[bbmf]

If you make a phone that talks to all of your five senses, you will have the same kind of success that Chocolate Phone has had all around the world, says Kim Jin, chief of LG Electronics’ mobile phone design lab.
Kim has masterminded the sensational success of the LG’s Black Label series, which is better known by its nickname _ the Chocolate Phone. The sleek, black slider phone has been a phenomenal success in South Korea, with more than 450,000 units sold over the past six months. Moreover, LG has shipped 550,000 units in only four weeks to countries such as Britain, China, Russia, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Turkey and Iran since its global launch last month.
"Mobile phone design is universal,’’ said Kim, who is also vice president of LG’s corporate design center, during an interview with The Korea Times last week. ``There may be a time difference between different regions, but the taste of consumers is the same. If Europeans like it, then Asians will like it, too. It’s not like household appliances such as washing machines, which have to meet local demands. For mobile phones, we have to watch the global trend.’’
While Korean phone makers Samsung and LG have seen sluggish sales figures this year, the Chocolate Phone has remained hot stuff in local and global markets. It was even picked as the company’s role model by CEO Kim Ssang-soo in his monthly speech to employees earlier this month.
Overall, the Chocolate Phone is a unique success in Korean industrial design history. It was the first product to sell a million units for its attractive design, not for any sophisticate high-tech features Korean firms are traditionally good at.
"We call the concept `tactile’ design. It originally means the feeling of touch, but we broadened the concept to all five senses _ touch, smell, the glowing lights, and all the emotional things,’’ she said.
She pointed out the Chocolate Phone was the first mobile handset with a touch-sensitive pad in the world. Also, the company added a lavender scent to the keypad of the White Chocolate Phone, which was sold as a limited edition around Valentine’s Day.

sa: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/...8093711910.htm

[bbmf]

As a follow-up to its recent announcement of next-generation desktop chipset products targeted to hit the market in 2007, Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) stated that the SiS665, the company's first northbridge that will support DDR3 memory technology, will reach production phase in the end of 2007, but volume shipments are currently not expected to start before 2008. The company also indicated that two other northbridges, the SiS672 (for the Intel platform) and SiS772 (for the AMD platform), will be the first SiS products manufactured under a 80nm CMOS process. Samples will presumably be available from early in the second quarter of 2007, and mass production is aimed to commence later in that quarter.
First samples of the SiS665 are expected to be ready in the third quarter of 2007, and this product will likely be another step in the 80nm process deployment by United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC). The northbridge will support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory interfaces, and this will probably be implemented through two memory controllers in the northbridge, SiS said. In addition to this, the chip will also support a next-generation PCIe interface, according to the company.
Later this year, as previously reported, SiS will introduce the SiS671 and SiS771 northbridge chips (for the respective Intel and AMD platforms), with customer samples expected to be available in August and mass production scheduled for October. As a complement to these northbridges, the company plans to release a new southbridge, the SiS968, which will be its first to support Serial ATA II and will be pin-to-pin compatible with its current SiS966. The new southbridge will be produced utilizing a 0.15-micron technology process, and the SiS671 and SiS771 will be both manufactured under a 0.11-micron process, SiS said.

sa: http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Ma...ges=PR&seq=201

[bbmf]

Texas Instruments unveiled details of a 45-nanometer semiconductor manufacturing process that leverages a "wet" lithography process to double the number of chips produced on each silicon wafer, increase processing performance and reduce power consumption. Through the use of numerous proprietary techniques, TI will drive the capabilities of its multi-million transistor, System-on-Chip (SoC) processors to new levels, claiming to increase performance by 30 percent while reducing power consumption 40 percent.
TI's 45-nm process leverages SmartReflex power and performance management technologies that combine intelligent and adaptive silicon, circuit design, and software to address these power management challenges. TI takes a system-level approach with SmartReflex technologies to extend the capability across an entire 45-nm SoC design, including adaptive hardware and software technologies that dynamically control voltage, frequency and power based on device activity, modes of operation and process and temperature variation.
The new TI process also supports the DRP architecture to integrate digital RF functionality in single-chip wireless solutions. This SoC approach to wireless transmit and receive functions allows TI to apply its highly efficient CMOS manufacturing infrastructure to reduce overall system cost, reduce power consumption and free up board space. Other integration options in the TI 45-nm design libraries include a host of analog components such as resistors, inductors and capacitors that allow further SoC integration of formerly stand-alone functions.
For the first time, TI will implement the use of 193-nm immersion photo-lithography to accomplish density improvements that competitors using dry lithography at 45-nm are unable to achieve. The use of 193-nm immersion tools delivers the higher resolution and corresponding smaller device features needed to maximize the benefits of migrating to a new process. 193-nm immersion tools work by placing a thin layer of liquid between the lens and the wafer to ease the process of transferring smaller circuit designs.
The company's work in this area has resulted in the development of what it believes to be the smallest 45-nm SRAM memory cell, occupying only 0.24 square microns, up to 30 percent smaller than other 45-nm memory cell devices announced to date. Memory cells are often the first development vehicle for new manufacturing technologies and provide valuable data about transistor densities that will be achieved on complete SoCs.
Other improvements in how many transistors TI's 45-nm process can support on a chip can be attributed to the use of an ultra low-k dielectric that achieves a k value of 2.5, and reduces interconnect capacitance by 10 percent. This will be TI's third-generation process technology to use low k dielectrics for reducing capacitance and propagation delays within a device's interconnect layers, and boosting chip performance.
As with its previous generation process technologies, TI will offer several optimized 45-nm recipes to address the unique requirements of each end product or application. Through adjustments to the transistors' gate length, threshold voltage, gate dielectric thickness or bias conditions, and others, circuit designers have several options for creating flexible, optimized designs.

sa: http://www.digit-life.com/news.html?06/28/30

[bbmf]

NVIDIA Told That Their AGP Bridge Chip Is No Longer Being Produced

IBM, which makes AGP bridge chips for NVIDIA, informed NVIDIA Corporation that they will no longer going to produce the bridge chip needed for NVIDIA to have any AGP cards. This leaves Nvidia rushing to find another foundry partner for the bridge chip while their supply continues to decrease. No word on how long the current inventory will last, but I'm sure they will have some stock on hand.

"IBM is no longer going to produce the bridge chip needed for Nvidia to have an AGP part," said Chris Caso, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. (Arlington, Vir.), in a report. "Our checks indicate that IBM has notified Nvidia it would no longer be able to produce the 'bridge chip' that provides the AGP interface on Nvidia's low-end graphics cards."

SA: http://www.legitreviews.com/news/2360/

[bbmf]

Under a deal announced on Wednesday, HP will join hands with Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to develop next-generation technologies.

Over the next three years, HP's research arm HP Labs and A*STAR will invest more than S$30 million to establish the HP Shared Services Platform Laboratory (HPSSP Lab).
A*STAR says this collaboration reinforces Singapore's attraction as a global research and info-communications hub.
Under the deal, more than 30 researchers from A*STAR's Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) and HP Labs will work together to develop next-generation data centre and grid-related technologies.
"HP Labs has decided to put its latest and most important research in the area of new generation data centre in Singapore with IHPC and in Fusionopolis. It's a testimony to the competence, capabilities and the talent of the researchers, and also the strength of the research infrastructure we have here in Singapore," said Boon Swan Foo, MD of A*STAR.
One of the areas the joint R&D lab will look into is the use of grid computing.
"The technologies that we're working on with HP actually represent the future of computing, where people can use computer resource from all over the world, even from their desktops. We'll have services that will enable them to do so," said Dr Raj Thampuran, executive director of Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC).
Another area the lab will focus on is the development of a secure and robust data centre that would meet future needs.
"The areas of application would be in enterprise; it could be in desktop publishing, in multi-media or it could be in logistics. Businesses and individuals can benefit from a system where computers distributed all over the world are harnessed by an individual as and when he or she wants to use it, on-demand," said Dr Raj Thampuran.
Initially, the research facility will be located at the Institute of High Performance Computing. Come 2007, it will move into its new home at Fusionopolis, when the first phase of the construction is completed.

sa: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...213625/1/.html

[bbmf]

Come 2007 when you pick the Windows Vista box off shelves, the printed requirements on that box will be simple: 800MHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and a DirectX 9.0-Capable graphics card. Users who want the "premium experience" (read: Aero interface) will need 1GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and plenty of RAM for that DirectX 9.0-Capable graphics card. Those requirements will likely never change, at least not for the first release of Vista.
If you're an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) like Gateway or Dell, it gets much more complex than that, however. For OEMs, there is a higher standard to meet if they wish to place a "Vista Premium" sticker on a laptop or desktop computer. The logo sticker is meant to assure consumers that Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) have validated a machine's configuration, and OEMs use the process, even if they don't love it.
Microsoft recently informed system builders as to what the company considers to be the optimal configuration for the "Premium" Windows Vista experience, and it will use these standards to govern its logo certification program. For us, that means we have a glimpse of what we can expect to see shipping from OEMs in a few short months, as they traditionally have hastened to meet logo certification requirements. In no particular order, these are the notable additional requirements for Premium certification:

sa: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060614-7060.html

Get Vista Ready: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...y/default.mspx

[bbmf]

The new HDD+256 MB Flash drives will be manditory.

TG Daily broke news yesterday regarding new requirements for Windows Vista Premium qualified laptops. The tech news site was able to confirm that the newly announced class of hybrid hard drives will be a requirement for mobile PCs that aim to bear the Windows Vista Premium emblem after June 1, 2007.

Hybrid hard drives are a new class of mass storage that incorporates a traditional hard drive and 256 MB of on-board flash memory. The addition of memory to the hard disk will allow Windows Vista computers to boot faster, and mobile Vista systems with the hybrid hard disks will also consume significantly less battery power thanks to the ability to buffer files rather than constantly spin the HD.
Samsung and Seagate are the pioneers of the technology thanks to each company's involvement with both hard drive and flash memory technology. Microsoft representatives told TG Daily that MS will aim to aid other unannounced hardware partners in developing the necessary partnerships to bring more hybrid hard drives to market in mass.

sa: http://gear.ign.com/articles/712/712600p1.html

[bbmf]

Intel Corp. and Analog Devices Inc. teamed up Tuesday to announce a new bus technology that claims to improve and communicate heat dissipation and voltage management information in computer systems.
The two companies have co-developed and launched a new bus interface called the Simple Serial Transport (SST). The technology is said to enable faster and more precise communication of system efficiency, one of the determining factors in temperature and voltage within a variety of computing systems, according to ADI (Norwood, Mass.) and Intel (Santa Clara, Calif.)
By working in conjunction with a computer's core-logic chipset, the SST bus claims to reduce thermal management errors that can lead to a drop in computing performance, according to the companies.
The SST bus improves upon the existing 100-kilobits-per-second SMBus (System Management Bus) in high-performance computing applications by offering increased bandwidth and higher noise sensitivity. The SST bus relays key environmental information — such as temperature and voltage — directly to the system's core logic or dedicated ASIC fan-speed controllers, at a rate of 1-megabits-per-second.
When tested in the same environment on new PC motherboards, the SMBus measures about one error every 10,000 bits, compared to the SST bus' one error for every one billion bits processed, according to the companies.
In a related announcement, ADI introduced a family of digital temperature and voltage sensors for use in desktop computers and workstations, based on SST technology.
The ADT748x family of sensors incorporates a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to provide accurate communication of temperature and voltage levels over SST technology, according to ADI.
The ADT748x family operates at speeds over 1-Mbps and is housed in small packages, including 8-pin or 10-pin MSOPs. The ADT748x family of temperature sensors are sampling now with volume production scheduled for June 2006.
The devices are priced at $1.50 per unit in 1,000-piece quantities. The ADT7484A is available in an 8-lead MSOP, and the ADT7485A and ADT7486A are available in 10-lead MSOP packaging.

sa: http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/sho...leID=189400737

[bbmf]

Microsoft is enforcing tough requirements for PCs that claim to be Vista Premium devices

While Microsoft works to prepare and update Windows Vista for launch in 2007, the hardware industry has continued to move forward. Microsoft however, has been following the hardware world steadily, incorporating changes into Windows Vista's requirements for the actual launch. Assuming that all factors work out on time -- and Windows Vista launches on schedule, which is already delayed to begin with -- a Windows Vista computer should be able to provide its owner with very interesting advantages.
Microsoft has broken down its requirements for the Windows Vista logo program into two categories: Basic and Premium. Don't be confused by Basic and Premium, however, as there are several other versions of Windows Vista that can be "Premium" compliant. The actual names of Windows Vista versions are:
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Ultimate
From the above, the only SKU not eligible for a Windows Vista Premium logo is Home Basic although all of the above are able to use the Basic logo. According to Microsoft, any computer with enough basic specifications can run any of the above Vista SKUs, but those systems that wish to use a Premium logo designation must have certain special specifications met, regardless of which Windows Vista SKU is used -- minus Home Basic. Windows Vista Premium-logo compliancy according to Microsoft:
At a system level, if it includes a device, then all the requirements associated with that device class must be met for the appropriate compliance level of the logo (basic or premium). To qualify for a basic system logo, the devices of a basic system that includes embedded or add-in devices must comply with the basic requirements (if a logo program exists for the device categories). Likewise, to qualify for a premium system logo, the devices of a premium system that includes embedded or add-in devices must comply with the premium requirements for the device category.
The following are requirements for Windows Vista Premium logo-compliant PC and will be mandated by June 1st, 2007:

Must have H.264 hardware decoding
Must have HDCP
Must support multi-monitor support
Must have HD audio
Must have HD audio jack presence detection
Must have Serial ATA 2.5
Must have minimum of 50MB NV cache on hybrid HD's with at least 8MB/sec write 16MB/sec read (for mobile only)
Must support booting from USB flash drives
Must have Windows Vista Green Button on all remotes
Must have Green Driver Quality Rating (DQR)
Green score of 7 to 9
Yellow score of 4 o 6
Red score of 1 to 3

Premium logo level PCs must first support Windows Vista Aero user interface. This means included graphics cards or integrated graphics solutions must support hardware DirectX9c. While DirectX 10 will be introduced later in 2007 along with Windows Vista, it is not a requirement. Graphics solutions must also support hardware decoding of HD video codecs such as H.264 and MPEG2 and MPEG4. This ensures that Premium PCs will be able to play back Blu-ray and HD-DVD at full resolution. To ensure that this occurs gracefully, PCs must also support HDMI and/or UDI graphics interfaces. HDCP will also be a stiff requirement and there are other content protection schemes on the way. Microsoft is also requiring that Premium systems be capable of multi-monitor support, allowing the use of two screens at minimum.
Making sure that the high definition experience is carried all the way through, Microsoft is also making it a requirement that all Premium logo systems support Intel's HD Audio standard at the very minimum. This means at least 5.1 channels of audio via analog outputs and S/PDIF outputs. Audio jacks are also required to be able to detect what kind of connection is being used, analog or digital.
In terms of storage, hybrid hard drives are only required for mobile systems using the Premium logo. With hybrid hard drives, a minimum of 50MB of non-volatile flash cache memory must be implemented that is at least capable of writing at 8MB/sec. and reading at 16MB/sec. Other NAND flash memory technologies such as Intel's Robson technology, is not a requirement Windows Vista Premium logo -- at this time. For storage devices, Serial ATA-II must be implemented. This means a minimum speed of 3Gbit/sec and advanced features such as native command queuing (NCQ), among others. This rule will apply to both hard drives and motherboards. Interestingly, optical storage drives are not required to use SATA.
System BIOS and EFI implementations will be required to support booting from USB flash memory sticks. As memory sticks increase in sizes, it becomes easier to backup an entire OS install and more completely onto a USB memory key and take it anywhere with you. Microsoft's Premium logo requires that this be an essential feature.
For Media Center PCs, Microsoft will require that all remotes have the Windows Vista Green button. TV tuner and add-in DVR devices that include remote controls must also comply to this rule too if the manufacturer wishes to claim that the product is Windows Vista Premium compliant.
Finally, Microsoft will be making it easier for users to get manufacturers to take action when it comes to bad driver releases. Often times, an application or game can be completely or partially crippled due to a bug in the driver or just one that is poorly designed. Windows Vista will allow users to vote for the quality of a driver that they install and all drivers that wish to pass the Windows Vista Premium logo program must meet a Green status, which is a rating of 7 to 9. Any driver that is rated below it will cause the accompanying device to fall out of Premium compliancy and the manufacturer must supply users with a fixed driver within 90 days. How Microsoft will enforce this policy remains to be seen, but it's definitely a step forward in creating stable and secure Windows systems.
The Windows Vista Premium logo program ensures that users will get a top-notch experience out of their machine, and is also in place to make sure that manufacturers build quality products. Features such as DQR will help ensure that Windows Vista computers will be a big improvement over Windows XP

sa: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2842

[bbmf]

JanSport’s newest backpack, the Alt Pack, is unquestionably for the hardcore gadget junky. To begin with, the bag is wired for your iPod. It has a dual port connection that will hook up any iPod 3rd generation or later. You can control the iPod with the remote control integrated into the strap of the pack. Also on the strap is a remote to control your Bluetooth compatible and a microphone to use with headphones to make and receive calls. The remotes require 3 AAA batteries to work.
Inside the pack is a ShockShield laptop sleeve to protect a laptop with a screen up to 15.4 inches and a V-Loft pocket which protects your electronics while saving space. A cord manager keeps you from getting your wires crossed and an integrated rain cover protects your toys in a downpour.
The pack weighs 2 pounds 11 ounces and has a capacity of 1100 cubic inches in six separate compartments. It’s not cheap, though - $299.90 USD


SA: http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/342/C8329/

[bbmf]

Six companies— Motorola, NEC Corp., NTT Docomo, Inc., Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone Group— have announced they would collaborate to establish an open Linux-based software platform for mobile handsets.

The companies plan to form an industry initiative by the end of the year and will invite other participants from the semiconductor and mobile phone sectors. The companies will develop standardized API specifications and architecture for mobile phones, as well as support for source code-based reference implementations and tools to check the compliance of application programs with the API.
Motorola and Samsung are the second and third vendors, respectively, in the global mobile phone market following Nokia, according to Gartner Dataquest. Panasonic is the tenth-ranked vendor But in Japan, Panasonic and NEC rank second and third, respectively, behind Sharp, according to Tokyo based MM Research Institute, Ltd.
Some industry observers believe the Linux platform movement would directly against Symbian, a specialized mobile operating system.
This Linux platform announcement however, does not suggest Docomo is leaning strongly to Linux, said a Docomo spokesman. The largest carrier in Japan with about 56 percent share or 51.4 million subscribers, Docomo has been developing handsets based on both Symbian and Linux. Panasonic and NEC are working with Docomo for Linux-based handset development.
Some mobile phone vendors have started using Linux for their products, but open specifications tend to lead to format fragmentation resulting in incompatibility even on the same Linux environment, said the Docomo spokesman. These companies' joint efforts would boost Linux based mobile phone development, he added.

sa: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/s...leID=189401906

[bbmf]

Crocus Technology SA, a startup company specializing in magnetic random access memory, has raised $17 million in a Series A round of financing.
The amount is large by Series A standards, and investors include San Francisco-based Sofinnova Ventures (lead investor), Paris-based firms Ventech, CDC Entreprises Innovation, AGF Private Equity and Sofinnova Partners, and NanoDimension.

The money would be used to allow Crocus (Grenoble, France) to hire engineers and scientists in process engineering, test and design from Europe and the United States, Sofinnova Ventures said. Crocus also needs money to acquire specialized equipment to enable the company to complete a first memory test vehicle within 12 months and its first commercial product shortly thereafter, Sofinnova added.
Crocus was founded in 2004 with an initial grant from CEA, France's atomic energy commission and CNRS, France's national research council. It has claimed it possesses the most advanced magnetic-on-MOS roadmap thanks to access to key MRAM patents from Spintec, a CEA/CNRS research laboratory.
The MRAM technology on offer from Crocus would be improved through formal joint development programs between the company, Spintec and other European laboratories, the company said.
Potential applications for MRAM include mobile phones, PDAs, smartcards, notebook computers, RFID tags as well as automotive and military applications. But these only become possible once concerns over materials integrity and reliability have been overcome.
MRAM memories have been researched by many companies, including Freescale Semiconductor Inc., Infineon Technologies AG and IBM Corp. for the promise they show for fast read and write speed, an SRAM like interface, along with nonvolatility. However, non of the companies appear to have gone beyond the sampling stage.
"We looked in detail at all other MRAM technologies and always came back to Crocus," said Eric Buatois, managing director with Sofinnova Ventures, in a statement. "We believe that the company has what it takes to become the leader in this high growth market: a world-class R&D team, a strong patent portfolio, and a very experienced management team,"
"We now have everything we need to be the first to bring to the marketplace a competitive MRAM memory that will fulfill the customers' expectations, in particular with regards to reliability, speed and capacity," said Jean-Pierre Braun, chief executive officer of Crocus, in the same statement.

sa:http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/sho...leID=189401910

[bbmf]

On-chip MRAM as a High-Bandwidth,
Low-Latency Replacement for DRAM Physical Memories

Read it Here: http://www.research.ibm.com/people/l...-tr2002-47.pdf

[bbmf]

Sony will soon introduce vending kiosks called Sony Access in airports and shopping malls.

In callobration with Zoom Systems, Sony's kiosk will sell Sony recordable media, batteries, headphones, WALKMAN MP3 players, CD players, DVD and UMD videos, music CDs, VAIO PC accessories, Playstation games, and Playstation Portable.
Initially as a test, Sony will only offer the kiosks at selected malls, including Mall of Georgia in Atlanta, Flatirons Mall in Boulder, Colorado and Santa Rosa Mall in Santa Rosa, California. Six more locations are planned during the test period.
The Sony kiosks are designed to make purchasing fast and easy. Each kiosk will come with a 15-inch touch panel LCD and should take only 3 clicks and 2 minutes to get your item, according to Sony.

sa: http://www.laptoplogic.com/news/detail.php?id=1011

[bbmf]

Blu-ray Disc, the next-generation optical disc format backed by the lion's share of studios and consumer electronics manufacturers, makes its long-awaited -- and oft-delayed -- debut next week.

The first batch of seven Blu-ray titles, all from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, are scheduled to arrive in stores Tuesday. The first Blu-ray player, from Samsung, is slated to go on sale five days later.
SPHE president Benjamin Feingold said about 15,000 copies of each title are being shipped to retailers that also will carry the player, including Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.com.
"It's really about where there is hardware," he said.

Retailers also are receiving corrugated cardboard displays with the Blu-ray Disc logo and the sell line, "Experience High Definition Today." The standees hold three rows of three titles each, face-out.
Feingold said the initial batch of Sony Blu-ray Disc titles will feature some, but not all, of the bonus materials found on the DVD versions.
"Our strategy is to have the best resolution," Feingold said. "We are devoted to increasing the bit rate as high as you can, and we're finding that even with 25 gigabytes we could use more capacity. So we are looking forward to having a 50-gigabyte disc available, starting toward the end of summer."
The Blu-ray launch comes two months after HD-DVD -- currently supported by three studios and one consumer electronics maker -- came on the market.
The HD-DVD launch has been challenged by meager software support -- at this point, there are only 26 major-studio titles available, 12 from Universal and 14 from Warner -- and a problematic first-generation player from Toshiba, which developed the high-definition format.
Early adopters who bought either of the two Toshiba players, the $499 HD-A1 or the $799 HD-XA1, complained of slow boot times and other disc-playback problems. Toshiba now is offering customers a firmware upgrade as a fix.Robert Zohn of Value Electronics, a top online retailer, said sales of both players "have been strong and steady. The problem is still in the limited allocations."
Toshiba won't say how many players it has shipped, but sources peg the initial rollout at about 10,000 units.
Toshiba marketing executive Jodi Sally said the company is working hard to produce and ship more players.
"Although we don't share specific sales numbers, most of our retailers are still reporting very strong consumer sales of our HD-DVD players and many are still sold out as we continue to expedite incoming inventory to fulfill the demand," she said.
On the software front, Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment, the third studio committed to releasing product on the HD-DVD format, has yet to announce any titles.
Retailer Zohn reports "strong and steady" sales of the Universal and Warner titles.
On the Blu-ray side, next week's Sony rollout will see the release of "50 First Dates," "The Fifth Element," "Hitch," "The House of Flying Daggers," "XXX," "The Terminator" and "Underworld: Evolution."
A week later comes "Ultraviolet," the same day as the DVD.
"Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction" will be out July 11, followed July 25 by "The Last Waltz," "A Knight's Tale," "Stealth," "Species," "SWAT" and "Benchwarmers."
No future titles have been announced, but the Amazon.com Web site lists "Robocop," "The Big Hit," "Memento" and "Into the Blue" as becoming available August 15.
Lionsgate also has chimed in with Blu-ray titles, beginning June 27 with "Crash," "Lord of War," "Saw," "The Punisher" and, in its fifth disc appearance, "Terminator 2."
"We're very excited Blu-ray technology is getting on the market," Lionsgate president Steve Beeks said.
He said that fewer than 10,000 copies of each title are being pressed because the launch is so small. Samsung's BD-P1000 player, which lists for $999, will be the only set-top Blu-ray machine available until Sony releases its BDP-S1 in July, a month behind schedule. Pioneer also has delayed its player, until September

SA: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060616/tc_nm/bluray_dc