copies

Gefen is adding hard-drive encryption to its High-Definition Personal Video Recorder to ensure that it won't become an easy avenue for video piracy. Doing so will bring the product into line with other commercially available set-top recorders and DVRs, all of which encrypt video recordings to ensure they won't be played back outside of the device.

The addition of encryption follows a dialogue with CNET that was initiated after the Gefen HD PVR was highlighted on Zatznotfunny. Blogger Dave Zatz noted that the Gefen was a unique product: not only did it have HDMI inputs--a usually unseen … Read more

It's not entirely clear to us why one would want to duplicate 11 flash drives at once, but that's exactly what Aleratec's "1:11 USB Copy Tower" will do. The $1,575 box is a standalone device that requires no computer, according to Slippery Brick, which is probably a good thing if you're in a hurry to copy top-secret documents before security finds out. You can monitor progress on a backlit LCD to see how much time is left before you need to beat a hasty retreat out the window and rappel down the … Read more

Call it a mix-and-match approach to music retailing.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment, one of the top four music labels, is the latest to meld an offline-online sales strategy. The record company said in a press release it will soon offer gift cards through brick-and-mortar stores that can be used to redeem music from the Web.

The best part of the offering is that the music is available in unprotected MP3s, more proof that Sony BMG is easing away from copy-protection software. Citing unnamed sources, BusinessWeek reported last week that the label is preparing to strip digital rights management software from … Read more

To everyone who has ever griped about music locked up in copy-protection software, it appears that the technology is on its way out.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment, one of the top four music labels, is preparing to offer part of its catalogue without Digital Rights Management software, according to a story in BusinessWeek.com, the online publication of BusinessWeek magazine.

According to BusinessWeek, Sony BMG plans to reveal its plans sometime in the first quarter. Citing an unnamed source, the magazine reported that Sony BMG, a joint venture between Sony and Bertelsmann, will participate in a song giveaway as part … Read more

Anytime I need to do research on the Web, I know that the fingers involved with the copy and paste keyboard shortcuts are in for a workout. I also know I'll be alt-tabbing to switch between my browser and my text editor, too. Fortunately I found clipboard utilities to make any cut and paste or data-entry task a lot easier.

Clipboard utilities make it possible to copy numerous, separate items from your Web browser without switching programs. Once safely copied, you can then move to your document or text editor and paste each bit of info right where you … Read more

As discs slowly succumb to the portable drive, rippers and burners have been forced to diversify. Merely ripping and burning well will lead to crashing and burning badly: customers want to see something tech-relevant. Corel's DVD Copy 6 focuses heavily on file format conversion, and for $50 it offers a wide range of source and target compatibility including iPods and PSPs.

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Heading into the long weekend, Resizable Form Fields and Auto Copy are two Firefox extensions that might do for your browsing experience what the extra day off hopefully will do for you.

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It's the digital equivalent of the first few cracks in the Berlin Wall: soon EMI will be offering the bulk of its music catalog free of DRM restrictions. Steve Jobs was on hand at the press conference to enthusiastically endorse the idea--he did, famously, suggest as much in an open letter just a few short weeks ago. But is Apple simply fashioning its own hangman's noose? If the other major record companies follow suit, the one big advantage of the entire Apple "digital ecosystem"--iTunes, the iPod, and Apple TV--essentially becomes null and void. Jobs says Apple's superior design will keep the company's software and hardware at the top of the must-have list for digital media. For the iPod, maybe--but for the just-launched Apple TV, the answer isn't as straightforward. … Read more