CUPERTINO, California'”March 10,
2005'”The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced that Apple®
will become a member of the consortium's Board of Directors. Apple has been a
leader in driving consumer adoption of DVD authoring since January 2001, with
the introduction of its SuperDrive™, the industry's first high-volume CD- and
DVD-burning drive, and its revolutionary iDVD® and DVD Studio Pro® software
applications. Apple is also helping bring High Definition (HD) to market with a
complete line of HD content creation tools for consumers and professionals alike
including iMovie® HD, Final Cut® Express HD and Final Cut Pro® HD editing
software.
Additionally the next release of
Apple's QuickTime® software, QuickTime 7, will feature the MPEG developed H.264
Advanced Video Codec (AVC) which has been adopted for high definition DVDs.
Apple will release QuickTime 7 in conjunction with the release of Mac OS® X
version 10.4 'Tiger," the fifth major version of Mac OS X that will ship in the
first half of 2005.
'Apple is pleased to join the
Blu-ray Disc Association board as part of our efforts to drive consumer adoption
of HD," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. 'Consumers are already creating stunning
HD content with Apple's leading video editing applications like iMovie HD and
are anxiously awaiting a way to burn their own high def DVDs."
'Apple has a long history of
technical innovation around DVD hardware and software, and their support of the
Blu-ray Disc format is a testament to their commitment of ongoing innovation.
The Blu-ray Disc format provides the immense capacity and the revolutionary
functionality that Apple's loyal customer base will be sure to enjoy," said
Maureen Weber, chief BDA spokesperson and general manager of HP's Optical
Storage Solutions Business. 'We're thrilled about Apple joining our 16-member
board, and we look forward to working with them on the development and promotion
of the Blu-ray Disc format."
The BDA was created to broaden
support for Blu-ray Disc'”the next generation optical disc for storing High
Definition movies, photos and other digital content. Blu-ray Discs will have
five times larger capacity than today's DVDs, with a single-layer Blu-ray Disc
holding up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc holding up to
50 gigabytes of data. Current DVDs hold 4.7 gigabytes on single-layer discs and
8.5 gigabytes on dual-layer discs.
About Blu-ray
Disc
Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation
optical disc format being developed for High Definition video and high-capacity
software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes
of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data.
About the Blu-ray Disc
Association
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA)
is responsible for establishing format standards and promoting and further
developing business opportunities for Blu-ray Disc - the next-generation optical
disc for storing High Definition movies, games, photos and other digital
content. The BDA has over 100 members. Its Board of Directors consists of Apple;
Dell Inc.; Hewlett Packard Company; Hitachi, Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.;
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Panasonic (Matsushita Electric); Pioneer
Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp
Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Thomson; Twentieth Century Fox;
and Walt Disney Pictures and Television.
About Apple
Apple ignited the personal
computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal
computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the
industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS
X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also
spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players
and iTunes online music store.
Source: Apple
