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Power Quotient International Co., Ltd. (PQI) is proud as one of the first few manufacturers to officially announce USB 3.0 portable storage devices. As a continuation and evolution of the existing USB 2.0, USB 3.0 strives for backward compatibility with USB 2.0, stability, speed and universality. USB has had a long history with modern day personal computers and few will doubt its stability as it has proved itself worthy in the past decade. Its universality is unrivaled and can be found on all consumer motherboards, PDAs, cameras, camcorders, etc. The biggest improvement of USB 3.0 is that it dramatically boosted its maximum bandwidth to 5Gbps/sec (625MB/sec) which is perfect for modern day HD multimedia files that can reach 20~30GB capacities in a single file.
PQI USB 3.0 products to first hit the shelves are portable hard disk drive H566 and Solid State Disk S533. The H566 will have a USB 3.0 ready connection and houses an 8MB cache 5400rpm 2.5 inch hard disk drive with capacities in 320 / 500 / 640GB. It has a read speed of 105MB/sec and a 99.9MB write speed which translate into quadruple the performance of its USB 2.0 predecessors. PQI also announces a USB 3.0 Express Card embedded with two USB 3.0 ports. It can be used with the USB 3.0 devices.
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LaCie, a leading provider of professional storage solutions, in collaboration with Symwave Inc., a leading silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB devices, today announced the industry’s first dual hard disk RAID storage solution based on the new SuperSpeed USB (3.0) standard. LaCie’s 2Big USB 3.0, a dual-disk RAID 0/1 storage solution, powered by Symwave’s USB 3.0 standard-compliant dual SATA and RAID bridge controller, reaches the highest throughput ever achieved in a USB 3.0 external storage product – setting a new standard in the dual disk market. The 2Big USB 3.0 will be available in up to 4TB capacities and is bundled with award-winning backup software for both Mac and PC users.
"LaCie has a strong worldwide brand and a proven track record for developing high-performance and innovative storage solutions. This collaboration with LaCie, which coincides with our SW6318 USB 3.0 dual-SATA product announcement is yet another first in the industry and for Symwave," said John O’Neill, Vice President of Marketing at Symwave. "The end user experience of external storage is undergoing a very significant upgrade with the launch of USB 3.0 products. We are pleased to be leading the market transition with such a strong partner like LaCie."
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Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend®), a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, is proud to announce the launch of its Ultimate Class 10 SDHC cards. Part of Transcend’s “Ultimate” line of powerful high-speed memory cards, the new Class 10 SDHC cards easily outperform current Class 6 cards, with enhanced transfer speeds of 20MB/s and massive storage capacity of up to 16GB.
As high-tech gadgets become increasingly advanced with ever-improving video and audio quality, memory card write speed plays an important role in taking high-megapixel pictures and shooting high-definition videos. Featuring the top-of-the-line Class 10 speed rating introduced by the SD Card Association this year as part of its new SD 3.0 specification, Transcend’s new Ultimate series SDHC cards provide blazing fast performance tailored specifically for high-speed consecutive shooting as well as smooth HD video recording.
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment today announced two Blu-ray™ packaging initiatives that will give consumers greater value and portability when shopping for the best possible way to watch movies at home. Beginning in the first quarter of 2010, Warner Home Video will be releasing its entire Theatrical New Release slate as Blu-ray combo packs, containing a Blu-ray Disc of the film with exclusive special features and exciting BD-Live interactivity, a standard-definition DVD and a Digital Copy of the film. For no additional cost, Blu-ray combo packs offer consumers significantly more value by merging the unsurpassed quality of Blu-ray with the convenience of being able to watch the film in any format, on just about every playback device.
Warner Home Video is also launching the industry's first line of Blu-ray Double Features, priced at $24.98 (SRP). Beginning February 23, the attractively packaged and entry-level priced Blu-ray Double Features pack will include a pair of well-matched catalog hits spanning multiple genres – comedy, action, drama/thriller and horror. The first wave will include Dirty Harry and Magnum Force starring Clint Eastwood; Analyze This and Analyze That starring Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro; Presumed Innocent and Frantic starring Harrison Ford; Miss Congeniality and Miss Congeniality 2 starring Sandra Bullock; and Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon.
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The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced the finalization and release of the “Blu-ray 3D” specification. The specification, which represents the work of the leading Hollywood studios and consumer electronic and computer manufacturers, will enable the home entertainment industry to bring the 3D experience into consumers’ living rooms on Blu-ray Disc, the most capable high definition home entertainment platform.
“Throughout this year, movie goers have shown an overwhelming preference for 3D when presented with the option to see a theatrical release in either 3D or 2D,” said Victor Matsuda, chairman, BDA Global Promotions Committee. “We believe this demand for 3D content will carry over into the home now that we have, in Blu-ray Disc, a medium that can deliver a quality Full HD 3D experience to the living room.”
The “Blu-ray 3D” specification fully leverages the technical advantages of the Blu-ray Disc format to deliver unmatched picture quality as well as uniformity and compatibility across the full range of Blu-ray 3D products, both hardware and software. Notably, the specification allows every Blu-ray 3D player and movie to deliver Full HD 1080p resolution to each eye, thereby maintaining the industry leading image quality to which Blu-ray Disc viewers are accustomed. Moreover, the specification is display agnostic, meaning that Blu-ray 3D products will deliver the 3D image to any compatible 3D display, regardless of whether that display uses LCD, Plasma or other technology and regardless of what 3D technology the display uses to deliver the image to the viewer’s eyes.
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Broadcom Corporation, a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that it is the first silicon provider to ship a true single die Blu-ray Disc® chip. The new Broadcom® BCM7630 offers an unprecedented level of integration combining proven optical front-end and back-end video decoding and display technologies in a single die solution. In addition to industry leading Blu-ray performance, the BCM7630 also supports leading-edge Internet streaming applications including Netflix® 2.0, Pandora® Internet Radio, Vudu™, CinemaNow® movie services and others. This unparalleled integration and functionality delivers a premium home entertainment experience to consumers.
Also announced today is the BCM7632, which supplements the capabilities of the BCM7630 by adding support for the playback of 3D Blu-ray movies. The potential for watching 3D movies in the home has generated great excitement with more than a dozen 3D movies released in 2009. Although the 3D Blu-ray standard is not yet finalized, it is anticipated that the BCM7632 will comply with the final specification.
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Today, LaCie introduced the most compact 2.5" hard drive on the market – LaCie Rikiki, in metal. Measuring just a mere 110cm, its sophisticated form factor holds up to 640GB of media that you won’t mind storing in a pocket or purse.
Encased in brushed, sturdy aluminum, the LaCie Rikiki, which means "tiny" in French, represents a resilient aesthetic that protects your media from everyday blunders and unwelcome fingerprints. Its lightweight design makes it a perfect companion for keeping your digital world close at hand.
"We are part of a generation that wants more from our electronics, but in the smallest form factor possible, and with a competitive price," said Anne-Sophie Marchand, Consumer Product Manager. "With the LaCie Rikiki, we have done just that by fitting high-performance and high-capacity in the palm of your hand, for under $100."
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A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the worldwide leader in DRAM modules and Flash application products, today announced a collaboration with SandForce Inc. on A-DATA’s solid state drives (SSDs). As its major partner, A-DATA will work closely together with SandForce on a broad-scale basis in developing enterprise storage solutions for high-end workstations/servers in light of the emerging cloud computing technology in the near future. A-DATA has also planned to include the next-generation SandForce-based SSDs in its product lineup.
“Combining high-performance SSD Processors from SandForce with A-DATA’s experienced design team and complete manufacturing base is expected to create synergy to further propel the SSD performance to the ultimate,” said Gibson Chen, Vice President of A-DATA Technology. “From enterprise solutions designed for high-end workstations to mainstream solutions for general personal computing, A-DATA strives to optimize each aspect and detail to bring out an outstanding performance.”
“Combining A-DATA’s expertise in peripheral memory products for both high-end and mainstream PCs with SandForce’s industry-leading SSD processor technology will create SSDs with outstanding reliability, performance and power efficiency,” said Thad Omura, Vice President of marketing at SandForce Inc. “Leveraging A-DATA’s design and production platform will help us drive SandForce products into new markets.”
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Toshiba Corporation today announced the launch of a 64 gigabyte (GB) embedded NAND flash memory module, the highest capacity yet achieved in the industry. The chip is the flagship device in a new line-up of six embedded NAND flash memory modules that offer full compliance with the latest e-MMC™ standard, and that are designed for application in a wide range of digital consumer products, including smartphones, mobile phones, netbooks and digital video cameras. Samples of the 64GB module are available from today, and mass production will start in the first quarter of 2010.
The new 64GB embedded device combines sixteen 32Gbit (equal to 4GB) NAND chips fabricated with Toshiba's cutting-edge 32nm process technology, and also integrates a dedicated controller. Toshiba is the first company to succeed in combining sixteen 32Gbit NAND chips, and applied advanced chip thinning and layering technologies to realize individual chips that are only 30 micrometers thick. Full compliance with the JEDEC/MMCA Version 4.4(V4.4) standard for embedded MultiMediaCards supports standard interfacing and simplified embedding in products, reducing development burdens on product manufacturers.
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QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers today announced an impressive update to the NAS management software that powers its business-class Intel®-based Turbo NAS servers. The NAS management software version 3.2, embedded as firmware, provides a segment-leading iSCSI target solution supporting SPC-3 persistent reservation, MPIO and MC/S allowing forward-thinking SMB and corporate customers the ability to deploy the NAS as a storage server in the virtualized and clustered infrastructure. Additionally, the newly updated management software also steps up its backup capabilities by adding Apple® Time Machine support and even redundant backups to Amazon's S3 cloud storage platform.
In addition, for ease of management, IT administrators can also benefit from the DFS support (Share Folder Aggregation), import of user-list, and customizable Daylight Saving Time. Further, the next-generation Internet Protocol, IPv6, has also been incorporated for future networking evolution. QNAP's Web File Manager 2 features an entirely redesigned user interface and functionality for improved file sharing and management. WebDAV is also available for users to collaboratively share, access, and edit files over HTTP and HTTPs.
