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- Home Entertainment
Redbox, the popular DVD rental kiosk provider, today announced it has started rolling out Blu-ray™ titles with availability at approximately 13,300 kiosks nationwide. Redbox will rent Blu-ray Discs® at $1.50 per night plus tax and the company expects to have availability across its network of approximately 23,000 kiosk locations by the fall.
"Offering Blu-ray rentals is an exciting opportunity for redbox to expand our product offerings and build on the relationships that we've established with millions of consumers nationwide," said Mitch Lowe, president, redbox. "Redbox is a convenient, affordable home entertainment provider and we're delighted to offer consumers their favorite movies on the increasingly popular Blu-ray Disc format."
According to a recent report by the Digital Entertainment Group, sales of Blu-ray players increased 103 percent in the first half of this year. The sale of almost two million set-top players during this time has increased the total number of Blu-ray players sold to an estimated 19.4 million, resulting in more consumers entering the Blu-ray rental market.
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Creative Technology Ltd. today announced the Sound Blaster® X-Fi® MB2 software suite - a powerful audio platform equipped with cutting-edge audio technologies designed to enhance ordinary PC systems limited by only basic onboard audio. The Sound Blaster X-Fi MB2 software suite builds on the success of the original Sound Blaster X-Fi MB, bringing enhancement of onboard PC audio to even greater echelons. Through THX TruStudio Pro™ audio technology and the latest Creative EAX Advanced HD™ 5.0, users get to enjoy premium audio quality, effects and features on their PC systems.
Gamers can anticipate being blown away by the amazing realism from the unrivalled headphone surround and gaming sound enhancement technologies delivered by the Sound Blaster X-Fi MB2. Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0 features state-of-the-art multi-environment rendering and reverb modelling, delivering an ultra-realistic and incredibly immersive 3D gaming experience for powering the next generation of cutting-edge PC games. The additional audio cues provided by EAX can also give gamers a competitive advantage in early detection of enemies.
"We are extremely excited to see the Sound Blaster X-Fi MB2 software going into ASUS Republic of Gamers motherboards, with ASUS being the top manufacturer of motherboards in the world and constantly committed to delivering the most innovative and best performing PC solutions to enhance the gaming experience of power users. Our partnership will continue to push the boundaries of PC gaming audio, providing the much-needed realism and immersion in game-play that modern PC games demand," said Steve Erickson, Vice President and General Manager for Audio and Video at Creative.
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- Optical Storage
Verbatim’s new Blu-ray media offers 25GB of storage capacity with a 6x burning rate and a wide printable surface to enable personalisation or labelling of the disc. It is ideal for recording films in high definition, backing up large amounts of data and long-term archiving of files including photos and videos. The new Verbatim Blu-ray BD-R 25GB 6x Printable is now available in stores in a 5-pack jewel case and a 10-pack jewel case.
Blu-ray media is getting more and more attractive to consumers - both for home and professional use - to record and archive data. Verbatim meets this demand with its new Blu-ray disc BD-R 25GB 6x Printable, which offers up to 5 times the capacity of a DVD-R, guaranteeing reliable and safe long-term storage of files, from home photos and videos to office documents. With a burning time of less than 15 minutes, it is fully inkjet printable (22 – 117mm) due to its printable surface to the inner ring.
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Sans Digital is introducing a new generation of TowerRAID Plus series. Based on the previous award-winning TowerRAID port multiplier solutions, the new Plus generation comes standard with many new enterprise features; and is equipped with a newly designed dual eSATA 6G PCIe 2.0 x1 RAID controller card utilizing a more powerful RAID engine, increasing the performance fivefold in comparison to the previous product line. The new TowerRAID Plus series includes TR4M(-B)P, TR5M(-B)P and TR8M(-B)P, 4-bay, 5-bay and 8-bay storage arrays, providing ideal RAID storage solutions for various applications.
Similar to the previous TowerRAID series, the new TowerRAID Plus series is extremely versatile and could be used to fulfill different types of storage requirements. From personal use to company data backup or video editing stations, the TowerRAID Plus series provides a simple solution to expand data storage capacity for its users. Utilizing Port Multiplier technology, the TowerRAID Plus series allows multiple hard drive expansion using only one or two eSATA cables. The bundled (RR622) PCIe 2.0 x1 RAID controller is powered by a newly designed powerful RAID processor, providing performance in excess of 200MB/s*, offering fast and affordable storage expansion solutions. Enterprise features such as online RAID level migration, online RAID expansion, RAID roaming, user-friendly web GUI based management and e-mail notification also come standard with the bundled 6Gbps RAID controller card.
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- Home Entertainment
Panasonic announced today the expansion of its line of Full HD 3D Blu-ray(TM) Disc players to include the DMP-BDT100. The DMP-BDT100, available in August, joins the DMP-BDT300 and DMP-BDT350 in providing superior 2D and 3D picture quality, as well as such innovative features as VIERA CAST(TM) internet functionality. Pricing will be announced at a later date.
The BDT100 continues the commitment to excellence established by the BDT350 which made its US debut at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, where it received the esteemed Innovations Award for 3D technology.
"From the beginning, Panasonic has led the way into the 3D era with end-to-end solutions ranging from our critically-acclaimed Full HD 3D VIERA Plasma TVs and 3D Blu-ray Disc Players, to professional 3D camcorders and our work with Hollywood studios on the authoring of Full HD Blu-ray 3D video content," said Richard Simone, Vice President, Panasonic Networking Group. "The addition of the BDT100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player to our line-up marks one of many planned expansions of our 3D offerings designed to give consumers more options and greater access to the immersive world of 3D entertainment for the home."
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Aleratec Inc. announced today the launch of its new DVD/CD Shredder Plus DS18, an easy-to-use media shredder for reliably protecting the private information of organizations and individuals.
Identity theft and fraud are our nation’s fastest growing crimes. Last year ID theft cases increased by 12% amounting to 11.1 million in the United States alone, while the total annual fraud amount increased by 12.5% to $54 billion according to Javelin Strategy and Research. With the DVD/CD Shredder Plus DS18, you have a proactive solution. Protecting yourself and your business is practically effortless with this cutting-edge desk side crosscut shredder which makes slicing up Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs and credit cards simple and easy. Not only will this cross shredder handle your optical discs and credit cards, it is an 18-sheet paper shredder as well.
Complete with a proven safety auto-start, auto-stop and reverse mechanism, this shredder is fast, safe and user-friendly. It includes three different slots for different types of material: one for Blu-ray discs, DVDs and CDs, another for credit cards, and a third for up to 18 sheets of paper. All materials will be shredded into 4 by 32 millimeter cross-cut pieces which are collected in a convenient, 28 liter basket.
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- Flash Memory
Super Talent Technology today announced the new “UltraDrive MX SSD”. The UltraDrive MX features a new dual-interface for both SATA II and mini-USB connections. The new dual-interface enables this SSD to offer a new level of flexibility and consumer convenience by enabling the customer to use this drive as either an internal SSD or an external SSD.
For customers thinking about upgrading their PC or notebook to a Solid State Disk, the dual-interface UltraDrive MX is a dream come true. Customers can first utilize the USB connector to create an image of their existing internal hard drive. Once complete, the drives can be swapped and the PC rebooted. In the past, creating such an image required an external hard disk enclosure. Now this operation can be completed, faster, easier and with less expense.
“Most customers know that Solid State Disks offer superior Performance, Reliability and Power Savings, yet they have been unable to makes the switch. The dual-interface on the UltraDrive MX enables a convenient bridge solution during this critical transition period”. , Super Talent COO, C.H. Lee.
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- Flash Memory
Patriot Memory today announced the immediate availability of three new capacities to the award winning Inferno Series of SSDs. The Inferno 60GB, 120GB and 240GB drives build upon the earlier 100GB and 200GB product offerings found in the family.
Designed around the SandForce SF-1200 SSD processor, the Inferno series delivers incredible performance while also providing superior reliability and longevity utilizing SandForce DuraClass™ technology. Inferno’s blazing performance of 285MB/s read and 275MB/s write (sequential) are more exceptional when the 24K IOPS (write) at 4K file sizes are considered. The result is a series of SSD optimized for enthusiast use as a primary system boot drive.
“The Inferno series of SSDs are the fastest and most exciting that Patriot has yet brought to the market,” states Les Henry, Vice President of Engineering at Patriot. “Our Inferno series has been well received and reviewed. We are excited to expand the product family with the introduction of the new larger capacity Inferno drives as well as the new 60GB capacity option. With the addition of the 60GB capacity drive, enthusiasts can enjoy the blistering performance of the Inferno SSD at a more affordable price point making it ideal as a boot drive in a high performance system.”
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SanDisk today announced the availability of its smallest USB flash drive to U.S. and Canadian consumers. The SanDisk Cruzer® Blade is about the size of a standard size paper clip and weighs approximately the same as a penny, creating a tiny footprint that fits easily on a keychain or mobile phone dongle. Despite its small size, the drive packs high-capacity storage at an affordable price.
Available in capacities ranging from 2 gigabytes (GB) to 16GB, the SanDisk Cruzer Blade lets consumers take their favorite digital content with them wherever they go. A 4GB drive can store 1,000 songs, 1,200 high-resolution photos, or 8 hours of 768kb/s video. The SanDisk Cruzer Blade offers reliable storage in a sturdy form factor, helping consumers rest assured that their digital content is safe.
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- Hard Disks
Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD) today announced a new family of 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch SATA hard disk drives (HDDs). This represents the industry’s first broad line of 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch models optimized for demanding performance, power consumption, and durability requirements across a wide range of high-performance and business-critical applications.
MKxx61GSY: Available in 160 to 640GB capacities, the MKxx61GSY is targeted at high-end notebook PCs, gaming laptops, and mobile workstations as well as all-in-one and slimline desktop PCs. Using Toshiba’s extensive experience in the mobile computing market, the MKxx61GSY offers greater power efficiency and durability over 3.5-inch drives.
High-Durability MKxx61GSYB: Leveraging the MKxx61GSY platform, the MKxx61GSYB series is a high-durability model targeted at demanding 24x7 applications such as network routers, network switches, blade servers, and point-of-sale terminals in a full range of capacities from 80 to 500GB. The MKxx61GSYB offers nearline storage levels of reliability and performance in a small form factor design.
Self-Encrypting Drive (SED): The third member of the family, designed to the TCG Opal Specification, provides industry-standard, government-grade security features for organizations wanting to secure data at rest for compliance with data privacy policies. The SED drives will be available after launch of the GSY and GSYB series models.
