Topic: News

When the first CDs rolled off the presses at the Philips factory near Hannover, Germany on August 17, 1982, nobody realized these newfangled compact discs would revolutionise entertainment.

Internet service providers in the UK are reportedly upset that the BBC's new iPlayer is hogging too much bandwidth. The iPlayer, which the BBC launched in beta last month, will have a full rollout in the fall. The on-demand service allows viewers to download BBC content for free within the UK.

New data released Tuesday by Home Media Research provides a first look at actual disc sales numbers for the first half of 2007, and it's more good news for Blu-ray.

As expected, Sony is selling exclusive models of its LCD televisions through US discount retailer Target right now.

Sony Electronics launched its largest integrated marketing campaign in the U.S., centering on its high definition DNA known as "HDNA."

For the first time ever, four summer films have broken the $300 million barrier at the domestic box office: "Spider-Man 3" ($336.4 million), "Shrek the Third" ($321 million), "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" ($307.6 million) and "Transformers" ($303.7 million), according to Rentrak.

Consumers still prefer watching TV shows and movies on DVD or the TV to watching movies online via streaming or downloading, according to a study by industry trade group DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

Crackers have worked out a way of saving streamed movies from the Netflix service. The move basically kills off Microsoft’s copy protection technology designed to prevent people from saving the content.

Onkyo, a Japan-based maker of consumer electronics including home theaters and audio playback devices, will launch the DV-HD805, its first HD DVD player model, in the fall of this year at a recommended retail price of US$899, according to an August 9 press release by its US subsidiary Onkyo USA.

South London is a known hotspot for the piracy trade, with illegal DVDs on sale in shopping centres, pubs, restaurants and even on the streets.

International brands of optical discs in the Japan market, including TDK, Imation and Verbatim, plan to ask Japanese authorities to ban the import of blank DVD+R/-R discs that pirate their M-Codes.

Sony has announced the coming availability of two new DVD recorders to its current linepup. The RDR-GXD455 (DVD Recorder Only) and the RDR-VXD655 (DVD Recorder/VCR Combo), both have built-in ATSC digital tuners to prepare for the coming turnover to digital-only over-the-air television broadcasting.

Google says it will implement an automated filtering system this autumn that will stop music videos and other copyrighted material from finding their way onto its YouTube site without permission. But for the work of identifying allegedly infringing material is done by humans.

Ritek, the Taiwan-based maker of optical discs, has secured certification for blank 2x HD DVD-R (recordable, write once) discs. The company had already achieved certification for its 1x HD DVD-R and 1x HD DVD-RW (rewritable) discs in May this year

Children in Europe are aware of the risks of illegal downloading, but often rationalize their act by saying that everyone -- including their parents -- is doing it, according to a major European Commission survey.

OPPO Digital have announced the DV-980H universal DVD player, the world’s first to offer 7.1-channel audio output and 1080p video up-conversion in a DVD player.

The movie rental chain Blockbuster is moving into online video streaming by purchasing Movielink, a Californian internet download service which offers more than 3,000 titles.

Microsoft is set to roll out HDMI on their high end Xbox 360 consoles. The move comes as the Company struggles to hold onto the hard core gamers and video enthusiasts who appear to be deserting the platform for the PS3 with Blu ray.

Warner Home Video has said that the Spartan war movie 300 is the fastest (and best) selling High-Definition disc to date.