Slashdot Mirror

The front look like the front of a Panasonic GameCube Q with his 4 leded plug on it.

market for it.

Electrically assisted bicycles have existed in Japan for quite some time now (since the mid to late 90's).

Here's Panasonic's and one from Yamaha Motors. The reason why it's not fully EV (and hence called a hybrid) is to make it so there's no need for a license as it is still mainly human powered (motor assisted, especially when going up hills and such).

A buddy of mine burnt several DVD+Rs for me. After I came back home, they became coasters as I found out none of the PCs I own read them. My laptop is less than a year old for god's sake. Despite its hype, DVD+R format is useless unless you have a compatible drive(players should be ok).

Also, new 8x recorders are coming.
Also, new double-layer recorders are coming.
The target is constantly moving...

As far as the next generation high capacity DVD format is concerned, Blue-ray is currently under development, headed by Sony, Matsushita(panasonic) and phillips. Meanwhile, (oh what a surprise) there is another high-cap DVD standard using blue-laser technology, headed by Toshiba and NEC. It is called HD-DVD and it stores 5 times more data than current DVD+/-Rs can hold. Needless to say they are incompatible to one another.

while neither of new DVD standards is available in the market yet, it is a matter of time that they will replace the current standards. Then again, we will face incompatibility issues between Blue-Ray and HD DVD. Competition is good, but consumers have got enough of those with VHS/Beta, LaserDisc/Videodisc, Win/Mac, yada yada yada.

Despite its hype and promises, DVD+R may live a short life (maybe 10 years) IMO.

Basically, it is 2 XGA displays at 180dpi that doesn't require refresh, so can last a few months on 2 AA batteries. It reads contents stored on an SD card. The weight is only 500 gram. I like physical books compared to bulky PDAs with small screens, but something like this could become serious competition to them.

What is happening with Blu-Ray, the DVD format that nine members of the DVD forum supported earlier this year? Blu-Ray uses a 405nm blue-violet laser, and can hold up to 27GB on a single-sided single-layer disc. While the capacity is not as great, the commercial support is.

I think I'll wait on this format (that has the backing of Hitachi, Sony, Pioneer, Philips etc etc) before going out on a limb with any epoxy solution.

Of course, that's the current generation of formats. Remember the Blu-ray format will be emerging in the future, which has a larger storage capacity (details in link).

Blu-Ray already beats out DVD by over half an order of magnitude.

--Blair
"Tomorrow: we already have flying cars, we just don't know where the 'Deploy Control Surfaces' button is."

Easy to use disc cartridge:

An easy to use optical disc cartridge protects the optical disc's recording and playback phase from dust and fingerprints.

From the Press Release:

Cartridge dimension:

Approximately 129 x 131 x 7mm

For those of you who aren't that metric savvy, that's a hair taller, a hair narrower, and a hair thinner than the standard jewel case all CDs come in.

In addition, the adoption of a unique ID written on a Blu-ray Disc realizes high quality copyright protection functions.

Licensing is expected to start around spring 2002.

Check here and the old article here. But now we have a little bit more detail...

Personally I'm waiting for this to appear on the shelves in the UK - 52 hours on the hard disk and a DVD-RAM burner in the same box.... (I submitted it as a story a few weeks back, but it was rejected).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts: Akira Kadota, International PR, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3578-1237 Fax: 03-3437-2776
Yoshihiro Kitadeya, International PR, Osaka
Tel: 06-6908-0447 Fax: 06-6907-2013

Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) Introduces New DMR-HS1 DVD Video Recorder with built-in HDD
-- Offers a maximum of 52 hours of recording with built-in HDD --
PIC
OSAKA, Japan -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand of consumer electronic and digital communications products, today announced that it will introduce a new DVD video recorder with built-in hard disk drive (HDD), the DMR-HS1, to kick off its new lineup of DVD video recorders. By combining an HDD with a DVD recorder, the new unit enables a maximum of 52 hours of recording on the HDD and 12 hours on DVD-RAM discs to realize easy editing and storage of recorded TV broadcasts and images from digital video cameras. The DMR-HS1 will be launched in the Japanese market on December 1, 2001 at a price of 200,000 yen. In addition, the new DVD video recorder will be exhibited at the Panasonic booth at CEATEC JAPAN 2001, to be held from October 2 to 6 at Makuhari Messe (Nippon Convention Center) in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

Panasonic's DMR-HS1 DVD video recorder offers a wide range of recording versatility. The internal 40 GB HDD makes possible up to 52 hours of extended recording in EP mode to the HDD and 12 hours to a double-sided DVD-RAM disc. Timer recording can automatically reuse the recorded program settings every week for serial TV programs, freeing viewers from having to delete last week's episodes to retrieve space for new ones when disk space is limited.

In addition, a "Time Slip" function is offered that includes Chase Playback and Simultaneous Recording and Playback capabilities. This function enables playback from any point in a previously recorded or currently recording program while recording continues until the current program's end.

Employing an iLINK cable and incorporated DV input terminal, high quality digital images can be dubbed onto DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs through its easy-to-use "DV Automatic Recording" mode. The "Play List," a list of still images representing a sequence of scenes, can be made automatically to make editing easier. High-speed dubbing at 22 Mbps from the HDD to DVD-RAM can be done with the touch of a single button, enabling 12x speed in EP mode at its quickest (e.g., a one-hour program can be dubbed in just 5 minutes). Dubbing from DVD-RAM to the HDD is available as well.

The DVD video recording technology used in this new unit complies with the DVD-RAM recording formats standardized by the DVD Forum. DVD-RAM is not only compatible with both audio/video and PC applications, but its optical format also boasts superior rewritability, allowing approximately 100,000 rewrites per disc.

The global demand for DVD players in fiscal year 2001 (year ending March 2002) is forecast to reach 25 million units, with more than 11,000 DVD software titles. With its vast capacity, high-speed data transmission, high-speed random access, exceptional image quality, and high sound quality, DVD-RAM is the optimal choice in today's expanding digital media environment.

About Matsushita Electric Industrial
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic, National, Technics, and Quasar brand names, is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronics products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated sales of US$61.45 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001. In addition to the Tokyo and other Japanese stock exchanges (6752), Matsushita's shares are also listed on the Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, New York, Pacific (NYSE/PCX: MC), and Paris stock exchanges. For more information, visit the Matsushita web site at http://www.panasonic.co.jp/global/top.html.

These hybrid systems are currently only slated for a Japanese release, with no US release planned (where US release = anywhere outside Japan). At the moment, Nintendo is trying to go down the 'games only' road (which I personally believe in), so I doubt they'll make a big push for the hybrid to be released outside Japan.

There are heaps of news stories around on Matsushita and their somewhat hazy Gamecube plans, and instead of me putting in heaps of effort and actully making heaps of links, I'll make you all a special link today ;)

Google search for 'Matsushita Gamecube dvd movies'.

Heaps of articles there, enjoy. :)

(Offtopic rant: The best thing happening in the gaming world in the next week is the US release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Nothing else worthwhile is happening.)