Topic: News

The PK-AX300H, due out in late January 2004, from NEC is the latest DVD recorder that comes with a 300GB hard disk. It can record up to 423 hours of MPEG-2 video (1.2Mbps) on the disk.

Sony has dropped several features from its upcoming PSX, a product the company describes as one of its most important this year, because it has not been able to complete development in time for the year-end sales period.

Our resident DVD guru Flash has been busy preparing an article which outlines how to install a new DVD burner.

Researchers at Princeton University working with Hewlett-Packard have invented a new form of permanent computer memory that uses plastic, and may be much cheaper and faster than existing silicon circuits.

Jon Johansen is fighting back against those who say he has created a program for illegally copying music files. The Norwegian hacker famed for defeating Hollywood in a cyberpiracy trial has rejected allegations he had illegally unlocked a code that enables unauthorised copying of music files from the Internet.

Microsoft's Xbox has had its most successful week to date this year in Japan, capturing almost seven per cent market share following a price cut to the hardware and the launch of a Project Gotham Racing 2 bundle deal.

Samsung, a major home appliance maker, said yesterday that it has developed the world's largest thin-film-transistor liquid crystal display panel for high-definition TVs at 57 inches.

Sony have said it would start selling the "PSX" -- an all-in-one entertainment system that includes a hard disk drive (HDD) and DVD recorder plus a PlayStation 2 console -- on December 13 in Japan. The entertainment and electronics company will be getting the much-anticipated PSX on shop shelves before the end of the holiday shopping season. Sony had said it planned to have the PSX in stores before the year-end.

Icelandic game company CCP, which makes Eve Online, have shown a video intended to show how hackers trade online multiplaying credits, saying that his firm had tracked down a guy who made $60,000 (£35,000) by scams. That, they say, isn't necessarily a bad thing - we'll eventually see people that get paid to play, like actors, who will make the virtual world more believable and also make money.

UndercoverXP is a free software program which automatically scales your digital images so you can print CD covers (front and back), inlays, DVD boxes and PlayStation covers. All you have to do is drag and drop an image into the interface, click the type of cover you want and press Print.

Seems like it's time to start dropping some clear hints if you don't want to end up with a turkey this Christmas. An estimated 250 new games are expected to be released in this pivotal season for game companies.

An HD DVD format proposed by Toshiba and NEC as the next-generation DVD format was finally approved by the DVD Forum's steering committee during recent meetings in New York. The HD DVD format is a violet laser-based optical disk system with a capacity of 15-20 Gbyte per side using the same disk structure as current DVD disks.

Lite-On IT, Taiwan's largest producer of optical disc drives, anticipates delivering one million DVD drives in the first quarter of next year, according to Michael Gong, the company's general manager for the optical disc business.

No, the answers not to install Windows, what we mean is to utterly annihilate the very fabric of your PC. TechTV have an informative video clip produced by Joey the Intern which outlines a highly effective method for reducing your PC to a molten heap in the event of, say, an MPAA sponsored raid. The method involves the use of thermite, which is a stable chemical compound that, when ignited, turns into molten iron and burns at approximately 3,000 degrees Celsius.

The freeware Media Player Classic is a tool to play video files and audio. It supports DVD playback, Ogg audio, RealMedia and Quicktime video. A new, updated version is available.

TDK's newest Indi DVD model features 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD-R and 40x CD recording speeds along with USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity. Allowing punters to record a complete DVD in only 8 minutes and, using the same drive, to rip or record a full CD in 3 minutes.

The software house NewSoft have announced the release of Presto! DVD PowerSuite, designed to provide consumers of all experience levels with a fast and easy solution for capturing, editing, authoring, and burning DVDs. PowerSuite's MPEG-2 codec provides full video capture capabilities with real-time MPEG-2 encoding to all leading video file formats.

BTC has started shipping their 8x dual format writer, just in time for Christmas. Their 4x drive the DRW1004IM is known for its low price compared to some other drives. The BTC DRW1008IM was unveiled a few weeks ago - more info.

With the holidays right around the corner, Apple's .Mac online service has posted a new training feature that outlines the use of key iLife applications like iMovie and iDVD. The site offers a free 60 day trial and membership is $100 (£59) a year.

Sharp is introducing a $3,300 (£1,945) computer with a screen that creates the illusion of 3-D vision, without special glasses or other gimmicks. Remarkably, it actually works.