|
| |
Article: CES 2006 |
Index:
| Memorex | InterVideo Ulead |
Memorex:
Memorex was not exhibiting at the CES show floor this year, but we did find them at the Pepcom Digital Experience event. They showed us their newest Pro Gold Archival media, along with a few other new products. Estimated pricing on the Gold media will be over 2 times that of standard media, due to the higher cost manufacturing materials that are utilized.
The new Memorex 8Gb micro-drive.
Memorex is also jumping into the iPod accessory market with their new line of Printable iPod Wraps.
Sony:
Sony had many optical products on display, including the infamous Playstation 3. Unfortunately, no release date or estimated pricing has been announced thus far. The PS3 High Definition gaming demo that Sony displayed was identical to the demonstration held at the E3 gaming show last year. This lack of new content disappointed some Playstation fans. Nevertheless, the demo is still quite impressive and Sony was at least showing a possible new design of the PS3 controller.
Sony had a Blu-ray mock up drive on display as well.
We attempted to obtain more information on Sony's Blu-ray PC drive, but unfortunately they could not provide any information on the model number, release date, pricing or manufacturing of this product.
We also asked about the upcoming SONY/NEC optical storage joint venture and what the implications of this could be regarding the development of future HD DVD and Blu-ray drives. Sony reiterated that the joint venture will be over 50% Sony owned. With a larger stake in the company, Sony will have a more powerful guiding hand into the operations of the venture. Will the independent operations of Sony and NEC optical storage release their own Blu-ray and HD DVD PC rewriters? When the Sony/NEC joint venture starts operating as one unit, will the new company drop development of HD DVD drives due to Sony's heavy backing of the Blu-ray Disc format? We'll have to wait and see.
Another interesting development is that the next generation Sony DVD PC drive should be available in March or April according to a Sony representative. The model number should be DRU-820A according to Sony. As usual, Sony does not publicly disclose the manufacturing source for their drives, but we have a strong feeling that the 820A will be based on the hardware of BenQ's 1670 model.
Sony's BDP-S1 BD-ROM standalone player is pictured above.
Panasonic:
We stopped by Panasonic's table at the Digitial Experience event to find them running a demo with a new prototype Panasonic Blu-ray standalone player. We spoke to an engineer from Panasonic Japan, but he was not able to provide much information on the standalone player, as it is still to be determined. He also mentioned that the developers still need to implement the digital rights management features on this unit. This unit currently has no model number, they are not allowed to disclose the chipset, and the release date is 'summer".
Panasonic Blu-ray prototype player
When we stopped in at the CES Panasonic displays, we found an internal PC Blu-ray rewriter on display.
The model number for this Panasonic Blu-ray PC drive was SW-5582-CXX. Hardware revision listed on the display unit was 1111, firmware revision listed was B071. This information was gathered from the drive sticker attached to this display unit. Speaking with a product representative, we found that Panasonic currently has no plans to reenter the retail market. This means that this drive will only be available through OEM distributers and bundled with computer systems.
Pioneer:
Pioneer BDR-101 Blu-ray PC rewriter
Pioneer was displaying their BDR-101 internal Blu-ray PC rewriter. This unit supports reading and writing to Blu-ray and DVD formats. It does not support reading nor writing to any CD formats. According to Pioneer representatives, the tentative release date for this unit is 1st quarter 2006, or more specifically near the end of March. The Digital Rights Management features have not yet been implemented on this drive, which may or may not delay the release date. We also confirmed that the slot located on the front bezel is used for ventilation and heat dissipation.
The approximated pricing for this drive is $995. According to Pioneer, the BDR-101 will not be targetted towards the retail market. This means that you won't be able to find the unit sold in major retail stores. If you want to get ahold of this drive, you will need find it through OEM distributers or business product distributers.
Pioneer BDP-HD1 ELITE BD-ROM standalone player
This product is targetted towards the high-end market and is included in part of Pioneer's ELITE product line. This is a networked product that includes an ethernet port on the rear of the unit. It also includes upscaling technology for viewing standard definition DVDs on a HDTV. This unit does not support reading nor writing to any type of CD media. The estimated retail price for this unit is $1,800 and it is scheduled to launch in June.
Fujifilm:
Fujifilm was onsite displaying their latest media products. Unfortunately there was no Labelflash media onsite, and there was no new information on a possible release in the US. Fujifilm branded Blu-ray and HD DVD recordable media is tentatively scheduled for this summer, but the release of these products is dependent on the availability of hardware that is able to write to the media. We also found some product packaging displays for Fujifilm DVD-R Dual Layer media. There is currently no release date for this DVD-R DL product.
Toshiba:
Toshiba's hot item was their HD-A1 HD DVD standalone player.
The release date is scheduled for March and the unit is currently available for preorder at $499.99 through Amazon.com. The most inexpensive blue laser consumer product that we have seen so far! You can find another photo of this player on Amazon.
Blu-ray Disc Association:
There were definitely some exciting announcements made at the Blu-ray association press conference as well as the Blu-ray exhibition inside of CES. A few key announcements include that the Blu-ray specification has been completed, 7 out of 8 major movie studios now support Blu-ray Disc, and over 100 Blu-ray movie titles have been announced. LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Sony and Samsung have all announced standalone Blu-ray players and/or recorders. Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, LG, Samsung and Sony have announced Blu-ray computer drives.
A display shelf filled with BD-ROM Hollywood movies
Mitsubishi prototype BD-ROM standalone player
Hitatchi branded BD-ROM standalone player
This BD-ROM player was one of the Sharpest looking standalones on display at the show.
ADS Tech:
ADS Tech was
displaying their new DVDXpressDX2 unit.
The ADS Tech DVDXpressDX2 is
a video capture and conversion device that utilizes built in hardware
compression technology along with an easy to use software interface (named
Capture Wizard). The software allows you to easily capture video to a variety of
formats as well as burn to disc. The burning engine used for writing to CD and
DVD media is taken from Ulead Systems. Another nice feature is that the unit is
entirely USB powered, which means there are no messy or bulky external power
supplies (Google would like that). The device should be out very soon and
will run with a suggested retail price of approximately
$100.
LG:
LG, Life's Good! Just like last year,
the LG booth was very expansive and consumed a large area on the CES
floor.
You couldn't miss the 102 inch Plasma TV at the entrance to the LG area. The picture here does it absolutely no justice. This enormous HDTV provides a beautiful display.
The LG BD-199 (pictured above) is a BD-ROM player poised to hit the market in the second half of 2006. No pricing is available at the moment.
The external LG GSA-2166D is pictured above. This Super Multi drive features LightScribe functions along with support for reading and writing to almost all disc formats. Unfortunately LG did not display their 12X DVD-RAM capable drive at CES.
LG was also displaying an internal Blu-ray Super Multi drive (shown below). This model has been dubbed the LG GBW-H10N.
GBW-H10N display sign
The drive sticker states that the unit was designed and manufactured by Hitachi LG Data Storage Korea, during January 2006. The ROM version is not specified. LG gives an estimated release date of "mid 2006".
Philips:
Philips Electronics was showcasing their BDP 9000 Blu-ray player.
This Blu-ray disc player is part of the Philips high-end CINEOS product line. Philips states that their CINEOS products are "best in class".
Suprisingly, we could not find any internal PC Blu-ray rewriters from Philips. At last year's CES (2005), Philips showed us a CD/DVD/Blu-ray burning demo with their internal Blu-ray drive. The drive was mysteriously absent from this years Philips exhibit.
Maxell:
At the Maxell meeting room, we found a wide assortment of media products. We discussed the different types of Maxell's consumer retail media. Maxell confirmed that we will continue to see both made in Japan and made in Taiwan branded Maxell media in the USA. According to a representative, Maxell media that is manufactured in Taiwan must strictly adhere to Maxell's quality control guidelines. Maxell's premier production facilities in Japan are reaching maximum production capacity due to the popularity of Maxell highgrade media and wide range of products. They also focus on a wide range of markets, producing products such as Broadcast Quality media, Professional Quality media, Video Camcorder DVD media and more. Highgrade, Professional and Broadcast Quality media utilizes a special "hardcoat" on the recordable surface. This coating is 40 times more scratch resistant compared to traditional recordable media.
Maxell is also working closely with InPhase Technology on developing Holographic Optical media. It is possible that the professional and business market could see 300Gb Holographic optical media at $125 per disc as soon as October 2006. Hopefully we will hear more about Holographic Optical media and its massive storage capacities in the near future.
Google:
We attended the Google keynote session held by Larry Page.
To the delight of the crowd, there was also a special guest
appearance by the well known comedian Robin Williams. Larry discussed how he
thinks future devices should operate and also announced some new products from
Google. Google pack has launched, which is a nice bundle of free software from
Google and other third parties. See http://pack.google.com.
Google Video also officially launched, allowing users to purchase
video content from a wide variety of providers at http://video.google.com. Another
exciting announcement was unveiled from Google and the
Nation Basketball Association (NBA). All NBA games will now be downloadable
from Google Video starting 24 hours after initial broadcast.
A Google Earth and Google Maps demo was also held, focusing on
mobile phones and devices. Google Earth is now available for installation on
your mobile device, which can aid you in locating exactly where you are trying
to go while you are
traveling.
InterVideo Ulead:
InterVideo Ulead was displaying their
latest software with integrated HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc format support.
Ulead Movie Factory 5 and WinDVD 7 are both ready to support the new blue laser
disc and video formats.
Ulead Movie Factory 5 will support the creation of both Blu-ray and HD DVD compliant videos, allowing home users to create and author their own content, which can then be burned to a writeable HD DVD or Blu-ray disc. The HD DVD directory structure will look familiar to those who have browsed a DVD Video disc. The directory that stores video content on an HD DVD disc must be named HVDVD_TS. Advanced content such as advance navigation and playlists are stored in a directory named ADV_OBJ.
InterVideo WinDVD 7 supports the playback of both HD DVD and Blu-ray disc videos. These applications will be released once the PC drives are available.
Verbatim:
Verbatim was displaying their newly announced mini DVD+R Double Layer and mini DVD-R Dual Layer media.
According to Verbatim, writing to the "new" format will not be supported by the current ODD hardware. This means that if you want to take advantage of mini DVDR DL media, you will need to purchase a new DVD writer. Samsung has announced support for the mini DL media, and Verbatim believes that Samsung will have one of the first drives on the market that is able to write to this format. The media will be released as soon as the first writer that supports it is available on the market. It is interesting to note that the mini DVD+R DL packaging has a speed of "2.4x" specified, whereas the mini DVD-R DL packaging has a speed rating of "2x-4x". Has the DVD-R camp finally launched a higher speed product? We'll have to find out when this media hits the market.
Verbatim 8x DVD-R Dual Layer media is coming soon!
Verbatim also took the time to inform us about the latest developments in LightScribe technology. DVD recordable media compatible with LightScribe version 1.2 should be available starting in February. Version 1.2 is up to 30% faster than the original LightScribe technique (v1.0) currently in use on the market. The LightScribe surface of the new discs also have a more reflective 'rainbow' type effect as well. LightScribe 1.2 color discs (bottom right of the above photo) are planned to launch in five different flavors this Spring. LightScribe version 1.3 media is also scheduled to launch this Fall, which will speed up the LightScribe process even more. Newer versions of CD-R LightScribe media are behind the DVD Recordable formats, and will launch a bit later.
The following table provides a rough estimate into LightScribe labeling times. These times were provided by Verbatim. Our own tests with LightScribe v1.0 have proved to be a bit faster and closer to the 25 minute mark. Please keep in mind that text-only labels as well as normal or draft quality mode will result in much faster LightScribe labeling times.
| LightScribe version | Completion time (full photographic label in Highest quality mode) |
| 1.0 | 30-38 minutes |
| 1.2 | 16-20 minutes |
| 1.3 | 8-10 minutes |
As expected, Verbatim also had a few next generation DVD discs on display.
Verbatim Blu-ray BD-R media.
Verbatim HD DVD-R
Ritek - RiDATA:
RiDATA was exhibiting at this year's CES and displaying many new products. We spoke to a representative and received some interesting information regarding upcoming products. RiDATA will soon have 5x DVD-RAM on the US market, which will hopefully make it much easier for consumers to obtain this hard to find media type.
A mockup of a 20Gb HD DVD-RAM disc was also on display.
Ritek Blu-ray and HD DVD media was also on display throughout the booth. RiDATA will also be launching many new flash media based storage products.
The picture above shows one of the new RiDATA flash drives, which includes an integrated laser pointer.
BenQ:
The most interesting drive at BenQ's optical storage display was of course, their 'new' Blu-ray PC Writer. This drive is currently named the BW1000 and should be available in the third quarter of 2006. The drive supports reading and writing to CD, DVD and Blu-ray media. No price points are currently available for this unit.
BenQ BW1000 Blu-ray PC Writer
Back to the current DVD generation of optical disc drives, BenQ has announced the DW1670.
BenQ DW1670 DVD drive
The DW1670 supports reading and writing to all CD and DVD formats including DVD-RAM. This drive should be available starting in April. I for one can't wait to get a hold of this drive, as it has the potential to be one of the best DVD multi drives on the market.
We also asked BenQ about the BenQ DQ60 DVD burner. Why does it use a Panasonic chipset? Why does it not follow a similar naming scheme compared to all other BenQ DVD drives? BenQ informed us that this drive was originally not planned to be released under the BenQ brand. The drive was manufactured and developed for Teac, who had given BenQ the requirements to use the Panasonic chipset. After the development and production was in place, BenQ made a new decision to attempt to sell some of these units under the BenQ brand and the DQ60 was born.
It was also nice to find the CDFreaks Editor's choice award displayed on the BenQ banner located in their optical storage section.
BenQ was also displaying some BenQ branded media featuring "DataGuard X" technology. According to the display sign, DataGuard X is a data protection technology designed especially for DVD media, and integrates Sterling Silver Reflective Layer, Enhanced Recording Layer, Anti-UV Strengthened Substrate, and Seamless Bonding Technology. Using DataGuard X, BenQ DVD media is able to offer the ultimate protection for all your precious DVD recordable data and video.
Nero:
Nero is ready for the next generation of Blu-ray PC drives with Blu-ray writing support already implemented in unreleased versions of their suite of applications. Nero Express, Nero Burning ROM, Nero BackItUp, Nero Vision and Nero CD-DVD Speed all have support for writing to Blu-ray discs. Nero was kind enough to allow us to take some screenshots onsite at CES and also sent us some additional screenshots via email.
Nero CD-DVD Speed
Nero Vision
Nero Burning ROM
Nero Express
Philips/BenQ "PHILIPS BLURAY 2X" prototype drive loaded with Sony prototype BD-RE media.
As far as writing is concerned, Nero has it down for the Blu-ray disc format. But what about HD DVD? We didn't see any support for writing to HD DVD-R in any of Nero's applications at CES, but we do know that they are working on it.
HP:
HP had their new HP dvd550sl LightScribe drive on display.
This slimline external drive from HP is scheduled to be released this Spring.
Unfortunately, HP would not speak to us regarding the new versions of LightScribe because they do not release information regarding 'future' products. It's a good thing that we were able to get some specifics from Verbatim on the new LightScribe versions!
HD DVD:
The HD DVD Promotion Group was in full effect at this
year's CES. HD DVD standalone drives and PC drives were on display from a
variety of manufacturers. Hollywood is scheduled to launch movie titles in the
HD DVD format starting in March. As we mentioned earlier, Toshiba is also set to
launch the most inexpensive blue laser video player so far, the HD-A1 HD DVD
player. The HD-A1 player is already available for preorder on Amazon at a price of $499.
HD DVD movies, coming March 2006
More HD DVD movie titles
LG brand HD DVD standalone player
Another Toshiba HD DVD standalone player
RCA HD DVD player
This RCA HD DVD player was very interesting to see. Will this be another low-cost player for the HD DVD format? We'll have to wait for the release to find out. No price point is available for this unit at this time.
HD DVD notebook drive
The image above depicts a mirror that gives us a glimpse at the underside of an HD DVD notebook drive in the midst of reading an HD DVD disc.
NEC:
NEC's optical storage division was displaying their next generation HD DVD-ROM PC drive at the HD DVD booth.
NEC chipsets and the NEC HR-1100A HD DVD-ROM drive.
Mass production of the HR-1100A drives is scheduled for September of this year. At this time, the estimated pricing is approximately $1,000 but this may be reduced by the time the product hits the market.
We also asked NEC about their HD DVD writers that are currently under development. The first NEC HD DVD writer is currently carrying the model number of HD-1100A and NEC should have prototypes available this summer. The drive supports writing to CD, DVD, and HD DVD media.
This article is not yet fully completed. I opted to post a partial article so that our readers could access some of the CES content as soon as possible. If you enjoyed reading this article, please submit a link to your favorite news site. We'll have much more CES content posted soon, so please check back with us and thank you for reading!
To be continued...
Sanyo:
We were able to view
optical pickup units for HD DVD drives, manufactured by Sanyo. A representative
from NEC informed us that the actual development and design is done by NEC,
while their partner Sanyo manufactures the
hardware.
TSST:
TSST was displaying HD DVD burners at
the HD DVD booth.
A TSST representative gave us a generalized breakdown on the areas of focus that each divison of the joint venture is currently concentrating on. According to the company representative, Korea is focused on half-height PC drives and Blu-ray development, while Japan is focused on slimline drives for notebook computers and HD DVD development. The first slimline 12.7mm HD DVD Writable drive should be available this August. The half-height HD DVD Writable drive for PC's should be available in September. Model number and pricing information is currently unavailable for either of these products.
Samsung:
Samsung was a major exhibitor at the Consumer Electronics Show. Samsung banners were everywhere and their display area on the convention floor was mammoth.
We found Samsung Blu-ray writers on display in the optical storage section. Above we have photos of the external version, the Samsung SE-B026B. An internal Blu-ray PC drive was also on display. The first internal PC drive should carry the model number SH-B022B. Samsung claimed a release in February. No pricing information could be provided.
Flying below the press release radar, the SE-S184M was also on display. This Samsung external LightScribe DVD writer is also capable of 12X DVD-RAM writing.
Microsoft:
Microsoft had a very large booth as expected and was displaying a wide range of their newest products. We headed over to their Xbox 360 section attempting to find out more regarding the possibility of an external HD DVD drive. There was a large Xbox 360 demo area where CES visitors could play a variety of games. Unfortunately they did not have an Xbox 360 HD DVD drive available and they were unable to comment on the possibility of offering such a product. At the Samsung booth, we did find a display of the Xbox 360 optical internals.
Xbox 360 internal drive, manufactured by Samsung.
Final Thoughts:
This years' CES was an amazing event. New and innovative products were on display in all areas of the Las Vegas convention center. Blu-ray products greatly outnumbered HD DVD products at this years' show. The Blu-ray Disc Association has gained a great deal of momentum and support over the past year.
The HD DVD Promotion Group may have had a smaller amount of products on display, but they certainly came packing a punch. Toshiba announced the most inexpensive blue laser product yet, the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD standalone player. This year will no doubt be a very interesting year for early adopters of blue laser technology. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray products will be available soon and from numerous companies.
We can also look forward to a few advancements in the DVD arena, such as Verbatim's mini double layer discs and higher speed DVD-RAM media. Of course CDFreaks will be there every step of the way to cover all of these exciting developments and thoroughly test new products and technology. We look forward to experiencing these new technologies with you, our readers.
