Sharp unveils a blu ray recorder prototype

[erdega79]

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english...050427/104287/

iVDR Removable HDD Consortium Develops Copyright Protection Technology for Digital Recorders


Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corp., Pioneer Corp. and Hitachi, Ltd. have developed "Security Architecture For Intelligent Attachment device" (SAFIA), a copyright protection technology intended to allow "iVDR" (information Versatile Disk for Removable usage), a standard for removable hard disc drives, compatible devices to handle movies and music. The aim is to allow digital TV broadcasts to be recorded to a cartridge enclosed removable HDD that implements both iVDR and SAFIA.

Sanyo and the other three companies have formed a licensing management group called the SAFIA License Group to promote this technology, and the group has already started presenting to film companies. The group also plans to urge device manufacturers to employ the technology. Sharp, one of the developers of SAFIA, has unveiled a prototype of an iVDR compatible Blu-ray Disc recorder.

The SAFIA License Group will set up a licensing program with specifications for SAFIA compatible products by July, 2006. Also, the group plans to create a standard that can be applied to car navigation systems, portable video players and portable music players as well.

An iDVR compatible Blu-ray Disc recorder prototyped by Sharp

[Rob]

I suppose that would mean you could upgrade your storage as larger HDD's become available. Which would be useful. I wonder if the XBOX 360 will use something like this.

[zombie]

Removeable HDD sound nice. Other than that, it sure looks big and bulky.