Lasse Penttinen
10 Mar 2003 12:05
Ahead Software is about to drop the bomb at CeBIT. They will be expanding their product line even more to the DVD and video compression field.
New Nero products:
Nero Digital: The Digital is a new audio/video compression codec by Ahead Software. “The next standard in audio video compression - complete MPEG-4 solution encompassing ISO/14496-2/3 compatibility and state-of-the-art audio High Efficiency AAC in MPEG”.
Nero Digital will be a direct competitor to well known DivX codec and other similar products (like Xvid). According to our source inside Ahead, they have so far been very impressed in the codec’s performance. One strength of Nero Digital is that it will incorporate a high efficiency AAC audio compression built in.
"We're also really excited about the Nero Digital project, because there is no doubt the audio/video codec's will have immense appeal to people wanting high quality content (DVD movies etc) onto CDR (or using DVD/RW to put more than one movie on the same disc)".
Nero ShowTime: Ahead is also about to release a DVD player software. “Sharper pictures! Crisper sound! Get ready for the new digital experience ...it´s Nero ShowTime, the next generation software DVD player.”.
This is a very competitive niche that Ahead is entering, dominated by WinDVD and PowerDVD, but there is also some heat from NVIDIA (NvDVD) and others.
Software updates:
InCD 4.0: “…Drive Letter Application to Set the Standard Once Again This proprietary application was developed by Ahead's engineers to raise the bar on packet writing. Geared toward OEMs, InCD 4's auto-detect, hot-plugging and plug-n-play features make installation and use easier than for any previous packet writing.”
As CD-RW has replaced the floppy, packet writing has become a rather popular method for accessing the CD-RW medium. InCD holds a strong market share and is now upgraded to version 4.0.
Nero Vision Express 2.0: “...all-in-one DVD & (S)VCD video capturing, authoring and burning solution combining the Nero recording engine, our own MPEG technology and XP wizard-like easy-to-use in perfect harmony with Nero Express.”.
DVD-R authoring is a quickly growing market sector where Ahead has a strong position. The VisionExpress is now updated to 2.0