GARDEN CITY, NY, November 6, 2002 – In a move that expands the company’s leadership position in digital recording and playback solutions, TDK today introduced its first-ever Indi DVD writers – a versatile multi-DVD format burner, and a single format 4x +R unit. The industry’s first DVD burner capable of 4x writing for the +R format and 2x for -R, the new MultiFormat Indi DVD (Model AID+040212N) internal DVD writer is designed to give PC users the broadest range of flexibility in creative video/audio applications, including the ability to create, edit and share customized DVDs and CDs using video, still digital images, music and data, regardless of format. Additionally, the single format Indi DVD (Model AID+420N) offers home moviemakers the fastest burner on the market today, capable of 4x DVD+R burning – the most compatible format for today’s stand-alone DVD players.

Datawrite is the first budget brand to launch a 4x disc (the 4x disc is based on a Ritek dye) will be available for commercial sale on the 20th November - this incidentally is also the release date for the new Pioneer 105.

For a picture of the new disc please click here. Datawrite also mentioned to us that they are looking for European resellers for this new disc.

If you are a reseller and would like to stock this disc please send them an E-mail at: eurotrade@datawrite.co.uk

It seems Sony have released a new firmware update for troubled dual format DVD writer (Sony DRU-500A). Firmware 1.0d will improve read and write speed on DRU-500A. It will also provides enhanced writing compatibility with DVD recordable / rewritable media. Click [read more] for more details and instructions.

To go to our firmware download page click here.

With today's announcement of 4x-speed DataLifePlus(R) 4.7GB DVD+R media, Verbatim(R) Corporation becomes the first media manufacturer to offer DVD+R that supports 1x, 2.4x and 4x write speeds. At 4x speed (44 megabits per second or about 36x CD-R performance), a 4.7GB DVD+R disc can be filled to capacity in about 15 minutes. Verbatim has already provided its new media to major drive manufacturers and will coordinate media shipping with the arrival of the first drives that support the new 4x DVD+R speeds. The drives are expected to be available in December.Recognized worldwide for its research and development strength, Verbatim has an unmatched history of being first with the industry's fastest optical media while maintaining its reputation for providing the highest levels of reliability and durability. The key component in achieving 4x speed DVD+R media is DYN-AZO technology, a proprietary recording layer technology developed by Verbatim's parent company, Mitsubishi(R) Chemical Corporation (MCC). By using the proven dye technology incorporated in its 2.4x DVD+R media as the platform for the new, more sensitive DYN AZO technology, Verbatim engineers not only achieved 4x +R write speed, they ensured that the new media will sustain 1x and 2.4x recording compatibility.Verbatim works directly with leading drive manufacturers to co-develop next-generation DVD+R/+RW solutions," said Tim Clatterbuck, Verbatim's director of optical storage marketing. "These co-development efforts and MCC's extensive R&D capabilities have helped Verbatim strengthen its reputation for being first with new disc technologies. Our customers benefit because we've already provided 4x +R drive manufacturers with Verbatim 4x +R media for testing and certification.For consumers, the 4x write speed means they can save a tremendous amount of time because they'll be cutting their recording time substantially. Consumers will also benefit from the broad compatibility of the DVD+R format. Data and video recorded to Verbatim DVD+R discs can be read by the vast majority of DVD set top players and computer DVD-ROM drives in use today.Broad compatibility, a low storage cost and high-speed recording make the discs ideal for sharing computer data, home videos, photos, and music. With write-once security, Gigabytes of capacity, and a 100-year data life, Verbatim DVD+R media is also an excellent storage solution for data backups and archiving of personal memories.The demand for DVD media is being driven by increased sales of recordable drives. Research firm IDC projects that worldwide DVD media sales will climb from 50 million discs in 2002 to nearly 150 million in 2004. Since making its debut last February, DVD+R continues to claim a growing share of the DVD media market. With the availability of 4x DVD+R media, that share is expected to increase even faster.
Verbatim and its parent company, Mitsubishi(R) Chemical Company, are original members of the DVD+RW Alliance that developed the DVD+RW format. Verbatim was the first to offer ReWriteable and Write-Once media for the DVD+RW and DVD+R formats."

New portable computers add more power, lower prices and the first PowerBook with DVD burning capabilities. Apple Computer on Wednesday updated its entire portable line, most notably adding its first PowerBook capable of burning DVDs.

"The company has decided to release a drive with the currently two fighting formats, DVD+RW and DVD-RW, and is competing with the latest drives from Sony and NEC, who also offer both formats, but still at a much higher price. Also the current experiences with Lite-On CD-RW drives make this upcoming DVD recorder probably one of the most anticipated drives of 2003.

"To confirm, the DVDRW product we will have, will support both +/- formats and we hope to introduce a 4x speed DVDRW below $200 USD" according to the Marketing Manager of Lite-On USA."

! Posted Wednesday, 6 November, 2002 by kila_m

If you'r having problems with your new Sony DRU 500A DVD writer you might want to download the new updated 5.5.9.17 version of Nero.

DJsmiley has done a review of the Sony DRU500 Dual format Dvd writer, To read the review click Here

Several retailers who have been taking pre orders for the Sony DRU500 have delayed shipping. One major UK retailer who contacted us is considering not selling the drive. This unprecedented move is a direct consequence of incompatibility issues with the new writer. Oh well looks like I will be getting a Pioneer 105 for Christmas J

Related stories
Dual Format Writer Incompatibily Causes DVD Media Price Reductions


Verbatim Media Not Compatible with DRU-500

Retailers worried about the compatibility of their current stocks of DVD media (-R and +R) with the new range of writers (which are being released in the run up to christmas) have slashed prices in an attempt to reduce stock holdings of blank DVD media. We reported earlier in the week that Verbatim had done a recall on DVD media as it was incompatible with the new Sony DRU-500 DVD writer. An industry insider tells us that the Nec MultiSpin ND-1100A dual format drive ( which is based on the same technology as the Sony drive ) has similar issues and many well known brands of media are incompatible with the drive.

Pioneer have also added to the uncertainty by not confirming which discs will write at 2 speed on the commercial model of their new 105 writer, due for release at the end of November.

The good news for the consumer is that the current generation of writers are not affected by this compatibility problem and with many retailers having slashed prices to reduce stockholdings to a minimum level this is a great time to pickup a media bargain. The insider said that those discs found to be compatible with the new 105 would possibly increase back to previous price levels and consumers should take advantage of this limited bargain period. A quick trawl round the web shows discounts of up to 50% on many brands of DVD-R which were last week selling for £1.00 plus. The most notable deals being Datasafe yellow top DVD-R for 63p, this is the first disc to be released by Datasafe (that has an AZO dye), and Eproformance DVD-R for 68p (this was over £1.00 last week)
Click here for the full story on the New Datasafe Azo Dye disc

TOKYO (Reuters) - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, maker of Panasonic brand electronics, on Wednesday posted better-than-expected quarterly profits, helped by cost cuts and strong sales of DVDs and camcorders.

IRVINE, CA - Oct. 29, 2002 - NewTech Infosystems, Inc. (NTI), developer of the industry's easiest CD/DVD burning software, announced today a brand new version: NTI CD-Maker 6 Platinum. This release adds a wide array of new features including support for DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R and DVD+RW. In addition, NTI CD-Maker 6 now burns Data DVDs as well as copies of non-protected DVD discs. NTI CD-Maker 6 also adds many new Audio and Video features such as MP3 CD and WMA CD, on-the-fly multi-track volume balancing, improved MP3 encoder/decoder support, VCD/SVCD SlideShow with background audio, VCD/SVCD Menus, on-the-fly AVI to MPEG-1/2 conversion, an audio wave editor and an enhanced version of NTI's JewelCase Maker.

Thanks to Tony Anderson in Dundee we have a brand new review of the Panasonic E30 DVD Recorder. Click for the review.

To make navigation on DVD-Recordable.org that little bit easier we have a new Sitemap that displays the headlines and links (in order of popularity) for all the stories, reviews and how to's on dvd-recordable.org - your home for DVD Authoring, Writing and Backup.

Stomp, Inc., maker of utility software and computer accessories, today announced is has enhanced the capabilities of its successful RecordNow MAX DVD/CD recording software with the new version 4.5.RecordNow MAX 4.5 further enhances DVD recording by taking full advantage of the DVD-R/-RW and DVD+R/+RW formats," said Michael Hummell, President of Stomp, Inc. "We've again demonstrated our commitment to creating tools that offer comprehensive hardware support for the DVD and CD burning enthusiast while not compromising ease of use and reliability."The new RecordNow MAX 4.5 now supports the ability to record "multi-border" DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD+RW discs in "sessions," just like user's are familiar with for CD-R and CD-RW. This allows users to store information on a DVD disc incrementally, not having to burn the entire disc at one time. RecordNow MAX 4.5 also incorporates a new "audio normalizer" feature that equalizes the volume level of audio CDs that are created from WAV, WMA, MP3, or CD Tracks that have different volume levels. Also new in this version is DLA (Drive Letter Access) version 3.57 that is not only faster than ever, it now supports "Fast Format" (background formatting) of DVD-R and DVD-RW discs and is Mt. Rainier compliant.As with previous versions of RecordNow MAX, users can simultaneously record to multiple discs, creating duplicate CD copies, video CDs (VCDs), data CDs, DVDs, bootable CDs, CDs from ISO images and CDs from a live audio source. They can convert (rip) CD tracks into MP3 files at up to 320Kb/sec, and burn MP3 files, WAV files, and CD tracks, to standard music CDs, which can be played on any audio CD player.Current users of the RecordNow MAX product family, including RecordNow MAX 3.x and 4.x or, the RecordNow MAX Platinum bundle will be able to upgrade to the new version for free."

Music companies thinking of distributing copy-protected CDs to protect their content from piracy will likely raise the ire of consumers while lowering their revenue, a new study warns.
According to a survey recently released by GartnerG2, the research service of Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner Inc., 77 percent of respondents thought they should be able to copy CDs for personal use in another device, while 60 percent said they should be able to give copies of CDs to members of their families. Meanwhile, 82 percent of respondents said that they should be able to copy CDs for personal backup purposes.
The results fly in the face of efforts by the music industry to gain tighter control over their content as they face the perilous, infinite possibilities for copying in the digital age. But while the ghost of such free file-sharing services as Napster Inc. still haunt the halls of Hollywood, Gartner discovered that consumers do not think copy-protected CDs are the answer.
Not only do the copy-protected CDs limit users options -- preventing them to make a copy of the CD to play in their car, for example, just as one could with a cassette tape -- they also limit their mobility. In some cases, the protected CDs cannot even be played in more than one of the consumer's CD players. These restrictions are likely to frustrate users, possibly resulting in a decline in revenue for the record companies, the researcher said. But while consumers are perturbed with this solution, the study found that 74 percent of those surveyed believed that if the music companies must distribute copy-protected CDs, they should contain warning labels. GartnerG2 conducted the online study of 1,005 U.S. adults, 18 years or older, and 1,009 teens, ages 13 to 17, in July of 2002. While the music industry has raised the issue of copy-protected CDs in recent months, few CDs have so far been released with the copy protections included. However, as the industry faces growing piracy thanks to consumers added ability to make perfect digital copies of music by burning CDs, such measures could become more widespread.

Verbatim issued the follwing statement in relation to their media not being compatible with the new Sony DRU-500 Multi Format writer:

We are aware of lack of compatibility between some Verbatim branded 2X speed DVD-R discs and the new Sony DRU500A DVD writer. This incompatibility can cause write errors on the drive when using some 2X DVD-R media manufactured at our Singapore factory between May and August of 2002.This incompatibility is isolated to the new Sony drive. Verbatim brand 2XDVD-R discs are fully compatible with all other DVD-R drives and video recorders in the market, including those sold by Pioneer, Apple, Sony, Compaq, Panasonic, Cendyne and other manufacturers.

The problem was corrected as soon as it was identified in engineering verification tests, so that all Verbatim 2X speed DVD-R discs being sold into our sales channels are now fully compatible with the Sony DRU500A. Other Verbatim DVD media, including DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R, 4X speed DVD-R, as well as most 2X speed DVD-R discs are not affected by this issue and are fully compatible with the Sony DRU500A.

If you have a DRU500A drive and wish to use Verbatim recordable media in that drive, we recommend use of the DVD+R 2.4X speed media or the new 4X DVD-R media which will be available in the US and Canada from December 2002.Every effort has been made to purge non-compatible DVD-R media inventory from Verbatim's retailers and distributors. Verbatim will replace any non-compatible media at no cost to you. In the US and Canada please contact Verbatim technical support preferable by e-mail to techsupport@verbatim.com or by calling 1-800-538-8589 between the hours of 10.00am and 4.00pm EST. We will quickly issue a return authorization number and send you replacement product

Roxio reported that net revenue for the recent financial second quarter ending Sept. 30 was US$27.9 million compared with net revenue of $30.5 million for the second quarter of the prior fiscal year.

Net loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2003 was $1.8 million, or $0.09 per basic and diluted share, including non-cash charges related to the amortization of intangible assets and deferred stock-based compensation. This compares with a reported net loss of $1.0 million, or $0.06 per basic and diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2002.

"As we expected, retail has become the lion's share of Roxio's revenues, and despite the challenging retail market globally and the fact that we are at the end of our product cycles, our retail business grew 26 percent over the prior year," said Chris Gorog, Roxio's president and CEO in a statement announcing the results. "This growth did not, however, offset the dramatic year-over-year drop in our OEM business, caused by flat PC shipments and rapidly declining ASPs."

Roxio expect revenues in the third fiscal quarter to be approximately $25 million and to incur a net loss of up to $2.4 million, or $0.12 per share, reflecting industry analysts' expectations of slower than usual back-to-school and holiday seasons. Gorog feels that revenues will rise sequentially in the fourth fiscal quarter based on new product releases.

For fiscal year 2003, they're forecasting revenues of approximately $117 million and expect to end the fiscal year with approximately $45 million in cash and short-term investments

MEGAN Media Holdings Bhd, which has received approval for a transfer to the KLSE main board next month, is now eyeing the huge Japanese market for the export of its compact disc recordables (CD-R) and digital versatile disc recordables (DVD-R). The company is confident of penetrating the Japanese market based on its track record in manufacturing data storage products for leading companies in Germany and, more recently, South Korea.

Having achieved a coup by releasing leading-edge technology ahead of its competitors, Taiwan's largest designer of DVD player chips, MediaTek Inc , has secured more than half the market. And it will reign supreme for at least the next quarter as others in the sector play catch-up, analysts said yesterday.