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To: DiViT who wrote (50546)	1/5/2001 5:09:18 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

PlayStation 2 hard drives: news.cnet.com Seagate lands PS2 hard-drive contract By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com January 5, 2001, 1:20 p.m. PT Seagate Technology has landed the contract to become the primary provider of hard drives for Sony's PlayStation 2 game console, which is looking more and more like a computer every day. Seagate, one of the leaders in manufacturing hard drives for computers, will make two types of hard drives for PlayStation 2, according to sources. One will be an external hard drive that connects through an open slot in the game console. Another will come in an "internal housing," sources said, which seemingly indicates the drive will be incorporated into the console's body in some future models. The PS2 was released in the United States in late October. The U.S. version contains an open slot for hard drives and other hardware, but no hard drives have hit the market yet. With a ready supply of hard drives, Sony will be able to market the system as a vault for MP3 files, digital photos and data-intensive media content--functions currently performed by PCs. "Good for Seagate," chimed Schelley Olhava, an analyst at IDC. Sony, which did not immediately return phone calls, has been relatively vague about when add-on hard drives will become available or who will build them. In addition, whether Sony will offer an internal, or built-in, hard drive in some future models has been an open question. Although Scotts Valley, Calif.-based Seagate will be the primary hard-drive supplier, the contract is not exclusive, said sources. Interestingly, Seagate will supply drives for Microsoft's upcoming Xbox game console. Meanwhile, communications chipmaker Conexant Systems announced Friday that it has landed the contract to provide chips that will let manufacturers ship PlayStation 2 modems. Capcom, Enix, Konami and other game developers said they are planning Internet-enabled versions of their games compatible with chips from Newport Beach, Calif.-based Conexant. Ambidextrous entertainment hub The two deals push forward an underlying strategic ambition at Sony: to transform the PlayStation 2 into an ambidextrous entertainment hub for the living room. Currently, most consumers are buying the system to play games. But because it includes a DVD player, some consumers, especially those in Japan, are using the system to watch movies. The console could also be used as a pay-per-view gateway for films and TV programs. So what does this have to do with competition with the PC market? Hewlett-Packard's Superdrive, a DVD recorder coming in 2001, will likely perform this function. Gateway and Broadcom are tinkering with video delivery systems. It is over these applications that Sony and the PC makers could find themselves competing more directly against one another for the hearts of consumers. Usage patterns have yet to be established. By contrast, consumers don't appear to be inclined to migrate from the PC to a console when it comes to Web browsing. "We know the gamers don't want to use the console as a PC substitute," Olhava said, "The TV is not the most optimal platform for Internet stuff." The game console's Net connection will mostly be used to play games or download game information, which, however, could stoke competition for interactive games. Although it is still unclear when the first PS2 hard drives will emerge, modems are just around the corner. Camdus Micro, I-O Data and others have agreed to adopt Conexant's SmartSCM V.90 chipsets for their modems, which should start coming out in the first quarter, said Conexant. "Internet connectivity is a key value-added feature for PlayStation 2 users, who are looking not only for the ultimate gaming console but also a complete computer entertainment system," said Matt Rhodes, senior vice president and general manager of Conexant's personal computing division. Seagate representatives declined to comment on the deal, which has yet to be announced.

To: DiViT who wrote (50546)	1/5/2001 5:45:34 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

Assorted news...... LG Develops High-Definition Video Disc Recorder nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com January 5, 2001 (SEOUL) -- LG Electronics Inc. said it has developed a high-definition video disc recorder, claiming it is the first of its kind in the world. LG said its VDR images are three times clearer than those of digital versatile discs and running at a maximum data speed of 24Mbps. The disc recorder can also be accessed to HDTV or a set-top box. The Korean company also said it soon plans to complete development of a 18GB optical disc which is much thinner than conventional CDs. (Maeil Business Newspaper, Korea) ========= Sony Looks to 40GB Phase-Change Disk nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com Sony Corp is now defining the 5.25-inch Ultra Density Optical (UDO) standard for phase-change optical disks, offering 20 Gbytes of recording capacity per side, for a total of 40 Gbytes. The firm plans to complete standardization by spring, with productization in the second half of 2002. It is positioned as the successor to the 9.1-Gbyte (double-side capacity) 5.25-inch magneto-optical (MO) disk to be productized early this year and will use the same cartridge and disk external dimensions. Areal recording density was increased by application of some technologies originally developed for the DVR-blue specification, now being formulated jointly with Royal Philips Electronics. The drive will use a 405nm blue-violet laser diode and 0.85 numerical aperture (NA) object lens. The media will probably be a sandwiched structure, using disks with 0.1mm thick cover layers. The firm will prepare both a rewritable specification and an appendable disk specification using the phase-change film. The track pitch is 0.33micron (land-groove recording), providing slightly more leeway than the 0.30micron of DVR-blue. The minimum recording mark length is 0.13micron, the record encoding is (1, 7) run length limited (RLL), and the data transfer rate from 4 to 8 Mbytes/s. (January 2001 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia) ============= DataPlay Adopts Miniature Optical Head nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com DataPlay, Inc will use an optical head with dimensions on the millimeter-order in its compact optical disk drive scheduled to be released this spring. Prism, object lens and other optical components are the size of conventional chip components, and all mounted on the same board. The laser diode is also mounted as a bare chip. The drive uses the same type of seek operation with arm structure as found in most hard disk drives. Since the optical head is moved farther inside the optical disk area than conventional optical pickups, the approach is especially effective for very small drives. Normally, the smaller an optical disk is made, the utilization efficiency of the disk area drops. This is because coils for tracking and focusing are usually positioned around the object lens, the optical pickup external diameter is increased, making it difficult for the object lens to approach the center of the disk. With the arm structure, essentially all the area can be utilized for recording, except the clamp region needed to link the disk and the rotating shaft. (January 2001 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia) ======== And finally, in an attempt to eclipse the dismal performance of the NASDAQ...... live-eclipse.org

To: DiViT who wrote (50546)	1/6/2001 9:07:55 AM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Store shelves are still stocked with DVD players. US DVD player sales growth drops to 30.9% in the latest week....... dvdinsider.com Vital Statistics Part II - 1/3/2001 Due to time constraints yesterday, we had to send out the DVDinsider Professional Daily Edition newsletter, which contained our weekly DVD statistics column “Vital Statistics;” however, we had not received the DVD player information from the Consumer Electronics Association. Here is that information. For the week ending Dec. 22, 2000, DVD player unit sales to dealers were down to 143,967, up only 30.9 percent over this week’s sales in 1999. Month-to-date sales were 986,058, up 104.6 percent over December 1999 sales and year-to-date sales are 8,181,512, up 109.4 percent over 1999 sales. VCR deck sales for the week were 241,759, down (-28.1) percent from sales in 1999 during this week. Month-to-date sales are 1,277,311, down (-18) percent from December 1999 sales and year-to-date sales are 22,865,780, up a mere 2 percent over 1999 sales.