Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today unveiled the BDR-2208, the world’s first 15x internal Blu-ray burner and fastest drive on the market to date. The internal SATA drive can read and write to all BDXL disc formats, including BD-R and BD-RE triple-layer 100GB media and BD-R quad-layer 128GB media, as well as conventional recordable Blu-ray Disc (single-layer 25GB media and dual-layer 50GB media). In addition, the drive features PowerRead and Pioneer’s PureRead2, Auto Quiet Mode and QuickPlay technologies.

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The BDR-2208 is packaged with CyberLink® software that gives users the ability to play standard Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D titles on correctly configured computers, as well as author high-definition Blu-ray Disc content, while also delivering the ability for high-capacity data storage. The CyberLink software also upscales standard definition movies to look better on HD displays and converts 2D video files and DVDs into a 3D experience.

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Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today introduced its 8X slim portable CD/DVD writer, which at just 13.9 mm high, is currently the thinnest external CD/DVD writer on the market. Whether playing movies, installing software, or backing up files on the go, Transcend's new ultra-slim portable CD/DVD writer is the perfect companion for today's thin-and-light laptops and Ultrabooks.

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To complement the new breed of cutting-edge notebooks that do not feature a built-in disc drive, Transcend's portable CD/DVD writer provides a slim and stylish solution designed to enhance the Ultrabook user experience. Its ultra-thin (13.9 mm) and sleek design fits comfortably into the sleeve of any laptop bag or backpack and offers around 44% weight savings over standard external optical drives. Moreover, because the CD/DVD writer draws its electric power directly from the computer's USB ports, users can enjoy more diverse entertainment and enhanced productivity wherever they are.

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Pioneer Japan sent out a press today, officially announcing its new 15x Blu-ray Disc writer, the BDR-S08J. This Windows 8 compatible drive is is capable of 15x BD-R, 14x BD-R DL, 8x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 12x. The BDR-S08J also writes to triple- (100GB) and quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 6x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.

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The BDR-S08J includes features like Pioneer's PowerRead and PureRead3+ technologies as well as power-saving and silent modes. It also ships with authoring and playback software from CyberLink as well as DiXiM BD Burner 2013, which lets you burn copy-protected digtal content directly from DTCP-IP enabled DLNA devices on your home network.

The BDR-S08J is scheduled to ship in mid November and is expected to retail for about 23,000 Yen ($292US).

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One-Red LLC, the licensing company for the joint DVD patent licensing program, has announced the formation of a new patent licensing program for DVD-software manufacturers and DVD-PC manufactures. This new licensing program will become available as of October 15, 2012.

One-Red was established in 2011 by Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (“Philips”), Pioneer Corporation (“Pioneer”) and Sony Corporation (“Sony”) and is authorized to offer patent licenses on behalf of Philips and Sony for CD products and on behalf of LG Electronics, Inc. (“LG”), Philips, Pioneer and Sony for DVD products to interested third parties.

On July 1, 2012 One-Red launched a DVD licensing program for DVD Discs and DVD Players. Today’s announcement extends One-Red’s DVD licensing program to DVD-software manufacturers and DVD-PC manufactures.

Under the terms of the new program, One-Red will offer two separate agreements. The DVD- software license agreement will apply to DVD-software and the DVD-PC license agreement will apply to pre-installed DVD-software in PCs.

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Pioneer quietly released its new 15x Blu-ray Disc writer over the weekend. Available through a handful of Japanese retailers, the BDR-208XJ is capable of 15x BD-R, 14x BD-R DL, 6x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds. The drive also supports the BDXL format and can write to triple-layer (100GB) BD-R media at 8x, quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 6x and triple-layer BD-RE media at 2x.

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The BDR-208XJ is currently available in your choice of beige or black and can be purchased by itself for 10,980 Yen ($139US) or with software from CyberLink for 11,480 Yen ($145US).

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verbatim_100gb_bdxl.jpgVerbatim is launching a Blu-ray Disc to run on BDXL-compatible readers and writers with a super-sized 100GB of storage capacity – four times higher than storage on a standard recordable Blu-ray Disc.

Certified by the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association), the high capacity recordable Blu-ray Discs from Verbatim enable users to backup high resolution photography, music or HD video files at 4x write speed. With 100GB storage, the BDXL discs can approximately store over 40,000 photos, 20,000 songs or 8 hours of HD video.

Blu-ray Discs offer significantly more storage capacity compared to DVD and CD media resulting in far fewer discs being required to save large volumes of data. Standard Blu-ray Discs provide storage capacities of 25GB for a single-layer disc and 50GB for a dual-layer disc, but Verbatim’s BDXL disc includes a third layer to give it a storage capacity of 100GB. The discs come with a specialised hard coat surface to protect them against scratches.

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Pioneer Japan sent out a press release this morning, announcing two new professional-grade Blu-ray Disc writers. Designed for businesses, libraries and museums looking to archive important data to Blu-ray Disc, the BDR-PR1M and BDR-PR1MA follow the new guidelines set by the new Optical Archive Group (OPARG ) formed by Pioneer, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media and Victor Advanced Media. To reduce variations in recording quality, the two drives write to BD-R, 50GB BD-R DL and 100GB BD-R XL discs at 4x using CLV (Constant Linear Velocity). They also feature an extra-durable tray mechanism and are 3x more dust resistant than Pioneer's BDR-207 series. The main difference between the two is that the BDR-PR1M can be used to check the recording quality of a disc. With the included software, it is able to measure the RSER (Random Symbol Error Rate) as well as the number of Burst Errors.

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The BDR-PR1M and BDR-PR1MA are scheduled to ship in early November and, while prices have not been announced, they are expect to cost about 220,000 Yen ($2,829 US) and 110,000 Yen ($1,414 US), respectively.

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Sony today announced that its next-generation Optical Disc Archive storage system will start shipping across Asia Pacific in October 2012. Unveiled at IBC 2012, this system provides guaranteed intergenerational compatibility and ultra-reliable long-term storage, and is at the heart of Sony’s vision to create a complete archiving solution for broadcasters, motion picture companies and production houses.

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Sony also announced that it is developing a new robotic library, the ODS-L10, which can contain up to two drives and a maximum of ten media cartridges. Planned to be available in the beginning of 2013, the ODS-L10 will form part of a full line-up of solutions that include an even larger and expandable robotic library, currently in development. In addition, Sony today unveiled a new logo mark for the Optical Disc Archive system. Any compatible hardware product as well as storage media which meet the specification will now carry the new Optical Disc Archive logo.

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millenniata logo.pngMillenniata today announced Dell, Inc. will begin offering a permanent storage solution to its European customers with the integration of M-DISC compatible LG Electronics DVD and Blu-ray optical drives in Dell laptop and desktop computers.

Dell EMEA will begin offering the M-DISC Ready drives in their award-winning Business Class Precision Workstation, OptiPlex Desktops and Latitude Notebooks throughout Europe beginning this month.

“For the first time, Dell business users will benefit from a permanent storage solution that will last virtually forever,” said Paul Brockbank, Millenniata president. “So much of our lives today are created in a digital format, so it’s vitally important that we preserve and continue to share our information. We are very pleased that Dell’s European customers will now have access to our M-DISC technology.”

M-DISC Ready drives laser etch data onto the M-DISC’s inorganic rock-like material to prevent data loss, ensuring your files are safe and can be stored for up to 1,000 years. Unlike all other recordable DVDs that use organic dyes to hold data, M-DISCs won’t fade or degrade over time.

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Lite-On, a global leader in optical storage solutions, announces the release of the world’s thinnest DVD writer, the eUAU108. The ultra-thin 13.2 mm, ultra-light 250g drive has been designed for both portability and simple elegance. Supporting 8.5GB double-layer recordable DVDs, and including a built-in USB cable, this portable drive is ideal for backing up video, for software installation, or for watching DVDs.

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The drive is powered directly from a single USB port and has a short integrated USB cable that sits in a built-in cable holder. This convenient system makes drive completely self-contained, eliminating the need to carry an additional power adapter or cabling.

One of the focuses during development was to make an attractive product that users would enjoy carrying. This resulted in a chic design with elegant lines and a simple gloss finish. As a result, the eUAU108 is equally at home in a study, in a college dorm, or on the desk of a graphic designer.

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