I’ve been trying to keep up with the HD DVD and Blu-ray battle, mainly because I think the competition is good and I want to see how far they are willing to go. Today I read that Microsoft was going to back the HD DVD format even more by adding its trademarked HDi™ logo to the brand. The HDi logo means that Microsoft’s Interactive TV feature will be supported by the players and movie releases.

 

Microsoft has cut a deal with Toshiba, Paramount, and Universal to include the HDi logo on the HD DVD players and discs. So now when you’re watching the new Warner Bros. HD DVD release, “Blood Diamond” you might be able to go online and do things like download new trailers, buy ring tones or merchandise, and share your favorite scenes with other HDi HD DVD users.

 

Jodi Sally, the vice president of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products, has said “With Microsoft’s HDi technology, Toshiba is able to offer consumers a consistent movie-watching experience in a way that simply isn’t possible with today’s DVDs or available with any other format right now. Advanced navigation using Microsoft’s HDi technology has been offered on all of Toshiba’s HD DVD players — from the models introduced last spring to our third generation of models that are shipping today.”

 

“For studios to truly enhance and change the way people watch movies, HD DVD provides the features and the flexibility we need to offer a personalized experience,” said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment and co-president of the North American HD DVD Promotional Group. He also added that “web-enabled network features made possible through HDi are particularly compelling because they bridge the gap between physical media and the Web-based world of the MySpace generation.”

 

But we can’t forget about blu-ray. I’m sure their engineering team is working on a strategic plan to deal with the HDi feature.  Honestly, that’s what makes this so interesting. It’s safe to say that soon, watching movies at home will not be the same.

Recently members of the Vinpower Digital staff (both USA and Taiwan staff) visited Dubai in the United Arab Eremites to exhibit at the Gitex electronics convention which took place from September 8^th ~ 12^th, 2007. When you travel that far, even though they were there for work, you have to take some time out for pleasure. Dubai is a wondrous place where the leaders of the city have invested a lot of money to attract foreign tourist from all over the world. From picturesque sand dunes to an indoor ski village to the worlds most famous 7 star hotel and so much more, Dubai has a lot for both the adventure seeker and the pampered traveler. The following images show some of the touristy activities that our co-workers enjoyed during their stay.

The above images show the desert excursion the staff went on where they experienced many wonderful experiences and some not so fun moments when the tire blew on one of the cars in their group.

The above photo’s show the 7 star Burj Al Arab as well as the downtown skyline where they are building the world’s largest structure and the improbable Ski Dubai where they have an indoor ski resort.

Adoption of optical disc duplication is well established throughout the world, whether it’s in the 1^st world developed nations or the 3^rd world developing nations.  From North American to South America, Europe to Africa, and Asia through Australia Vinpower Digital has equipment being sold or purchased on every inhabited continent.  However, there is one territory where the market exists, but has not exploded to its true potential, and that’s the Middle East.  With wealthy and powerful countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Eremites, and so many others, the Middle East is a fertile market for the right product.

With existing conflicts raging in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran may have frightened many to enter what appears to be a very volatile region.  However, there are so many countries within the Middle East that are very safe and free of international conflict that are unfortunately grouped in as combative nations.   These nations have existing channels of commerce that are clamoring for new electronic equipment such as duplicators as long as you have the right window into the channel.

Recognizing the opportunity in the region, Vinpower Digital is participating in the Gitex International electronics trade show taking place September 8 – 12 in Dubai, U.A.E.  Displaying our line of standalone duplication controllers, manual towers, autoloaders, as well as media and printers, we hope to tap into this bustling market ready for high quality affordable equipment.  Our booth is located in Hall 3 # C3-45, so if you’re in the area, please come visit with us.

It seems like there’s a news story everyday about items manufactured in China being recalled due to some form of defect in craftsmanship or the hazardous nature of the materials used. This has many people fearful as to the safety of products made in Asia, especially in China. I have to say, even though this has shown that there are some safety standards that should be strengthened in China, the companies outside of China ordering these goods have a responsibility to mandate the quality of craftsmanship and materials used in these items.

At Vinpower Digital, all of our products are designed and programmed at our American headquarters located in Southern California. We outsource the fabrication of our hardware to companies in Taiwan, (which has higher governmental standards on production than mainland China), but we also demand that our products meet the strict international standards of the American and European governments for safety. Our office in Taiwan inspects all items built to make sure that our products adhere to the RoHS, FCC, CE protocols as well as our own very high standards.

At Vinpower Digital, we believe it’s wiser to spend a little more money in advance so that we don’t have to pay a much higher cost later. Our reputation for quality and performance in the field of CD/DVD/Blu-ray/HD DVD optical disc duplication products is the basis of our success and it’s taken us far in a short period of time. Our pledge to our current and future customers is that we will always put our product above profits!

Containing CD and DVD piracy is a major priority for content producers of DVD films and music CD’s.  You can go to most any city all over the world and find someone with “bootleg” music and movies for sale, often before it’s even available legally.  The entertainment industry is constantly searching for a way to plug up the damn of loss revenue due to these illegal copies and the ever expanding “pirate” market.

Who can they turn to in these times of crisis, Superman, Batman, Jason Bourne?  Apparently they are all busy trying to right far more important wrongs in society.  So where else can we find a hero who would be loyal to the cause and not be tempted by the sway of bribes or a fast buck?  Who else but man’s best friend, our four legged friend that will never let us down, a DVD/CD sniffing dog!

In Malaysia, a 6 month test run has recently concluded with very positive results and accolades for two black Labradors named Lucky and Flo who helped discover over 1.6 million illegal DVD’s.  The dogs were trained to smell the chemicals used to make optical discs like DVD’s.  We’ve all heard of dogs used to detect drugs or bombs, but to find illegal copies of Spiderman 3?  Lucky and Flo have been far more successful than originally hoped for and even though they are the only members of this elite dog fraternity, watch for more countries and cities to adopt this new piracy prevention method.

Picture of Lucky (right) and Flo as they receive medals for their work in sniffing our DVD piracy in Malaysia.  Photo taken from ABC news (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Apparently HD DVD will not go away without a fight and recently two heavy weight Hollywood Studios, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, have issued a press release stating that they will back HD DVD exclusively.  This means that major holiday offerings like Shrek the Third, which grossed over USD $300,000,000 theatrically in North America will be offered only in the HD DVD format.  This is a major boost for HD DVD which had lost ground to Blu-ray with the announcement that Blockbuster would only stock Blu-ray titles and retailers like Target would only stock Blu-ray players in their stores.

So what caused this major shift toward HD DVD for Paramount, which previously offered titles in both Blu-ray and HD DVD, and DreamWorks Animation, which had yet to release a title in either format?  According to the corporate spin, the official comment is that HD DVD players are cheaper and better price positioned for the consumer.  But many feel there’s an ulterior motive working here that may be rooted in a financial gain for the two Hollywood Studios.

As reported in the New York Time, (published 8/21/07), according to two Viacom executives (parent company of Paramount) under the condition of anonymity, “Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD”.  These incentives apparently will be cash payments and promotional guarantees like using the HD DVD release of Shrek the Third in HD DVD player marketing campaigns.  Although none of the entities involved confirmed this transaction took place or played any part in their decision, it’s entirely possible that HD DVD is throwing out all the stops in a last ditch effort to make a huge impact during the lucrative holiday season.

Time will tell whether this gamble pays out, but it looks like the HD DVD contingency has already put their money where their mouth is and will not back down without a fight, but will Blu-ray take the beating or will the consumer ultimately pay the price?  I guess time will tell but one thing is for sure, Money TALKS!

With the growing success of the SharkCopier line, Calvin realized he needed to complete his product mix with a robotic autoloader duplicator. Not fully aware of the immense undertaking an autoloader would be, the quest was started. Due to the intricate complexities that are not even a consideration in the manual tower, such as alignment and picking issues, it took over a year just to develop the first working model of the Vinpower Digital TITAN line of autoloaders.

The next step was putting it in the market and testing them under real world situations. We could have never expected the type of havoc small variations in humidity, atmosphere, and other unforeseen elements would have on the autoloader where the manual towers never had an issue. Luckily our engineers are located in our California corporate office and they were able to speak directly to the customers and on occasion visit them at their facility to see the issues first hand. We would work directly with the users to test our solutions allowing us to improve the units immediately instead of waiting to get feedback from a foreign manufacturer. The hiccups in the first production helped make each subsequent line and new design even better and more reliable. Today Vinpower Digital’s line of standalone duplication equipment is unrivaled in quality and performance.

It didn’t take long for others to recognize the quality, attention to detail and strong support that Vinpower Digital offered could benefit their business and customer base gaining more and more partners in the industry. The journey is still far from over and there’s a lot we learn everyday about our products and how to improve them, Vinpower Digital has come a long way from their humble beginning and that van. Hopefully with the support of our partners, we can continue to grow as a company and put out new and innovative products.