China plans own DVD format

Amid power struggles over the next DVD standard, a Chinese government-affiliated research body says it will develop China`s own DVD format, reports Xinhua news.

China`s National Disc Engineering Centre says it will develop China`s own DVD format in order to break the monopoly of foreign companies in DVD manufacturing.

The new Chinese DVD format will be based on the HD DVD standard, but will be incompatible with the HD DVD systems.

China is reported to produce between 70% and 80% of the world`s DVD players. However, Chinese manufacturers need to pay licensing fees to overseas patent-holders in the DVD industry.

The licensing fee accounts for 40% of the cost of each DVD player.

Fuji Photo Film aims to increase its slice of the market for advanced printing plates to 40% in two years by taking share away from rivals Eastman Kodak and Agfa-Gevart, reports Reuters.

The global computer-to-plate (CTP) market is worth $2 billion and expected to grow by 15% this business year to March.

CTP is a process in which a digital image is transferred directly from a computer to an aluminium plate that is then used by large-scale printers to churn out a variety of publications such as newspapers, books and magazines.

To boost its share of the CTP market, Fuji Photo believes it needs to gain traction in fast-growing countries like India, China and Brazil.

Microsoft has unveiled some of its video games for the launch of the new Xbox 360 game console, reports Reuters.

Electronic Arts also has games lined up for the launch of the new console in the US and Canada next month.

Microsoft confirmed that exclusive Xbox 360 titles available for the holiday season will include the action-adventure game Kameo: Elements of Power and the much-anticipated shooting game Perfect Dark Zero, both from Microsoft-owned Rare.

Project Gotham Racing 3 from independent game studio Blizzard Creations should also be available in time for Christmas, Microsoft said at a press event in Amsterdam.

Taiwan has reiterated its call for Google to stop referring to it as a province of China in its online map of the world, reports BBC.

Saying the matter was first raised a month ago, Taiwanese politicians say the map should refer to Taiwan as an independent state. However, such a change is expected to provoke China, which considers Taiwan as part of its territory.