Verbatim First to Market with LightScribe-certified 8x DVD+R DL Media

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Leveraging many of the same technologies that set the standard for high-speed DVD+R Double Layer (DL) disc performance, reliability and compatibility, Verbatim(R) Americas, LLC, announced today the world's first LightScribe(R) 8X DVD+R Double Layer (DL) discs. At 8X speed, the industry's fastest DVD DL burning speed, an entire 8.5GB single-sided disc can be filled to capacity in 15 minutes or less. Verbatim will begin shipping LightScribe 8X DVD+R DL discs in November.
Verbatim and its parent company, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), have consistently been at the forefront in developing DVD+R DL technologies and LightScribe media coating. Verbatim was also the first company to release DVD+R DL discs and LightScribe media worldwide.
LightScribe certified, Verbatim's new double layer media is fully compatible with LightScribe-enabled drives, duplicators and the latest software licensed by Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). When combined, the same drive that burns content to the data side of the disc can be used to burn silkscreen-quality monochrome labels directly on the label side of the discs. The discs are produced with LightScribe Media Version 1.2 coating technology on the label side to provide enhanced contrast for photos, graphics, images and text. Verbatim's new DVD+R DL discs deliver LightScribe direct-to-disc labeling quality and convenience without requiringany software or firmware upgrades.
By offering compliance that exceeds the DVD+R DL standard, users also have the assurance that Verbatim's new LightScribe media is compatible with the new multi-format drives and duplicators that support 8X DVD+R DL technology and most DVD playback devices.
The increased storage capacity required by digital content--especially HD video, and the volumes of Internet content that are being downloaded are driving the demand for higher-capacity storage. With two recording layers on a single side, Verbatim's new LightScribe 8X DVD+R DL media nearly doubles the storage capacity of a DVD from 4.7GB to 8.5GB. The higher capacity will enable businesses, content developers and consumers to store up to 3.5 hours of DVD-quality videos, about one hour of HD video or 8.5GB of data without having to flip the disc. The capacity and 8X performance that these discs provide also make them ideal for backups and archiving.
Since its launch early in 2005, LightScribe's adoption rate has grown substantially. Today, most of the major optical drive manufacturers include LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling technology with their burners. LightScribe also recently reported that the direct disc labeling technology is now licensed by over 80 electronics and software companies worldwide, including many disc publishing systems manufacturers.
Availability
Verbatim LightScribe 8X DVD+R DL media will be offered in 10-disc spindles with hanger boxes. The media will be available in the US in November through leading retailers, Internet resellers and distributors.
Verbatim also offers the industry's broadest range of premium-quality LightScribe CD and DVD-R/+R media products, including 80MIN/700MB 52X LightScribe CD-R media, 4.7GB 16X LightScribe DVD-R media, 4.7GB 16X LightScribe DVD+R media and Color-background LightScribe 16x DVD-R and DVD+R media in vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow, blue and green.
About Verbatim
Verbatim's businesses in the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific regions are wholly owned subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd. MKM's parent company, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), is Japan's largest chemical company.
Verbatim develops and markets innovative, high-quality products for storing, moving and using digital content. Known for its leadership in the optical, magnetic and flash storage and related accessories markets, the company provides reliable, unique technologies and products that are highly sought after and broadly distributed worldwide. For more information, contact Verbatim Americas, LLC, 1200 W.T. Harris Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28262, (800) 421-4188. In Europe, Verbatim Ltd., Prestige House, 23-26 High Street, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9DU, UK, (+44) 1784 439 781. In Japan, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd., 4-1-23, Shiba Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8415, (+81) 3-5454-3972. Or, visit the web site at www.verbatim.com and select the country of your location.
Depending on the hardware and software used.
Verbatim is a registered trademark of Verbatim Americas, LLC. Other company and product names contained herein are trademarks of their respective companies. Specifications subject to change without notice.

SOURCE: Verbatim Americas, LLC

Ink-jet printer for a new heart?

TOYAMA, JAPAN: The technology is the same as that of the simple inkjet printer found in homes and offices, but Japanese scientist Makoto Nakamura is on a mission to see if it can also produce human organs.


The idea is for the printer to jet out thousands of cells per second – rather than ink droplets – and to build them up into a three-dimensional (3-D) organ.

"It would be like building a huge skyscraper on a micro level using different kinds of cells and other materials instead of steel beams, concrete and glass," he said.

Ultimate goal

"Ultimately I hope to make a heart," said Nakamura, professor at the graduate school of science and technology for research at the state-run University of Toyama.

While Nakamura says it would take him some 20 years to develop a heart, the feat could pave the way to mass produce "good hearts" for patients waiting for transplants. A heart made of cells originating from the patient could eliminate fears that the body would reject it.

In the emerging field of organ printing, Nakamura bills his work as the world's finest printed 3-D structure with living cells.

The technology works a bit like dealing with sliced fruit: an organ is cut horizontally, allowing researchers to see an array of cells on the surface.

Sliced fruit

If a printer drops cells one by one into the right spots and repeats the process for many layers, it creates a 3-D organ. Much like a printer chooses different colours, the machine can position different types of cells to drop.

Nakamura has succeeded in building a tube with living cells. It measures one millimetre in diameter and has double walls with two different kinds of cells, similar to the three-layer structure in human blood vessels.

He has also made a smaller single-wall hydrogel tube that measures one-tenth of a millimetre – as narrow as human hair.

The tubes are made by a 3-D inkjet bioprinter that Nakamura's team developed in a three-year project completed earlier this year at Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, a foundation based southwest of Tokyo.

The printer can adjust where to drop cells in the order of one-thousandth of a millimetre and produce a tube at a speed of three centimetres (1.2 inches) per two minutes.

Nakamura's motivation is simple: if there are not enough organs for the people who need them, then scientists should make them.

Treating children with heart problems day and night as a paediatrician, he realised there are children who do not respond to conventional treatment or whose condition is too serious to treat.

"I just had to watch them die"

"I just had to watch them die," he said. "Clinical doctors can't give them treatment that isn't in textbooks. I clung to the hope that medicine will make progress and save more lives in the future."

Then 36, Nakamura thought he "shouldn't just wait" and left a decade of clinical work to be a researcher, in hopes of contributing to medical progress.
Now 49, he is married to a former nurse and has five children.

Nakamura dismisses the idea of printing brains or trying to create new life. "I'm not envisioning making superhuman cyborgs. There are simply lives that could be saved if there are organs," he said.

He spent years researching artificial hearts but mechanical organs are not yet reasonable alternatives for donor organs. Problems include their inability to generate energy by themselves, make hormones or fight infection.

Bioprinting with stem cells

One day Nakamura found that droplets from inkjet printers were about the same size as human cells, which are as small as 10 micrometres in diameter each, or one-100th of a millimetre. He bought a home-use Seiko Epson printer in 2002 and tried to eject cells with it. But the inkjet nozzle got clogged.

He rang up the company's customer service, telling the operator that he wanted to print cells, an idea she politely turned down. Nakamura did not give up and eventually reached an Epson official who showed interest and agreed to give him technical support.

In 2003, Nakamura confirmed that cells survived even after the printing process, becoming one of the first researchers in the world to unveil a 3-D structure with real living cells using inkjet technology.

To prevent the droplets from drying out and to help cells form a 3-D structure, Nakamura puts cells in alginate sodium and jets them into a calcium-chloride solution.

In the future, Nakamura also said the technology could pave the way for bioprinting with stem cells – which could go into building healthy new organs. "I really don't know what the future possibilities are, but this technology will be needed in the future to find where to position stem cells," he said.

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SONY optical discs on promotion this month !

SanDisk launches world’s largest capacity micro memory cards

16GB of storage capacity.
Ross Catanzariti (Good Gear Guide) 01/10/2008 10:40:00

SanDisk this week announced the launch of the world’s largest capacity microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) cards — the first cards of their kind to offer 16GB of storage.

The microSDHC cards will support most new mobile phones and a range of MP3 players including SanDisk’s own Sansa range, while the M2 cards are compatible with Sony Ericsson’s new generation of mobile phones.

"Handsets have become far more than just phones — they’ve become mobile jukeboxes, mobile offices, even mobile movie theatres”, said Avi Greengart, research director for mobile devices at Current Analysis. “16GB gives consumers the ability to carry their digital content with them and still have room to do more with their mobile phones."

SanDisk’s 16GB mobile memory cards come with a five-year limited warranty and will initially be available at Crazy John’s stores in October.

The 16GB microSDHC card will be available for an RRP of $141, while the 16GB M2 card has an RRP of $188.