Lite-On IT, Taiwan's largest producer of optical disc drives, anticipates delivering one million DVD drives in the first quarter of next year, according to Michael Gong, the company's general manager for the optical disc business.

No, the answers not to install Windows, what we mean is to utterly annihilate the very fabric of your PC. TechTV have an informative video clip produced by Joey the Intern which outlines a highly effective method for reducing your PC to a molten heap in the event of, say, an MPAA sponsored raid. The method involves the use of thermite, which is a stable chemical compound that, when ignited, turns into molten iron and burns at approximately 3,000 degrees Celsius.

The freeware Media Player Classic is a tool to play video files and audio. It supports DVD playback, Ogg audio, RealMedia and Quicktime video. A new, updated version is available.

TDK's newest Indi DVD model features 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD-R and 40x CD recording speeds along with USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity. Allowing punters to record a complete DVD in only 8 minutes and, using the same drive, to rip or record a full CD in 3 minutes.

The software house NewSoft have announced the release of Presto! DVD PowerSuite, designed to provide consumers of all experience levels with a fast and easy solution for capturing, editing, authoring, and burning DVDs. PowerSuite's MPEG-2 codec provides full video capture capabilities with real-time MPEG-2 encoding to all leading video file formats.

BTC has started shipping their 8x dual format writer, just in time for Christmas. Their 4x drive the DRW1004IM is known for its low price compared to some other drives. The BTC DRW1008IM was unveiled a few weeks ago - more info.

With the holidays right around the corner, Apple's .Mac online service has posted a new training feature that outlines the use of key iLife applications like iMovie and iDVD. The site offers a free 60 day trial and membership is $100 (£59) a year.

Sharp is introducing a $3,300 (£1,945) computer with a screen that creates the illusion of 3-D vision, without special glasses or other gimmicks. Remarkably, it actually works.

EnXnet have recently announced the first delivery to a consumer of a DVDPlus disc, which combines CD and DVD. The hybrid optical disc technology provides a DVD on one side and a CD on the other, the DVD side can accommodate both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio formats. EnXnet says that the unnamed customer has indicated "complete satisfaction" with the new product and is "very excited about the future of DVDPlus."

CMC, Ritek and Prodisc, the three largest producers of optical discs in Taiwan, are expanding their production capacities of blank DVD-R discs from 20 million to 60 million discs a month each in 2004.

Jon Lech Johansen, better known as DVD Jon for his authorship of the DeCSS decryption software, has turned his attention to Apple's locked music format.While he hasn't decrypted the DRM that Apple uses, he has produced a simple Windows command line utility which will install a DLL which dumps the output of a QuickTime stream to a file.

The music industry will remain flat for another two years and when it does pick up, the music industry will have the crackdown on file-sharers to thank, according to a report.

More leading Japanese DVD drive makers like Sony and Teac have speeded up outsourcing 4x DVD+RW drives to Taiwan following recent steep price falls, according to sources at Taiwanese makers.

The Taiwanese optical storage manufacturer Cyber Drive have unveiled the specs of its first DVD writer, the DX082D. It features 8x DVD+R and 4x DVD+RW write speeds as well as 32x CD-R and 24x CD-RW write speeds. The the DX082D also boasts a large 8 MB buffer.

DivXNetworks has released a new version of their megapopular MPEG-4 codec, DivX. The latest version, DivX v5.1.1 is, according to DivXNetworks, "the most significant improvement in DivX ever". You can download the Standard and free Pro (ie adware supported) versions in our download section.

Infodisc Technology, one of the top two manufacturers of pre-recorded optical discs, will spin off its business division producing blank DVDs to form a 100% owned subsidiary called Infomedia.

Apple have unveiled G5-optimized versions of Final Cut Pro 4, Shake 3 and DVD Studio Pro 2. The new version of Final Cut Pro now delivers simultaneous playback of seven fully uncompressed standard definition (SD) video streams with real-time effects using a dual 2.0 GHz processor Power Mac G5 and Xserve RAID.

The China digital disk technologies community have announced that it will promote an upgraded consumer electronic product, the 'Enhanced DVD' or 'EVD', in place of DVD, in the coming high-volume sales season.

Press Release form the COMDEX trade show: Panasonic's commitment to the Recordable DVD and PC industry continues with the announcement of a new line-up of DVD MULTI Drives that offer users a fast, slim option for all multi-media recording needs. The MULTI Drives, which support DVD-RAM/R/RW formats, will be demonstrated during this year's COMDEX alongside other DVD-RAM products to highlight the continued growth of the format.

Contract manufacturing prices for 4x recordable DVD+RW drives have declined by 9-10% since the beginning of the fourth quarter after declining 30-40% over the previous two quarters, according to sources.