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.

DVD inquisitor Flash wanted us to know that "Datasafe You Have a Winner!!". Find out why by reading his Datasafe 8X DVD+R media review.

Sony has won Disney's support for its Blu-ray Disc (BD) hi-definition video optical format. Disney's home video operation, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, said it will ship "popular new releases and classic pictures" on BD when suitable "hardware launches in the North America and Japan". This is expected to take place in a year or so.

DVD guiding light Flash has posted in his review of the new hub printable from Datawrite. Find out why he "will definitely be adding them to my list of preferred media" here.

Amazon made its anticipated entry into renting DVDs over the Internet, launching a service in the United Kingdom that the world's largest retailer says will charge up to 30 percent less than its competitors.

Gordon Yeh, CEO of Taiwan’s second-largest optical-disc maker, Ritek, stated global demand for DVD+R/-R discs will grow to 3.8 billion discs in 2005, while supply may only rise to 3.6 billion discs, based on projections made by the Japanese research firm Fujiwara-Rothchild.

Pioneer has released a new firmware for the DVR-108 series. The new firmware release brings the drive up to version 1.18 from the previous 1.14 firmware. The firmware mainly increases the burning compatability for new 16x media and can be downloaded here.

An all-new type of media disc, which is to combine the DVD standard with an all-new high definition format, has been developed by Toshiba and Memory-Tech.

Britain leads its European neighbours in the number of remote controls cluttering up each household. A recent survey of 5,500 families in Germany, France, The Netherlands, Italy and the UK found that over half of UK homes have five or more remote controls in the house.

CMC Magnetics, the largest producer of blank optical discs in Taiwan, plans to raise its OEM quotation for CD-R discs from US$0.135 (7p) to US$0.14 (7.2p) in January 2005, with a further increase to US$0.15 (7.8p) in February, according to the company.

Volume production of FVD (forward versatile disc) players, Taiwan’s self-developed DVD standard, will begin early next year, according to the Opto-Electronics & Systems Laboratories (OES) under the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

Press Release: Interact-TV, a leading developer of home entertainment servers, has expanded its Telly Home Entertainment Server line by introducing the new TeraTelly model GS1250 with 1.2 Terabytes of digital media storage in a compact device ideal for any stereo cabinet or entertainment center.

The potential pirating of movies remains a major concern for Time Warner, and that's one reason the company is advocating the new HD-DVD platform, according to Chief Executive Richard Parsons.

By the second half of next year, 8x slim-type DVD burners should replace slim-type Combo drives as the mainstream optical disc drive (ODD) used in notebook PCs, according to leading Taiwan ODD makers.

Press Release: Disc Makers has introduced its newest line of Reflex duplicators, the ReflexMax1, ReflexMax4, ReflexMax7, and ReflexUltra. The towers are built with the latest 52x CD-R and 16x DVD±R/48x CD-R Plextor drives.