stores. Currently, the iPhone is unusable without a new 2 year contract with AT&T which costs consumers a minimum of $1400 USD by the time it is over.
Toshiba HD DVD Player +3 Movies for $99
An interesting email has been sent out to potential delegates for the Home Media Expo starting this week which suggests that Toshiba is planning a special "one week only" deal on their HD-A2 HD DVD player.
Alltunes.com Claims Russian Copyright Victory
Alltunes.com has won a court case against a Russian agent of Visa over its decision to disconnect the online music stores' payment system.
Sony Takes On YouTube With Crackle
Sony Pictures is challenging YouTube's dominance of the user-generated content market by turning its online acquisition Grouper into a mini studio.
BBC To Open Up iPlayer?
Calls to make the BBC's on demand TV service work on all computer operating systems are to get a fresh look.
Toshiba HD DVD Player +3 Movie for $99
Warner Touts Simultaneous Release Dates
Most Hollywood studios remain cautious about collapsing the video-on-demand and DVD windows, despite Warner Home Videoâs recent assertions that a simultaneous window helps DVD sell-through as well as VOD buy rates.
Studios Make YouTube Take Down Free Guitar Lessons
It seems the people's champion - the RIAA - has ordered YouTube to remove videos of a man who offered to show people how to play the guitar for free.
Sky Rockets HDforAll Campaign
The British 'HD for All' campaign, designed to promote hi-def TV, drew a withering blast from Sky yesterday.
AMD Unveils HDTV and DVR Cards
AMD has debuted two new solutions that offer high-definition television (HDTV) viewing and digital video recording (DVR) capabilities on desktop and notebook PCs.
MPAA Sets Up Piracy Entrapment Site
It seems the Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA) has set-up a website designed to trick unsuspecting users to download illegal content. There is also a service that offers the ability to download video content using a custom client which also scans if the user has downloaded copyrighted files.
HD-DVD To Get Upgrade
The HD-DVD gang is arranging a counter attack against the Blu-ray boys with disks that can take advantage of its players' built-in Internet connections.
Hackers Open Up iPhone
Hordes of hackers and security researchers have been poring over Apple's iPhone in an effort to discover vulnerabilities in the handsets. Top of their list has been cracking the code that ties the phone to operator AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive network.
LG Sues Quanta Over DVD Patents
South Korea's LG Electronics filed suit against Taiwan's Quanta , saying the world's biggest contract maker of laptop computers infringed on its DVD technology.
Blu-ray and HD DVD To Get Audio Watermarks
Blu-ray and HD DVD producers now have the option of audio watermarking to supplement the high-definition discs' existing copy-protection technology, especially targeting movie theatre piracy.
AllofMP3 Goes Titsup
The controversial Russian music download site allofmp3.com has closed.The service, which sold songs at a fraction of the cost of other sites, claimed to be the second biggest seller of music downloads after iTunes.
BBC iPlayer Launching This Autumn
The BBC has announced a date for its iPlayer "catch-up" service: the product will at last be available in "open beta" on July 27, with a full public launch happening in the autumn.
'Vista-Only' Games Cracked For XP
To gamers, one of Microsoftâs incentives for upgrading to Windows Vista is the promise of being able to play the latest in PC games. While the stunning Crysis may prove to be reason enough, gamers right now are not yet convinced by the latest in Windows Vista-only software.
Five Free Blu-ray Movies Offer
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has revealed an exciting offer for those of you who are still looking to pick up a Blu-ray player. If you purchase a Blu-ray player (including the PS3) between July 1st and September 30th, you will automatically qualify to receive 5 Blu-ray movies absolutely free.
Apple Creates 20-Minute iPhone Tour
Apple has provided the most in-depth look at the iPhone, one week before the device debuts at AT&T and Apple stores across the United States. A 20-minute guided tour posted to the company's Web site showcases the various features of the iPhone and explains how to use the touch screen.
MTV Puts Movie On Mobiles
MTV has said that "Super Sweet 16: The Movie" -- an extension of the MTV series "My Super Sweet 16" -- will premiere on mobile television service Verizon V Cast TV, marking the first time an MTV feature-length film has debuted on the wireless service before running on air.
CD-R Price Drop
OEM quotes for blank CD-R discs have dropped to below US$0.10 due to oversupply arising from smaller than expected demand, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
Plextor Debuts 3-way Slot-Loading Disc Duplicator
Plextor have released details of their neat-looking DVD duplication machine; the PX-DM300. Obviously designed around the needs of a small business, the unit seems very compact with the four slot-loading slimline drives (one source reader and three of their fast PX-608AL dual-layer DVD+/-R/RAM drives).
DVD Movie Sales Flat As Next-Gen Takes Off
The DVD business is down so far this year, but evolving high-definition formats will keep the industry from falling into the doldrums permanently, according to studio and analyst participants at the Home Entertainment Summit: DVD and Beyond here this week.
YouTube Offers Online Editing Tool
Blockbuster Sides With Blu-ray
In the high-definition DVD war between Blu-ray and HD DVD, Blu-ray is pulling ahead. On Monday, Blockbuster announced that its next batch of high definition DVDs will be exclusively offered in the Blu-ray format.
EMI DRM-free Catalog Goes Outwith iTunes
Music label EMI is letting more music stores have access to its catalog without using DRM. PassAlong Networks, which provides technology to power online stores like the one belonging to f.y.e., yesterday secured a license to EMI's music, as did the UK's 7digital. Both companies plan to sell the music at higher bit rates than the iTunes Store.
YouTube And Studios Test Video ID
YouTube will soon test a new video identification technology with two of the world's largest media companies, Time Warner and Walt Disney.
Pioneer Debuts First BD Player
Pioneer is showcasing the BDP-LX70, its new Blu-ray Disc (BD) player with a resolution of 1,080p, at Computex Taipei 2007, with the product set for launch in the Taiwan market at a recommended retail price of NT$79,900 (US$2,421, £1,229) in the third quarter of this year. The company aims to sell 1,000 players this year.
Applet TV Goes For Sales Over Profits
How far is Steve Jobs willing to go to expand Apple's iTunes franchise from the home-office PC to the living room TV? So far he is eschewing Apple's customary high hardware margins with the new Apple TV in order to promote volume sales, according to a dissection of the product conducted by iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service.
Wii Outsells PS3 Five-To-One
Nintendo's Wii video game console outsold rival Sony's PlayStation 3 by more than five to one in Japan in May, according to research company Enterbrain.
BBC Canvasses Opinion On HDTV
The BBC Trust (the body that oversees the BBC) wants to find out what viewers and listeners think about the BBC's proposed new high definition television channel.
Firefox Gets Security Update
Mozilla.org has updated Firefox to version 2.0.0.4, with the new version mainly featuring security fixes.
Apple Debuts DRM-Free Song Downloads
Apple's iTunes Store has started selling thousands of songs without copy protection, marking the trendsetting company's latest coup and a model for what analysts say will likely become a pattern for online music sales.
LG Debuts BD/HD DVD Drive
LG Electronics has unveiled its GGW-H10N dual-standard Blu-ray Disc (BD)/HD DVD optical drive in Taiwan with availability of the device on the island scheduled for early July at a recommended retail price of NT$39,900 (US$1,208, £609).
ABC Plans Compressed HD Downloads
The âhigh-definitionâ TV shows ABC.com plans to debut in early July will be extremely compressed versions that -- while saving on bandwidth -- will not be comparable to the HDTV services cable or satellite providers currently offer.
Lightscribe Support On The Wan
Support for Hewlett-Packard's direct disc labeling technology, LightScribe, appears to be on the decline.
Hackers Hi-Jack Pirates
Spam messages exploiting the publicity surrounding the release of the latest instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise are being used to trick users into installing Trojan horse malware.
Pioneer Ships 18x SATA DVD Burner
Pioneer Japan officialy announced today the shipments of its new DVR-S12J, a 18x DVD Multi-burner with SATA interface.
EMI Catalog On iTunes This Week?
Apple is prepared to launch its DRM-free catalog of music from EMI this week, according to French sources familiar with negotiations for multiple online music stores.
Seagate Offers Free HDD Utility
Seagate has released free versions of Disc Wizard and Maxtor's Max Blast 5, but what makes these utilities highly on the "me want" list is the fact that both are based on the OEM version of the excellent True Image app.
PS3 Gives Blu-ray A Boost
News from the Blu-ray Disc Association suggests that the impact of PlayStation 3 on sales of Blu-ray Disc movies in North America and Japan after the launch of the console last November has been "significant".
$200 Rebate On Tivo Series 3
The mail-in rebate program that has helped TiVo gain widespread adoption is finally heading to the Series 3 high definition TiVo.
Panasonic Ships Blu-ray Player
Panasonic today announced the availability of the DMP-BD10A, Panasonic's next generation Blu-ray Disc player, at a suggested retail price (SRP) of $599.95 (£302, â¬443). The DMP-BD10A features an audio upgrade package that brings high end surround audio to the viewing experience via the inclusion of 7.1 channel surround, Dolby True HD and dts-HD High Resolution Audio decoding technology.
MySpace Blocks Re-Posters
MySpace has launched some new copyright protection software for video content called 'Take Down Stay Down' which is designed to prevent users from reposting videos that have been removed at the request of the copyright owner.
Paid Video Downloads A "Dead End"
iTunes and other paid video download services will be going the way of the dodo sooner than later, according to a new report by Forrester Research.
Microsoft Updates Xbox 360 HD DVD Firmware
Microsoft issued a firmware upgrade for its HD DVD player add-on for the Xbox 360.
Amazon To Sell DRM-Free Music Downloads
Amazon.com has announced it will launch a digital music store later this year offering millions of songs in the DRM-free MP3 format from more than 12,000 record labels.
Microsoft And Sandisk Plot Flash Future
Microsoft and SanDisk today announced they have agreed to deliver a next-generation software and hardware solution to place application programs and personal customization on USB flash drives and flash memory cards.
Anti-Theft Tags On DVDs
New technology has been designed stateside that will thwart DVD thieves by making discs unplayable until they're activated at the shop till.
Vista iPod-Corrupting Bug Fixed
Microsoft has a final patch available for a Vista bug that can 'corrupt' your iPod if you use the Safely Eject Hardware option or the Eject command in Windows Explorer.
Pirates Find Safe Haven In Canada
Unlikely bedfellows Microsoft and Apple have asked the US Government to put Canada on its priority blacklist of intellectual property crooks, saying the country isn't doing enough to prevent their products being ripped off.
HP Preps Hybrid HD PC
Hewlett-Packard will be one of the first major PC builders to sell systems containing a hybrid HD drive. Although specific computers and prices have yet to be mentioned, the company says it intends to incorporate LG's GGW-H10N, better known as the Super Multi Blue. The drive is able to read both Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs; it can only write to CD, DVD and Blu-Ray however, the last at 2x speed.
$299 HD DVD Players Next Year
After Fuh Yuan admitted recently that it has not received orders from Wal-Mart for two million HD DVD players at a target retail price of US$299, industry sources commented that it is unlikely that HD DVD players will fall to such a low price this year.
Eject Button Pushed On Cassettes
The days of the humble cassette tape will soon be coming to a timely end with the announcement from British electrical retailer Currys that their existing stocks of blank cassettes will be sold but not replenished.
Microsoft Releases Beta of Silverlight Media Player
Microsoft has released a test version of its new Silverlight online media platform, a rival to Adobe's dominant Flash player.
Sony Unveils PS3 and PSP Cams
Sony has gone webcam crazy this week with the launch of the first official units for both its PlayStation 3 and PSP.
BBC TV Downloads Get The Go-Ahead
Viewers in the UK will be able to access a full weeks' worth of BBC output via their PCs and other digital devices when the broadcaster finally launches its iPlayer service later this year.
DVD Ripping Ruled Legal
Manufacturers, dealers, and champions of digital rights everywhere can rejoice: Video server maker Kaleidescape has beaten the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA).
Samsung Starts 16Gb NAND Flash Memory Production
Samsung has said that it has become the first to begin mass producing 16 gigabit (Gb) NAND flash, the highest capacity memory chip now available.
CMC Profitable In 2006
CMC Magnetics, the largest producer of optical discs in Taiwan, saw a small net profit of NT$301 million (US$9.05 million) in 2006 after suffering net losses consecutively in 2004 and 2005. The company's board of directors decided not to distribute any dividend for operations in 2006.
DVD Pirates' Mugs On Posters
THE faces of some bootleg DVD pirates hit with 10-year-long ASBOs have been plastered on posters in a Hackney supermarket.
NeroLINUX v3.0 Beta Released
Linux users may be happy to know that Nero has released the latest Linux version of its software suite, NeroLINUX v3.0.0.0 Beta.
Study Looks At p2p Blocklist Apps
If you share copyrighted files on peer-to-peer networks, it's almost certain that the RIAA and/or MPAA is monitoring your actions, according to a new study, meaning that it's only a matter of time or luck until The Man comes a-knockin'.
Spiderman 3 Hits The Streets Of Beijing
As if the US wasn't already angry enough over widespread piracy in China, it's being reported that the country's infamous movie pirates have unleashed a $1 (50p) bootleg copy of Spiderman 3, a movie which is reported to have cost over $500 million dollars to make -- the most expensive movie ever made.
Sony Replaces ARccOS-Protected DVDs
Sony DADC says that it will replace copy-protected DVDs that are incompatible with a small number of DVD players, caused by Sony's ARccOS copy protection on the discs.
'DVD Jon' Hiring DRM Hackers
Jon Lech Johansen, known as "DVD Jon" for his notoriety for breaking anti-piracy code on DVDs, has posted on his blog a want ad for a couple of coders interested in working for DoubleTwist Ventures. The company is noteworthy for having reverse engineered Apple's FairPlay digital rights management system.
Fastmac Ships Slimline Blu-Ray Drive
Fastmac have begun shipping the first and only Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade for Apple's PowerBook, iBook, and MacBook Pro notebook systems.
Planet Earth Breaks Amazon HD DVD Record
With a week to go before its dual-format high-def release, pre-orders for 'Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series' have broken new ground on Amazon's top sellers list. Meanwhile, recent Amazon rankings appear to indicate a turnaround in HD DVD sales.
Blu-ray Reaches 1 Million Milestone
Blu-ray Disc (BD) has become the first high definition format to sell more than one million discs, and the format accounted for 70% of high-definition movies sold during the first quarter of this year, according to sales figures from Home Media Research (HMR).
HP Debuts 20x Multiformat Burners
HP will launch in total three new 20x DVD burners. The dvd1040i, and its external equivalent dvd1040e, are new, high-speed drives with DVD±R/±RW and DVD-RAM read/write, ±R double-layer capability, and LightScribe direct disc labeling.
Google Preps Copyright Filter For YouTube
Google is ready to introduce a copyright protection tool that helps media owners to automatically report acts of piracy on its YouTube video site, according to Chief Executive Eric Schmidt.
DVD Shops Hit By Downloads
Record numbers of film and TV downloads are threatening high street DVD and video shops, a study has found.
Toshiba Updates HD DVD Firmware
Toshiba has released a new firmware update for it's second generation HD-DVD players.