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- Optical Storage
According to various reports, the U.S. Justice Department has begun to look into possible violations of antitrust law in the optical disc drive industry. Along with Sony Optiarc America, Hitachi and Toshiba have now received subpoenas from the DOJ which is seeking information about the companies' optical disk drive businesses.
Japanese technology giants Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday that, like Sony Corp., their optical disk drive operations in the U.S. have received subpoenas from the Department of Justice in a widening investigation into potential antitrust violations.
According to a person familiar with the investigation, the Justice Department started a criminal antitrust probe into the market for optical disk drives in recent months, investigating disk-drive makers for possible price-fixing, bid-rigging and allocation of markets. As well as featuring in personal computers, optical disk drives are used in everyday consumer products like DVD and Blu-ray disk players.
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- Flash Memory
On the heels of the Microsoft Windows 7 introduction, Intel Corporation today announced the availability of the Intel® Solid-State Drive (SSD) Toolbox, with Intel® SSD Optimizer and firmware update, for its 34nm Intel® X25-M Mainstream SATA SSDs. The latest tools are designed to help better manage and retain the out-of-box performance of Intel SSDs.
An SSD is built to replace a traditional hard disk drive (HDD) with added performance, lower power consumption and higher reliability. The Intel SSD Toolbox allows users to more effectively monitor and manage the SSD’s health. The firmware upgrade and Intel SSD Optimizer use the Windows 7 ATA Data Set Management Command (known as Trim) to help keep the Intel SSD running at continued high performance. In addition, the SSD Toolbox and Optimizer also allow the respective enhancements to work with Windows XP and Vista operating systems.
“Fast and reliable access to data is critical for our SSD users,” said Pete Hazen, director of marketing, Intel NAND Solutions Group. “The latest firmware and toolbox upgrade for Intel 34nm SSD users provide a host of new management, information and diagnostic tools to help SSDs retain out-of-box performance. We are encouraging our 34nm customers to download the new firmware update today. Not only will Windows 7 users receive the performance enhancements of the Trim command, but so will our Windows XP and Vista users.”
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- Home Entertainment
DivX, Inc., a digital media company, and MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced the DivX Plus(TM) HD Certification of MediaTek's MT8530 chip. This chip is designed to enable Blu-ray players to playback DivX Plus HD video based on H.264 technology and using the MKV container, providing consumers with a true cinematic media experience at high-definition resolutions up to 1080p.
DivX Plus HD Certification is the highest level of certification available from DivX and supports the playback of all content created with DivX® software. Available on www.divx.com, DivX software allows users to create and playback H.264 video in a .mkv file container. DivX Plus HD Certified devices will playback previous versions of DivX video, premium Hollywood content in the DivX format, and DivX Plus HD video files with the .mkv file extension and AAC audio created with third-party tools. Known for great performance, visual quality and interoperability on any DivX Certified® device, DivX provides consumers with a comprehensive digital media solution supporting the majority of high-quality Internet video on their TVs or other consumer electronics devices.
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- Flash Memory
Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of the SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive, the latest addition to its V (Value) family of solid-state drives (SSD). The Kingston® SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to accelerate any desktop's boot, shutdown and application load times. It is available for as low as $84.99 after rebates (U.S. only) at e-tailer Newegg.com at launch.
"The SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive offers instant performance enhancement coupled with reliability and lower power consumption at a fraction of the cost of a new system," said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston. "The 40GB Boot Drive is the latest offering in our V Series SSD line. It provides a low-cost upgrade solution that complements the installed hard-disk drive to extend the life cycle of existing desktop computers and workstations in homes and offices."
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- Network Storage
QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Multimedia Players today expanded their Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of the TS-410U rack-mounted NAS server targeted specifically at the SMB and workgroup market segments. The TS-410U features 4 hot-swappable SATA hard drives with up to 8TB of total capacity (with 2TB drives) packaged in a compact 1U rack-mounted chassis. The TS-410U supports 2.5" or 3.5" hard drives, giving users more flexibility in selecting hard drives for installation.
The TS-410U features a Marvell 800MHz CPU and 512MB DDRII memory which provides sustained high performance with low power consumption. The TS-410U can be configured for RAID 0/1/5/6/5+ spare, and JBOD with online RAID capacity expansion and online RAID level migration for high data redundancy. The TS-410U also supports iSCSI Target service with Thin Provisioning and dual Gigabit LAN ports with failover and load-balancing, features generally found on much higher end NAS servers. The TS-410U also features 4 USB ports (1 front, 3 back panel) and 2 e-SATA ports for expanding the storage capacity or backing up the TS-410U. The front USB port incorporates a unique "Auto-copy" feature that is activated by a button on the front panel of the TS-410U and will copy the contents of a USB device connected to the front USB port to the NAS.
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- Flash Memory
Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their new high capacity Class 10 SDHC cards, the LX Series.
Engineered to support the SD Association’s new Class 10 specification, the LX will provide dramatic performance improvements in today’s new digital devices. Never before have camera enthusiasts been able to capture high speed, sequential images; previously, those shots were lost due to the limitations of the preceding generation of SDHC cards. Patriot’s LX Series allows for increased storage and more pictures per second. In addition to the cutting edge improvement on continuous photo taking, the high speed transfer rate of Class 10 also makes video recording in high resolution an option that video enthusiasts can appreciate.
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- Home Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) and Netflix, Inc. today announced that they are joining forces to make thousands of movies and TV episodes from Netflix available to be streamed instantly to TVs via the PlayStation®3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system. Netflix expects to begin streaming via the PS3 system next month at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States who have a PS3 system.
Today's announcement pairs two of the most popular and fastest growing home entertainment brands in the U.S. The PS3 system's installed base has reached close to 9 million units in the United States, and Netflix recently reported 11.1 million U.S. subscribers as of September 30.
The partnership further solidifies the PS3 system as the most complete home entertainment hub on the market today, enabling consumers to play high-definition games, watch Blu-ray movies, listen to music, view photos, browse the Internet, and download content from PlayStation®Network - from exclusive games to blockbuster movies and popular TV shows. PS3 system owners will soon enjoy an unparalleled experience watching their favorite movies and TV shows streamed instantly from Netflix, downloading from the PlayStation Network or watching Blu-ray/DVD media. The Netflix offering expands on the entertainment experience delivered to PS3 system owners via PlayStation Network.
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The new easy-to-use and lightweight ASUS CrossLink cable offers a highly efficient way of transferring and synchronizing data, as well as sharing Internet access and optical disc drive (ODD) functions. With its flexible and customizable file management system, users can organize their data with minimal effort, as well as synchronize their emails, contacts, calendar entries, journals, tasks and notes. Doubling as a removable flash drive, the CrossLink cable comes in two colors—black and white. The black version is equipped with 2GB storage and features a full suite of PC functions, while the white option is available in 2GB or 4GB storage, and can be used on both PC and Macintosh platforms.
The ASUS CrossLink cable is designed to allow for rapid transmission and synchronization of data between two PCs. Users can browse, copy and transfer files and folders to and from the PC they are connected to via USB. Users can also use the CrossLink cable to utilize another PC or notebook's ODD. For instance, to perform a CD-based software installation on a computer without an ODD, users can simply hook up the Crosslink cable to a notebook or PC equipped with one and run the installation off it. Users can also synchronize their folders using the Folder Link, ensuring their data are kept up-to-date. Likewise, other essential data such as mail, contacts, calendar entries, journals, tasks and notes can also be synchronized between two PCs via the Outlook Link. Finally, the CrossLink cable allows users to share the Internet connectivity of a connected PC.
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- Hard Disks
Power Quotient International Co., Ltd. (PQI) announced a new 2.5” portable hard drive, the H560. Breaking traditional rectangular plastic / metallic looks, PQI H560 utilizes special rubber material and unique internal shock-absorption suspension technology; it provides the hard drive with the ultra protection. H560 has endured US military grade drop test, MIL-STD-810F 516.5 procedure IV (transit drop test), proving its durability and sturdiness. PQI H560 has a 2.5 inch SATA interface hard drive, compatible with USB 2.0 specifications and is backwards compatible with USB 1.1.
PQI H560 comes with a convenient design where the USB cable is attached and can be stored as one with the drive. It saves the user from always having to bring a USB cable with the drive to establish connection. PQI H560 also has a single button backup functionality and comes with the data security software, Ur Fortress. Ur Fortress features data encryption for all personal files to prevent unauthorized accesses. Further more, H560 is compatible with Windows 7 / 2000 / XP / Vista; Mac OS 9.0 or later.
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- Hard Disks
The latest portable external USB HDD from Verbatim boasts an impressive 640GB of space and will be available in stores soon at a Retail price of £119.99 (RRP). The size and weight of the 2.5”-format silver external hard drive from Verbatim are no different from that of a PDA or smartphone – and it fits equally comfortably in your hand. The portable hard drive weighs 157 g and measures 135 x 85 x 21 mm (L x W x H). The 640GB HDD is capable of storing up to 1280 videos, 160.000 songs or 290.000 photos.
The external hard drive delivers transfer speeds of up to 480 Mbit/s (5,400 rpm) via the USB port, which also provides the power supply, eliminating the need for an additoinal power pack. For a complete solution the drive ships with “Nero BackItUp 4 Essentials” for secure and regular data backups.
