Topic: News

Children in Europe are aware of the risks of illegal downloading, but often rationalize their act by saying that everyone -- including their parents -- is doing it, according to a major European Commission survey.

OPPO Digital have announced the DV-980H universal DVD player, the world’s first to offer 7.1-channel audio output and 1080p video up-conversion in a DVD player.

The movie rental chain Blockbuster is moving into online video streaming by purchasing Movielink, a Californian internet download service which offers more than 3,000 titles.

Microsoft is set to roll out HDMI on their high end Xbox 360 consoles. The move comes as the Company struggles to hold onto the hard core gamers and video enthusiasts who appear to be deserting the platform for the PS3 with Blu ray.

Warner Home Video has said that the Spartan war movie 300 is the fastest (and best) selling High-Definition disc to date.

Toshiba will reportedly roll out its line of third-generation HD DVD players, all priced at less than $500, this October, according to retailers.

The PS3's capabilities could be expanded to include a digital tuner, enabling it to double as a programmable TV recorder, a Sony spokesman said. The changes are due to come into effect next year, but it's uncertain how many countries will benefit.

A US government agency has launched a big investigation into gaming console piracy. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has executed 32 federal warrants across the country, searching businesses and homes for clues surrounding the potential sale and distribution of illegal modification chips and disc copyright circumvention devices for games consoles.

Pioneer's versatile writer - the BDR-202 - is now available in Europe. As well as being 4x for Blu-ray it is also compatible with a range of DVD and CD media; speeds include 12X writing to DVD-R/+R, 6X to DVD-RW/+RW and 24X to CD-R/RW.

Maxell will launch its first 8 cm Blu-ray write-once BD-R/rewritable BD-RE discs (7.5GB) for video cameras on August 10.

Oront Burning Kit version 2.3 is now available. The new version includes improved stability and performance, ability to burn using multiple optical drives simultaneously, auto-check for updates at start and a few other fixes and updates.

NEC Corporation and Hitachi have jointly developed a new liquid cooling system for desktop PCs, which reduces PC operating noise to approximately 1/3 that of current models in Japan.

Kingston have announced it is increasing the write speed of its popular line of CompactFlash® Ultimate memory cards to 266X – twice the minimum sustained write speed previously available in the Ultimate line.

Despite research from the EMR Digital Music Survey finding that illegal music downloading is on the rise, it seems that Apple can do no wrong.

To hype its array of high-definition offerings, Panasonic launched an extensive marketing blitz and a program that will award 100 families $20,000 worth of its products.

Microsoft has announced it will lower the price of the popular Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 ERP (United States only) starting Aug. 1, 2007, and will add five free HD DVD movies for anyone purchasing an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30.

LG is preparing a internal optical drive capable of reading both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVD media, it has been claimed. The South Korean giant is also readying a BD writer capable of 6x burn speeds.

LightScribe is now licensed by over 80 electronics and software companies worldwide, including many disc publishing systems manufacturers focused on SMB market

ABC.com is now beta testing a player that will allow it to stream television shows in high-definition. The player is produced by Move Networks, and recommends a 2Mbps or faster broadband connection, 128MB of video RAM, 1 GB of RAM, and a resolution of at least 1300x770 pixels.

Popular programmes on the BBC can be downloaded
The BBC's flagship online TV service is being launched, offering viewers the chance to download their favourite programmes from the last seven days.