This upcoming summer could be a hot one particulary as the HD-DVD-versus-Blu-Ray optical media marketing war is just starting to heat up.
Five days after Sony announced it has started shipping 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray Disc recordable (write-once) media disks, Imation countered by announcing the availability of its own recordable HD-DVD media platters. Memorex, a subsidiary brand of Imation, announced last week that it is shipping its own 15GB HD-DVD recordable media. Both Memorex and Imation brands retail for US$19.99 apiece, but they won’t be competing for attention on the same retail shelves. <\/P>
“The difference [between the two brands] is that Memorex’s HD DVD is primarily for consumers and available at retail, whereas Imation’s HD DVD is more geared toward business professionals and prosumers and is available primarily through commercial channels,” Imation spokeswoman Nancy Bjorson said recently. <\/P>
Imation and Memorex HD-DVDs can store up to 15GB of digital files–three times the capacity of standard DVDs–and can be used for any kind of graphics storage: including specialized medical and government imaging, photography, videography, as well as high definition video recording. Imation’s corresponding Blu-ray recordable (write-once) media, announced July 13, can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disk at a retail price of US$19.99 but can only be used on a Blu-ray machine. The rewritable single-layer (25GB) Blu-ray version retails for US$29.99, the spokesperson said.<\/P>
Sony’s 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray Disc recordable disks with AccuCORE technology retail for US$48 with this tipped to be $69 in Australia. AccuCORE, a proprietary technology Company owned by Sony, utilises a new recording dye for both the DVD-R and DVD+R formats so as to deliver better performance in writing and playback across a wide variety of drives and recorders, a Sony spokesperson said.<\/P>
Improved writing stability and faster addressing is achieved through a new stamper design, new molding and new bonding technologies, the spokesperson said. <\/P>
Data storage needs expected to triple by 2010 <\/P>
Data storage requirements are expected to triple by the end of the decade with e-mail proliferation, more stringent compliance requirements, and as businesses continue to produce more multi-media content that needs to be stored in a digital environment, IDC reported. <\/P>
“I’d say we’re in the early adopter phase of the HDD\/Blue-Ray DVD market,” Charles King of Pund-IT said recently.
“The players and recorders aren’t common, but they’re becoming increasingly available. For businesses that use optical storage for back-up and compliance purposes, they qualify as a next-gen solution; faster and more capacious that previous technologies so valuable for companies that are feeling squeezed by the headroom of existing DVD disks.” <\/P>
The popularity of optical storage has dwindled over time, but its price and performance are still compelling for some small to midsize businesses and organizations with a history of investment in optical-storage processes, King said. <\/P>
“I also expect to see HDD and Blu-Ray drives in many of the upcoming PC desktop and laptop models that will it the stores in time for the holidays,” King said. “Overall, I’d say that it’s smart for Imation to get these products into the stores ASAP.” <\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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