Atmel has announced the availability of their new ATR0881 laser diode driver. While small in size, the ATR0881 can connect up to three laser diodes, giving drives the ability to support DVD and CD as well as blue laser formats like Blu-ray or HD DVD.
Atmel(R) Corporation(Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the availability of the ATR0881 laser diodedriver IC for use in combined HD-DVD/Blu-ray, DVD, and CD drives. TheATR0881 is housed in a 4 mm x 4 mm QFN24 package. This is the industry'ssmallest laser diode driver solution and is especially suited for smallslim drives used in notebook computers as well as for half-height drives indesktop PCs and consumer DVD recorders.

The ATR0881's QFN housing is a lead-free paddle-up package with theexposed paddle on top to improve heat dissipation. A bottom-located exposedpaddle, as found in conventional QFN packages, causes difficulties due toits inaccessibility for circuit design, particularly in optical pick-upproducts. This design restriction is eliminated with Atmel's ATR0881.
Samples of the ATR0881 are nowavailable and are priced at US $5.00 in quantities of 10k. If you'd like to read more, Atmel's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Advanced Media sent out a press release today, announcing their new RIDATA Double-Sided 8x DVD-R media. With a capacity of 9.4GB, these double sided discs can hold four hours of DVD-quality video, 16 hours of VHS-quality video, or over 120 hours of MP3 audio.
Advanced Media, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of the popular RIDATA brand of recordable CD and DVD media, electronic storage products, and digital media accessories, is adding a Double-Sided 8x DVD-R disc to its comprehensive DVD product line. With an amazing 9.4GB of storage capacity, the advanced, double-sided disc is a cost effective solution for virtually any business or household application.

"Our new double-sided discs now in both the +/-R formats solve the storage need for those who don't own a dual layer DVD recorder, but would appreciate a larger storage capacity per disc. They are the ideal solution for the ongoing recording of a TV series or DVD quality movies. Users of the RIDATA 8x DVD-R Double-Sided medium, and its dramatically increased storage capacity, will enjoy fast, reliable storage with a wide range of playback options." stated Harvey Liu, Advanced Media president. "We are pleased to expand our offering of this cost effective product."
Advanced Media's Double-Sided 8x DVD-R media is available now for a suggested retail price of $0.59 per disc. If you'd like to read more, Advanced Media's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
For the last week or so, its been rumored that Sony would be lowering the price of the 60GB Playstation 3 by $100. Earlier today, Sony confirmed the rumor, stating that the 60GB model will now be priced at $499. To fill the $599 price point, the company will be releasing a new version of the console that includes an 80GB hard drive and a copy of the game MotorStorm.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Inc. today announced a new 80GB model of its PLAYSTATION3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system. Beginning in August, the new PS3 model will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of $599/$659 CND and will be sold with the popular online-enabled racing game MotorStorm(TM). In conjunction with this news, the company also announced that effective immediately, the current 60GB PS3 model will be available in North America for $499/$549 CND, or $100 below the original launch price.

By featuring an expanded hard disk drive (HDD), the new 80GB PS3 is designed to appeal to the online gaming and entertainment enthusiast, providing ample storage space to download more games and other entertainment content from PLAYSTATIONNetwork. There are currently more than 60 playable games and game-related downloads available through PLAYSTATIONStore, with expanded entertainment content coming soon. The new model features the million-selling game MotorStorm in the box, allowing up to 12 players to play online at one time, hitting the dirt in this visually-arresting, fast-paced racing title.
If the $100 price cut isn't enough, remember that you can also get five free Blu-ray movies by mail. Full details on Sony's price cut and the 80GB PS3 can be found here. Add a comment
Plextor LLC sent out a press release this morning, announcing their new external "Super Multi" drive, the PX-810UF. Along with support for both FireWire and USB 2.0, the PX-810UF features 18x DVD±R, 10x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds.

Plextor LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the immediate availability of the PX-810UF DVD Super Multi Drive. This external drive combines the 18X DVD+/-R and 12X DVD-RAM performance of Plextor's PX-810 Series drives with the convenience and portability of USB and FireWire interfaces.

The PX-810UF features a dual interface with Hi-Speed USB and IEEE 1394 (FireWire), enabling users in a small office or professional studio to share a single external high-performance DVD/CD burner among multiple Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows-based PCs. Burst data transfer rates of 480 Mbps (USB 2.0) or 400 Mbps (FireWire) allow a user to burn a 4.7 GB DVD+R disc in approximately six minutes.
The PX-810UF is scheduled to ship later this month for a suggested retail price of $139.00. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Primera has announced that they've started shipping their new Bravo XRn Network Disc Publisher. This enterprise-level disc publisher lets users burn and print CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs quickly and easily from their networked computers.

Primera Technology, Inc., the world's leading developer and manufacturer of CD, DVD and BD duplication and printing equipment, today announced its Bravo XRn Network Disc Publisher is now shipping.

Powered by an internal Windows XP Embedded computer, the Bravo XRn Network Disc Publisher gives everyone in the office the ability to produce their own professional-quality CDs, DVDs and BDs. Jobs can be sent from an unlimited number of networked users. The included Windows XP/2000 and Vista(TM) client software is based upon Primera's PTPublisher(TM) disc publishing software. PTPublisher utilizes a robust disc burning engine from industry-leader Sonic Solutions, Inc.
The CD/DVD and CD/DVD/BD versions of the Bravo XRn Network Disc Publisher are priced at $6995 and $8995 respectively. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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While companies like Blockbuster have thrown their weight behind Blu-ray, Video Business has reported that most major retailers are still supporting both high-def formats. With more and more people buying Blu-ray and HD DVD players, retailers have also started to devote more floor space to high-def titles and promote them in their weekly circulars.
Retailers are going mainstream with their marketing and merchandising efforts for high-definition discs as the number of titles released across the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats approaches 1,000.

Amazon.com, Best Buy, Trans World, Virgin Megastores and others are promoting both formats, unwilling to potentially snub a portion of their early adopter consumers.

“Our feeling is that we should continue to supply both until the customers tell us that we shouldn’t,” said Jim Litwak, president and chief operating officer at Trans World. “Blu-ray is outperforming HD DVD in stores, but the customer is still telling us they want HD DVD.”
While most retailers are deciding to support both high-def formats, I wouldn't be surprised if some eventually decided to sell only Blu-ray titles, at least in their stores. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
A few weeks ago, we reported that Verbatim had agreed to acquire SmartDisk's external hard disk drive and digital imaging business. According to a press release sent out this morning, the acquisition was completed on June 30th and includes SmartDisk's physical assets, patents, trademarks, technology, engineering and marketing expertise.
Verbatim Corporation and its parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), announced today the purchase of substantially all of the assets of SmartDisk Corporation’s external hard drive (HD) and digital imaging business. The acquisition, which includes physical assets, patents, trademarks, technology, engineering and marketing expertise, was effective on June 30, 2007. The purchase price has not been disclosed.

The Verbatim brand is recognized worldwide for delivering data storage solutions with the latest technologies, the highest quality, and features that add value for the consumer. The company’s role as an innovator is especially apparent in the magnetic and optical storage markets where it has been known as a pioneer for more than 30 years. Verbatim is also enjoying an increasing presence in the global portable storage market. As part of its corporate strategy to capitalize on this trend and complement its existing portable storage product line, the company purchased SmartDisk’s hard drive and imaging assets. NPD reported that SmartDisk had a 16 percent market share in the US retail portable drive market in 2006.
If you'd like to read more, Verbatim's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Nero released a new version of Nero 7 this morning. There is no change log yet. However, this new update brings the version count up to 7.10.1.0. If you'd like to check it out, the update can be downloaded here. As usual, feel free to share your experiences in our forum. Add a comment
Toshiba announced this morning that they've filed a lawsuit against the German DVD maker, EDD Bizz GmbH. According to Toshiba's press release, EDD is infringing on their patents by manufacturing DVD's without a licensing agreement.
Toshiba Corporation announced today that the Company filed a lawsuit in Germany against a German disc replicator of DVD discs on July 4, 2007. The suit was brought to the Düsseldorf Regional Court against EDD Bizz GmbH (EDD) and its managing director, Mr. Denny Holwerda, as a means to halt infringement of some of Toshiba's DVD patents. Toshiba seeks injunctive relief and declaration that EDD is liable for damages resulting from its infringement of Toshiba's DVD patents.

Toshiba licenses patents essential for meeting DVD format specifications. EDD has not entered into license agreements with Toshiba or the DVD6C Licensing Group, and has engaged in the manufacture and sales of DVD video discs in Germany without permission. EDD's infringement of Toshiba's patents has damaged Toshiba's DVD-related business, and also caused damage to the legitimate and licensed DVD product manufacturing and distribution business as a whole. In filing the lawsuit, Toshiba prepares to recover monetary damages, and secure agreement from EDD to respect Toshiba's intellectual property rights in future.
Toshiba isn't messing around when it comes to their patents. In April alone, they sued 17 companies over patent infringements. If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment