Taiwanese optical driver makers may begin to get long-waited DVD+RW loaders later this month from Japan-based Ricoh, a major supplier, because Ricoh has seen an improved yield rate on its loader production and will start shipments after mid-May, according to sources.

From Pioneer: "The DVD Forum has established new standards for high-speed recordable discs (DVD-R discs supporting 4x recording and DVD-RW discs supporting 2x recording).

"In tests to check the operation of these new high-speed recordable discs, Pioneer has discovered that the DVD-R/RW writers may malfunction, if used with new high-speed DVD-R/RW discs. Various media manufacturers have begun production of these discs that will soon be available in the marketplace. The source of the problem is to do with the the firmware in certain Pioneer DVD-R/RW recorders and drives, and not with the high-speed media itself. As a result, use of the new high-speed discs for recording on these particular Pioneer products may cause damage to both the loaded disc and to the drive/recorder.
The models requiring the update are as follows:
Pioneer DVR-A03
Pioneer DVR-103
Pioneer DVR-A04
Pioneer DVR-104

"Pioneer therefore requests all customers to download the firmware for updating the writer’s software directly from the URL provided below. Once customers update their writer software with the downloaded firmware, they will be able to use the new high-speed DVD-R/RW media."

You can download the new firmware (version 1.41) here.
Pioneer website: pioneeraus.com.au/multimedia/.

Cinemas are set to turn to Big Brother-style spy tactics in a bid to foil the movie pirates costing the film industry millions of pounds a year. Airport-style metal detectors and night-vision goggles are two of the ideas currently on trial in America. And with pirating already a major problem on this side of the Atlantic, experts predict similar methods could soon be introduced in the UK.

FLASH memory manufacturers are developing a new generation of smaller cards to expand the technology from cameras and MP3 players into the lucrative mobile phone market. The CompactFlash Association has updated its standards specification to allow card vendors to ensure the new memory devices remain backward-compatible with older systems and enable connectivity in new technology such as phones and PDAs.

Toshiba is developing a blue-laser optical disc based on today's DVD production process. The upshot: much higher capacities of optical storage at a much lower cost than other blue-laser technologies. According to Toshiba, the new disc requires only minor changes to an existing DVD production line and the equipment it's based on to produce. The disc is based on a single-side, double-layer 120mm diameter, 1.2mm thick DVD constructed using back-to-back bonding.

Microsoft have pledged to support all major writable DVD formats in Windows XP, or Longhorn. The software giant said its "increased writable support" means users will have more options to back up data and exchange digital audio, pictures and video files between personal computers and consumer electronics devices.

TiVo has introduced a scaled-down version of its service that consumer-electronics makers can embed into other devices such as DVD players. Known as TiVo Basic, the service includes the key digital video recording functions available in the company's full service, including the ability to pause live TV programs and record them onto a hard drive.

Microsoft have announced there's a bug in its Media Player 7.1 and in the Windows XP Media Player. Yes, the bug is one that could let some crazy hacker read files or run programs on your PC. This is a critical bug, and you're recommended to install a patch. Click for more details and patch.

Reflecting the increasing overlap between the worlds of B2B and consumer electronics, Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a menu of PC-centric solutions designed to help home users leverage their computers for digital media and entertainment.

CHART CDs, computer games, DVD movies and hardcore porn films were among thousands of counterfeit items seized when police raided two properties in the Braintree area. Goods and equipment discovered included pirate CDs by stars like Blue, Justin Timberlake and Robbie Williams and fake DVDs including the latest Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films.

Microsoft and Panasonic announced on Wednesday that their media access technology known as HighMAT will soon work with DVDs. The companies said they would extend support in their High-performance Media Access Technology (HighMAT) specification to DVD-RAM and other major recordable DVD formats by the end of the year. Currently, the technology, which is included in Windows Media Player 9 and Windows Movie Maker 2 for XP, only supports CDs.

A major overhaul of the Xbox Live platform is in the works, with the console set to get new online functionality including the ability to talk to friends outside of games and use streaming video and audio services.

Mitsubishi have announced that they have developed a new Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) which incorporates two new technologies. The first is called "Compression Feed-forward Driving" (cFFD), a technology that produces a clear, moving picture display. The other is called "Natural Color Matrix" (NCM), a color management technology. Mitsubishi will demonstrate their new LCDs at a booth at WinHEC 2003.

The material girl's foul-mouthed revenge on music traders could be interpreted as a deceptive trade practice, or even outright fraud.

It's no joke. Lobbyists for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) tried to glue this hacking-authorization amendment onto a mammoth anti-terrorism bill that Congress approved last week.

The DVD+RW Alliance, one of the sponsors of WinHEC 2003 to be held this week in New Orleans, will demonstrate the Mt. Rainier capabilities of the DVD+RW format's writing and editing capabilities at its WinHEC booth. Mt. Rainier is the DVD writing specification to be included in the next version of Windows. "Once Mt. Rainier becomes available in the next version of Windows, DVD+RW drives will work like any other drive on your computer, with drag-and-drop file-editing and file-moving, random-access file writing and built-in defect management," noted Maureen Weber, Worldwide Chair of the DVD+RW Alliance. "DVD+RW is the only format on the market designed from the beginning to take full advantage of the writing and editing capabilities of Mt. Rainier.

The convergence of consumer electronics and computing devices is spurring major growth in the front-projector home theater market, with unit sales expected to grow sevenfold from 2002 to 2007, iSuppli/Stanford Resources predicts.

If you thought we had forgotten about our latest DVD film releases page then you should check out our new and improved list for May.

Never wanting to miss news of wars or rumours of wars, a little snippet that appeared on VE3D has proved interesting. According to an alleged employee of Gamestop in the US, console makers are about to drop their prices. The ever more vicious rounds of skirmishing between the top three names is interesting. According to the news piece the Xbox is due to drop to $149 (£93) in the US. Sony will also be pitching its PS2 at that price. Meanwhile, Nintendo will be dropping the Gamecube down to $99 (£62).

The Bush administration have said some countries are failing to provide adequate protection against copyright piracy of U.S. products such as movies and computer programs. The Ukraine has recieved the worst ranking in the area of intellectual property rights, accused of making a large number of pirated versions of compact music and video discs and computer programs. The administration said it would keep in place $75 million in economic penalties imposed in January 2002 because of the piracy problem.