Posted January 19, 2006 
Comments(0) Digitaltvdesignline.com has published an interesting and very critical article regarding the new higher definition disc formats, namely the Blu-ray and HD-DVD. They point out a number of issues that could prove to be problematic for the commercial break through of the new formats. An interesting and extensive article, worth having a look.
Posted January 18, 2006 Comments(0) Jon “DVD Jon” Johansen, who popularized the means to crack the CSS system protecting DVDs, has committed to launching a tool to crack the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) used in next-generation DVDs.
Posted January 17, 2006 Comments(0) There has been news of the external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 and rumours that Microsoft would consider Blu-ray if necessary, now they have issued a statement that they are 100 percent behind Toshiba’s HD DVD format.
Posted January 16, 2006 Comments(0) The adult entertainment industry has played a significant role in emerging markets before. In the earlier days of the World Wide Web, the adult entertainment was one of the first market segments to turn “dotcom-wonders” into steady cash flows and profits. What will the adult entertainment have to offer in the next generation of digital media? One guess might be that interactivity with the content might turn out to be very successful. Adult entertainment company Digital Playground has just announced that they will be supplying content on the Blu-ray format. Their first releases will follow the release of Playstation 3.
Posted January 12, 2006 Comments(0) Is Microsoft losing it’s faith in HD-DVD? It seems that such statement could be read in between the lines, as Microsoft revealed that they do have a plan-B for the Blu-ray format. Earlier they announced the (extremely lame) external HD-DVD player add-on for Xbox 360 and now it seems they could do the same with Blu-ray as well. So the path Microsoft has chosen is kind of safe - they can offer a poor support for both formats, while hanging in with the legacy DVD for the games. Smart tactics, or a huge mistake - only time will tell?
Posted January 11, 2006 Comments(0) Consumers might be happy about the price tags on the upcoming Blu-ray and HD-DVD devices, but the Taiwan manufacturers working on the FVD (Forward Versatile Disc) are not. The possible (and only?) competitive edge that FVD might have would be the manufacturing costs, which results in cheaper retail prices. But now as it seems that the leading Blu-ray and especially the struggling HD-DVD camps are coming up with lower than expected price tags.
Posted January 11, 2006 Comments(0) Imation, a worldwide leader in removable data storage media, today announced it has begun its scale-up of manufacturing for HD DVD and Blu-ray optical recordable media in preparation for product introduction in early 2006. The company invested more than $10 million in 2005 in research, development and modular manufacturing capabilities.
Posted January 10, 2006 Comments(0) Primera Technology, Inc., the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of CD/DVD duplication and printing equipment, today announced its new TuffCoat with AquaGuard surface by Imation water-resistant media.
Posted January 10, 2006 Comments(0) Ritek and CMC Magnetics exhibited Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD-DVD discs at the recent 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the US, with each company planning to start volume production of the discs next quarter at the earliest.
Posted January 9, 2006 Comments(0) The Blu-ray Disc Association finally approved all specs for the 25GB single layer and the 50gb dual layer discs. Now the next generation DVD format is complete and the licensing can begin BD-ROM, BD-RE and BD-R media. Also a list of first films to be released on Blu-ray have been announced.
