It took long enough didn’t it? But it has arrived. The same benefits of HD DVD have finally made it over to Blu-ray. A Blu-ray/DVD hybrid disc. It features a single-layer of Blu-ray on one side and a standard DVD on the very same side (You won’t have to flip it).

As you are used to hearing, it’s appearing first in Japan, with something called Code Blue emergency helicopter doctor Blu-ray BOX as the first hybrid title. It’s a shame we have to miss that one. No word yet on when or if we will see this technology in the states, but a little backwards compatibility never hurt anybody.

Optical drives are changing with constantly evolving speeds and features. Blu-ray drives for PCs are coming down in price and gaining features as well. One of the things that is important to computer users, especially those using notebooks is power consumption. Plextor has announced a new line of optical drives with internal and external USB models that uses new control software giving control over power use and more.

The line of drives includes the PX-601U, PX-B310SA, PX-B310U, PX-850SA, and PX-850A. The 610U is a small external DVD super multi drive that draws all of its power from the USB port. The B310SA is an internal SATA Blu-ray combo drive that reads Blu-ray discs and burns CD/DVD media. The B310U is the USB external version of the drive.

Sensitive and confidential information printed from our computers and stored on out portable hard drives and flash drives gets lots of attention. We shred paper, and can encrypt electronic data on portable storage. What many overlook though is security for data stored on CDs.

When it comes time to toss that CD or DVD out that has your company’s financial info on it, you don’t want to simply throw it in the trash can where anyone who finds it can pop it into a computer can see the info. You need to destroy the CD and Aleratec has a new CD/DVD Shredder that will do just that.

Open letter to George Lucas: Please get a new hobby. Indy is just recovering from your brutal raping of him as you prepare to do it again in Indy V. You raped a Sarlacc Pitt sized hole in the Star Wars universe with Jar-Jar alone. And the merchandise that you approve gets crappier by the day. This Star Wars TV/DVD with Lightsaber Remote is a cheap plastic piece of turd that makes me feel sad. Even the lightsaber remote doesn’t help it. Please George, take up poker or backgammon, maybe bowling. We have suffered enough.

Just look at that robot face on the Brionvega RR226. Who wouldn’t be charmed by that retro 60s ‘design? Both the RR226 and its 1965 counterpart, the Radiofonografo RR126, earned the nickname “musical component robots” due to that face, with it’s dials and speakers.

But it isn’t all about looks. Brionvega is known for creating superior decks with quality components. This one is no exception, combining a phonograph, radio, record player and a CD/DVD drive. In fact, the new model looks like a copy of the original, aside from the inclusion of the CD and DVD drive. No word on price yet, but we probably can’t afford it anyway.

Earlier in the year, Netflix announced their plan to increase Blu-ray titles and even hinted the possibility of raising fees on monthly subscribers with the Blu-ray renting option. They’ve done it. Users are receiving e-mails confirming the fee. The company notified its customers of a fee increase of $1 plus tax per month for subscribers with unlimited Blu-ray movies. While the increase sucks at even $1, I don’t see those wanting BD content going back to DVD. Of course in this economy a dollar is worth hanging onto. Netflix e-mail below.

Not so long ago my mom moved from the old school Polaroid that spits out the pictures that develop in front of you to a digital camera. This was not so fun for me because she couldn’t understand how to save pictures to the computer and print them out. She also couldn’t figure out how to put pictures on a DVD.

Verbatim has announced new DVD media called PhotoSave that is perfect for all the parents and grandparents out there driving their family crazy trying to figure out how to save images to DVD. The PhotoSave DVD has integrated software that launches automatically when the disk is inserted into a DVD-R drive.

Hackers will get a machine to do all kinds of things that it should do, but doesn’t. Correcting the oversights of those damn lazy companies. We want things the way we want them. That’s why some Wii coders have made it so the Wii can have DVD playback.

It’s done by installing a hidden channel on the console, which gives it a DVD access library so you can watch all your favorite dvds with the MPlayer application, an open source media player. The install file works on both modded and unmodded Wiis. They are apparently experimenting with playing media from SD cards as well. Now you’ll be able to watch any DVD you want one last time before Blu-Ray creeps into your life.

Those of us in the U.S. know damn well that we are never going to have a DVD playing Wii, while those who live in Japan have reason to hope. The company has made promises stating that a DVD system was on the way in some form, at some point.

Now the poor Wii playing Japanese are thinking they may never get one as well since Nintendo has just announced yet another delay to the system while still giving no date. IGN says that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata would only say that due to the continuing worldwide Wii shortages, “the priority is on the current model.”

As far as originality, you won’t find any here. When they designed this Maxx Digital portable DVD player, they simply re-did the PSP for some reason I can’t fathom. Not that it’s not a good looking PSP. It is. It’s just a PSP, not a DVD player design. I just don’t like all my stuff to look like PSP’s, that’s all I’m saying.

The PDV-8500BLK features a nice 8.5-inch LCD widescreen, and will play videos in DVD, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, CD, CD-R/RW, VCD and SVCD formats. It’s also got support for JPEG, MP3 and MPEG4 files via a built-in SD, MMS/MS card reader slot. Strangely it doesn’t play video games at all. And no UMD discs. It will cost you $120.

Researchers at Tohoku University have reportedly figured out a way to “multiply the amount of data that can be stored on a DVD or CD by 9.” Apparently, it works by shaping the pits on a DVD’s surface like Vs, essentially allowing you to get more out of the disc. The problem is that existing DVD & CD players won’t recognize the media made in this way, and for some reason the process can’t be applied to Blu-ray Discs. Still pretty cool though.

The Souped Up John is the ultimate in geek bathroom luxury. The designer certainly wasn’t constipated when it came to throwing ideas into this john, but was certainly counting on your constipation to keep you in place long enough to use all of the various gadgetry.

It sports a television, TiVo, DVD, XBox, laptop, fridge and of course the toilet paper holder comes standard. Plus an iPod docking station. You also get some exercise pedals in front for when you really need to shake those bowels loose. The megaphone is there so others can cater to any needs not already provided for.

Hitachi has announced a new Blu-ray burner that can create discs from the latest camcorders with eSATA ports. The DZ-WR90 plugs straight into the camcorder and automatically creates discs from the footage that you select. So, you don’t need a computer. It even finalises the discs automatically, making it an easy complete one-step process.

The drive will also work with DVD-R discs, and even supports double-sided media as long as you’re willing to flip them yourself. They’re claiming that a Blu-ray disc will fit around three hours of full 1920 × 1080 footage and burn in 1.5hrs; or up to six hours in 1440 × 1080 resolution. A DVD can store up to one hour of 720 × 480 footage. This should make it easy for anyone who wants a simple way to share their video.

This may be the last gadget you’ll ever buy. Both because it does everything and because it is the ultimate distraction leading to your fiery demise. At least you’ll be distracted while that tanker truck rams you. Not only can the visor play DVDs, audio and video files, it can play retro video games on its 7-inch LCD 16×9 widescreen display. Just hook up one or two gamepads that are included and you can play emulated 8-bit games. (You get several on an included disc).

It plays DVD, SVCD, VCD, DVCD, CD, CDG, CD-R and CD-RW discs, as well as digital media files stored in MP4, MP3, WMA or JPEG formats. You can even send game or movie audio to your car’s stereo thanks to a built-in FM transmitter. I’m hoping it’s only available as a passenger visor, for all of our sakes. If you’re ready to turn your car into wreckage, this will cost you just over $100.

No, this is not a vintage Pink Floyd Album cover, but it looks bizarre enough that it could be. It’s also not a photo from the Brick’s new Borg-style Female Assimilation project.(We do have such a project, but it’s all pretty hush-hush. It looks alot like this actually.) The O2 Lounge is the latest fad in salons, spas, massage parlors, hotels, nightclubs, and apparently the great outdoors.

You get all the benefits of a Shiatsu Massage and an Aroma O2 Oxygen Maker. They throw in some audio/video therapy too. The Entertainment Oxygen Lounge has a multimedia DVD player with loudspeaker and hi-fi earphones, Music massage transfer with various massage techniques, and the Aroma O2 Oxygen Maker, along with the Aroma O2 Headset. It comes in four vibrant colors, with a price tag of $7,995, but for now, they are offering it for a special price of $4,595.