Sony Electronics recently announced a new HD video recorder, the PDW-70MD. Developed for medical applications, the PDW-70MD can record and store up to two hours worth of high-definition video on a 23GB XDCAM disc.

Sony Electronics today introduced an optical HD recorder to capture and store high-definition video of medical procedures in 1440 x 1080i resolution. The device can record and store up to two hours on a 23GB PFD-23 XDCAM disc, which is sealed to help prevent scratches and preserve data with minimal degradation for more than 50 years, based on Sony's accelerated testing.

The PDW-70MD XDCAM HD recorder integrates a 3.5-inch (viewable area measured diagonally) color LCD screen that allows users to view thumbnail-sized stills of footage accessible through random access memory. This enables users to quickly identify points of interest without manually winding through hours of footage.
The PDW-70MD is available now for a suggested retail price of $14,995. More information can be found on Sony's website. Add a comment
InterVideo sent out a press release this morning, announcing that current releases of its products will be Vista ready.
InterVideo, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVII - News) and its subsidiary Ulead Systems, Inc., industry leaders in video, image and DVD software, today announced that its products will be Microsoft Windows Vista-ready starting from current releases.

"The launch of Windows Vista is really exciting for us," said Steve Ro, President of InterVideo. "We are fully committed to delivering Windows Vista-certified versions of our software in time for the commercial launch. Our customers can rest assured that when they buy a new Windows Vista PC, or upgrade their current one to Windows Vista, InterVideo Ulead digital media software will remain their best choice for quality, performance and value."
If you'd like to read more, InterVideo's entire press releae can be found here. Add a comment
Sony DADC has announced that they have six 50 GB Blu-ray Disc production lines up and running. According to their press release, they're able to turn out 60,000 50 GB Blu-ray Discs a day.
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. High demand for the 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray Disc is a result of the format's ability to deliver superior, uncompressed audio and high bit-rate video, more value added interactive content, as well as more available space to include additional bonus features such as deleted scenes, interviews and commentary.
Sony DADC also has nine 25 GB Blu-ray Disc production machines in operation and has shipped over three million Blu-ray Discs since beginning production in May. More information can be found here. Add a comment
While the price of PC-based Blu-ray Disc drives have come down some, they're still aren't exactly cheap. Fortunately, more price cuts are on the way. According to DigiTimes, Sony NEC Optiarc's general manager expects the price of Blu-ray Disc drives to drop 50% by 2008.
By 2008, prices for Blu-ray Disc (BD) drives will drop 50% from current levels amid aggressive development by various related brands and makers, according to Shuji Minami, general manager, product business group of Sony NEC Optiarc. Minami also said the maker is not ruling out seeking new partners in Taiwan or placing more orders with existing Taiwan-based partners.

Demand for BD drives are expected to be driven by full high-definition (HD) demand for 19-inch-and-above LCD monitors and the new Vista operating system (OS) from Microsoft in 2007, Minami indicated.
Even if prices drop by 50%, we're still looking at drives costing $300-$500. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Sonic Solutions has announced that they've filed a patent infringement complaint against Nero, claiming that Nero's video editing software infringes upon a patent related to certain techniques for "digital multimedia composition."
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today announced that it has filed suit against German software manufacturer Nero AG and its U.S. affiliate, Nero Inc., for infringement of one of Sonic's video editing patents. The complaint, filed in the United States district court in Marshall, Texas, alleges that Nero's video editing software infringes Sonic's U.S. Patent No. 6,204,840.

Sonic's patent, filed in 1998, relates to certain techniques for "digital multimedia composition." Among other applications, the patent covers improved ways to create digital videos using a graphical "storyline" to sequence individual video segments.
It will be interesting to see how Nero responds. If you'd like to read more, Sonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

Galaxy GeForce 7900 GS vs. XFX GeForce 7900 GS Extreme @ Digit-Life
XFX Geforce 8800 GTS @ TweakPC
Crucial 10th Anniversary 2GB DDR2-667/PC2-5300 Memory @ Redaktion ocinside.de
GeCube FZ Cool Radeon X1950 PRO Champion Edition 512MB @ HardwareZone
Pertelian X2040 V4 USB LCD Portable Display @ Bigbruin.com
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Today, CDRLabs brings you a review of AOpen's new 18x DVD writer, the DSW1812P. Sporting some pretty impressive specs, the DSW1812P is capable of 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. The drive also includes features like 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 32x rewriting speeds, Super Link buffer underrun protection and an impressive software bundle from Nero.

In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the DSW1812P and see how it compares to some of the 16x and 18x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does AOpen's new drive have what it takes? You'll have to read the review to find out.


AOpen DSW1812P 18x DVD±RW/RAM
If you have any comments or questions about this review or the AOpen DSW1812P , please post them in the forum using the link provided below. Add a comment
The Japanese company, Elecom, has announced a new portable CD/DVD destroyer, the SCR-CD001. Powered by the USB bus, the SCR-CD001 will make a disc unreadable in as little as 5 seconds. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

After the enforcing of the private information protective method, data outflow problem from the personal computer to be good becomes topic, but data outflow is not from just the personal computer. After the using when it cancels that way carelessly, there is a possibility of reading the data with the third party even from the media of CD-R/RW and DVD±R/RW etc which are used for exchanging the data frequently. The fact that data outflow from this kind of disk which is cancelled is prevented is "SCR-CD001". By the fact that damage is done to the data logging aspect of the CD DVD media, reading of the data with CD/DVD drive of marketing is made impossible, outflow of the data is prevented.
Elecom is quick to point out that the SCR-CD001 only makes the disc unreadable and doesn't actually destroy the data. The SCR-CD001 is scheduled to ship at the end of November for 3,150 Yen ($27US). More information can be found here. Add a comment

Logitech diNovo Edge Keyboard @ I4U
OCZ Roadster 1Gb USB 2.0 Micro Flash Drive @ Tweaknews.net
Leadtek WinFast PX8800 GTS TDH (GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB) @ HardwareZone
Cooler Master Aquagate Viva at Overclockers Online @ Overclockers Online
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Toshiba has announced the launch of their second generation HD DVD players in the Japanese market. The company plans to introduce two new players, the HD-XF2 and HD-XA2, in late December.
Toshiba Corporation today announced the launch of its second generation HD DVD players in the Japanese market. The company will roll out two new players, HD-XF2 and HD-XA2, from late December.

The new HD DVD players are smaller and offer improved speed in loading and response times over the HD-XA1, the world's first HD DVD player, brought to market by Toshiba in March 2006. The new high-end HD-XA2 supports Deep Color technology, an optional standard under HDMI that improves representation of color tones and achieves finer color gradation. HD-XA2 also provides support for the superior high-definition images of 1080p output.
While Toshiba has not announced prices, the Japanese website AV Watch expects the HD-XF2 and HD-XA2 to cost about 110,000 Yen ($846US) and 49,800 Yen ($422US) respectively. More information can be found on Toshiba's website. Add a comment