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1000GB = 20 times the size of a dual-layer Blu-ray disc Blu-ray and HD DVD have pushed the limits of optical storage further than anyone thought possible. But a new technology has emerged which makes Blu-ray's 50GB capacity look tiny. Mempile in Israel says it's able to fit an incredible 1TB of data onto one "TeraDisc" which is the same size as CDs and DVDs. That's 20 times the capacity of a maxed-out dual-layer Blu-ray disc. The incredible capacity achieved using this new technology is made possible by employing 200 5GB layers, each one only five microns apart. The discs...

In another blow to HD DVD, the giant Blockbuster video rental chain has thrown its weight behind Blu-ray in the fight to see which format is the high definition successor to the humble DVD. After renting Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year, Blockbuster has decide to stock only Blu-ray in its other 1250 US stores. Customers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time, reports Associated Press via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The release of Sony's Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation 3 games console was also a factor in the decision, said Blockbuster senior...

Building a business on mob rule is dangerous. Digg.com, a website that lets anyone post and rank news stories and blogs, found that out when its members staged a revolt over what they saw as an effort to censor them. It began this week when Digg started banning members from posting a software code that helps online pirates make bootlegged copies of movies. Digg took action because the entertainment industry had threatened to sue. The ban set the masses off. Scores of Digg's 1.2 million registered users deluged the site, breaking traffic records and making sure that every one of...

Excerpt - The folks at Digg.com have let the social news genie out of the bottle, and now they can't control it. Since the HD-DVD encryption code was discovered and published, readers at Digg have been repeatedly submitting stories with the 16 digit hex code in the titles and bodies. Just as quickly as these posts crawl up the Digg charts, admins seem to be deleting them. Just search Google for 09 F9 and you'll find the key. Will AACS send a Cease and Desist to InfoWorld because I posted the text "09 F9"? If so, we might as well...

There is one retailer that has the power to call the winner of the protracted Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD fight and that vendor is Wal-Mart. Over the weekend they apparently leaked plans to bring in a massive number of low cost (possibly sub $200) HD DVD players for Christmas. The manufacturing side of this has apparently been in the works for a few years but this is the first time we have had projected prices for the result. Why Wal-Mart, Why Now? Wal-Mart uses DVDs to build store traffic. They tend to subsidize the price for the movies they feature...

Blu-ray burning its high-def DVD rival Blu-ray accounts for three of every four high-def discs sold Thomas K. Arnold April 23, 2007 (Reuters) -- Of the high-definition discs bought by consumers in the first quarter, 70% were in the Blu-ray Disc format, and 30% were HD-DVD, according to sales figures provided by trade publication Home Media Magazine. Blu-ray took the lead in February, and its percentage of total sales accelerated to the point where it accounted for nearly three out of every four high-definition discs sold in March. What's more, when given the choice, consumers are going with Blu-ray....

As the tirade of HD back scratching continues unabated, with the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats vying for market and consumer dominance, supporters in both camps claim superiority at every turn despite the pendulum motion attributed to sales of software and hardware across separate regions of the world. With Sony’s recently released PlayStation 3 making a significant impact on the attraction of the Japanese giant’s Blu-ray high-definition format thanks to the videogames console’s sub-$500 USD price tag (which will soon shift to $599 USD following the production abandonment of the cheaper $499 20GB HDD model) sales of Blu-ray discs and hardware...

There's a new twist in the ongoing battle between the next-generation, high-definition DVD standards: Hackers have cracked the antipiracy software on several movies published in the HD DVD format. Perhaps ironically, hackers chose to break the copy-protection system in Universal's "Serenity," a 2005 science fiction film about a renegade crew of space outlaws. An informal, global alliance of hackers also deciphered the antipiracy protection on "12 Monkeys" and Peter Jackson's "King Kong." The hackers are distributing copies of the films using BitTorrent, a once-controversial file-sharing tool that is working to clean up its reputation by forging partnerships with TV and...

An anonymous computer programmer may have skewed the competition over standards for high-definition DVD discs by possibly defeating a scheme that both sides use to protect digital content. The standards, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, are being backed by rival coalitions of Hollywood studios and consumer electronics and computer companies that are eagerly marketing a new generation of digital media players and video game machines tailored for widescreen TVs. The HD-DVD coalition includes companies like Microsoft, Intel, Toshiba and NEC; the Blu-ray camp has Sony, Philips and Samsung. Among studios, Universal is exclusively backing HD-DVD. Paramount and Warner Brothers also support HD-DVD,...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The companies behind an encryption system for high-definition DVDs are looking into a hacker's claim that he has cracked the code protecting the new discs from piracy, a spokesman for one of the companies said on Thursday. A hacker known as Muslix64 posted on the Internet details of how he unlocked the encryption, known as the Advanced Access Content System, which prevents high-definition discs from illegal copying by restricting which devices can play them. The AACS system was developed by companies including Walt Disney Co., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. to protect...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese consumer electronics maker Sharp Corp. (6753.T: Quote, NEWS , Research) said on Tuesday it has started the commercial production of blue laser diodes, taking aim at a market with strong growth potential.Sharp in November began volume output of blue laser diodes, used to read and write data on high-definition optical discs, at 150,000 units a month at its existing plant in western Japan, Sharp spokesman Hiroshi Takenami said.The diodes can be used in DVD players based on the Blu-ray format, championed by Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, NEWS , Research), as well as competing HD DVD technology, promoted by...

There are many reasons to buy an HDTV now. 1) Your team could be good this year. 2) There’s more stuff on high-definition TV than ever. 3) Prices are dropping. If you’re looking, here are some things you should know: DLP •Millions of tiny mirrors reflect light to produce a picture. You can recognize DLP (digital light processing) sets in the store: They’re the big, boxy televisions. LCD •Electrically charged liquid crystals untwist just enough to let the correct shade of light pass through. PLASMA •Bits of gas are ignited to produce light. FAQs Which is better, LCD or plasma?...

The wraps came off high-definition DVD players at this year's annual Consumer Electronics Show, offering the final component to replicate the movie theater experience at home. And while a fierce DVD format war likely will delay the mass adoption of such devices, digital video is here to stay - the Consumer Electronics Association trade group estimates 25 million U.S. homes will have a high-def TV set by year's end. But big, expensive flat-panel sets aside, this year's gadget show offered plenty of smaller screens for video... Yahoo Inc., DirecTV, Starz Entertainment Group and Sony were also among the companies getting...

Double disc might end hi-def war Many people are buying big screens to show hi-def films Inventors have come up with a design for a disc that can store copies of films in rival high-definition formats.A US patent has been filed for the discs that could hold both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions of movies. Currently movie makers and technology companies are dividing into camps that back either one or the other of the two formats. The creation of the discs could end the looming battle over the different high-definition formats. Format wars The design of the disc patented in...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood is hoping high-definition DVDs will reignite a slowing market for movies at home, but they have drawn mixed reviews from retailers and analysts due to technical issues and a bitter format war. The competing formats, Sony Corp.-backed <6758.T> Blu-ray and Toshiba Corp.-championed <6502.T> HD-DVD, aim to provide better picture quality and interactive features, but some early viewers have been underwhelmed. "Neither format is selling well or at the level I had expected. I had expected early adopters to step up and other retailers have had the same experience," said Bjorn Dybdahl, president of San Antonio,...

European Commission said a full investigation may follow Just when we think that Blu-ray and HD DVD will start showing up in mass production, the two formats enter into more trouble, this time with the European Commission. According to reports, the European Commission believes that the companies that are backing each format may have licensing terms that breach European competition rules. The report said that the European Commission launched an unofficial antitrust probe this month. Toshiba, the leading company behind HD DVD and Sony the leading company behind Blu-ray both received letters from the European Commission earlier this month. According...

CHOICE IS A BEAUTIFUL thing, whether it's picking stocks, voting for a politician or ordering pizza toppings. However, when it comes to the ongoing battle of the high-definition DVD formats — Blu-ray Disc vs. HD DVD — choice is a burden consumers will have to bear. That is, if they opt to choose at all. The first Blu-ray player in the U.S. is coming from Samsung next week — HD DVD players hit store shelves in the U.S. in mid-April — and I can't help but think that those early adopters who choose wrong will get burned. Recall how Sony...

THOSE WHO IGNORE HISTORY are doomed to repeat it. One of life's more satisfying ironies, however, is that the same fate often befalls those who fixate on history. Consider the coming train wreck of Sony's PlayStation 3.At this year's annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Sony announced that its next-generation video-game console will begin retailing in November for $599 (or $499 for a stripped-down version). The news rippled through the gaming industry, the consensus being that Sony had doomed its new system with such a high price tag. Traditionally, home video-game consoles have sold for $199 to $299.This news...

As it rolls out the first high-definition DVD player, Toshiba Corp. is boasting: "Image is everything." After testing the so-called HD DVD machine on three TVs of various dimensions, I hit on a more appropriate slogan: Size matters. ADVERTISEMENT Last week, a milestone in viewing was reached with the debut of the Toshiba HD-A1, which costs just shy of $500. (A deluxe model, the HD-XA1, goes for $800). Should you care? Probably not. Because unless you already have a state-of-the-art high-definition television at least 40 inches in size, you won't notice much of a difference. Here's my advice: If you've...

Sony Pictures on Tuesday said it aims to deliver its new Blu-ray Disc DVD format to U.S. stores on May 23 to coincide with the entry of compatible disc players, a new step in an industry war for control of home movie viewing. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment will first release eight Blu-ray titles, followed by another eight in mid-June. The first movie titles include "50 First Dates," "The Fifth Element," "Hitch" and "House of Flying Daggers." Blu-ray is locked in a multibillion-dollar standards war against a rival DVD format known as HD DVD. The technology companies...