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Thomson, worldwide leader in services to content creators, today introduces mp3HD, the latest addition to the mp3 family.

The new mp3HD format allows mathematically lossless compression of audio material while preserving backward compatibility to the mp3 standard.

Content creators, the music industry and end users are now able to enjoy the ultimate audio quality experience with the same ease of use as the mp3 format. Users and content owners can organize their music library with the simplicity that they are used to with mp3 files.

Today, LaCie announced a merger with Caleido AG, the creators of the innovative online storage service, Wuala.

Luzius Meisser, Co-Founder of Caleido said, "Wuala is an exciting technology that builds its reliable and secure cloud storage by harnessing idle resources."

Wuala assembles centralized and distributed storage; the result is a reliable and scalable service. Once files are placed in Wuala, they are securely encrypted before being cut into several redundant fragments disseminated and stored on a cloud of computers.

"Users will gain online storage while trading disk space; that way, they will securely protect their valuable data. They can access it from anywhere and easily share files with selected peers. As privacy tends to be a major issue when talking about digital life and data management, everything is encrypted and a robust rights management system protects files from unauthorized access," said Dominik Grolimund, Co-creator of Wuala, "We will also bring this technology to enterprises and professional customers, who will soon take advantage of our services with both cloud and data center-based storage."

AMD Phenom II X4 810 @ InsideHW
Antec Fusion Remote Max HTPC Enclosure @ Metku.net
ANTEC True Power 750 Watt (TP-750) Power Supply @ Futurelooks
Apple iPod Shuffle @ Hardware Zone
Cooler Master Sniper Case @ DV Hardware
Cooler Master V10 Hybrid Heatpipe/T.E.C. CPU Cooler @ Tweaknews
Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC3-12800 6GB Memory Kit @ HardwareLogic
G.Skill Titan 128GB SATA SSD FM-25S2S-128GBT1 @ Benchmark Reviews
GLOW Audio Amp One @ Madshrimps
Icy Dock MB881US-1S-1 External Hard Drive Docking Station @ Tweaknews
In Win NA 3.5" External HDD Enclosure @ Virtual-Hideout
Kodak Zi6 Pocket Camera @ Rbmods
Maxtor Central Axis Business Edition NAS Server @ HotHardware.com
VIA ARTiGO A2000 Storage Computer @ ThinkComputers.org

MPEG LA, LLC, world leader in alternative one-stop patent licenses, today announced that several patent holders in MPEG LA’s MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License have filed separate patent enforcement actions in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and Landgericht Düsseldorf against Lenovo Group Limited, Lenovo (United States) Inc. and Lenovo (Germany) GmbH (collectively, “Lenovo”) for infringing patents essential to the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard used worldwide in digital television broadcasting and DVD.

According to the complaints, Lenovo offers in the United States and Germany products, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, Blu-ray Disc® drives, DVD drives and software, which use patent protected MPEG-2 methods without having entered into licenses with the individual patent holders or a portfolio license that includes these patents offered by MPEG LA.

The suit seeks, among other things, monetary damages and an injunction prohibiting Lenovo from using MPEG-2 patents in its products and from offering, marketing, or importing them.

AMD 790FX Motherboard Shootout @ HardwareZone
ASRock N7AD-SLI Motherboard @ Virtual-Hideout
Asus P6T Motherboard @ Rbmods
Asus VH242H 23.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor @ HotHardware.com
Corsair TX850 850W Power Supply @ ThinkComputers.org
Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3-1600 6GB Kit @ BCCHardware
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R Ultra Durable 3 Motherboard @ Futurelooks
Icy Dock MB664UEB-1S USB/Firewire 3.5-inch External Hard Drive Enclosure @ ThinkComputers.org
Revoltec FightMouse PRO and FightMat PRO2 @ TweakPC.de
Thermaltake SpeedQ Heatsink @ High Tech Reviews
Toshiba Portege R600 Notebook @ InsideHW
Tritton AX Pro Precision Gaming Headset @ HardwareLogic
X-Spice Croon 850W PSU @ High Tech Reviews

IEEE, the world's largest technical professional society, announced today that it will be granting its prestigious IEEE Milestone Award to Royal Philips Electronics  for its contribution to the development of the Compact Disc (CD) on March 6th 2009. The award coincides with the 30th anniversary of the historic demonstration of the first CD prototype codenamed "Pinkeltje" on 8 March 1979.

Despite the recession of the early 1980s, Philips and Sony invested and planned for the successful commercial introduction of the Compact Disc in 1982. The CD was the first ever digital mass consumer product to find its way into almost every consumer's home. Since its introduction in 1982, over 3.5 billion audio CD players, 3 billion CD-ROM drives and an astonishing 240 billion CD discs have been sold.

"The compact disc was a revolutionary new concept that fulfilled a great consumer demand for a robust, high quality compact audio medium," says John Vig, 2009 IEEE President and Chief Executive Officer. "By leveraging research advances in optics, mechatronics, microelectronics, digital signal processing and error control coding, a unique platform was created that has really changed the audio as well as the computing world."

A+ El Diablo Advance Case @ TweakPC
Asus P6T6 WS Revolution Core i7 Motherboard @ HotHardware.com
Asus X59GL Notebook @ InsideHW
Cooler Master Black Label Limited Edition Bundle @ I4U
Evercool Zodiac Notebook Cooler @ Rbmods
Galaxy GeForce GTS 250 1GB Graphics Card @ TweakTown
HTC Dream @ HardwareZone
Icy Dock MB561US-4S Quad Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure @ Tweaknews
In Win `Na Hi-Speed USB/eSATA External Hard Drive Enclosure @ ThinkComputers.org
Microsoft SideWinder X8 Wireless Gaming Mouse @ HardwareZone
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 @ HardwareZone and HotHardware.com
NZXT Zero 2 Case @ HardwareLogic
Seagate FreeAgent Desk for Mac 1TB External Drive @ Futurelooks
Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ CPU Cooler @ ThinkComputers.org
Topower PowerBird 1100 Watt Special Edition Power Supply @ TweakTown
Xigmatek Achilles S1284C CPU Cooler @ TweakTown

Sony Corporation today announced a major reorganization and a new management team. The changes, effective April 1, 2009, will fundamentally reorganize the company's electronics and game businesses to improve profitability and strengthen competitiveness in the midst of the continued global economic crisis. They will also accelerate the production of innovative networked products and services by strategically integrating these two business groups.

"Consumers want products that are networked, multi-functional and service-enhanced utilizing open technologies, and user experiences that are rich, shared and, increasingly, green," said Mr. Stringer in announcing these changes. "This reorganization is designed to transform Sony into a more innovative, integrated and agile global company with its next generation of leadership firmly in place. The changes we're announcing today will accelerate the transformation of the Company that began four years ago. They will now make it possible for all of Sony's parts to work together to assume a position of worldwide leadership and, together, achieve great things."

The Board of Directors has endorsed a reorganization of the Company naming Mr. Stringer as President of Sony Corporation in addition to his current responsibilities of Chairman and CEO. Working with his newly appointed electronics leadership team, he will directly oversee the electronics business to enable faster implementation of his strategic direction.

Addonics Technologies (www.addonics.com) today announced the 4X1 eSATA/USB Hardware Port Multiplier (HPM), which has an integrated RAID controller for superior read/write performance.

The 4X1 HPM can connect up to four SATA / SATA II hard drives to a host via a single SATA port or USB port. These connected drives can be easily set to different RAID configurations by dialing an onboard rotary switch. There is no driver or software installation required, thus making the addition of RAID storage to any system simple no matter what the operating system.

The RAID volume, once created, appears to any OS as another hard drive. It can be used as a boot drive in application servers or mission critical equipment. The 4X1 HPM is ideal in high capacity storage applications such as video storage, data archiving, home entertainment or multi-tera bytes storage farm.