HD DVD - BLU-RAY - X-Box Rumours

From One TO One Magazine

Friday, 07 July 2006

The internet has been abuzz in recent days with rumours and denials concerning the blue-laser format war, with HD DVD particularly featured. First came the claim by US electronics industry analyst iSuppli that Toshiba was losing money on its HD-A1 HD DVD player. The company stripped the device down to its components and costed the bill of materials, plus accessories, at $700 – well above the device’s $499 retail price. These claims were refuted by Mark Whittard, general manager of Toshiba Information Systems Division in Australia. “My understanding is that the price is set to make a profit. We’re not in business to lose money,” he said. “The direction from Tokyo is that we have to make a profit.” Next came the rumour that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 would in future contain an internal HD DVD drive, which would be included at no extra cost to the consumer as a means of adding value while maintaining the current retail price. This was scotched by Cesar Menendez of the Microsoft Games global marketing team writing on the Gamerscoreblog site. “We have no plans to release an Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD,” he said. “What we showcased at E3 was an external HD DVD drive, and we're sticking with that.” Finally, in the reappearance of a rumour that first surfaced last year, Samsung was reportedly considering producing a combined Blu-ray/HD DVD player. This story found currency following comments by an assistant manager in Samsung’s home-platform product planning division, who said that although the company would not produce an HD DVD-only player, it was considering a joint player. However, a Samsung spokesperson later denied that the company had any firm plans in this regard, citing a company statement that “Samsung Electronics is fully committed to the Blu-ray format and currently only has plans to introduce a Blu-ray player to the market.” LG, however, mentioned back in March that it was looking to release a combined-format player in late summer or early autumn

FBI cuts DVD piracy in the U.S

From One to One Magazine Thursday, 06 July 2006

The FBI claims to have broken two large-scale international movie piracy rings, following 13 arrests made in the New York area on June 28. The rings to which the individuals belonged are responsible for half the camcorded copies of movies available as pirated DVDs or on the internet in the US, and 25% of those available worldwide, said the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Each of the defendants is alleged to have played one or more of the following roles in the pirate movie trafficking: Making recordings in movie theatres Producing paper inserts containing printed images and artwork associated with pirated movies Selling master copies of movies, and the paper inserts, to the creators of pirate movie discs Some of those charged are also charged with distributing movies via the internet, through distribution hubs in Pakistan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia - by uploading material either from DVDs or from camcorder footage. The arrests were the culmination of a three-year investigation, which involved two undercover FBI agents, three co-operating witnesses and two undercover operations. The defendants are charged with conspiracy, copyright infringement and trafficking in counterfeit labels, documents and packaging; each offence carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. Announcing the arrests, Mark Mershon, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, thanked the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the MPAA for their assistance in the investigation. The MPAA also offered thanks to those involved in the operation. “Today's arrests are a substantial victory in the fight to curb movie theft on the Internet and on the streets," said Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO. “These camcorders were an organised group of people responsible for fuelling an underground economy.”

Bi-lingual website for Health company

Procopy today launched the Chinese language version of the website of Perth-based Chelation Australia.

Chelation Australia recently set up an Asia Division that operates from Singapore in response to demands from a number of countries - notably China. The Chinese version of the website includes message boards, rss feeds and a payment gateway.

The website is based on the Zinecast platform, that enables the delivery of enterprise-class dynamic websites for a fraction of the cost of equivalent web development technologies.

POMfm launches in beta mode

Procopy has launched POMfm - an interactive website and radio station aimed at British ex-pats in Australia and New Zealand. The website includes audio, video and interactive discussion forums, and is based on Procopy's Zinecast platform. POMfm has concluded advertising deals with leading UK product and service providers, including Ladbrokes, Harrods and Virgin and is currently in discussion with Australian partners.

"Pom fm is for ex-Brits, their offspring and anyone with a fondness for British Culture. We celebrate English music, comedy, sport and quirky news via the web from Perth to the world. It's an affectionate view of upover from downunder", said a company spokesman.

For more information on POMfm, please click here. For more information on web development, please click here.

JAZZ WA requires your support

Procopy hopes you will support this worthwhile WA Music event - JAZZWA. This news has been provided by Glyn MacDonald. Below is information from JAZZWA regarding a huge jazz fundraising event in Perth. It certainly will be a not to miss concert!

JAZZWA has managed to secure a 4-day Western Australian showcase from 28th June to 1st July 2006 at the prestigious Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival in Rome, Italy.

This is a very expensive exercise and we are going to be holding a huge fundraising concert at the Judith Cottier Theatre, Perth College on Sat June 10th. This event will see 3 of the bands perform: Hip Mo’ Toast, Speedball and Salamander, with a piano solo performance from Tom O’Halloran (representing Void). For more details of fundraising activities go to http://www.jazzwa.com/fundraiser.

To purchase tickets go to http://www.heatseeker.com.au/gigs.aspx?id=Giant%20Steps&tid=2&iid=880

This will be a one off event in Perth and is a definite not to be missed opportunity. I hope to see you all there!