Imation, a worldwide leader in removable data storage media, will feature its complete portfolio of optical storage solutions during COMDEX. New offerings feature the latest speeds in recordable optical media, including 4X DVD+R media, 4-16X High-Speed and 8-24X Ultra-Speed CD-RW media, as well as the Imation FlashGO!(TM) 2.0 device -- the latest in flash/memory card reader/writers.

Kano Technologies, a new DVD+RW/R storage-solutions company, is introducing its first product at COMDEX on Monday. The K2EXTREME DVD+RW/R internal drive features award-winning NTI Backup NOW! Combo software, and is a complete solution for desktop backup and restore. Designed for system builders, it takes full advantage of the DVD+RW format and 4.7GB storage capacity. It can also record to CD media. A retail version of the drive will be available at a later date.

Ulead Systems, Inc., a leading developer of video editing, image editing and DVD creation software, today introduced Ulead(R) DVD MovieFactory(TM) 2.0, the latest version of one of the top selling consumer-level DVD creation software in the market. DVD MovieFactory 2.0 gives home and office users an affordable and easy-to-use tool for sharing high-quality videos and digital image slideshows on DVDs and CDs. The software's innovative DVD technology lets anyone easily and quickly transform videos and photos into polished DVDs while providing flexible editing and archiving options.

Nearly 100 executives from system, software and solution firms nodded in agreement at the RDVDC Independent Software Vendors (ISV) meeting today as they heard industry leaders explain that the demand for Forum-approved Recordable DVD products is being driven by the burgeoning home video market.

Ricoh Company, Ltd, a co-technology developer of the CD-RW and DVD+RW rewritable formats, announced its next generation DVD/CD writable drives and media products.

Deltron Technology E-mailed us to let us know of a new product they have just launched: the Cinema Disk portable digital MPEG 2 video player series. Cinema Disk is a revolutionary video storage product that offers high speed, high volume storage for MPEG 1/MPEG 2/JPEG/MP3 files and instant playback on TV/Projector through S-Video and Composite Video output.

Click here for Smart Media DVD-4032 (Superslim) review

Princo have provided us with a compatibility chart for their media. Princo manufacture the following brands of dvd media: Bulkpaq, Whitelabel, Datasafe Yellow.

We have compiled a list of DVD players and their compatibility rating with DVD-R discs. You should check this list for your brand and model of DVD player if you haven't played a DVD-R disc in your player before. The list is organized by manufacturer and model number. Use your browser's Find feature to search the page for your model.

Click here for the Princo Compatabilty Chart

Click here for the CyberHome CH-DVD 402 DVD Player review.

Datasafe Media Limited have sent us an email outlining their strategy for DVD media for the coming year. All new Datasafe branded DVD media will be manufactured by Ritek to a unique Datasafe Formulation. The new disc which is currently at the Beta test stage should be available for commercial release within the next 14 days (subject to beta tests being favourable).





Datasafe will still use Princo and Prodisc to manufacture media for them but this media will be marketed under their pan European brand “Datawrite”.





To mark the launch of the new Ritek based media, Datasafe have embarked on one of the most aggressive and outspoken marketing campaigns ever launched with a series of shocking adverts which makes no bones to the fact that they will increase market share by providing a high quality disc at the same price as other companies can provide a budget disc.





As of yet we have no idea on street price though it is rumoured to be up to half the price of comparable ritek manufactured products.





Click here for the new Datasafe ad (it is funny)





[ BTW: In our opinion Ritek is a good choice for Datasafe as they make some of the best budget disks. ]

Thanks to Flash we have found the latest Pioneer Firmware Hack. No more having to stick with v1.33 which often does not work with some brands of media, now you can go to any version you want, just download the version of firmware you want and replace the upgdvd.exe with the hacked version and then run the update as you would normally. Click here to go to our Firmware Download page.

WARNING: This has only been tested on a handful of drives, it has been confirmed to work, but you use it at your own risk. Also be advised that it can take several minutes to complete (20 minutes has been reported), so be patient.

Toast developer Roxio Inc. has announced its intent to acquire the assets of Napster, the now-defunct music sharing service. The deal is expected to close later this month.
It wasn't too long ago that information about Napster saturated newspapers, televisions and Web sites. The once high-flying service provided a way for computer users to share music -- often sharing commercial recordings of popular artists -- with impunity. The service's popularity raised the ire of some popular artists and their record labels, as well as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), resulting in lawsuits and court action that eventually lead to Napster's downfall. Napster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June of 2001.
Roxio is the developer of CD authoring software like Toast and Jam for the Macintosh and Easy CD Creator for the PC. The company was founded in September, 2000 as a wholly owned subsidiary of storage peripheral maker Adaptec Inc.
Under the terms of the agreement, Roxio acquires all of Napster's assets -- including its intellectual property, such as its technology patents -- but none of Napster's liabilities. Roxio has offered US$5 million in cash and 100,000 warrants to purchase Roxio common stock for the deal.
Roxio President and CEO Chris Gorog noted that
the acquisition will expand his company's "role in the digital media landscape," although he stopped short of outlining Roxio's specific plans for Napster's technology.
Roxio expects the deal to close following the approval of the Delaware bankruptcy court, which is expected to happen on November 27, 2002.

MEGAN Media Holdings Bhd is bracing itself for the deluge in orders for compact disc-recordables (CD-R) and digital versatile disc-recordables (DVD-R) worldwide by increasing its production capacity to 7.5 million pieces per month from 5.5 million pieces currently.

Heralding a major breakthrough in recordable DVD technology, TDK today announced the introduction of its Armor Plated DVD discs, premium quality recordable DVD media that incorporate next-generation hard-coating technologies to achieve unprecedented durability. Compared to standard blank media, the new TDK Armor Plated discs provide a remarkable 100 times greater resistance to damage from everyday use such as scratches, dirt, fingerprints and other contaminants.

Rich Martino, TDK Product Manager pointed out: “Once you’ve recorded a DVD, there’s nothing more frustrating than loading it, getting ready to enjoy a movie or do important work – and then it doesn’t play. Usually, it’s because the disc is damaged or dirty due to mishandling or excessive wear and tear. TDK Armor Plated discs are the solution for blank DVD users – they’re the most damage-resistant recordable DVD discs available, even more durable than pre-recorded DVD discs. In fact, in our lab testing we’ve even tried to scratch them with steel wool pads, and write on them with permanent ink markers – and the discs wouldn’t scratch, while the marker ink came right off.” Martino noted, “Although, this isn’t something a consumer would normally do, we conducted these tests to confirm the extreme durability of TDK Armor Plated discs, and verify that the media can withstand the conditions of everyday wear and tear.”

Martino concluded, “As DVD becomes a mainstream recording format for home and business applications, users want assurance that their irreplaceable family movies and critical data are safeguarded on media that provides the absolute highest degree of protection. TDK Armor Plated DVD discs give customers that assurance as never before.”

Armor Plated Technology for Unprecedented Durability
To achieve their unsurpassed durability, TDK Armor Plated discs incorporate next-generation hard-coating technologies for protection that is 100 times greater – literally orders of magnitude better – than any previously available recordable DVD media, as measured in rigorous laboratory testing. The Armor Plated coating guards against the scratches that can occur from day to day use, as discs are placed and removed from DVD players and drives and their storage cases.

In addition, the coating provides dirt resistance, making it easier to wipe off fingerprints, contaminants and even accidental food and beverage spills without damaging the disc. The Armor Plated coating is also anti-static, which repels dust accumulation. Because the TDK Armor Plated treatment protects the recording layer, it can prevent write/read errors, jitter or even dropouts in recording and playback. And thanks to TDK’s state-of-the-art, efficient manufacturing processes, TDK Armor Plated DVD discs carry only a small price premium compared to standard recordable DVD media.

The full line of TDK Armor Plated DVD discs will be available in the first quarter of 2003

ALi Corporation (formerly Acer Laboratories) has become the first company to ship a 20x DVD-ROM single chip, the M5721, taking the lead over competitors that are still shipping 16x products. ALi has also started shipping a small volume of CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive combo chipsets.

The company, however, was low key about its triumph, only saying the chips would help increase shipments next year. Industry sources said that ALi does not want to irritate rival Mediatek, which recently filed a lawsuit against VIA Technologies alleging US patent infringements.

The M5721 features 20x read speed and integrates a servo chip and RF amplifier, allowing DVD drive makers to add only external DRAM, flash ROM and a power controller, significantly reducing the circuit design complexity and cutting production costs.

ALi said shipments of its combo chipsets, supporting 48x and 24x CD-RW write and 16x DVD-ROM read speeds, are small, between 3,000 and 5,000 units a month. The company expects monthly shipments to grow to 30,000 and 50,000 units a month beginning at the end of the year. According to industry sources, Samsung Electronics is using ALi’s chipsets in its latest combo optical storage drives.

ALi said it has priced its chips and chipsets according to the market standard. It reiterated that it will not slash prices to be more competitive. Currently, 16x DVD-ROM chips cost US$7-8 and combo drive chipsets US$12-15.

Sony have made this statement as regards new firmware for the DRU500
This new firmware will allow your Dual RW drive to record at 4X on 4X compatible DVD+R media as well as improve the DVD-ROM reading performance with DVD recordable/rewritable media. We expect this firmware to be released on or before December 9th, 2002. Please check back on this site then to download and install the firmware. We anticipate that 4X compatible DVD+R media will be commercially available later in December.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2002--Addonics today announced the DVD DigiCopier -- a multi-interface DVD/CD duplicator that makes copying DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R and CDRW media as simple as counting to three.

Technology that renders optical media useless after a short lifespan will soon find its way into stores in the form of perishable DVDs. Retailers in the Southern United States will soon start giving a sample DVD to buyers of a CD (by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group).

This promotional DVD from Atlantic Records will work for only 8 hours. This promotion is aimed at finding if music fans would be interested in buying a package with both audio and video instead of just plain audio. A special dye sandwiched between the layers of the DVD will interact with air making it opaque and unreadable later. If this media catches on you may not have to return your DVD rentals in the future."

The DRU-500A and DRX-500UL DVD/CD rewritable drives are designed for best performance with discs produced by major disc manufacturers. In most cases, there is no problem as long as you use discs conform to various CD and DVD industry standard. However, some of discs on the market do not meet the recognized quality and performance standards. With the DRU-500A and DRX-500UL, we recommend the disc manufacturers and discs below. Further information about write errors, when writing data to the DVD-R of some of disc manufacturers, has been presented.

Thanks to our regular contributor Flash we have a new Panasonic DMR-HS2 review.