Researchers have observed a new type of liquid crystal - long theorised, but not observed until now - that promises faster and cheaper liquid crystal displays.

Video Island, a UK online DVD rental service, has raised £6m in a funding round to expand it's business. The firm, which launched in September 2003, said it would use the money to expand its business in the UK, its sole market.

RealNetworks has finally got its hands on a movie service to show-piece its own video player alongside its market leading Rhapsody online music service. It has done it in a deal with Starz Encore, the cable TV film supplier, which was cut two years ago, but which is finally going ahead after what appear to be legal delays.

A new site called Peerflix.com seeks to blend two trends: online DVD rental sites like Netflix and music-file-sharing services like Kazaa.

The DVD Forum has approved the first version of its next-generation High Definition DVD (HD-DVD) specification. The organisation, which controls the DVD format, has also approved the mandatory use of the Apple-favoured AAC for audio tracks stored in the DVD-ROM partition of future DVD Audio discs.

Ritek will begin volume production of DVD+R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs later this month, said CEO Gordon Yeh at the company's 2004 shareholders meeting.

Digital radio broadcasts that bring CD-quality sound to the airwaves could lead to unfettered song copying if protections are not put in place, a recording-industry trade have warned.

One in three hard drives returned to Seagate for repair is "actually in perfect working order", says Guy Weavers, director of EMEA field applications engineering at Seagate. So customers are wrongly blaming the drive when their PC breaks down. This means that they lose data, time and maybe money, by sending it back to the Seagate factory. Time and money is lost down the line by Seagate resellers too.

The DVD Forum is meeting in Seattle this week with one of its goals being the approval of the first commercial version of the HD-DVD blue-laser based disc format aimed at high-definition television and movies.

BenQ will become the first Taiwan company to deliver 16x DVD burners this week, according to the company which expects to ship 40,000-50,000 16x DVD burners this month, accounting for 30% of its optical disc drive sales. 16x DVD burners will start moving toward the DVD drive mainstream beginning next month, replacing 8x models, the company indicated.

A new website has been launched which aims to calrify the murky area of the European Union legislation as regards copyright and how that legislation is implemented amongst the European member states.

Detectives think they've broken one of the biggest DVD counterfeiting rings in the country with the latest raid in the North East . Three people were arrested as they left a car boot sale at Seaham in County Durham at the weekend. They had five thousand pounds in cash on them. The police say more people will be arrested soon.

Press Release: Sony is taking the wraps off of a new Dual RW DVD burner that can write to DVD+R discs at speeds up to 12X on certified 8X DVD+R media, allowing for a full write-once disc to be recorded in approximately six minutes.

The DVD+RW Alliance has held a technological symposium in Taipei aimed at explaining its patent licensing and product certification process for 16x DVD+R, 8x DVD+RW and 8x DVD DL (single-sided double-layer) drives/burners and discs, as well as introducing its anti-piracy technology, Vidi.

Apple may be sceptical of the demand for an iPod that can play video as well as music, but many of Taiwan's hardware developers appear to disagree. While Computex wasn't awash with portable video players this year, there were plenty on display from manufacturers keenly seeking deals with vendors to sell them under their own name ready for 2005.

Manufacturers of DVD burners have been showing off their latest wares at Computex 2004 in Taipei, Taiwan. New offerings include 16x DVD±R drives from Asus and BenQ. We have a review rounding up all the offerings with some sneak preview images too here.

Sony Electronics plans to unveil a new digital projection system for movie theaters, using a microchip it says will advance the industry and threaten rival Texas Instrument's market-leading product.

The trickle of drives and media supporting new dual-layer DVD formats looks set to turn into a flood in the coming months as Taiwan's major drive and disc manufacturers prepare to start mass production.

A French company has developed a disposable DVD, or DVD-D, which self-destructs after a few hours. Like the classic DVD, DVD-D is made of polycarbonate, but it contains an extra layer of coating that reacts to an oxidisation process which begins as soon as the disc is exposed to air. The self-destruct process can be pre-set to occur between eight and 24 hours.

Top optical disc manufacturers in Taiwan, including CMC Magnetics, Ritek and Prodisc Technology, will be exhibiting 8.5GB single-sided double-layer (DL) DVD+R/-R discs at Computex 2004, taking place from June 1-5 in Taipei.