In an exclusive series of articles our resident DVD guiding light Flash is comparing all the latest burning hardware to see which measures up. So if you are thinking of buying a DVD writer check out our Battle of the Burners.

Until recently, printers that print directly onto printable discs were a bit pricey. But now there's a new disc printer that sells for $139.95 (£77) and it's from Primera, the same people that make the Bravo II optical media burner and printer.

Leading manufacturers of optical discs in Taiwan have decided not to match the CD-R prices quoted by their competitors in China and India (Moser Baer) since the prices would be below the Taiwan makers’ production costs.

Ritek, the second-largest producer of blank optical discs in Taiwan, on August 30 will introduce DVD+R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs as well as announce plans to market own-brand optical discs in China, according to Ritek.

Philips, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) and TDK have obtained certification for producing 16x DVD+R discs, according to a recent DVD+RW Alliance announcement, which also included a remark that Philips will have discs produced by its OEM partner CMC Magnetics.

Ridisc sales and marketing Manager, Tim Smith announced today that the whole Ridisc Portfolio would now be available in Europe. Previously the company had concentrated on the sales of DVD products into the European market and cd-r products into the African and middle eastern markets . Today saw the launch of the Ridisc brand CD-R products being introduced into the European markets.

The battle over the standard for DVD production began heating up on Wednesday in a sleepy village near Tokyo. Memory-Tech, one of Japan's largest optical disc makers, demonstrated production of HD-DVD discs using a slightly modified DVD production line at its factory in Akeno. The company said it will be able to produce HD-DVDs initially at a premium of about 10% over current DVDs and rapidly move to near-DVD prices.

Press Release: Sonic Solutions have announced that Pioneer has chosen to bundle five of Sonic's top software solutions for digital media with its new 4X Double Layer DVR-A08XL DVD writers.

Philips have announced that its new 'All Speed' DVD+R blank media is the first to be approved for 1x up to 16x recording speeds. This allows consumers to use this single disc at all recording speeds - from real-time 1x video recording up to the maximum achievable 16x. A 16x DVD drive writes the full 4.7 GB DVD+R disc in about 5 minutes. Mass volume shipments of this new 16x DVD+R medium will start in August.

Taiwan's Prodisc, who are reputedly the third largest producer of optical discs in Taiwan, are set to produce 16x DVD-R discs, they will also begin shipping 2.4x and 4x DVD+R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs at the end of this month, according to the company.

Ridisc have started shipping Dual Layer, DVD-Ram and Silver Printable Surface discs into the European, African and Middle Eastern markets. Datasafe, meanwhile, have just sent us a sample of their new Dual Layer DVD+R for review and no doubt our resident DVD guru Flash will soon be weighing them all up.

DVD Burning Guru Flash has posted in his latest review which takes a hard, analytical look at the new Pioneer 108 which the manufacturer claims burns at 16x. To find out if that's true check out Flash's Pioneer 108 Provisional Results.

Philips recently took action to protect its DVD+R patent rights by warning unlicensed disc makers in Taiwan and notifying customs agencies and distributors in Europe they should block imports from Taiwan makers who violate their patents, according to the warned makers.

The Widio is currently being shipped and should be on store shelves in the US, Europe, Australia and Japan from the beginning of September, according to the company.

A Middle East based Ritek distributor has begun shipment of Ridata branded Double Layer DVD+R discs into the European and Middle Eastern markets.

A campaign has been launched in Bristol, UK to crack down on fake goods. The Patent Office-led initiative has been backed by Bristol City Council, trading standards, police and brand owners in an attempt to stamp out counterfeiting of CDs, perfumes, clothes, DVDs and alcohol.

Press Release: LSI Logic's DMN-8652 processor enables one of the market's first DVD + HDD + VCR recorders from JVC. The new DVR has feaures which include include a 120 GB hard drive; fast dubbing speed up to 32x; 1.5x speed playback; and 6-way dubbing. JVC have said they selected the LSI Logic processor for its high-quality video and audio, and ability to reduce the time, cost and complexity of system design.

The Motion Picture Association of America has settled a copyright infringement suit against 321 Studios for an undisclosed sum. The settlement concludes more than two years of courtroom battles over the legality of 321's DVD-copying software, which ultimately led federal judges in New York and California to order the product removed from store shelves.

Sonic today announced it will acquire the consumer software division of Roxio for a total purchase price of $80 million. Sonic says it believes the acquisition will provide Sonic with "a well-recognized set of consumer software brands; access to long-standing distribution channels; strong product marketing expertise; and key relationships with top-tier retail outlets." Roxio says it plans to focus its business on the digital music market and will change its corporate name to Napster and trade under the ticker "NAPS" on NASDAQ.

The roll-out of DualDisc hybrid DVD/CD media (not to be confused with Dual Layer discs) later this year could yet be hampered by a German company that claims ownership of the technology if talks between the intellectual property firm and major music industry players break down.