Now it’s easier than ever to produce multiple disc copies without a PC or human intervention – thanks to the StorDigital DupeBox

Do you have occasions where you need to make a few quick copies of a project but don’t have the time to run them through your computer or on a manual tower, and don’t have the budget for the larger robotic duplicators? The StorDigital DupeBoxâ„¢ is the perfect solution. With a small manageable footprint not much larger than a shoe box, the DupeBox fits in any office or cubicle and works unattended to make up to 25 copies per run. Plus at an incredibly low price point, the DupeBox suits nearly any budget. With 25 disc capacity and 1 recording drive, the DupeBox gives you the ability to work on other matters with the confidence that your project will be duplicated quickly and reliably without breaking the bank.

With StorDigital DupeBox, automated disc duplication is available to everyone. Featuring the bestselling StorDigital enhanced duplication controller, the DupeBox is the perfect compliment for todays busy video production agency or digital office space. With its small footprint, quiet operation and ease of use you will soon discover how useful the DupeBox can be. Perfect for producing and distributing all manner of digital content from videos to corporate presentations. DupeBox is just like having a new employee who never complains about having to copy the DVDs!

Nic Ranshaw (MD of CD-writer.com and CEO of StorDigital Systems) said: “The DupeBox is simply an evolution of our existing product range. We have always strived to offer our customers the perfect balance between professional quality products and a best possible price. With the new DupeBox I consider we are really managing to achieve what other manufacturers might consider impossible.”

He added, “StorDigital duplicators are designed and engineered by the best team in the business. We are always looking at the potential of new products and markets and there’s always going to be something round the corner that will set the market alight”.

The StorDigital DupeBox is available to buy now from CD-writer.com Ltd and StorDigital Systems on 0208 293 0777. Call now to register for your reseller account and start selling the UKs favourite range of CD, DVD and Blu-Ray Duplicators.

Retail customers can get more information and buy online at http://www.cd-writer.com/dupebox.html

Sony’s next generation Blu-ray player is now in stores. The BDP-S350 is the first new Blu-ray player since the fall of HD DVD. Its main features are:
- BD-Live (and thus Ethernet) and USB (for external) storage
- PiP (BonusView)
- TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus
- AVCHD and xvYCC color support
- 1080 60/24p

It is now available for about $400 at Sony Style retail outlets, sonystyle.com and other authorized Sony retailers.

The S350 will hit for $400 this summer, while the S550 will run you $500 this fall.

More details on EMediaLive.com.

At the inauguration ceremony “AXIOM GOES BLU” on 18 July 2008, the Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. George Yeo, was the Guest-of-Honor and along with Mr. Bernhard Goh, Managing Director of Axiom (AXIOM) they took the opportunity to praise Blu-ray technology and its advantages in the S.E.A. region.

Mr. Goh stated: “We are proud to be the pioneers for Blu-ray in our region, and will certainly promote this competitive advantage. Each adopter of this new technology will further nudge the optical business towards the 3rd generation formats and HDTV. The decision to buy a production system from SINGULUS is the right insurance for us to achieve this target.”

“With this first step, we are helping to develop the Southeast Asian Blu-ray market, and in particular to set the course for future SINGULUS business activities,” added Ms. Sylvia Hitzel, Vice-President Sales and Marketing at SINGULUS.

View full press release here.

DreamStream announced today that they have developed a media encryption and distribution system that is poised to eliminate digital piracy.

“We are very excited about our breakthrough technology. For the first time, digital content can be distributed without fear of piracy. This is a tremendous step for copyright and licensing security,” said Ulf Diebel, CDO of DreamStream.

DreamStream’s media system is based on their 2048-bit encryption algorithm, which has never been compromised by hackers or online pirates.

“Our security is unparalleled,” said Diebel. “We offer military strength encryption in a system that is commercially viable for music and video companies.”

Annually, digital piracy costs the entertainment industry billons of dollars in damages, according to the International Federation of Phonographic Industry’s Digital Music Report for 2008. The IFPI report also notes that the ratio of illegally to legally downloaded music tracks is 20 to one.

“Piracy has had a chokehold on the entertainment industry. Now that can change. DreamStream can restore property rights to their owners and restore the commercial success of music and video recordings with a solution that benefits both producers and consumers,” said Chris Franke, media accounts coordinator of DreamStream.

In recent years, current media distribution systems, such as Apple’s iTunes, have continually fallen prey to online piracy. DreamStream claims to have the solution to this dilemma.

“The existing systems are broken,” said Franke. “If studios and artists want to confront the problem of piracy they must embrace a comprehensive restructuring of their distribution methods.”

DreamStream’s media encryption system differs from existing products and services in several ways. Most noteworthy, DreamStream’s system operates via online streaming and not file downloads. As such, purchased content cannot be stored on users’ hard disks, which eliminates the possibility of copying or redistributing the digital files.

Music files streamed with DreamStream’s system are able to play up to a full 320 KBps, which provides nearly professional quality audio. Programs such as iTunes operate at only 96 KBps. Video files can also be offered at a similarly higher quality than is currently being offered by DreamStream’s competitors.

The DreamStream system is able to transmit media files at such higher qualities because the content does not have to be downloaded.

Unique to DreamStream’s technology is the instant availability of the digital content offered. While most media systems require download or processing delays, DreamStream’s system is able to offer its users instant access to digital content.

DreamStream’s system also features encryption that greatly exceeds current standards. While existing online media distribution systems are typically secured using only a 128-bit encryption. DreamStream touts a full 20 round, 2048-bit encryption, which is the strongest in the industry.

“To win the war on piracy, the industry needs DreamStream’s military grade capabilities,” said Franke.

DreamStream’s media encryption system is one of the many uses for the company’s technology. DreamStream’s 2048-bit encryption can be imbedded into any online or computer-based system. For more information on DreamStream, visit http://www.dreamstream.info.

MCE Technologies has introduced its 6X Blu-ray Recordable Drive for Macs. It’s natively compatible with Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later and works inside the Mac Pro and Power Mac. It’s priced starting at $499.

While Macs can support Blu-ray Disc drives as data drives, the Mac doesn’t yet ship with a Blu-ray Disc drive option — “SuperDrives” capable of burning DVDs are still standard issue on Apple’s pro models. Blu-ray Disc is a High Definition (HD) optical drive standard that can store much more data per disc — up to 50GB on dual-layer BD-R media.

The drive can record data to Blu-ray, DVd and CD media directly from the Finder without needing additional software. If you want to burn Blu-ray movies, you’ll need Roxio’s Toast 9 Titanium and HD/BD Plug-in, which MCE bundles for an extra $100. MCE also provides software to enable Boot Camp-equipped Mac Pros also running Windows XP or later to play back Blu-ray and HD DVD movies (movie playback is not currently supported on the Mac).

At 6X, the drive can burn single-layer BD-R media at 27MB/sec. It burns dual-layer BD-R media at 4x (18MB/sec), and BD-RE discs at 2X (9MB/sec). It’s also capable of recording DVD±R media at up to 16X (22MB/sec), DVD±R DL at 4X, DVD+RW and 8X, DVD-RW at up to 6X, DVD-RAM at 5X, CD-R at up to 40X (6MB/sec) and CD-RW at up to 24X.

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to experience Walt Disney’s 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Disc, which will debut in September. My daughters, on the other hand have moved into the Hannah Montana/Jonas Brothers stage of life, and are waiting eagerly for the Best of Both Worlds 3D concert film to debut from Disney in August. I’ve written so much about the manufacturing of Blu-ray, but really, up to now, had taken very little time to think about actually authoring these discs, and whether or not the challenges are extreme for studios making the transition from high-end DVD authoring.

 http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13855

Customers at CD-writer.com can benefit from a great special offer on Primera Bravo Pro Disc publishers until 31st July 2008. With the registration of every new publisher ordered, customers will get a £100 CASH BACK rebate from Primera. So now using a Primera Bravo Disc publisher Pro bought from CD-writer.com, not only saves your time, but it also saves your money.

See the £100 CASH BACK offer on the Bravo Pro Publisher here.

~ StorDigital’s LightScribe duplicators offer easy disc burning & labelling ~

New from StorDigital the LightScribe duplicator supports silkscreen-quality disc label printing direct from a DVD and CD duplication tower.

Burning and printing large volumes of discs has never been easier, thanks to a new range of DVD and CD duplication towers from StorDigital. The new standalone LightScribe duplicators are available in configuration from 1 to 15 targets and allow users to burn and label their discs in a traditional-style standalone tower copier. This is the perfect solution for any company or individual who wants to make the best impression with their disc.

StorDigital LightScribe duplicators feature patented HP LightScribe disc labeling technology. By utilising a special disc, LightScribe duplicator operators are able to burn their discs, then flip them and then burn a label or image on to the top of the disc. By offering duplicators featuring this enhanced functionality StorDigital Systems are revolutionising the traditional in-house production process.

Nic Ranshaw (MD of CD-writer.com and CEO of StorDigital Systems) had this to say: “The introduction of our LightScribe duplicators really does represent a turning point in the way people approach disc publishing. Traditionally if a tower duplicator customer wished to produce a disc that is both copied and labeled they would have to purchase a separate printer. We have transformed the process, making production simpler and reducing expenditure.“

He added, “We don’t consider that the LightScribe system is perfect for everybody. It won’t replace our automated inkjet printers, but having a tower duplicator that can also label your discs is a strong selling point”.

StorDigital LightScribe duplicators featuring HP LightScribe technology are available now from CD-writer.com Ltd and StorDigital Systems on 0208 293 0777. To register for a CD-writer.com trade account log on to http://reseller.cd-writer.com.

Retail customers can get more information and buy online at www.cd-writer.com.

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Osaka, Japan (June 18, 2008) — Panasonic, the leading brand by which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, announced today that it has developed the world’s first Write-Once Blu-ray Discs(BD-R) with 6X writing speed*. The new discs will be available in Japan with both 25GB and 50GB capacities in July.

Panasonic, which introduced the world’s first dual-layer 1X BD-RE Blu-ray Disc in 2004**, 2X BD-R/RE Discs in 2006, and 4X BD-R Disc in 2007, is now launching the world’s first 6X BD-R to meet consumer demand to write and read large amounts of data at a higher speed. The new 6X discs have a maximum data transfer speed of 216Mbps, which is 20% faster than that of 16X DVD-R discs. This transfer speed, along with the discs’ high capacity, allows consumers to use these discs for a variety of applications such as storing High Definition video or backing up PC data.

The new discs have a wide power margin at any writing speeds from 1X to 6X. This enables high-quality recording, even if the drive’s laser power fluctuates, resulting in greater overall drive compatibility.

Panasonic’s adoption of newly-developed disc technology produces extremely level and well-balanced discs with highly precise signal grooves. This improves servo characteristics and enables the laser beam to focus to the right position even when the disc is rotating with 6X high speed, thus providing optimum reading and writing performance.

Blu-ray disc drives compatible with 6X write-once Blu-ray discs are planned to be commercialized in Japan by the end of September 2008.

*As of June 18, 2008, as 6x recordable Blu-ray disc
**The capacity of Blu-ray discs is expressed in units of 1GB=1 billion bytes, but the capacity is slightly below that after formatting, so that the actual amount area that can be used will be less.
***Introduced in Japanese market only

To find out more about the product, visit Panasonic website at http://panasonic.net/

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Taipei, Taiwan—June 20, 2008—CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), innovative solutions provider for the connected digital lifestyle, announced today that PowerDVD receives certification by DTS for the support of DTS-HD Master Audio technology.

The combination of CyberLink PowerDVD and DTS’s latest technology enables the ultimate entertainment experience when playing high-definition content and Blu-ray discs movies on PCs. DTS-HD Master Audio allows bit-for-bit reproduction of the original studio master soundtrack and supports up to 7.1-channel output, for a lifelike audio performance.

“We are pleased to work with DTS in enabling superior high definition video and audio experience on PCs,” said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. “PowerDVD users can now enjoy lossless compression audio quality when watching their latest high definition Blu-ray discs.”
CyberLink PowerDVD’s main features include:

• Playback of Blu-ray Disc and high-definition videos;
• Optimized performance for playing high-definition video content through graphics cards featuring NVIDIA PureVideo, ATI Avivo, and Intel Clear Video chipsets;
• Support for next-generation disc features like Picture-in-Picture movie mode, networking, interactive BD-J, bookmarks, and advanced disc navigation.

CyberLink PowerDVD featuring DTS-HD Master Audio support will be available as an upgrade to existing users in in July 2008. An HDMI 1.3a-enabled audio system is necessary to enjoy the high-definition DTS-HD Master Audio.

For more information about CyberLink’s high-definition solutions, please visit www.cyberlink.com