OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the Z-Drive, a PCI-Express based SSD solution designed to meet the stringent demands of enthusiast computing environments and high-end workstations. First debuted at Cebit 2009 in Germany, the Z-Drive is the latest premium solid state storage solution from OCZ.

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“It is our goal to deliver tailored SSD solutions for the complete spectrum of high performance applications,” said Eugene Chang, Vice President of Product Management at the OCZ Technology Group. “Designed for ultra high performance consumers, the Z-Drive takes the SATA bottleneck out of the equation by employing the ultra fast PCI-Express architecture with a RAID controller and four Vertex controllers configured in four-way RAID 0 within an all-in-one product, making this solution ideal for applications that put a premium on both storage performance and maximum capacity.”

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Pioneer Japan sent out a press release this morning, announcing its new slim, portable DVD writer, the DVR-XD08. This USB bus powered drive is capable of 8x DVD±R, 6x DVD±R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x. The DVR-XD08 also includes features like Pioneer's PowerRead and PURE READ technologies as well as a software bundle from CyberLink. The DVR-XD08 is scheduled to ship in early May and is expected to cost about 15,000 Yen ($153US).

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Warner Home Video has launched a new program that will let HD DVD fans trade in their movies for the Blu-ray version. To do so, send in the cover art to Warner's processing center, pay a small $4.95 upgrade fee (as well as $6.95/$8.95 for shipping) and in 4-5 weeks, you'll receive the Blu-ray version of the same title. While you are limited to one copy of each movie and a total of 25 titles total per household, most people will probably be more than happy to rid themselves of the defunct format. Full details can be found at Red2Blu.com.

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DivX, Inc., a digital media company, and LG Electronics, Inc. today announced that LG's new line of digital TVs is the world's first device series capable of playing back full DivX(R) HD 1080p videos. More than 200 models of LG digital TVs have been DivX Certified(R), including the LH50, LH70, LH85, PS70 and PS80 series. In addition, a wider variety of innovative LG TVs are now DivX Certified for playback of full DivX HD. Over 100 million DivX Certified devices have shipped worldwide from major manufacturers, and more than 400 digital TV models from leading consumer electronics manufacturers have been DivX Certified to date.

Available in the United States and Europe in late May and late April respectively, the LG digital TVs will enable consumers to easily playback DivX HD videos from the PC or the Internet through the USB slot. Typical HD video requires a considerable amount of digital storage space, but DivX HD video provides a superior media experience by maintaining the highest visual quality while significantly reducing the video file size. Using DivX technology, users can fit approximately two hours of high-quality DivX HD video on an 8GB media card.

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Expanding consumers’ TV recording capabilities by hundreds of hours, WD® today announced in the U.S. that its My DVR Expander™ is now available with 1 TB capacity. Consumers can instantly and seamlessly expand their TiVo® DVR recording capacity by simply attaching the My DVR Expander to their TiVo DVR.

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TiVo Verified™ compatible with TiVo Series3™ and TiVo HD DVRs, the new My DVR Expander is capable of storing up to 140 hours of high-definition (HD) television programming based on 1 TB of hard drive storage. The My DVR Expander, which utilizes an eSATA connection, is perfect for consumers who need more room to store the ever-expanding HD entertainment options offered by their service providers.

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Seagate Technology today began worldwide shipments of a power-thrifty desktop hard drive family that combines the largest storage capacity available with the best power efficiency and performance in its class, using as much as 50 percent less electricity than standard desktop hard drives.

The new line of Seagate Barracuda(R) LP (Low Power) hard drives deliver on the promise of sustainability, energy efficiency and a more eco-friendly footprint by helping organizations cut PC power costs and giving money-minded consumers great performance for their energy dollar. The new family of energy-efficient Seagate desktop drives helps reduce system power costs, runs quieter than traditional drives and operates at lower temperatures, extending the life of system components.

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TDK Corporation announced today the development of the GBDriver RS2 Series of Serial ATA(SATA) II compatible NAND flash memory controller ICs. Sales are scheduled to begin in May.

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The new TDK GBDriver RS2 is a high-speed SATA controller IC that supports high-speed access with an effective speed of 95 MByte/second. It is compatible with SLC(single-level cell) memories with 2 KByte/page and 4 KByte/page structures and MLC(multi-level cell) NAND Flash memories, and can be used to create high-speed SATA storage ranging from 128 MByte to 64 GByte. As a result, the GBDriver RS2 series can be used for a wide range of applications ranging from SATADOM and other embedded storage to audiovisual devices and mobile Internet terminals such as Blu-ray disc players and netbooks. The controllers are available in a 120-pin TQPF package and a 144-pin VFBGA package.

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Kanguru Solutions today announced its latest product to receive Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS 140-2) Certification; the Kanguru Bio AES; a highly secure, encrypted, biometric flash drive.

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FIPS 140-2, a rigorous federal security accreditation program completed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, sets the standard for encryption algorithms intended for use in protecting sensitive government information.

The Kanguru Bio AES is the second secure Kanguru product to obtain FIPS 140-2 certification and the first of Kanguru’s products to offer FIPS certification on a biometric device.

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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, today introduced their new 500-Gigabyte (GB) 2.5-inch hard disk drive with a shock operation tolerance of 400G/2ms. The Spinpoint M7 500GB 2.5-inch hard drive with 250GB per platter features a rugged base and cover design, offering better data protection for road warriors and other mobile laptop users.

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“Our customers have been requesting hard drives with higher density, lower power and greater reliability for their mobile applications,” said C.H. Lee, vice president, Storage sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. “The Spinpoint M7 answers these needs with a high-speed operating shock specification and extraordinary drive capacity for storing large data files, music, photos and videos.”

The Spinpoint M7 is available in 250-, 320-, 400-, 500-GB capacities. A new controller has been adopted to reduce power consumption in seek mode to up to 25 percent over conventional 2.5” drives. In particular, internal test results on PC Mark show an 18 percent improvement in overall performance over 2.5” hard drives.

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Cooler Master Sileo 500 @ InsideHW
HP EliteBook 6930p @ InsideHW
HP Pavilion dv2 Ultraportable Notebook @ Hardware Zone
Logitech Harmony 1100 Universal Remote Control @ I4U
NZXT Performance Power 800W PSU @ Rbmods
OCZ Blade Series DDR3-2000 6GB Low Voltage Triple Channel Memory Kit @ ThinkComputers.org
Razer Carcharias PC Gaming Headset @ OCModShop
Roccat Kone Gaming-Mouse @ TweakPC.de
Thermaltake Element S Case @ BCCHardware
Zotac Liquid-Cooled GeForce GTX 285 Infinity Edition @ HotHardware.com

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