Topic: News

Samsung has launched what it reckons its the world's first 32GB NAND Flash-based hard disk drive replacement unit. The company claimed the so-called "solid state disk" can access data three times faster than an HDD can and write files one-and-a-half times more quickly - though we don't know what HDD spec it was comparing its product to.

Copyright holders have collectively objected to proposed exemptions to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in cases where copyright software causes security and privacy harm. According to the group, exceptions that would allow DRM software to be circumvented in hypothetical cases where it "threatens critical infrastructure and potentially endangers lives" might create "uncertainty" in the minds of software developers.

The availability of the Windows Vista OS has been pushed back to next year, according to Microsoft Co-President of Platform and Services Division Jim Allchin.

Anyone wanting to enjoy any of the cool, futuristic copying and sharing features that the next-generation formats are expected to support is going to have to wait.

The European Information and Communications Technology Association (EICTA) today announced yet another logo that it hopes will help clear confusion from the minds of consumers as they migrate from traditional television into the HDTV era. However, the move may well have the opposite effect.

In a sign of the times, the personal CD player has been ejected from the "shopping basket" of goods and services used by Government statisticians to measure the rate of inflation.

The falling cost of DVD players means some machines are now cheaper than the films they can play. Tesco`s own-brand model will hit stores this week priced at £17.97 as part of its "value electricals" range.

In France, a copyright bill on downloading music and films from the Internet would oblige Apple's iTunes to be converted into other formats playable on any music player and not strictly on iPod. This could induce the leading online music store to leave France as it would be opposed to opening up its proprietary system.

Microsoft is working on a handheld gaming device that will also play music and movies in a challenge to rivals such as Sony and their Playstaion Portable (PSP) and Apple with their iPod.

Just a short note to let you know that DVD genius Flash has posted in an improved version of his Pioneer DVR-111 vs DVR-110 review.

It's official: When the first HD-DVD players, from Toshiba, begin arriving in stores this month, there won't be any software for at least another three weeks.

Revenge of the DVD Players Weekend - story 1. A Philadelphia judge has sentenced a chronic shoplifter to 22 years in prison yesterday for stealing a portable DVD player from a department store.

Revenge of the DVD Players Weekend - story 2. A Newark man was taken to Licking Memorial Hospital (no, seriously) after receiving a shock from the DVD player he was attempting to fix.

The US government may have removed Pakistan from its global pirates watch list but optical disc piracy is thriving in the country, ushering in a new age of technology-driven entertainment.

The Chinese-language Commercial Times said Acer plans to launch notebooks with built-in HD DVDs next quarter, with the series to be aimed at the high-end segment.

Amazon may be set to make an interesting entry into the DVD download market by offerinf a service that would be better called 'iTunes for video' than most of the other online film services that have been launched so far, because it will allow burning of the films onto DVDs as iTunes allows with CDs.

Resident DVD shining light Flash has posted in his latest review comparing the last two DVD drives from Pioneer. The reason being that there have been rumours that the new model has been "produced quickly because of serious burning problems with the DVR-110As". Find out if the rumours are true in Flash's Pioneer DVR-111 vs DVR-110 review.

Ciba Specialty Chemicals has filed a patent infringement suit in Germany and the Netherlands against RiTEK and its european subsidiaries Conrexx Technology B.V. (also known as Traxdata), RME Manufacturing GmbH, RiTEK Media Europe, and PrimeDisc Technologies GmbH.

Sony will today begin taking pre-orders for its upcoming Blu-ray Disc player after yesterday naming the dates on which it will ship the machine and Vaio PCs that incorporate the next-generation optical disc technology. The BDP-S1 will ship in the US in July - two months after the first BD movies are set to hit US stores.

LG Electronics has announced it plans to launch a next-generation DVD player that will bridge the yawning gap between two competing formats by playing both HD DVD and Blu-ray.