Topic: News

Film studios today released slates of next-generation DVDs due later this year in a move to jump start a multibillion-dollar industry that risks being bogged down by a standards war.

Droppix have announced its new LightScribe-compliant Droppix Label Maker Pro software (multi-drive version) for creating and printing multiple professional quality CD and DVD labels simultaneously.

A number of subscribers to the North American GameFly video game rental service have received letters regarding an Xbox 360 hardware fault that potentially scratches game discs, making them unplayable.

We would like to thank our readers for all the support over the last year, and here's to an excellent New Year to you all.

Seemingly jumping on the bandwagon of Datawrite's market leading disc brand, Roxio have released Toast Titanium 7.0.2, an update to their CD and DVD burning software for Mac OS X.

Hackers have developed a sneaky technique for installing pirated movie files on Windows PCs infected with the lockx.exe rootkit. Doctored copies of BitTorrent are loaded on infected machines and used to download Disney movies.

The mod chip of Microsoft Xbox 360 is likely to be released within weeks. A member of a hacker group disclosed to press that they will finish the first mod chip of Xbox360 in a couple of weeks.

DVD legend Flash has been in contact about an issue surounding NEC's LabelFlash drives. The ND-4551, it would seem, ships with no software to make use of it's label printing abilities.

The owners of a Los Angeles videogame shop and a business associate have been charged with copyright infringement for allegedly selling modified Xbox consoles loaded with pirated games.

Citing piracy concerns, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will no longer create DVD screeners for retailers. Instead, advance copies of movies will be available on Fox‘s retail Web site for streaming.

Although second-tier makers of optical discs are making efforts to upgrade production of DVD+R/-R discs from 4x or 8x to 16x, leading makers, especially CMC Magnetics and Ritek, are expected to account for all of Taiwan's production of 16x DVD+R/-R discs next year, according to industry sources.

Microsoft says it is going to release some new software for the Xbox 360 within the next six months that will enable you to send and receive text messages within the existing MSN mobile phone network.

Hauppauge has announced the release of its new 'Wing' software, enabling consumers to record TV shows on a personal computer for playback on the PSP and other portable video players. Wing can also be used to convert existing TV recordings to the PSP format.

Earbuds such as those used with the iPod and other music players can increase the risk of hearing loss, according to a US audiologist.

Google said it was moving into music with a new Internet search function for users seeking lyrics and information about their favorite performers.

Plextor Japan said that its 18x DVD burners, the PX-760A series, will be available by the end of February.

A man in Beijing has repeatedly burgled a neighbour's house to repair her computer, a Chinese court heard.

A computer that spots movie flops has been created in Hollywood to ensure that film companies never have a dud on their hands again.

The gaming boards are all of a flutter about an advertisement on a website that claimed to be from two women prepared to trade sex to get their paws on an Xbox 360.

OEM prices for 16x DVD Dual burners have fallen to as low as US$35 and further reductions in the price will depend on cuts in royalty charges, according to Taiwan's largest maker of optical disc drives (ODDs), Lite-On IT.