Blu-ray Disc Association Welcomes Apple to Its Board of Directors

Blu-ray Disc Association Welcomes Apple to Its Board of Directors

CUPERTINO, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced that Apple(R) will become a member of the consortium's Board of Directors. Apple has been a leader in driving consumer adoption of DVD authoring since January 2001, with the introduction of its SuperDrive(TM), the industry's first high-volume CD- and DVD-burning drive, and its revolutionary iDVD(R) and DVD Studio Pro(R) software applications. Apple is also helping bring High Definition (HD) to market with a complete line of HD content creation tools for consumers and professionals alike including iMovie(R) HD, Final Cut(R) Express HD and Final Cut Pro(R) HD editing software.

Additionally the next release of Apple's QuickTime(R) software, QuickTime 7, will feature the MPEG developed H.264 Advanced Video Codec (AVC) which has been adopted for high definition DVDs. Apple will release QuickTime 7 in conjunction with the release of Mac OS(R) X version 10.4 "Tiger," the fifth major version of Mac OS X that will ship in the first half of 2005.

"Apple is pleased to join the Blu-ray Disc Association board as part of our efforts to drive consumer adoption of HD," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Consumers are already creating stunning HD content with Apple's leading video editing applications like iMovie HD and are anxiously awaiting a way to burn their own high def DVDs."

"Apple has a long history of technical innovation around DVD hardware and software, and their support of the Blu-ray Disc format is a testament to their commitment of ongoing innovation. The Blu-ray Disc format provides the immense capacity and the revolutionary functionality that Apple's loyal customer base will be sure to enjoy," said Maureen Weber, chief BDA spokesperson and general manager of HP's Optical Storage Solutions Business. "We're thrilled about Apple joining our 16-member board, and we look forward to working with them on the development and promotion of the Blu-ray Disc format."

The BDA was created to broaden support for Blu-ray Disc -- the next generation optical disc for storing High Definition movies, photos and other digital content. Blu-ray Discs will have five times larger capacity than today's DVDs, with a single-layer Blu-ray Disc holding up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc holding up to 50 gigabytes of data. Current DVDs hold 4.7 gigabytes on single-layer discs and 8.5 gigabytes on dual-layer discs.

About Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation optical disc format being developed for High Definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data.

About the Blu-ray Disc Association

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is responsible for establishing format standards and promoting and further developing business opportunities for Blu- ray Disc -- the next-generation optical disc for storing High Definition movies, games, photos and other digital content. The BDA has over 100 members. Its Board of Directors consists of Apple; Dell Inc.; Hewlett Packard Company; Hitachi, Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Panasonic (Matsushita Electric); Pioneer Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Thomson; Twentieth Century Fox; and Walt Disney Pictures and Television.

About Apple

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award- winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.

(C) 2005 Apple. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Mac, Mac OS, SuperDrive, iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, iMovie, Final Cut, Final Cut Pro and QuickTime are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Apple

CONTACT: Sue Ellen Schaming of Blanc & Otus, +1-415-856-5129 or sschaming@blancandotus.com, for Blu-ray Disc Association; or Cameron Craig of Apple, +1-408-974-6281 or cam@apple.com

Web site: http://www.apple.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple's PR web site (http://www.apple.com/pr/) or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042

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