Software giant Microsoft has now released version 9.0b of DirectX, which includes bug fixes but doesn't include any new or modified APIs. DirectX is a Windows technology that enables higher performance in graphics and sound when you’re playing games or watching video on your PC. Direct X9.0b includes both the debug and retail versions of the runtime, as well as the software reference rasteriser. You can download it here.

Online retailer Buy.com has launched a music-download service, offering a catalogue of 300,000 songs from the five major labels. BuyMusic founder Scott Blum called Apple CEO Steve Jobs "a visionary", but added: "He's on the wrong platform. If you don't support Windows, you cut off 97 per cent of the market."

CyberLink, a leading developer of digital video software and e-learning solutions, introduced today a unique utility, disc defragmentation, which moves all of the content on a DVD to one location so that the total free space on the disc is available for burning video. This utility is currently available only in PowerProducer 2.

The movie industry have announced a broad new anti-piracy public education campaign, with commercials set to appear on all Americas big six broadcast television networks, more than two dozen cable channels and in 5,000 movie theaters across the States.

Pioneer have claimed it's ahead of the plasma TV pack and will release two slimline models in August and September, initially in Japan. The Pure Vision range include a 43-inch model costing ¥850,000 (£4,450) and a 50-inch model costing ¥1,100,000 (around £5,760). When it starts production of the units, Pioneer will pump out 3,500 units a month for each TV.

Although Gigabyte Technology was the last among first-tier motherboard makers to enter the optical storage arena, it will be the first to release a DVD-Dual drive, supporting 4x burning for both the DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW formats, according to the company.

Iomega has unveiled details of a small, detachable storage drive it is developing for portable electronics gadgets. The 1.5GB device, dubbed Digital Capture Technology, or DCT, uses a combination of hard drive technology created by Iomega and technology licensed from partner Fuji Photo Film, a digital camera maker.

Peer-to-peer file-sharing software developers say user privacy-protection concerns are behind the introduction of features designed to foil scanning by organisations representing owners of copyright-protected material. The modifications to popular file-sharing programs like Kazaa will block attempts to identify copyright material.

A Colorado startup, Interact-TV, has released a hacker-friendly digital entertainment center that plays, records and archives TV shows, DVDs, music and even digital photo albums. The Telly MC1000 Digital Entertainment Center, available now from the company's website for $900 (£561), can also surf the Web and act as a home media server. And -- if the company successfully courts the open-source programming community -- it may soon play computer games, turn the lights on and off, or automatically fetch music lyrics from the Net.

Sanyo have announced that by year-end, they will start selling a key component for DVD recorders to outside companies. Sanyo will sell its loader, which combines the disc tray with the optical pick-up needed for recording and playback, to manufacturers in China and Taiwan. This part is expected to enable producers with no special technological expertise to make DVD recorders. The firm's loader is compatible with both the DVD-RW standard that Sony Corp. is using and the DVD+RW standard that has made headway in Europe. Sanyo will also sell some of the recorder loaders to Japanese manufacturers. In fiscal 2004, it will aim to sell about 450,000 of the units to outside companies.

Toshiba is making it easier to play video and music on its big-screen Satellite P25 notebook. They have introduced a new Satellite P25 model with Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition software, a new combination DVD/CD burner drive and additional video memory..

Scientia have created software that allows users to build their own remote control specified to their home. The user downloads the software and enters information about their electronics, including brands and models. According to Scientia the length of the process depends on the complexity of the system, but it can take as little as 10 minutes for very basic configurations..

More than 70 producers, engineers, and representatives from consumer and professional equipment manufacturers, record companies, and recording studios recently came together in Europe to discuss new ways to promote and establish Super Audio CD (SACD). After a two-day conference in London, the attendees say they have agreed to establish the Super Audio Forum to foster a "supportive environment for the exchange of knowledge and marketing information, as well as providing a platform for industry-wide collaboration.".

Optodisc Technology broke ground at the site of its new headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan yesterday. The company expects the new development to raise recordable DVD disc capacity by fivefold over the next four years from its current capacity of just over eight million units per month, according to company vice president Robert Chang.

Thanks to our friends at disQworld we have a brand new review of the new 4x media from 01ne.

NEC have released an official firmware upgrade for the NEC 1300. This allows burning of PRINCO discs at 4X and 2X correctly. You can download it here.

Press Release: Memorex have joined forces with Roxio to include Roxio's complete line of digital media software products with the new Memorex Dual Format DVD Recorder. Roxio's Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 Basic - DVD Edition, PhotoSuite 5 SE, VideoWave Movie Creator, and DVDMax Player software are bundled with the Memorex Dual-X drive, which is available now for a suggested retail price of $329.99 (£207).

Gateway, scrambling to reinvent itself in the midst of a difficult PC market, is expected to unveil four new TV models today. The new sets--two high-end plasma screens and two LCD sets--build on Gateway's successful introduction late last year of its first TV set. That model--a 42-inch plasma screen priced well below competitors--generated more sales than expected and cemented Gateway's strategy to recast itself as a purveyor of interconnected consumer electronics devices.

Manufacturers are adding Wi-Fi wireless connections to media adapters that let home-electronics equipment play music or show photos stored on personal computers. New Wi-Fi connections allow stereos to play downloaded music and TVs to show photos stored on PCs.

Watching movies or television on a conventional PC is not the most comfortable activity, but Sony are trying to make it easier to keep a PC in the living room with an updated Vaio desktop model designed for small spaces. Sony released the Vaio W series in 2002, and the PCs have enjoyed a great deal of attention from consumers in Japan and around the world. The new Vaio W comes with enhanced components and features, such as a PVR (personal video recorder) and DVD recorder.