Press Release: ASUS have introduced the DRW-0804P, which they claim is the world’s only DVD ReWriter supporting both 8X DVD-Write and 8X DVD+Write. The DRW-0804P also enables 4 X DVD-ReWrite, 4 X DVD+ReWrite, 12X DVD-ROM, 24X CD-Write, 24X CD-ReWrite and 40X CD-ROM to provide flexibility and high-speed operation.

According to the German website Heise Online, Philips 16x burner, the DVDRW885K, is going to be released in April. BenQ, Philips’ optical storage joint venture partner, has also announced that it plans to release its first double layer burner, the DW830A, in April so the earlier date makes sense.

The European Commission approved a joint venture involving the optical-disk drive divisions of Japan's Toshiba and Korea's Samsung Electronics to produce CD-ROM and DVD-ROM units.

The venerable MP3 music format, the technology most widely associated with unrestricted file swapping, is getting a makeover aimed at blocking unauthorised copying. Digital rights management (DRM) features will be added to the music format in a bid to block illegal copying.

In a closely watched case concerning a DVD-cracking tool that has been distributed over the Internet, a California appeals court has reversed a 4-year-old order banning the publication of the computer code that can be used to copy DVDs.

Taiwan's producers of blank DVD-R/+R discs are expected to face continued price drops this year due to the expansion of global production capacity. However, major manufacturers in Taiwan are striving to maintain their profitability by raising yield rates, upgrading products, and securing certification from OEM clients.

Thanks to our resident DVD expert Flash, we have a new review which outlines all the handy functionality of the new patched firmware for the Pioneer 107 and provides download links.

Sony has released a new firmware update for the DRU-530A drive that increases read and write performance and adds 8x DVD-R recording speeds and 4x DVD-RW media recording speeds.

The DVD Forum has approved a standard for next-generation rewritable DVD discs with four times the current capacity. The rewritable HD-DVD (High Definition and High Density-DVD) format was approved as the DVD Forum kicked off its general meeting in Tokyo this week.

Sony has signed agreements with several major Taiwanese producers of optical discs fixing royalty charges of 1.5%-3.5% for DVD-R/+R discs, according to some of the Taiwanese makers concerned.

I have just seen on eBay someone cashing in on the 8x for all firmware for the Pioneer DVR-107 by offering CDs with the otherwise freely available hacked firmware burnt on to them for the less reasonably priced £1.50 a disc. This firmware was produced by >NIL: for everyone to use free of charge. I was deeply involved in its development and it was done not for financial gain. Finding it offered for sale on EBay disgusts me: to think that all this effort has enabled someone else to cash in on it.

This firmware is offered free to the end user and is freely available from this site and the sites associated with the firmware forum and will remain FREE. Anyone thinking of purchasing such firmware should put their money elsewhere. The firmware for sale is the same that is available on this site and can be downloaded free of charge.

FLASH

Pioneer's technical support website carries some details of two new A07 drives - the DVR-A07XLA and the DVR-A07XLB - which will be avilable from the second week in March. It would seem the two new models will have new designs, new firmware and new software. Watch this space.

Our resident DVD guru Flash has contacted us about our report of Pioneer releasing a utility that allows users to use different noise settings for their DVR-A07-J. The drive now allows three modes of operation: quiet, performance and standard. He wanted us to know that this utility does not work with the current pioneer 107 - it only works with the retail box pioneers that are to be released next month. So now we know and so do you.

In the run up to this year's Academy Awards on Feb. 29, Thomson has revealed it's collaboration with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to embed traceable, individually-watermarked technologies. The technologies were used in advance copies of nominated films distributed to the Academy members late last year.

The maker of DVD-duplication software found to violate copyright law is pledging to keep selling it -- but without a built-in tool for descrambling movies. For the popular DVD Copy Plus and DVD X Copy programs to successfully make copies of DVDs, users will need to obtain a descrambler available on the Internet, said Robert Moore, founder and president of 321 Studios.

Pioneer have released a utility that allows users to use different noise settings for their DVR-A07-J. The drive now allows three modes of operation: quiet, performance and standard. This is useful for those who are annoyed by the spinning up noise the drive makes when watching movies.

Lite-On IT, one of the top producers of optical disc drives in Taiwan, recently announced the LVW-5005, claimed by the company to be the world's first set-top DVD recorder model capable of writing CD-R/RW discs.

Press release: DivXNetworks, the company behind the DivX video compression technology, and Plextor have announced a partnership to enable consumers to easily encode and edit high-quality video content. The two companies also announced that the Plextor ConvertX Digital Video Converter is the first official DivX Certified hardware encoding and editing device to hit the market.

Both Netherlands-based Philips Semiconductors and Taiwan-based MediaTek expect to begin offering solutions for dual-layer DVD+R technology in the second quarter of this year at the earliest, according to sources.

Ritek, Taiwan’s second-largest optical disc producer, on February 19 introduced its RiDATA Pro CF, the first 4GB CompactFlash (CF) card in the world, following SanDisk’s recent launch of a 2GB CF card.