CDRLabs kicks off the week with an in depth look at Sony's new Blu-ray Disc writer, the BWU-100A. Offering support for both single and dual layer BD media, the BWU-100A has the ability to store up to 50GB of data or four hours worth of HD video onto a single disc. Sony's new drive is also capable of playing commercial Blu-ray Disc movies and can read and write to all major CD and DVD formats, including DVD-RAM.

In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the BWU-100A and see how it compares to the drives from I-O DATA and Pioneer. Does Sony's new Blu-ray Disc writer have what it takes? You'll have to read the review to find out.


Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray Disc Writer
If you have any comments or questions about this review or the Sony BWU-100A, please post them in the forum by clicking the link below. Add a comment
LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling sent out a press release this morning, announcing the widespread U.S. availability of color-background CD's.

LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling announced today widespread U.S. availability of five new vivid color-background CDs for LightScribe images: red, orange, yellow, blue and green. With the five rich and saturated CD background colors, consumers can add even more individuality, creativity and flair to their customized LightScribe CD labels.

The development of LightScribe's color-background CDs was possible through LightScribe's Media Version 1.2 coating technology. With this next-generation LightScribe coating technology, the same precise, silkscreen-quality black text and graphics labels available on gold-background discs can be burned onto the label-side of LightScribe-enabled CDs in stunning, jewel-toned background colors.
According to the press release, CMC Magnetics and Moser Baer are among the initial media manufacturers producing color-background discs. More information can be found here. Add a comment
DigiTimes has reported that Taiwan's CD-R disc manufacturers are booked until the first quarter of 2007. To keep up with demand, manufacturers are thinking about delaying the annual maintenance that is usually done during this time of the year.
Leading producers of CD-R discs in Taiwan are booked full until the first quarter of next year and are considering whether to delay annual maintenance that is scheduled for the usually slow first quarter, according to industry sources.

A significant increase in demand for CD-R discs is expected in China due to the Chinese New Year in late February 2007 and in emerging markets such as Russia, Southeast Asia and Latin America, the sources indicated. However, global output will not increase because almost no makers have expanded production capacity this year, the sources pointed out. As a result, the global supply of CD-R discs for next quarter may be 20-30% short of global demand.
The article also mentions that the global shortage of CD-R discs many cause the price to go up by 5-10% in 2007. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Sonic has announced that they've developed a DVD burning plug-in for SnapStream's Beyond TV software. With this new plug-in, Beyond TV users can now record shows to disc complete with menus, content titles, and chapter points.
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today announced that SnapStream, a leading developer of digital home products, has chosen Sonic's comprehensive authoring, encoding, and formatting engine, AuthorScript to bring DVD burning capabilities to Beyond TV, the company's award-winning PC Digital Video Recorder (DVR) application. Available now, the optional DVD-burning plug-in enables Beyond TV owners to author DVDs of saved TV shows for playback on a broad range of set-top DVD players. This latest agreement reinforces the versatility of AuthorScript, which was also selected recently to enable DVD recording features in Windows Vista and high-quality DVD playback in a future version of Nintendo's Wii gaming console.
This plug-in is available now and comes as part of Beyond TV 4.5. If you'd like to read more, Sonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Sony Media Software has announced the availability of DVD Architect Studio. Aimed at consumers, this standalone version of their DVD authoring and creation software offers an intuitive user interface and interactive Show Me How tutorials.
Sony Media Software, a leading provider of professional video and audio editing software applications, announced today the availability of DVD Architect(TM) Studio, a standalone program that addresses the growing consumer demand for a single software application dedicated to DVD authoring for movies, song compilations and pictures slideshows. Previously only available bundled with Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD, this new standalone version expands Sony's line of home studio products by offering a robust application with many important features that are critical for creating dynamic and interactive DVDs.

DVD Architect Studio software features the same look and feel of Sony's flagship products, including superior ease-of-use and a simple drag-and-drop interface for quick DVD layout; the ability to create both single and multi-movie DVDs, picture and music compilations; and support for most popular DVD burners today.
DVD Architect Studio is available now for $49.95. If you'd like to try it out before buying it, a demo can be downloaded here. More information is also available on Sony's website. Add a comment

NVIDIA XFX 8800 GTX SLI @ I4U
Noctua NH-U12 And NH-U9 CPU Coolers @ NGOHQ.com
ABIT AW9D-MAX Core 2 Duo Motherboard @ OCTools.com
Zalman Reserator 2 Watercooling Kit @ BCCHardware
ANYCOM BSH-100 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones @ BlueTomorrow.com
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Lite-On recently unveiled their latest Super AllWrite drive, the SH-16A7S. Along with support for Serial ATA, the drive features 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. Here are some of the SH-16A7S's specs:


Writing Speeds:

DVD±R: 16x Max
DVD±R DL: 8x Max
DVD+RW: 8x Max
DVD-RW: 6x Max
DVD-RAM 12x Max
CD-R: 48x Max
CD-RW: 32x Max

Read Speeds:

DVD-ROM: 16x Max
CD-ROM: 48x Max

Access Times:

DVD-ROM: 160ms
CD-ROM: 160ms

The SH-16A7S has started to ship in the US and can be picked up at places like Newegg for about $35. More information can be found on Lite-On's website. Add a comment
Sonic has announced that they are working with Toshiba to support authoring facilities using Scenarist for the creation of HD DVD titles. As part of the deal, Sonic will provide Toshiba's emulation and verification technology to European Scenarist users.
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today announced a new collaboration with Toshiba Corporation, a world leader in high technology, to support European content holders and professional authoring facilities using Sonic's industry-leading Scenarist authoring systems for the creation of HD DVD titles. As part of the initiative, Sonic will distribute Toshiba's HD DVD emulation system and software verifiers that provide professional authoring facilities with an extensive set of utilities for testing title features and compatibility prior to replication. The combination of Sonic's authoring expertise and Toshiba's tools and technology will help bring a truly dynamic HD DVD movie-viewing experience to European consumers.
If you'd like to read more, Sonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

Steel Series SteelSound 3H Portable Gaming Headset @ Tweaknews.net
OCZ Dual SD-USB 2GB Card @ OCModShop
Bytecc Landisk ME-850 NAS Device - BCCHardware
GeForce 8800 GTX Buying Guide & Shootout @ HardwareZone
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Verbatim sent out a press release this morning, announcing that they've started volume shipments of their new Color-background LightScribe CD-R media.
Verbatim Corporation, the industry leader in offering the widest range of premium-quality LightScribe media, announced today volume shipments of the first Color-background LightScribe CD-R media to the US market. Production of the new media, which began shipping to the US in November, was ramped up to make it more widely available in time for the holidays. Sold in 25-packs, each package includes five vibrantly colored red, green, blue, yellow and orange discs that make ideal holiday gifts. Verbatim will also be showing the new LightScribe media at its CES Booth in the South Hall #4/36249 in Las Vegas, January 8-11.
We've already had reports of these discs showing up at Best Buy stores. The way it sounds, they should be showing up at other retailers soon. If you'd like to read more, Verbatim's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment