Topic: News

For the first time ever, four summer films have broken the $300 million barrier at the domestic box office: "Spider-Man 3" ($336.4 million), "Shrek the Third" ($321 million), "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" ($307.6 million) and "Transformers" ($303.7 million), according to Rentrak.

Consumers still prefer watching TV shows and movies on DVD or the TV to watching movies online via streaming or downloading, according to a study by industry trade group DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

Crackers have worked out a way of saving streamed movies from the Netflix service. The move basically kills off Microsoft’s copy protection technology designed to prevent people from saving the content.

Onkyo, a Japan-based maker of consumer electronics including home theaters and audio playback devices, will launch the DV-HD805, its first HD DVD player model, in the fall of this year at a recommended retail price of US$899, according to an August 9 press release by its US subsidiary Onkyo USA.

South London is a known hotspot for the piracy trade, with illegal DVDs on sale in shopping centres, pubs, restaurants and even on the streets.

International brands of optical discs in the Japan market, including TDK, Imation and Verbatim, plan to ask Japanese authorities to ban the import of blank DVD+R/-R discs that pirate their M-Codes.

Sony has announced the coming availability of two new DVD recorders to its current linepup. The RDR-GXD455 (DVD Recorder Only) and the RDR-VXD655 (DVD Recorder/VCR Combo), both have built-in ATSC digital tuners to prepare for the coming turnover to digital-only over-the-air television broadcasting.

Google says it will implement an automated filtering system this autumn that will stop music videos and other copyrighted material from finding their way onto its YouTube site without permission. But for the work of identifying allegedly infringing material is done by humans.

Ritek, the Taiwan-based maker of optical discs, has secured certification for blank 2x HD DVD-R (recordable, write once) discs. The company had already achieved certification for its 1x HD DVD-R and 1x HD DVD-RW (rewritable) discs in May this year

Children in Europe are aware of the risks of illegal downloading, but often rationalize their act by saying that everyone -- including their parents -- is doing it, according to a major European Commission survey.

OPPO Digital have announced the DV-980H universal DVD player, the world’s first to offer 7.1-channel audio output and 1080p video up-conversion in a DVD player.

The movie rental chain Blockbuster is moving into online video streaming by purchasing Movielink, a Californian internet download service which offers more than 3,000 titles.

Microsoft is set to roll out HDMI on their high end Xbox 360 consoles. The move comes as the Company struggles to hold onto the hard core gamers and video enthusiasts who appear to be deserting the platform for the PS3 with Blu ray.

Warner Home Video has said that the Spartan war movie 300 is the fastest (and best) selling High-Definition disc to date.

Toshiba will reportedly roll out its line of third-generation HD DVD players, all priced at less than $500, this October, according to retailers.

The PS3's capabilities could be expanded to include a digital tuner, enabling it to double as a programmable TV recorder, a Sony spokesman said. The changes are due to come into effect next year, but it's uncertain how many countries will benefit.

A US government agency has launched a big investigation into gaming console piracy. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has executed 32 federal warrants across the country, searching businesses and homes for clues surrounding the potential sale and distribution of illegal modification chips and disc copyright circumvention devices for games consoles.

Pioneer's versatile writer - the BDR-202 - is now available in Europe. As well as being 4x for Blu-ray it is also compatible with a range of DVD and CD media; speeds include 12X writing to DVD-R/+R, 6X to DVD-RW/+RW and 24X to CD-R/RW.

Maxell will launch its first 8 cm Blu-ray write-once BD-R/rewritable BD-RE discs (7.5GB) for video cameras on August 10.

Oront Burning Kit version 2.3 is now available. The new version includes improved stability and performance, ability to burn using multiple optical drives simultaneously, auto-check for updates at start and a few other fixes and updates.