Topic: News

Netflix is synonymous with online DVD rental, but its pioneer status hasn't been much help in fending off ferocious competition Stateside. On worse than expected US figures, stock crashed by 35 per cent and the company said it's cutting fees and delaying its UK launch. All this despite turning in its best ever profit: $22.6m after adjustments, on revenue of $141.6m.

The Japanese will soon be able to download full-length, CD-quality songs to their cellphones under a cunning plan invented by Japan's second biggest phone outfits.

Microsoft have threatened severe penalties on for those who circulate a stolen copy of "Halo 2", the hotly anticipated Xbox game set to go on sale next month.

A report titled "The Market Prospects for DVD Recording" by an american research group called Understanding & Solutions has projected that sales of consumer DVD recorders will surpass DVD players in 2006. The study also indicated that devices using the DVD-RAM format currently make up the majority of sales of consumer DVD recorders -- a trend the RAM Promotion Group feels will continue into the future.

Ten major motion picture studios have sued a suspended Los Angeles police captain for alleged copyright infringement in her scheme selling pirated and counterfeit DVDs.

Geordies spend the most money in Britain on CDs and DVDs, new research has claimed. On average people in the Newcastle area spent £79 on music and films in the past three months, compared with the UK average of £47.

The British music industry has been granted a court order forcing internet service providers (ISPs) to reveal the names of illegal music swappers. ISPs have 14 days to hand over names and addresses of 28 alleged uploaders - those who make music available to share with others - to the BPI trade group.

Is Apple fine-tuning an enhanced iPod with roughly 50 percent more storage and a color screen to video? The Internet sites that follow Apple's coming product releases are buzzing with speculation that the iconic computer maker is preparing to unveil a 60-gigabyte iPod that would become its top-of-the-line offering.

JVC, has signed up to the Blu-ray format and joined the Blu-ray Disc Association. Although the public commitment to the next generation DVD standard is new, JVC has apparently been working behind the scenes with the association for some time. In fact it was one of the first Japanese companies to show a prototype Blu-ray Disc player in 2002.

Sony will next month ship what it claims is the world's first external DVD recorder that can also operate without a host computer.

Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates tomorrow will officially launch the latest version of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system, complete with extensions that play or record video, music and other media.

Kazaa, once a top nemesis of record companies and movie studios, appears to have lost its role as the world's most popular file-swapping software, network watchers have said.

Sony's PSX home media systems have experienced a major sales boost following heavy price cuts at the end of summer, with the hybrid DVD recorder and games console units topping the DVD recorder sales charts for the end of September.

Retail prices of 16x DVD DL (single-sided double-layer) burners last week dropped to NT$3,500 (£58) for some local brands in Taiwan, NT$3,700-3,900 (£61-£64) for Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) and Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) models and NT$4,000 (£66) for Pioneer and Sony units, according to sources in the local retail channel.

DVD legend Flash has been busy again - this time testing the latest Dual Layer (DL) media from Verbatim. Click to read his Verbatim Dual Layer media review.

Sony has once again reiterated its plan to ship PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Japan by the end of the year and in Europe and the US during Q1 2005.

The release of several affordable CD and DVD disc printers has resulted in a host of new printable discs coming to the market. Bulkpaq are the latest company to boost their range of printable media. The new Bulkpaq 4x DVD-R full face printable is due to be launched in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets next week. The disc is a direct replacement for the Bulkpaq 4x printable, which was reviewed here. Bulkpaq have also launched a 4 speed +R printable.

Several major European brands are preparing for the launch of 16x DVD media. Releases of DVD+Rs, capable of recording data at 21 MByte/s, are planned within a few weeks.

The DVD officionados over at disQworld - the webs biggest and busiest DVD forums website - have been running the rule over the new 8x printable surface discs from volume producer Bulkpaq. You can read their comments in our Bulkpaq 8x Printable review.

DVD Burning Guru Flash has posted in his latest review which looks at the new Datawrite Classic 8x Speed DVD+R. He seems impressed, concluding "This is another great classic disc from Datawrite who seem to be going from strength to strength with their superb quality media that is compatible over a wide range of DVD writers". Click to read the full Datawrite Classic 8x DVD+R review.