Behold the Terabyte Disc

 

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

The optical disc is supposed to become obsolete any day now, but maybe there's hope in store from the folks at Mempile. The TeraDisc is the first-ever 1TB optical disc capable of holding 250 Hours of HD Programming on a single disc . No word on pricing, and the technology won't be out until 2010, but it's great to see storage always moving forward.

"Existing optical media store the data through the use of light-reflective semi-transparent technologies. While increasing in capacity, even the newer blue-laser technologies are nonetheless limited to a very small number of layers. The partial reflection from the multiple layers leads to signal reduction simultaneously raising background noise and coherent interferences.

"Mempile's patented non-linear two-photon technology allows for 3D recording of transparent virtual layers on the entire volume of the disc. Mempile's recent demonstration proved that more than 100 layers could be recorded and read – showing storage capabilities of slightly less than 300GB over a thickness of 0.6 mm of active material. By increasing this active material to the thickness of a DVD, 1.2 mm, Mempile will be able to demonstrate the recording and reading of at least 500GB of data. Future optimization will allow the recording of 200 layers and of up to 5GB of data per layer." Source: Mempile via Fosfor

Bottom Line: More proof that HD DVD and Blu Ray are doomed. That or we have yet another format to contend with.

Samsung considers cheaper version of Ultra Mobile PC

March 15, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- HANOVER, GERMANY - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. may produce a cheaper version of its new Q1 Ultra ultra-mobile PC in a bid to boost sales, a senior company executive said Thursday.

 

"In order to have more users who can afford this kind of product, we are thinking of coming up with a second version," said H.S. Kim, executive vice president and general manager of Samsung's computer division, speaking at the launch of the Q1 Ultra at the annual Cebit exhibition in Hanover, Germany.

Samsung won't yet disclose the price of the Q1 Ultra, which will hit store shelves around the world in May. But executives said the device will be priced similarly to its predecessor, the Q1, which retails for around US$1,300, depending on the processor and system configuration.

Samsung is counting on the Q1 Ultra to sell two or three times more units than the Q1, which has so far sold less than 100,000 units, Kim said. This is where the possibility of a second version comes in to play: lower costs could make the device appeal to more users, driving up sales.

Kim declined to comment further on the successor to the Q1 Ultra. Given the high-end specifications of the model announced this week, there are several areas where costs could be cut.

For starters, the device uses an ultra-low voltage processor from Intel Corp. that has not yet been announced, Kim said. Buying chips from a second supplier or using a different Intel chip could help reduce system costs. Indeed, some Q1 ultra-mobile PCs were based on a processor from Via Technologies Inc., which specializes in low-voltage processors that are generally cheaper than chips from Intel or Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

In addition to considering a Q1 Ultra that is more affordable, Samsung is also planning to equip some Q1 Ultra units with its hybrid disk drive, which includes both a hard disk and flash memory. "We are planing to have this hybrid drive some day in the near future," Kim said.

Sony Gets Second Life with 'Home'

Sony looks like it will follow in the footsteps of Linden Lab and other such - with the launch of 'Home', its 3D virtual world exclusively designed for the PS3, and another 3D game, 'LittleBigPlanet'.

Showing off 'Home' at the Game Developers Conference this week, Sony Computer Entertainment's President of Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison, explained how it gels with the PS3 ecosystem, and what Sony calls the 'Game 3.0' era, or the era in which power will be put back firmly into the hands of gamers.
Sony's 'Home' sounds almost like Linden Lab's Second Life, which has around 4.5 million residents. But 'Home' is said to be deeply scaled back.

Available for free to PS3 users, 'Home' offers a way to connect in multimedia space, and interact with various forms of media available on PS3.

Like in Second Life, 'Home' players can create animated proxies or avatars, and further customize them as they wish. A small private space is allocated to each member, which can again be customized as per individual tastes.

Players can buy clothing, furniture, and videos to play on virtual screens in their virtual apartments. They can meet each other in the main public area, and communicate with each other.

But unlike in Second Life, 'Home' offers video games, virtual arcades, music, movies, and a whole lot of Sony approved media downloads.

Also unlike Second Life - where users create nearly all of the content with almost no limits, 'Home' promises to be much more of a controlled environment.

For instance, users might be able to design their own avatars, clothing, and so on, but Sony would step in as moderator in case of public spaces.

To observers, 'Home' seems almost like a new reason being given to consumers to buy the PS3, which is lagging behind the other consoles.

The 'Home' beta version is slated for launch next month, and the official debut is scheduled during Fall this year.

'LittleBigPlanet', Sony's other 3D offering, allows players to build obstacle courses, puzzles, and other games for avatars who resemble beanbags or 'sack boys' as Sony calls them.

This game is slated to debut early next year. A sample version will likely be available during Fall. Sony remains incommunicado about pricing of both new offerings.

UFO science key to halting climate change: former Canadian defense minister

OTTAWA (AFP) - A former Canadian defense minister is demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said Wednesday.

"I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation ... that could be a way to save our planet," Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen.

Alien spacecrafts would have traveled vast distances to reach Earth, and so must be equipped with advanced propulsion systems or used exceptional fuels, he told the newspaper.

Such alien technologies could offer humanity alternatives to fossil fuels, he said, pointing to the enigmatic 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico -- which has become a shrine for UFO believers -- as an example of alien contact.

"We need to persuade governments to come clean on what they know. Some of us suspect they know quite a lot, and it might be enough to save our planet if applied quickly enough," he said.

Hellyer became defense minister in former prime minister Lester Pearson's cabinet in 1963, and oversaw the controversial integration and unification of Canada's army, air force and navy into the Canadian Forces.

He shocked Canadians in September 2005 by announcing he once saw a UFO.

Competition forcing YouTube to pay

The internet's booming social-networking trend has reached a new milestone: websites are beginning to pay for content.

That means all those web-savvy creative types, the people who post skateboarding videos or write a review about the neighbourhood dry cleaner, could be compensated for their contributions.

The move to pay people for content had been developing slowly but reached a critical new phase when YouTube.com, the internet's bellwether video site, confirmed that it has plans to pay for user-generated content.

The decision sets up the potential for a monumental shift in how people use and view networking sites.

Until now, as user-generated content on the web has grown, the only people making any money have been the site operators.

YouTube, for instance, rose to prominence thanks largely to the goofy homemade videos ordinary people created and posted.

But when Google purchased it last year for $US1.65 billion ($A2.1 billion), the people responsible for those videos didn't receive a single cent from the mammoth Google payout.

Paying individual users for content also follows deals that Google, Yahoo Inc. and Apple Inc., among others, have been signing with networks and Hollywood studios for the right to sell and promote original content on the web.

YouTube didn't provide details of why it wanted to start compensating individual creators.

But a number of industry executives suggested that with both the internet audience and ad revenue growing, competition for the best user-generated content also is intensifying.

So those looking for an edge have started offering money.

By the end of this year, "almost every big site that focuses on viral video will have a revenue-sharing component to it," said Keith Richman, chief executive of Break.com, a site that pays $US400 ($A508.36) to $US2,000 ($A2, 541.78) to contributors about 100 times a month for the exclusive rights to some videos.

Spymac.com is paying between $US3,000 ($A3,812.67) to $US5,000 ($A6,354.45) a day to pools of people who create videos or other original materials, while Revver.com is sharing revenue from advertisements placed at the end of videos.

If viewers click on the ad, the video's creator gets paid.

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley disclosed the site's intentions over the weekend at an economic summit in Davos, Switzerland.

"We are getting an audience large enough where we have an opportunity to support creativity, to foster creativity through sharing revenue with our users," Hurley said.

"So in the coming months we are going to be opening that up."

Hurley didn't indicate how YouTube would pay for content, but there is more than one way to share the wealth.

While some sites might be willing to pay for exclusive content, the culture and technology of the web is such that viewers want to share cool videos with friends.

That means that a video first appearing on YouTube will quickly get passed around, ending up on countless blogs or profile pages at MySpace.com.

Sites like Revver.com and Spymac.com hope to tap into the "viral" nature of video sharing and still pay the content creators.

At Spymac.com, creators will get paid no matter where the video is viewed, as long as it was first uploaded to Spymac.

"The more you promote your upload, and it becomes very popular, the more money you make," said Kevin April, Spymac's chief technology officer.

Creators are "encouraged to market their own videos," he said.

At Revver.com, ads are embedded into the end of a video. If a viewer clicks on the ad, the content creator is paid. Any revenue an ad generates is split 50-50 between Revver and the video's creator.

Money isn't the only attraction for content generators, however. Some people have done quite well by YouTube without it.

Actor Liam Sullivan's Shoes video on YouTube has been viewed more than 12 million times. The exposure given to his Kelly character, who sings the rebellious teenage ode to Shoes, has made him a sensation.

The exposure has led to a deal with Apple, where Shoes is among the Top 10 comedy singles at the iTunes music store.

He said he also will be part of an ensemble cast for a series launching on cable's VH1.

In Davos, Hurley discussed the strategy shift.

He said YouTube initially "didn't want to build a system that was motivated by monetary reward".

"We wanted to build a true community around video," he said.

"When you start out with giving money to people from day one, the people you do attract will just switch to the next provider."

His comments are posted on YouTube.

At Viewpoints.com, Matt Moog hopes his site will become a home for reviewers who already are respected on the web.

Those people will be compensated for their reviews, but the majority will not be paid.

"The non-paid reviewers will come to the site and create reviews because they enjoy the recognition, they want to be a part of the conversation," he said.

Chicagoan Brian Thomas, one of Viewpoint's few paid reviewers, appreciates being part of the conversation, but that only goes so far.

"If talent can get recognised and rewarded, I think it's great," Thomas said.

"But I'm not doing this for free."

MCT

Sony to Pay in Patent Dispute

 

The Sony Corporation, the consumer-electronics maker, agreed to pay the Immersion Corporation, a software developer, $150.3 million to end a patent dispute over technology used in the Sony PlayStation video-game console.

Immersion will get a $97.2 million court judgment, plus royalties totaling at least $53.1 million, the chief financial officer of the company, Stephen Ambler, said yesterday. Immersion shares rose as high as $9.87 in after-hours trading, after closing at $7.23 in regular trading.

A jury in Oakland, Calif., found in September 2004 that Sony had infringed on two Immersion patents for so-called haptic technology, used in PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles to make game controllers vibrate with the on-screen action. The jury awarded $82 million, which grew to $90.7 million with interest and costs.

With interest, that figure increased to $97.2 million, Mr. Ambler said. Sony also paid about $30.6 million as a compulsory license for the last two years, money that Immersion treated as deferred revenue. Sony will make 12 more quarterly licensing payments totaling $22.5 million through the end of 2009, Mr. Ambler said.

Sony's American depository receipts rose 14 cents, to $51.87.

Blu-ray Getting More Popular than HD-DVD

While the HD-DVD was initially leading the race concerning the catalog of movies and video available on this format, thanks to cheaper standalone player, its adoption rate seems to slow down significantly.
According to Nielsen VideoScan, Blu-ray-based movie sales surpassed HD-DVD ones for the first time.
The launch of the PlayStation 3 could be the explanation for such results. Despite the lower than expected sales, the new SONY game console will dramatically increase the number of BD players.

SONY already won the battle concerning the availability and performance of blue laser-based drives for our computers; mostly because manufacturers released BD burners much faster than for HD-DVD format.
SONY might successfully develop a format that will be fully adopted by the consumer electronic market, after its previous failure in this quest with Betamax and Mini Disc.

 

Even if HD-DVD had a head start on Blu-ray in the HD movies format race, mainly due to the lower price of HD-DVD players and also to lower manufacturing costs for the discs, the Microsoft-backed format is now lagging behind.
For the first time since the launch of both formats, last month saw more sales of Blu-ray movies than HD-DVD.
This shift is supposed to be related with the wide availability of the PlayStation3, which sports a Blu-ray drive. And that represents a couple million units out there, probably more than what HD-DVD can claim, even with the late release of an add-on HD-DVD player for the XBox360.