AnyDVD HD now fully available
It looks like Slysoft has officially released AnyDVD HD for purchase. The new software is currently listed at $79 on the Slysoft website, and there is a current discount code of “valentine” that takes a few bucks off the full price. We received the following press release from SlySoft this morning.
AnyDVD beats HD-DVD and AACS
After a Beta test-phase of a mere ten days, conducted by a few
chosen scene gurus, SlySoft announced the first official release
of AnyDVD HD.
The change-log, although not so significant at first glance,
abounds in understatement:
– New: added HD DVD and AACS support
(registered users need an upgrade key for HD DVD & AACS support)
– New: added support for new versions of SONY’s Arccos protection
to the option “Remove Protection based on unreadable Sectors”
– Added AnyDVD HD Ripper
– Fixed: Problem with multi-angle titles and Sony Arccos protection
– Some minor fixes and improvements
– Updated languages
At first look, the mention of “Added HD DVD and AACS Support”
appears rather “so-so” but behind this annoucement exists a real
revolution. For the first time, it is possible for the average user
to get around the previously uncrackable AACS copy protection of
the new HD-DVD generation with a few simple clicks of the mouse.
Officially, the film industry and the AACS consortium is, of course,
not very happy about this development. However, behind closed doors,
they are likely pleased to have learned from past experiences with
the CD and DVD that the users are now finally able to make unlimited
use of this new medium HD DVD, i.e to enjoy his “fair-use rights”.
It is expected that a real “boom” will occur with HD-DVDs.
All the same, AnyDVD contains several rather interesting features:
* watch movies over a digital display connection without HDCP-compliant
graphics card and HDCP-compliant display.
* playback those discs on the PC with PowerDVD Ultra which otherwise
would not play or would cause a software crash
* Removes user prohibitions. You can select language and subtitle
tracks without going through the disc’s menu.
* Removes parental restrictions.
* Allows you to remove or skip Studio Logos and warning messages.
* With “magic file replacement ™” you can remaster any commercial
movie disc using simple XML scripts.
* Includes a UDF 2.5 file ripper; no need to install 3rd party
UDF 2.5 filesystem under Windows XP.
AnyDVD HD is indeed a “must have” utility for the serious home
theater enthusiast using a media center or home-theater PC.
“The way AnyDVD HD addresses and solves the problem doesn’t have much
in common with the discoveries of individual members of the OpenSource
community in reading AACS keys from the USB bus”, says Peer van Heuen,
one of SlySoft’s lead developers. He adds further, “As one can expect
from SlySoft, our solution works fully automatic with all known titles
while the so-called hacker tools require laborious reading out of
memory or the USB bus. This is not to say that their efforts are
completely fruitless; it’s just that ours need to be user-friendly.
It’s just that simple.”
To add icing on the cake, Peer van Heuen takes particular joy in
stating that SlySoft was ready with AnyDVD HD in an incredibly short
period of time. He adds, “We could only begin our development some
weeks ago and we are immensely proud to get this product out to the
users so quickly. This speaks to the commitment to our users: get
good and easy-to-use products out on the market fast!”
Tom Xiang, Marketing Director: “When we considered Blu-Ray, our strategy
was simply to initially support HD-DVD and await further developments
in the marketplace. Already during the beta phase we got many
inquiries about Blu-Ray so we decided to go ahead and also provide
support for this as soon as possible. Blu-Ray employs the same
AACS process as HD-DVD. An implementation was really just a matter
of form. A beta version is planned for availability this quarter.””
