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CDSA held its first annual summit last week in New York City. This is not a new organization, but it’s the first time the former International Recording Media Association—since it reconfigured itself July 1 as the Content Delivery and Storage Association (CDSA)—has convened its annual meeting in New York.

The new acronym reflects the new direction of this industry from the association’s vantage point. It’s actually the third name the association has had, since it began life as the International Tape Association (ITA) in 1970, years before it shifted to the focus on optical disc that characterized its IRMA incarnation.

What’s really new and different about CDSA? Well, participants have been changing over the last few years, so the change isn’t especially dramatic. Charles Van Horn is still CEO. Frank Russomanno, CEO of Imation, has stepped in as CDSA president.

With about 125 people in attendance at the summit, gone are a lot of the familiar faces, but I did see some new ones, some from familiar companies with new representatives and other brand new members. According to CDSA, attendance was up slightly from last year’s IRMA meeting. This past summer there had been a lot of murmurings about some really severe changes to the association, hence some of the people backing those changes that were knocked down, were conspicuously not at the summit. However, I did have the pleasure of sitting next to Alan Yamanishi, director of business development at SanDisk, a new member of CDSA. Since SanDisk is not an optical media company at all, but a key player in the development of portable storage and flash media, its involvement in CDSA may provide a hint of the association’s new direction.

Also, new to CDSA is Electronic Arts. Its membership seems to signify CDSA’s desire to involve content providers, a very good idea in my opinion. Technology companies can debate the value of Blu-ray and HD DVD, and any other format on the horizon, but it is the content providers that have a true sense of what consumers need, and ultimately what they want. Of course, digital distribution is another area on which CDSA hopes to focus.

David Cuyler has joined CDSA as director of membership development and its west coast representative. Cuyler is well known to the industry from his days at Deluxe and Paramount. He told me, “I will help increase the outreach of the organization and build its membership. The outreach on the West Coast allows new and emerging companies in digital distribution, not to mention entertainment, to know what we do and know what we can provide for them.”

CDSA has a few studio members, such as Disney and Universal. “Studios, in part, define our agenda and are of critical importance to most of our members,” Cuyler said. “Disney shows us that we are on the right path, and we hope to get other content owners to join.”

CDSA’s existing membership is broadly classified as physical media deliverers and service providers. Many of its members provide transaction management, content conversion, digital rights management, and content protection. Those same services are going to be critical in the digital download world. CDSA members, especially at the board level, will likely know exactly the right companies to talk to in the digital download world about the association, according to Cuyler. “It is my job to find out who these companies are, what their needs are and what needs they are looking to have met in an association,” Cuyler said. “Are there other vehicles that are providing some of those services now that we can affiliate ourselves with to get the message out?” Many dynamic, new companies are in the digital download space. Cuyler believes CDSA can do a great job for the digital download community, but it’s a matter of getting in front of them, and even assisting them in organizing. “They may know who their competitors are in their narrow space, but they may not know who the other supply chain providers include,” Cuyler said. “We think it is complementary with our existing membership since both groups are going to coexist for a long time.” How is CDSA actually developing its a new agenda? In addition to sending out different surveys to members each month, strategic planning meetings have been held in New York, Los Angeles, and London. Van Horn said that as a result they have learned the name change is right on target. CDSA has found that the burning issues the association needs to address are as follows: promoting physical media anti-piracy and content security, digital distribution, environmental responsibility; and asset management. No surprises there.

According to Van Horn, CDSA membership would also like the association to take on more of an advocacy role. “Advocacy means we will be promoting the value of physical media and the need to promote packaged media as the largest segment of the income projections for content through the next several years,” Van Horn explained. CDSA will provide through the services of leading market intelligence firms the information to enable members to track the advances of digital content delivery and will be an advocate for the safe, reliable, and responsible delivery and storage of content in what ever means the content community devises to deliver and store their assets, he added.

CDSA will also become a strong advocate for the security of content in the digital chain through the development of security standards for the digital providers to the content community. “We have just developed and certified our first postproduction facility under our newly developed postproduction security standards—Deluxe Digital Services,” Van Horn said. “We expect several other postproduction providers to be certified shortly under these new standards.”

What does this all mean? Despite the depressed mood of many replicators if not most replicators, CDSA members are not ready to throw in the towel just yet. The mood amongst attendees at the CDSA summit was hopeful, and with the changes in this association perhaps members can gain knowledge and find ways to reinvent their businesses and ultimately forge ahead into the next decade.

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The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ: Updates

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The Authoritative HD DVD FAQ: Updates

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LightScribe Introduces New Template Labeler Software

LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling has announced the immediate availability of the LightScribe Template Labeler, labeling software designed to simplify and enhance customers' CD and DVD labeling. The Template Labeler complements the capability of the LightScribe Simple Labeler, launched in February 2007. The Template Labeler allows customers to create full label designs with its easy user interface. The new labeling software is available immediately for free download on LightScribe's website.

Anyone owning a LightScribe-enabled computer or external CD or DVD burner can download the LightScribe Template Labeler and immediately create professional-looking full disc designs – complete with personalized photos and text – in a few simple steps:

Insert a LightScribe disc label-side down into the drive;
Choose a template design, then simply drag and drop in photos and add personalized text to the label design;
Preview the design against a choice of six LightScribe disc background colors and burn the label.

Six LightScribe template packs of new label designs are available for the Template Labeler: LightScribe Art Pack, LightScribe Holiday Pack, LightScribe Weddings Pack, LightScribe Special Occasions Pack, LightScribe Sports Pack and LightScribe Business Pack.

The Template Labeler and the new label design packs can be downloaded at www.lightscribe.com for free and works on computers running Windows (Vista/XP/2000). In addition to English, LightScribe Template Labeler for Windows will be available beginning in December 2007 in 23 languages, including Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, German, Greek, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese-Brazilian, Russian, Slovakian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

LightScribe -- a laser DVD / CD label burning technology found in many popular brands of disc burners, laptops and PCs -- gives people the ability to easily burn silkscreen-quality photos, graphics, images and text directly onto LightScribe CDs and DVDs. A simple title printed in normal mode will typically take a couple of minutes. A fuller disc image will take approximately 15-20 minutes. LightScribe CDs are available in original gold, red, orange, yellow, blue and green.

LightScribe-enabled CDs, DVDs, software, desktops, notebooks, aftermarket optical disc drives and duplicator systems are available at major retailers worldwide, as well as through most leading brands online.

www.lightscribe.com

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Trusted Computing Group to Address Data Protection and Key Management During Storage Visions 2008 Conference

At the Jan. 5-6 Storage Visions 2008 Conference at the Flamingo Hilton, Las Vegas, the Trusted Computing Group and its member companies will address critical issues related to data protection and securing data and drives against loss, theft, and unauthorized use. Trusted Computing Group is a Bronze Sponsor of this annual gathering about data protection and storage issues.

Trusted Computing Group, an industry organization that enables computing security, has created a Trusted Storage specification. The free and non-proprietary specification supports security services for a variety of storage devices including hard drives, flash, tape and optical devices and is widely supported in the storage industry by vendors and relevant standards organizations.

Dr. Robert Thibadeau, chief technologist for Seagate Technology and chairman of the Trusted Computing Group’s Storage Work Group, will talk to attendees on Saturday, January 5, 11 a.m., about the recently released specification and its implementation in hard drives and other storage devices in a session titled “Storage Intelligence and Content Protection.” Walt Hubis, software architect, LSI Logic, will address key management issues during that session, with Felipe Rodriguez, senior solution engineer and architect, Secude, joining the Q&A for that session.

Demonstrations of trusted drives, key management and other applications from Seagate Technology, Secude Systems and Wave Systems will be shown in the Trusted Computing Group’s exhibit during the conference.

In addition to its Trusted Storage specification, the Trusted Computing Group has just published an application note to enable developers to create key management services for devices based on the organization’s Trusted Storage specification. The organization also has created a second subgroup, for optical storage devices, in its Trusted Storage work group. These efforts are intended to help developers create more secure storage devices to protect data against loss, theft, and unauthorized use. The Trusted Storage specification, application note and other information are available free at https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/groups/storage/.

“Security in personal storage devices is crucial for the protection of personal content in consumer electronic devices,” stated Thomas Coughlin, chairman and organizer of the 2008 Storage Visions Conference. “We are pleased to have the Trusted Computing Group as a sponsor and participant in the 2008 Storage Visions Conference January 5 & 6, 2008 at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.”

People interested in attending and hearing about the important developments in storage security offered by the new Trusted Computing Group standards and other needed developments in storage for content creation, distribution and reception can attend the 2008 Storage Visions Conference (just before and a partner to the 2008 CES).

Registration for the conference as well as conference hotel room registration is available at www.storagevisions.com.

More information and the organization’s specifications and work groups are available at the Trusted Computing Group’s website, www.trustedcomputinggroup.org.

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Hi-Def DVD Holiday Shopping With Certainty: The Newly Released Easy-to-Understand Guide

This holiday season, there is good news for millions of consumers looking to make the right buying decisions for Hi-Definition DVD. As holiday shoppers prepare to spend an estimated $13.5 billion on audio/video products, Intellikey Labs, a highly recognized leader in Hi-Definition Quality Assurance, releases their first-ever Hi-Definition DVD Buyer’s Guide. This how-to guide, entitled “Consumer Guide to Getting More Out Of Your Hi-Def Purchase: Blu-ray and HD DVD”, outlines the basic options, identifies the top-ranked Hi-Def DVD players, answers the question of Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, explains what is the most important to Hi-Def DVD buyers, shares much-needed tips on the three main points to consider when purchasing an HDTV display, discusses common Hi-Def audio options, and much more.

“With Hi-Def DVD products at the top of many holiday shopping lists, we wanted to help simplify the rapidly evolving choices that Hi-Def offers”, said Lauren Evers, co-founder and President/CEO of Intellikey Labs. “Our consumer-friendly Hi-Def shopping guide strives to alleviate the guesswork involved when making a purchase in the highly technical world of Hi- Def DVD products. Our guide is designed to offer shoppers an easier way to make Hi-Def shopping decisions and ultimately, a much more satisfying experience with their Hi-Def DVD purchases.”

“Consumer Guide to Getting More Out Of Your Hi-Def Purchase: Blu-ray and HD DVD” can help ease the burden of holiday shopping with quick and easy identification of the highest ranked Hi-Def DVD products. As the slow adoption of Hi-Definition DVD continues for the second holiday season in a row, there is a big concern that consumers are still unfamiliar with the concept of Hi-Definition and hesitant to make a purchase. In 2006 alone, consumer product returns in the U.S. reached $100 billion – mostly due to increasingly complex technical consumer products without a clear explanation of which products best suit their needs1.

Intellikey Labs’ Quality Assurance testing is known in the Hi-Def industry as the most accurate and most reliable. Intellikey ensures that Hi-Def and digital content products have every opportunity to perform at their highest capacity, while being committed to the education of consumers to ensure they gain the most enjoyment out of their Hi-Def DVD purchases. “When deciding to buy a Hi-Def DVD product, consumers should be armed with the necessary market insight to make the right decision. Their Hi-Def purchases should bring them as much satisfaction as they expect—and more!” added Evers.

The first-ever Intellikey Labs’ “Consumer Guide to Getting More Out Of Your Hi-Def Purchase: Blu-ray and HD DVD” hopes to ensure that buyers make educated purchases this holiday season, and that this clear and simple guide helps bring more consumers enjoyment in using Hi-Definition DVD.

“Consumer Guide to Getting More Out Of Your Hi-Def Purchase: Blu-ray and HD DVD” is available to consumers at no cost by writing to HiDef at intellikeylabs.com.
www.intellikeylabs.com

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Web Communities Flourish With New HD DVD Titles

of summer smash hits and groundbreaking TV series are tapping into the web-enabled communities offered by HD DVD. "Transformers" from Paramount Home Entertainment and "Heroes: Season One" from Universal Home Entertainment are among the titles that saw significant online usage of the web-connected features.

"Transformers," which continues to be one of the top selling titles in any high definition format, had more than 80,000 unique online users, with 31% returning to download additional content as it became available. Universal's current web-enabled titles, which include "Heroes: Season One", "Knocked Up", and "Evan Almighty", saw an average of 30% of HD DVD purchasers going online to download content and connect with other fans.

"We've only scratched the surface in offering web-connected experiences to fans of hit movies and TV shows, so it was great to see so many connecting online for these titles," said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group. "As more titles from the HD DVD studios include access to downloads, trailers and community pages, the owner of any HD DVD player can take advantage of these web-connected experiences."

Made possible through Microsoft's HDi(TM) technology, web-connected features are supported in every HD DVD player due to the mandatory hardware requirements inherent in the HD DVD specifications. The specifications include a network connection, picture-in-picture capability, and persistent storage on the player itself. Collectively, these features bring a fan's favorite movie or program to life, allowing for in depth second viewings, and allowing content creators to add new material to the experience over time.

"Seeing the fan base rally around 'Transformers', 'Heroes' and other key titles on HD DVD was validation that there's an interest in extending the movie watching experience," said Chris Saito, vice president of worldwide HD DVD marketing, Paramount Home Entertainment. "Growing and feeding the fan communities is a critical piece to evolving home entertainment, and this is an example of where HD DVD is meeting the challenge."

Web-enabled features found on Paramount's "Transformers" include downloadable Sector 7 Transmission videos, "Transformers" Profiler with still photography and bios, and "Intelligence Mode", a special data dashboard providing stats on the various Autobots and Decepticons, a GPS locator and factoids. The "Transformers" HD DVD also includes Menubots, which allow fans to customize their menus to a variety of themes, from Bumblebee to Megatron.

Universal's "Heroes: Season 1" HD DVD offers a Download Center filled with exclusive content, trailers and show updates. The boxed set also includes a Genetic Abilities Test where fans can test themselves and post their "hero profile" to the Heroes community site on NBC.com, triggering a unique access code to view exclusive content.

www.TheLookAndSoundOfPerfect.com

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Digitize Your Old Cassette Tapes and Vinly LPs For CD

NITBits Inc. today announces the availability of WaveMax Sound Editor 3.25, a new tool for digitizing sound records of music cassette tapes, vinyl LPs, and videos. The digitized records can then be recorded onto CD discs.

WaveMax Sound Editor is computer software for Windows-based computers. Once installed, the software will let you transfer the content of a tape, LP or VCR tape to the digital form and save the output to the hard disk drive, creating standard digital sound files. And it can mercifully do so while unattended. Timer and input level triggered recording is included. After all, you may not want to sit around and listen to all those tracks while they are being recorded.

To begin the recording, you need to attach a cable from your sound device to the computer, start playback and click the Recording button. That's pretty much you need to do!

The software lets you copy tapes as they are or use the computer to edit records before the burning process occurs. You can cut, copy and paste parts of records and, if required, add effects like echo, amplification, noise reduction, reverb, chorus and flanger, as well as time stretching and key transposition tools. Recordings distorted by noise, clicks, crackles or missing high frequency content can be restored easily. For you convenience, the new version comes with a real-time effect preview to let you check the results of effect application instantly. Besides, the software offers batch processing, which supports up to 32,000 files. It allows you to apply effects or convert files as a single function. When you have edited, previewed and prepared everything, transfer to a CD disk is quick and easy.

WaveMax works as a .wav editor or .mp3 editor but it also supports a number of other file formats, including .wma, .wav, .mp3, .mp2, .vox, .gsm, .dsp, .cda, .aiff, .au, .raw, etc.

Some other Gee-Whiz functions in WaveMax Sound Editor are a spectral analysis tool (FFT) and a text-to-speech synthesis. With the help of the first one, you can analyze the output audio like a real pro, while the second tool can help you convert your text documents to audio, so that you can listen to your documents on regular stereo, car CD players and PocketPC or integrate spoken audio into your computer product presentations.

WaveMax Sound Editor has been designed for those of us who wish to preserve the music on aging cassettes and LP disks. Storing our audio on optical media now seems the best way to ensure that they will be listened to by future generations to come.

WaveMax Sound Editor 3.25 runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista and costs $39.99 (US). Registered customers get premium support (365 x 7/24) and free lifetime updates.

A 30-day, fully functional trial edition of the product is available from http://www.wave-max.com/.

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