Topic: News

Online movie rental war in the United States is heating up between the world's largest movie rental chain Blockbuster and the number one online movie rental service, Netflix. The race has been in the works for years now, but the last few months have been interesting, as both companies have discounted heavily their subscription prices.

DVD Guru Flash managed to tear himself way from stuffing turkeys and wrapping presents for grandchildren to do a review of the Datawrite Titanium, which certainly seems to be the most talked about DVD-R disc in the market, judging by the amount of requests we have have had for his latest review to be published.

NEC Corporation announced this week that it has completed the development of technology capable of playing back HD DVDs, DVDs, and CDs with a single optical head, enabling creation of the world's first half height size drive suitable for desktop computer installation.

Daxon Technology, a second tier manufacturer of optical discs in Taiwan, recently secured certification for 16x DVD+R discs from Philips, the second manufacturer in Taiwan to receive certification. With CMC Magnetics being the first.

We have all been waiting with baited breath for <a href="http://www.dvd-recordable.org/Article1695-nocomments-order0-threshold0.phtml "_blank">Flash’s review on the Datawrite Titanium. Initial feedback from other sites on the net suggests a very favourable response.

Sony Electronics announced a new development in recordable DVD media with the introduction of AccuCORE technology, delivering an enhanced level of recording accuracy, compatibility and reliability.

Chrismas shoppers were being urged to hand over pirate DVDs during an amnesty in Glasgow city centre today. As an incentive, the first 50 people to hand over an illegal movie were being given a free copy of the genuine film.

Ultima Electronics and Protop Innotech, two manufacturers of optical disc drives (ODDs) in Taiwan, recently obtained certification from Philips to become additional OEM producers for them, according to other Taiwan ODD makers.

A new kind of copy-protected music CD will likely hit U.S. shelves early next year, as record label SonyBMG experiments with a technology created by British developer First 4 Internet, according to sources familiar with the companies.

DVD genius Flash has posted a redview of the new Plextor burner. The PX-712SA writes DVD+Rs at 12-speed and rewrites at 4-speed and writes DVD-Rs at 8x and rewrites at 4x. You can read the PX-712SA review here.

UK Supermarket giant Tesco has cut the price of CDs and DVDs by setting up a distribution arm in Jersey. The company is able to sell chart CDs from £8.99 and DVDs from £9.99, including postage and packing, by taking advantage of the island’s VAT rules.

CMC Magnetics, the largest producer of optical discs in Taiwan, will establish a 100% owned subsidiary for movie production by the end of this year, with the first movie expected to debut in July or August 2005, according to CMC chairman Robert Wong.

Update 22/12/2004 This disc has just been reviewed by resident DVD Guru Flash.
Click Here for the Review

As we all know titanium is one of the most stable and strongest metals obtainable in the world today. It's strength and reliability is world renowned, even used by NASA on the Space Shuttle.

In the largest counterfeit movie and music bust in U.S. history, pirated DVDs, CDs and video games representing potential losses of $200 million to companies were confiscated Wednesday in raids in Los Angeles and Orange counties, officials said.

Engineers at NEC have developed a prototype optical disc drive that supports the new HD-DVD format and is also compatible with CD and DVD formats.

Sony has released two new DVD recorders in Japan with an advanced search function. The RDR-HX100 and RDR-HX90 allow you to search for programmes using any search string (programme title or actor's name are obvious choices). They will then show you all programmes within a set time period related to your search term.

Ahead Software, probably the most successful CD and DVD Burning software comapny in the world, has announced that it will adopt the name of its world-renowned brand as its new corporate name, and will be known as Nero effective January 1, 2005.

A Missouri family's pet snake, missing for a month, turned up alive and slithering in a box they had sent to New Jersey, about 1,000 miles away. The box contained a DVD player that was being sent for repairs.

CMC Magnetics expects 16x DVD+R/-R discs to account for 50% of its DVD disc shipments in the first quarter of next year, while Ritek estimates its figure will be 30%, according to CMC chairman Robert Wong and Ritek CEO Gordon Yeh.

Sony has launched its first handheld games console, the PlayStation Portable (PSP), which it hopes will challenge Nintendo in the portable games market.