Higher speed DVDs coming

The DVD+RW Alliance says a new range of high-speed rewritable and double-layer discs, recorders and drives will hit the market in the next few months.

PC World reports that DVD+RW 8X products will be able to copy a full DVD in under eight minutes, while double-layer DVD+R 8X products will be able to copy an 8.5GB double-layer DVD in about 15 minutes.

The DVD+RW Alliance is a group of more than 70 vendors promoting compatibility for optical disc storage technologies.

Although facing challenges from next-generation disc formats such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD, industry players say standard DVD will remain the mainstream technology for storage for at least the next two to three years.

The next version of Novell`s SuSE Linux distribution, to be released in the middle of next month, will let users run multiple versions of the operating system simultaneously, reports News.com.

The report says support for multiple instances of the operating system in SuSE Linux Professional 9.3 will be provided by the incorporation of Xen open source software.

SuSE Linux Professional is geared for desktop computer tasks such as word processing, programming or playing digital videos and is aimed at Windows users wanting to breathe new life into older computers.

A German research institute has developed a screen that does not require special glasses to display three-dimensional images and can be viewed even from the side, reports Reuters.

The display is aimed at helping architects and engineers visualise their designs, make flight simulators more realistic and help doctors train for surgery.

The screen generates two slightly different images to make objects appear three-dimensional.

A lens in front of the display directs one beam of light toward the viewer`s left eye and a second beam toward the right, making 3D goggles unnecessary.

Microsoft is acquiring collaboration software maker, Groove Networks, and bestowing the title of chief technical officer on Groove`s founder and chief executive, Ray Ozzie, reports AP.

The report says Ozzie, the co-creator of Lotus Notes, will report directly to Bill Gates, Microsoft`s chairman and chief software architect.

The acquisition is part of Microsoft`s strategy to extend its Office brand in an increasingly mobile business world.