Aiming to crack down on counterfeit software, Microsoft plans later this year to require customers to verify that their copy of Windows is genuine before downloading security patches and other add-ons to the operating system.

Cable and satellite television providers will step up deployment of multiroom DVR (DVD Recorder) solutions starting in 2005 such that the number of units will exceed 25 million in 2009, according to research company Parks Associates.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) have launched two LightScribe 16x DVD Dual DL (single-sided double-layer) burner models, the Pavilion W1268tw and the Pavilion W1266tw.

Samsung Electronics announced that it has begun mass producing 256Mb XDR (eXtreme Data Rate) DRAM, a next-generation memory for multimedia applications. The new memory targets applications that require the ability to process high-quality video, such as the latest game consoles, digital TVs, servers and workstations.

The net search giant Google has launched a search service that lets people look for TV programmes. The service, Google Video beta, searches closed caption information that comes with programmes. It only searches US channel content currently.

Lite-on today announced what it claims is the fastest DVD rewriter yet. The SOHW-1673S internal drive provides 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW rewriting speeds, the company said. The drive also handled DVD-R and DVD+R at 16x, and dual-layer DVD+R at 4x, Lite-on added.

Sonopress LLC, a world leader in media services and turnkey production operations, announced that is has been named a contributing member of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA)

The US Government has again asked Pakistan’s economic minister Ashraf Hayat, to take effective action against eight illegal CD and DVD plants run by some influential businessmen in Karachi, which are involved in infringement of intellectual property rights.

Sony announced it has launched Sound Forge 8 Professional Audio Editing Software, the latest version of its award-winning professional digital audio editing product.

A virtual keyboard which uses a 3D camera and a laser to project light onto a desktop has finally hit the shops.

Whether we speak of SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative), CSS (Content Scrambling System) or SunnComm's MediaMax, the history of copy-protection technology is filled with a series of embarrassing setbacks. So much to the point when a typical file-trader is presented with the news that Macrovision has implemented a new copy-protection technology, the event is usually met with cynicism.

DVD players produced by China-based makers unwilling to pay royalties to Philips Electronics, have found their way into the Taiwan market as “white box” (unbranded) units after having been blocked from export to the EU and US, according to the local retail channels. The illicit units are currently being sold at extremely low retail prices of around NT$1,499-1,699 (£25-£28), according to local retail channels.

Sony missed out on potential sales from MP3 players and other gadgets because it was overly proprietary about music and entertainment content, the head of Sony Corp.'s video-game unit has acknowledged.

As we predicted a couple of weeks ago, Plextor have announced a firmware upgrade for their PX-716 series of burners. The new software boosts recording speeds to state-of-the-art 6X DVD+R Double-Layer (DL) and 6X DVD-R Dual-Layer (DL).

Press Release: Next Generation Home Products have announced the newest version of their award-winning Remote "Long Ranger" Xtender.

Sony have presented a new model of their succesfull Memory Stick Pro series, capable of storing up to 4GB of data.

Peripherals vendor LaCie will next month ship a DVD writer that can label disks after recording data on them. The drive can burn text and graphics onto the top surface of the media using the same laser employed to write data, thus eliminating the need for a separate label printer, according to LaCie.

Sony has filed a patent application which describes several methods for using wireless connections in portable game machines. The methods described could very well be used with the PlayStation Portable (PSP) gaming device in the future.

According to the Taipei times. Ritek the second largest optical disc maker in the world has just funded the purchasing of Raw materials by selling bonds convertible to shares.

CMC Magnetics and Ritek, the top two producers of optical discs in Taiwan, may observe a reduction in total value of assets as a result of the enforcement of new accounting and financial reporting criteria on January 1, 2005, according to local stock market analysts in Taiwan.