blu-raydisc
Latest
Optiarc unveils first Blu-ray players -- HD DVD says "uh oh"
The Optiarc mashup between Sony and NEC has spawned a new brood of DVD and Blu-ray Disc drives. For HD DVD lovin' NEC already seen dabbling in dual-format underpinnings, the addition of Blu-ray Disc drives to their product roster is a notable development in the format war and yet another possible sign of Blu-ray's emerging dominance. No less than four new Blu-ray devices for laptops were launched at CeBIT: the BD-5710S, the BD-5600S, the BD-5500S, and the BD-5500A. The BD-5500A (pictured above) writes at 2x to both single- and dual-layer BD-R, 2x BD-RE DL, 4x DVD-R DL and reads BD at 2x. Also notable is the AD-7191A 20x DVD burner which is also capable of 12x DVD-RAM, 8x DVD±R DL/+RW and 6x DVD-RW. With Sony owning 55% of the joint venture, we're not holding our breath for Optiarc HD DVD drives anytime soon. All the drives are expected to hit in the July timeframe.
Samsung's M55 laptop steps into the Blu
If you've been looking for a laptop big enough to hide behind then check this, the Samsung M55. Yeah, we've seen it before, only this time it comes packing Blu-ray not HD DVD. Otherwise, it's still the same ol' 17-inch laptop with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, up to 120GB of disk and 2GB memory, 256MB of GeForce Go 7600 graphics, Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11a/b/g WiFi, and HDMI out for sharing the HD love with your XXL flat panel at home. Only this time, it's Blu-ray discs you'll be spinning to the bemusement of Toshiba. Yeah, "into the blue" Sammy... yuk yuk, we get it.
Sharp's AQUOS BD-HP1 Blu-ray HD recorder
The Blu-ray Disc camp just unrolled another: the BD-HP1 AQUOS hi-vision recorder from Sharp. Yes, it records, to single-layer (only) BD-R/RE in MPEG-2 format with AAC audio for about 2-hours and 10-minutes of 1080p video at 24Mbps. Of course, it will also playback DVD±R/RW and DVD-RAM discs as well. It comes packing 1x HDMI (presumably with Familink support), Japanese D4, S-Video, and composite video outputs; optical/coaxial digital audio; and support for 7.1ch sound. It also brings 2x Firewire allowing the BD-HP1 to augment your existing hard disk recorder set-up for BD dubbing. Hitting Japan like a mutated lizard for ¥150,000 (about $1,238) starting March 20th. [Via Impress]
We destroy a Blu-ray Disc
When we saw via Game|Life that some IGN forums goers had taken steel wool to a Blu-ray disc with no apparent damage, we thought, "we can do better than that." So we gathered up some convenient implements of destruction and saw how our free copy of Talladega Nights would stand up to a ballpoint pen, a pizza cutter and a butcher's knife (unfortunately, the disc broke down before we could rub crunchy cereal all over it.) Check out the video below, and keep watching to the end for some pyrotechnic bonus footage.
I-O Data's Rec-POT HVR-HD800R: add 800GB to your Blu-ray recorder
If you bought into a first gen Blu-ray Disc / HDD recorder you're probably feeling a bit shortchanged on the disk space what with that 1TB HD DVD/HDD recorder available from Toshiba. Don't sweat it, I-O Data's got your back with their D-VHS capable, 800GB Rec-POT HVR-HD800R which can augment the storage of either the Panny DMR-BW200 or Sharp BD-HD100 when connected over one of the 2x Firewire in/outs. No BD recorder? No problem, this Rec-POT is more than capable of taking care of the recording biz all on its own when snuggled up to the TV over HDMI. It even plays nice with your Firewire digital video camera as you'd expect. Hitting Japan in December for ¥89,000 (about $754) for the 800GB model, a bit less if you're only looking for another 250GB.[Via Impress]
Sony VAIO L gets Core 2 Duo and Blu-ray burner
The CEATEC show generated some more Sony next-gen optical news this AM with the announcement of the VAIO L, now with Blu-ray player and burner. While they were tinkering, Sony went ahead and slapped in a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo T7400 processor and gave the graphics a needed bump with an nVidia GeForce Go 7600. These additions to Sony's all-in-one PC with integrated TV-tuner will drive the cost up to ¥359,800 or about $3,058 when it hits the shelves in Japan starting November 6th. What, you do want Blu-ray don't you? [Via Impress]
Sony's VAIO R Master splits the tower
Come young grasshopper, it's time to meet the Sony VAIO R Master. Now, instead of looming over your desktop as a giant tower of yore, Sony has wisely spilt the VAIO R's innards into two smaller slabs connected via some USB/PCI Express magic. This allows you to arrange the clutter to your liking with up to 1.8-meters (about 6-feet) of tethered separation. The smaller of the boxes contains the most frequently accessed components such as BD drive and various memory card, USB, and Firewire slots while the fatter base holds the rest of the computing guts configurable with up to 4x 500GB SATA disks, a 2.96GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 CPU, 256MB nVidia GeForce 7600GT graphics, a suite of analog and digital TV tuners, up to 3GB DDR2 RAM and plenty of PCI/PCI Express expansion slots to get you through a couple of product release cycles. All that and a bundled 24-inch, 1920x1200 pixel LCD connected over one of the base unit's two DVI outputs, one of which is HDCP-enabled, and plenty of software from Adobe and Sony to make the most of this multimedia powerhouse. And if you're quick, you can snatch the new R from the hand of Sony Japan starting October 28th for ¥192,000 (roughly $1,632) or more than ¥555,000 (about $4,717) fully equipped.[Via Impress]
Panasonic's DMR-BW200 and BR100 Blu-ray and hard disk recorders
We peeped a mock-up Sony Blu-ray Disc and Hard Disk recorder just the other day which may or may not see the light of the rising sun. Now Panny brings it for realz with their new DIGA DMR-BW200 (pictured up top) and BR100 Blu-ray Disc and fatty hard drive recorders. Both drives support DL BD-R/BD-RE (50GB) at 4x speeds and healthy dose of the ol' in and outs including 1080p-capable HDMI. The BW200 is the high-ender and brings a 2x digital (terrestrial and satellite) and 1x terrestrial analog TV tuners, 500GB disk, Firewire to bring an external hard drive to the show or to connect your video cam, and Ethernet for easy EPG G-Guide access. The lower-end BR100 is limited to 1x digital (terrestrial and satellite) and 1x terrestrial analog TV tuners and 200GB of disk. Both should pop for retail on November 15th in Japan with an expected price of about ¥300,000 (about $2,550) for the BW200 and ¥200,000 (about $1,700) for the BR100. Sure, neither measure up to the HD DVD recorder with 1TB disk from Toshiba, but then again, you don't have to worry about 'em tipping over and crushing the pet either.[Thanks, ccthoo]
Is this Sony's Blu-ray recorder with hard disk?
Pictured above is what appears to be a new Sony Blu-ray Disc recorder which touts an internal HDD -- as in hard disk drive -- on show somewhere in Japan. Now, according to our Japanese bureau, Sony either "isn't decided yet" or there "aren't any details yet" as to whether this shadowy mockup will ever see the light of day. With all the next-gen optical format boys struggling to find blue lasers and Sony still struggling to get their own PS3 console and BDP-S1 player to market, well let's just say we're not holding our breath for this to drop anytime soon. Still, it feels good to share, right?Update: Reuters is now telling us that Sony plans to release the recorder in Japan before the end of the year. No pricing, non-Nippon launch date, or mention of any internal disk for now. Another Blu-ray device on show after the break.
Xbox 360 with integrated HD DVD drive? No way.
If you were hoping to reduce some living room clutter by slapping an internal HD DVD drive in that Xbox 360, think again, jack. Microsoft just put the kibosh on a certain Toshiba exec's "prediction" that those external HD DVD drives Microsoft was showing off at E3 would find their way integrated into future 360 consoles. In an official statement, Microsoft says they have no plans to integrate the HD DVD drive because they "feel that offering the drive externally is the best way to give consumers the ultimate choice to create their own high definition experiences." Well, that's pretty clear. However, BD believers could interpret that statement to hint at possible support for an external Blu-ray Disc drive -- afterall, that would be the ultimate choice, right? Hell, the next-gen format war is anybody's game at this point so why lock yourself into a format which might lose, or even morph into a unified offering? It's not like Microsoft's alone in hedging their bets now are they?
MCJ's MDV-EXTREME 7530GX: the "budget" Blu-ray PC
Yeah, we know it hurts to read about those mega-spec'd and monster priced, Blu-ray Disc recording desktops when you're lean on the mean, mean, green. That's why we present you with the Mouse Computer Japan (MCJ) MDV-EXTREME 7530GX. For about $2,780, you get that BD recorder (which on its own will fetch about $1000), a 2.2GHz Athlon 64 X2 4400 CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 500GB of disk, and NVIDIA GeForce 7900GTX with 512MB of dedicated video RAM. Not bad. Oh, did we tell you these are shipping in Japan-only starting 29 May? Still kinda hurts, huh?[Via Akihabara News]
Sony's VAIO RC desktops with Blu-ray get (more) official
We already saw an official Sony preview of the VAIO R series desktops last month. Now in addition to announcing their AR laptop and UX micro, Sony completes the hat trick by coming clean with full specs on their Type R desktops. At the top of the heep is the RC72 Blu-ray spinnin' model which maxes out with Intel's top of the line 3.6GHz Pentium D960 processor, up to 3GB of DDR2 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT graphics with 256MB of VRAM, either a 20-inch DVI-D (HDCP) 1680 x 1050 display or 23-inch 1920 x 1200 DVI-D sans HDCP display, and 2 freakin' TB (4 x 500 giggers) of SATA disk to record television from the included terrestrial analog or digital hi-vision tuners. At the moment, these are announced in Japan only but we're sure a US press release of the similarly spec'd VAIO RC300 series with NTSC/ATSC tuners is just around the corner. Don't worry, we have time since these won't be dropping for Nippon until about mid-June.[Via Akihabara News]
