Corel Digital Media Software Now Bundled with Pioneer’s New Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive

Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL; TSX:CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today announced that Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. is bundling its next-generation Blu-ray Disc (BD) combo drive, the BDC-2202, with selected titles from Corel’s digital media software lineup. The software bundle includes special editions of Corel’s WinDVD® 8, Ulead® VideoStudio® 11 and Ulead® Burn.Now® 1.5.

Affordably priced at $299.99, Pioneer’s BDC-2202 drive offers a compelling solution for consumers who want to use their PC to view the growing number of high-definition Hollywood movies that are being released on BD.

In addition to ensuring compatibility with commercially released Blu-ray Disc movies, the Corel software that comes bundled with the new Pioneer BD combo drive allows users to create and burn personal DVD movies and digital photo slideshows, backup files to a DVD or CD, and create and burn music to a CD.

“When determining the software to bundle with our Blu-ray Disc combo computer drive we needed a technically advanced yet easy-to-use software suite that provides a great value to the end user and we knew Corel would be an ideal choice. The launch of the BDC-2202 packaged with Corel’s high-quality software brings a whole new level of entertainment and digital performance that was previously unknown to PC users,” said Ken Tatsumi, product planning manager for optical discs at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

“We are very pleased that Pioneer has selected Corel’s products to enhance the value of their new BD combo drive,” said Blaine Mathieu, Vice President and General Manager, Products and Strategy, Digital Media at Corel. “We applaud their decision to offer consumers a cost-effective alternative for making their PC Blu-ray Disc-ready. With the BDC-2202 and Corel software, consumers now have an affordable solution that lets them enjoy this next-generation technology.”

With the Corel software bundle, novice and experienced users have an easy way to enjoy all of the storage and entertainment features that the BD-ROM/DVD/CD combo drive provides:

WinDVD - Recognized as the most popular universal DVD playback software in the world and the most common way people watch movies on a PC, WinDVD ensures compatibility with commercially released Blu-ray Disc movies. The Windows Vista™compatible universal player provides high-quality playback and navigation for the high-definition BD format as well as the leading DVD, video and audio formats.

VideoStudio – VideoStudio is an all-in-one solution for producing professional-looking videos, slideshows and DVDs with Dolby® Digital sound. With the software’s Movie Wizard feature, video enthusiasts can produce complete movies and entertaining photo slideshows in three quick and easy steps.

Burn.Now – Burn.Now provides a fast, easy way to burn photos, videos, music and data to CDs and DVDs (including double-layer DVDs). Users can specify the disc writing speed for the best quality and can use the Disc Meter to view available disc space. For audio disc compilations, the Disc Meter automatically displays total time available. Burn.Now can also be used to make duplicate copies of CDs and non-protected DVDs.
Availability, Pricing
Pioneer’s BDC-2202 combo drive bundled with Corel software is available in the Americas now through Pioneer’s resellers and online at www.pioneerelectronics.com.

WinDVD, H.264 codecs and Corel software are available through Corel for licensing to OEMs, system integrators and other third parties. Licensing and customer support information can be obtained by visiting the Corel web site www.corel.com.