Samsung Electronics Ltd., the worldwide digital consumer electronics and information technology leader, introduces a powerful newoptical disc drive, TruDirect™ SE-S204S, which allows consumers to create DVDs and burn digital content through a PC without the need for a hard drive. The TruDirect™SE-S204S provides easy and fast real-time recording from nearly any digital device.

With camcorder and digital camera sales skyrocketing, predicted to be nearly 100 million units sold in 2008, consumers cannow conveniently create DVDs in record time. Similar to VCR recording, users can connect a digital device such as a camcorder, digital camera or Web cam to their PC or notebook,and then connect the Samsung TruDirectSE-S204S to the computer to burn DVD movies directly.

“As a global technology innovator, Samsung has always been at the forefront of optical disc drive technology and further pushes the technology envelope with the introduction of the newTruDirectSE-S204S,” said RichardAguilera, western regional sales manager, Samsung Storage Division.“TheTruDirectSE-S204S enables users to easily and efficiently turn their digital videos or photos into DVDsin the easiest and fastest way ever.”

Compared to using a hard disk drive, the TruDirectSE-S204S dramatically cuts down on the time it takes to create DVDs as no pre-mastering, multiplexing or hard-disk buffering is needed, enabling real-time,fast,and simple recording of personal videos, photos or data files onto DVD discs. Creating a DVD of a one-hour video stream only takes one hour and five minutes and to create a DVD from a one-hour hard disk drive camcorder file just takes 30 minutes.

In addition to DVD creation, the TruDirect SE-S204S features some of the fastest speeds of an optical disc drive on the market today. It features 20X DVD+R and DVD-R writing, 16X DVD+R Dual Layer writing, 12X DVD-R Dual Layer writing and 12X DVD-RAM writing.

The TruDirect SE-S204S is shipping nation wide with a street price of $159.99.

www.samsung.com

Leading developer of CD and DVD on-body printing technology, Copytrax, has announced the availability of a new “color management” technology that they say will enable CD and DVD duplication companies to increase profitability and provide better quality print on optical disc media.

While developing their Project 37 bulk CD and DVD printing machine, Copytrax has introduced a new technology that automatically calibrates the machine to take into account performance and color variations due to the differing surface profiles of CD”s and DVD”s, inconsistencies in ink types and the variable performance of the actual print heads. This color management technology is now available for their Picasso smaller batch machines, both as an upgrade to many Picasso machines that exist worldwide and also as a new feature to all future Picasso CD and DVD printing machines.

"The Copytrax Color Controller product that we are rolling out is being very well received," said Steve Woods, Managing Director of Copytrax. "In the past, a kind of trial and error approach has been used to set up a machine for CD and DVD printing, to ensure the colors are correct and the overall quality is acceptable. Those involved in CD printing will know that this is very time consuming and very wasteful. The new technology completely automates this process, enabling far more time to be dedicated to profitable production and also offers a consistently higher quality of print."

Copytrax claims that the new color management technology also saves on ink costs, as the previous approach often led to “over inking." The new system enables the operator to use only the minimum ink required and has proven to save up to 20% on ink usage.

"Another major benefit of the new color management systems is that it will set an industry standard," said Steve Woods. "It will enable CD and DVD printers to produce consistent color performance when printing a CD or DVD, especially when the CD or DVD production is spread across different machines and different geographical locations. In fact, the calibration data can be stored as a file, so that you can be sure that future print runs will also be an identical color match."

Copytrax are also celebrating the winning of a UK Research and Development Grant that will help fund enhancements to their Project 37 industrial CD and DVD printing machine. Although Copytrax are reluctant to disclose any information about this new project, it is understood that it will further enhance the commercial performance of the Project 37 machines and also address environmental issues relating to CD and DVD printing technologies.

"We are really pleased with this Award," said Steve Woods. "We feel that this shows that Copytrax is valued for its role within the Cambridge Technology sector and acknowledges the effort and expertise that Copytrax invests in this field. We have some great ideas and this funding will help us put our ideas into action and enable us to launch certain technologies sooner than we had been expecting."

Copytrax has been developing systems for digital media reproduction for 15 years and has distributors around the world. Their product range includes the Picasso CD and DVD digital printer that is ideal for small batch production, the Art Coater that provides a coating to enhance the visual quality of CD and DVD print and provide protection to the print from handling; and the powerful Project 37 bulk CD and DVD printing machine capable of printing 1200 CD”s per hour. Based at Bar Hill near Cambridge, Copytrax works closely with leading ink jet development company Xaar and global ink supplier Sun Chemicals. All aspects of machine development is undertaken in house at the Bar Hill factory, with expertise in mechanical design, motion control, real-time software programming, electronics and computer arts.

www.copytrax.com

Call/Recall Inc., a pioneer in affordable, ultra-high-capacity optical disk storage, today announced that it has developed and tested the industry’s first terabyte optical disk, and is entering into product design and discussion with leading manufacturing partners. This new disk, the latest implementation of the company’s 2-Photon-3D technology, offers unprecedented value for the growing enterprise storage archiving and consumer markets.

A relatively new optical disk technology, 2-Photon-3D uses a special “near-field” lens and fluorescent media technology to record hundreds of layers three-dimensionally; in comparison, Blu-ray records to the surface. 2-Photon-3D offers more than DVD recording because the near-field lens can precisely and dynamically focus into the depth of the fluorescent media, taking advantage of the full depth of standard 120mm, DVD-size media to achieve recording densities as good as or better than holographic technologies.

Earlier this year, Call/Recall announced that the company would be licensing its patented 2-photon recorded 3D optical storage technology, which can provide 40 times the capacity of Blu-ray and more than 200 times the capacity of DVD optical storage technology. Using the Call/Recall technology, manufacturers of consumer electronics devices as well as large-scale enterprise and government customers can store and manage more data in less space while reducing cost and improving overall I/O performance. The versatile 2-photon 3D technology can be applied to solutions such as a 100+ terabyte optical library using DVD-size disks for enterprise data storage or a 1-inch diameter, 50 GB disk for consumer electronics devices such as cell phones, portable media players, and game systems.

Strategic Research Paper Addresses Trends and Opportunities in the Optical Storage Market Call/Recall also announced the availability of a new white paper addressing trends and opportunities in the optical storage market. Prepared by Michael Peterson, president of Strategic Research Corp., founder of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), and chief strategy advocate for the SNIA’s Data Management Forum, “Strategic Profile: 2-Photon-3D Technology – Extending Blu-Ray DVD,” can be downloaded from http://www.call-recall.com/.

In the paper, Peterson reviews the enormous strides that have been made in storage technology and archiving in recent years and notes the fundamental impact of these developments at the enterprise level in commercial and governmental applications, and in the consumer market.

“Secure, long-term archival storage is a major consumer of optical disk technology today and this need is only accelerating,” Peterson writes. “Compliance, legal, security, and discovery risk are amplifying the need for long-term archival storage on disk-based high-integrity media.”

According to Peterson, three storage technologies will dominate the high-capacity digital home and enterprise archive of the future: local disk arrays, high-capacity “entertainment-class” optical disks, and centralized service bureaus with storage services. “Each of these technologies has a viable role and all are complimentary,” Peterson says. “Because of the migration path from CD to DVD to Blu-ray-to the next distribution technology, optical storage will not go away for a long time. Of every technology lining up to succeed Blu-ray, 2-Photon-3D has the best probability of being the successor, since there are media-size and drive commonalities along with Blu-ray read compatibility (which is an absolute requirement).”

“Businesses and enterprises must store and manage vast amounts of data for extended periods of time to ensure regulatory compliance,” said Wayne Yamamoto, President, Call/Recall. “Call/Recall’s optical disk solution is a perfect fit for enterprises that need a cost effective archiving solution to store and retrieve data while reducing costly IT real estate associated with large tape libraries.”

Call/Recall technology can help enterprises comply with mandated long-term storage requirements while providing simple and rapid access to stored data. In addition, the company has the industry’s first fully recorded 1TB disk—the only optical disk that has been confirmed in any present-day lab—and has established a product roadmap delivering solutions capable of storing multiple terabytes of information per disk.

www.call-recall.com

Soft-R Research LLC has announced today the release of a new security solution based on its Self Recordable media technology: the CDSoft-R Cryptex.

CDSoft-R Cryptex is the first “all-in-one” digital safe box. Which means; a strong security application combined with a Self Recordable media based on a CD-R. This new security system from Soft-R Research is allowing end-users an uncomplicated and inexpensive way to encrypt and secure their files. In a matter of just a few seconds after inserting a CDSoft-R TM Cryptex simply select your files, and then just click on the Record button, and that’s it all your file are automatically encrypted and saved. Now at any time you can securely browse your files directly from the CDSoft-R TM Cryptex and update them or view as required. Like James Bond, you will not leave any trace from your files on any other computer you used. All Temp files are destroyed when finished and CD has been removed.

“We believe that the Darling case in England is demonstrating that CD-R’s media are missing security and encryption” said Jean-Marc Pinson, the CEO of Soft-R Research LLC, “from governments to low end users the need of encrypting and securing data on CD is today a reality and our CDSoft-R TM Cryptex is fully addressing that need."

www.soft-r.com

Toshiba UK is giving away five free high definition (HD) DVDs to anyone who buys one of its new range of laptops that come with built-in HD DVD players. Anyone buying a new Toshiba HD laptop will now be able to kick-off a high definition movie collection with a choice of titles including Children of Men, Full Metal Jacket, Chronicles of Riddick, Hulk and The Prestige.

Toshiba’s HD DVD laptops give you the freedom to experience the next generation in movie viewing whether you’re on the move or at home in the room of your choice. All of Toshiba’s HD laptops come with high definition widescreen displays of up to 17 inches, but can also be used like a standalone HD DVD player and output high definition video to watch on an HD TV.

HD DVD delivers dynamic images that are incredibly real, accurate and vibrant, with up to six times the image resolution of standard DVD, as well as truly immersive audio for a multi-dimensional sonic experience. With a wide range of laptops featuring HD DVD technology, Toshiba has a high definition model to suit every pocket and taste:

• Qosmio G40 - If you’re serious about movies, music and gaming then the Qosmio G40 is the laptop for you. Designed for entertainment the G40’s 17” ultra bright LCD screen delivers an incredibly crisp, detailed picture of up to 1080p and the Harman Kardon speakers and Dolby Home Theater serve up impressive and powerful audio.
• Satellite X200 - Purpose built for the serious gamer, the Satellite X200 is packed with specialist graphics and audio technology at an affordable price, including the latest NVIDIA SLI graphics technology, Harman Kardon® five speaker sound system and Dolby® Home Theater™ technology.
• Satellite P200 - The Satellite P200 is designed to deliver the latest in multimedia entertainment whatever your price bracket. Designed for music, gaming and movies it features a crisp 17” Toshiba TruBrite® widescreen display with 1440x900 resolution for life-like video playback.
• Satellite Pro P200 - The Satellite Pro P200 range is designed to be the ideal laptop if you’re looking to replace a desktop PC. With the power and responsiveness of the latest Intel Core2 Duo processors and Intel Turbo Memory the Satellite Pro P200 is more than capable of running several demanding applications at once.
• Satellite A200 - The perfect choice for anyone who wants a great value all-round laptop with all the latest multimedia features, without having to compromise on design. It includes a 15.4" widescreen Toshiba TruBrite® display, the latest Intel® processors and Toshiba Easy Keys that let you select, stop and start videos, music and other multimedia content at the press of a single button.
• Satellite Pro A200 - A perfect choice for small or medium sized businesses, the Satellite Pro A200 is a great all-rounder that was designed to look good as well as perform well, at home and at work. With a 15.4" widescreen Toshiba TruBrite® display and the latest Intel® processors the range comes in a variety of different specifications so you can get the most value from your budget.

The Toshiba five free HD DVDs offer closes on the 31st January 2008.

www.hd.toshiba.co.uk

Eurocom, the world's leading developer of highly personalized, high-performance notebook PCs and LCD PCs, introduced the EUROCOM D901C PHANTOM-X FSB1333 Mobile Workstation with Nvidia’s MXM-IV upgradeable VGA technology. EUROCOM D901C Notebook PC provides workstation-calibre performance, powerful graphics capabilities, high performance storage with three physical SATA-300 hard drives and RAID 0/1/5, and super-powerful Intel Quad Core or Core 2 Extreme Processor for high-end computing wherever work takes place.

Featuring two NVIDIA GeForce Go 8800GTX GPUs or Nvidia Quadro FX1600M running in SLI (Scalable Link Interface) Video Technology mode and powered by Intel Quad Core and Core 2 Extreme dual-core processor technology, the D901C PHANTOM-X also features the largest storage capacity on the market today - a whopping 750GB with RAID 0/1/5 - making it the perfect laptop for users who demand large capacity storage and reliability for true portable workstation-calibre or server experience.

At the core of the D901C PHANTOM-X, users can choose currently between two different NVIDIA graphics cards: the NVIDIA GeForce Go 8800GTX, 8700GT or 7950 GTX with 512MB of DDR3 for high-performance PC gaming, or the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M with 512MB of DDR3 for those looking for a high-performance workstation class performance. Users can additionally select a choice of a single graphics card or two in NVIDIA SLI mode for the ultimate in gaming performance and image quality. With two of the fastest NVIDIA GeForce notebook GPUs in NVIDIA SLI mode or a NVIDIA Quadro GPU, this new graphics powerhouse is the ultimate mobile gaming and workstation machine.

EUROCOM D901C uses Nvidia MXM-IV (Mobile PCI Express Module) for easy upgradeability to new generation of graphics technology. By using a consistent mechanical graphics interface in the form of high-performance MXM-IV, Eurocom is able to introduce a variety of innovative PCI Express graphics solutions as quickly as desktop PC graphics.

For the hardcore PC user (gamer or engineer alike), this means the EUROCOM D901C PHANTOM-X provides blistering fast response times that are sure to turn heads.

EUROCOM D901C support all of the latest ISV workstation applications in a wide range of vertical segments, from Computer Aided Design (i.e AutoCad), Computer Aided Manufacturing (ie. Pro/Engineer), Computer Aided Engineering (i.e. SolidWorks) to Geographic Information Systems (i.e. ESRI ArcGIS) and Digital Content Creation (i.e. autodesk 3DS MAX).

Driving the system is Intel Quad Core or Core Extreme with 1333MHz front side bus processor with 4MB of L2 cache, which delivers exceptional high-def multimedia, multi-tasking and multi-threaded performance. This high-performance CPU allows users to simultaneously run multiple applications at the same time -- all with increased performance. Performing tasks such as burning CDs, reading email messages, editing digital photos and listening to music all at the same time with no slow downs means a richer overall experience for the user.

The D901C, which measures 15.8" x 11.9" x 2.05" and weights under 12lbs, also supplies tremendous storage (up to 750GB using three hard drives), allowing users to save more of their favourite photos, music, games, and more, as well as headroom to install additional office and entertainment applications. Customers may also choose between RAID 0, RAID 1 or RAID 5 for the ultimate transfer rates and application load times or redundancy.

"It's like we crammed a server or workstation-calibre PC complete with Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) into a notebook form factor," saidMark Bialic, President of Eurocom. "It may be large, but this is one extremely fast notebook that replaces desktop based workstation with over 1 hour of built-in UPS battery.”

Additional features include: integrated webcam; Bluetooth and Wireless N A/B/G networking; internal TV HDTV Tuner and theatre audio system for a truly immersive experience.

EUROCOM D901C PHANTOM supports variety of 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems from Microsoft Vista Business or Ultimate to XP Professional or Microsoft Server 2003 up to Linux.

www.eurocom.com

New Medium Enterprises, Inc. (NME), provider of the affordable, high-quality HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) format, announced today its sale of 10,000 Multilayer Players for Central Europe to FKH Electronic, who will be distributing its 1080p HD VMD Multilayer Players to retail outlets in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

This initial order is valued at US$1.3 million. The order will complement the HD VMD film content currently available in Central Europe.

HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) is NME's proprietary high definition disc format based on established red laser technology. NME are also the developers of the world's first ever commercial multilayer disc format. HD VMD's seamless and cost-effective manufacturing solutions for High Definition products are based on the existing DVD production and industrial infrastructure. HD VMD prices and costs are very close to DVD's and bring a quality that rivals both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

HD VMD is a full HD format with 1920 x 1080i/p resolution, up to 40 Mbps bit rate playback, DVD up-scaling so users can watch their existing DVD collection and achieve premium picture quality through their HD TVs. The HD VMD player is suitable for playback on all HD-capable displays and will support existing optical disc formats: CD, DVD. HD VMD players also feature Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and all region codes for greater film viewing flexibility.

HD VMD is currently being adopted by content providers and distributors in more than a dozen countries worldwide, including Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, India, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

www.nmeinc.com