Spansion announced this week that it is filing two separate patent infringement complaints against Samsung Electronics with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the US District Court in Delaware. According to the company's claims, Samsung has violated a large number of its patents, including those for its floating gate technology, which is the foundation for approximately 90% of the flash memory market. Spansion is seeking an injunction against electronic devices containing infringing flash memory components as well as damanges for patent violations.

Spansion Inc. (Nasdaq: SPSN), the world's leading pure-play provider of Flash memory solutions, today announced that it is filing two separate patent infringement complaints against Samsung with the International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court in Delaware. In one of the largest patent infringement claims ever filed, Spansion is seeking the exclusion from the U.S. market of well over one hundred million mp3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices containing Samsung's infringing flash memory components. The complaint in the US District Court in Delaware also seeks an injunction and treble damages for patent violations relating to Samsung Flash memory, that Spansion estimates has accounted for more than $30 billion in Samsung's global revenues since 2003.

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The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced on Monday that it has completed version 1.0 of the USB 3.0 specification. This new technology, called SuperSpeed USB, is about ten times faster than the 2.0 specification. The first SuperSpeed USB controllers are expected to appear in the second half of 2009 with the first consumer devices becoming available in 2010.

superspeed usb.jpgThe USB 3.0 Promoter Group today announced the completion of the USB 3.0 specification, the technical map for device manufacturers to deliver SuperSpeed USB technology to the market.

SuperSpeed USB brings significant power and performance enhancements to the popular USB standard while offering backward compatibility with billions of USB-enabled PCs and peripheral devices currently in use by consumers. Delivering data transfer rates up to ten times faster than Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) with optimized power efficiency, SuperSpeed USB is the next step in the continued evolution of USB technology.

“SuperSpeed USB is the next advancement in ubiquitous technology,” said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF president and chairman. “Today’s consumers are using rich media and large digital files that need to be easily and quickly transferred from PCs to devices and vice versa. SuperSpeed USB meets the needs of everyone from the tech-savvy executive to the average home user.”

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Plextor LLC has finally revealed some details on its new Blu-ray combo drives. The internal PX-B310SA and external PX-B310U read single layer Blu-ray discs at 6x and are capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. The two drives also support Plextor's new PlexUTILITIES software as well as its PlexERASE and PlexREAD technologies.

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No word yet on availability. However, if preorders are any indication, you can expect to pay about $240 for the PX-B310SA and $290 for the PX-B310U.

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Transcend announced this week that it has increased the capacity of its JetFlash V90C and V90P USB flash drives to 8GB. These two ultra-compact drives feature a durable polished chrome outer case with either a metallic swirl pattern (V90C) or black mother-of-pearl faceplate (V90P).

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Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend®), a leading manufacturer of flash memory products, recently unveiled two chic new ultra-compact USB flash drives – the 8GB JetFlash® V90C and the 8GB JetFlash® V90P. Inspired by the popular 4GB JetFlash® V90C, winner of the prestigious Red Dot design award, the latest versions of the JetFlash V90P and V90C combine distinctive faceplate designs and ultra-portable convenience for people who need an elegant way to carry data effortlessly while on the move. The upgraded 8GB storage capacity lets users transfer, store, and share even more important files and data.

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Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. (TSE/OSE: 6810) today announced that it would launch Professional Disc with rewritable 50GB recording capacity worldwide in December 2008, offering compatibility with dual layer Professional Disc system for “XDCAM” of Sony Corporation. The new product makes its debut at Maxell booth of the 2008 InterBEE show (November 19 to 21, 2008) at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. 

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Today, as demand for optical discs in professional broadcasting applications is expected to increase further in recording, retrieving, transferring, editing and saving HD contents in a file base. Professional Disc system, which satisfies all these needs, is highly reliable in rewritability, long-term storage capability, random access and is ideal for IT system, and its market demand is expected to increase in a future.

Maxell’s new Professional Disc “PD-50DL” is a recording media which is specially designed for Professional Broadcasting optical disc system “XDCAM”, offering high capacity storage and fast transfer rate by introducing a blue-violet laser. Incorporated dual-layer structure on one side and optimized recording layer which is ideal for high density recording, Maxell achieved enormous 50GB recording capacity in addition to high dependability which was enabled by precise spin-coating and durable hard-coating technology.

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Fujitsu sent out a press release this morning, announcing two new series in its line of 2.5-inch enterprise hard disk drives.  The 10,025-rpm MBD2 RC series and 15,000-rpm MBE2 RC series feature an environment-friendly, halogen-free design as well as support for the 6Gb/s SAS interface. Both series also use perpendicular magnetic recording, which enables capacities up to 300 GB in the MBD2 RC series and up to 147 GB in the MBE2 RC series.

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Fujitsu Limited today announced the development of two new series in its line of 2.5" enterprise hard disk drives (HDDs), the 10,025-rpm MBD2 RC series and 15,000-rpm MBE2 RC series, both of which provide standard support for the 6Gb/s SAS interface. The MBD2 RC series will be released in the first quarter of 2009 calendar year, and the MBE2 RC series will be available in the second quarter.

Compared to current 2.5" models, the new series improve performance by 60% in terms of internal transfer speeds. They are also more environmentally friendly, with halogen-free design - a first for Fujitsu's enterprise HDDs - and industry-leading power efficiency. Moreover, the series boast perpendicular magnetic recording, which enables increased recording density and allows the MBD2 series to have capacities up to 300 GB, noteworthy for 2.5" HDDs. The new models are well-suited to a range of applications, from servers to high-capacity storage systems.

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Team Group recently unveiled its new 2.5-inch Combo solid-state drive (SSD). Available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, this MLC-based SSD is equipped with an SATA II interface as well as a mini USB connector, allowing it to be used as an external hard drive. Team Group's Combo SSD is capable of 170MB/s read and 100MB/s write speeds via SATA and 35MB/s read and 25MB/s write speeds when plugged into a computer's USB port.

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Still wasting your time waiting for files to load on your PC? Team Group Inc. has heard the prayers of users who wanted better solutions for mobile data storage and launched its next generation solid state drive (SSD). The innovative product incorporates SATAII high speed interface and external mini USB connectivity so as to combine the advantages of SSD (light weight, speed) and external hard disks (mobility, convenience) together. Team Group Inc. has successfully transformed SSD from a simple medium of storage into a high speed mobile storage device that is free from location restrictions. With the launch of the product, consumers will no longer have to put up with slow and bulky external hard disks! Team Group Inc.’s 2.5” Combo SSD is perfect for efficiency oriented business users and gamers with demands for massive data transfer. 

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Aleratec announced this week that it has begun to ship its second generation DVD/CD Shredder. This light weight desktop unit is equipped with a powerful motor and enclosed steel cutters that can shred a DVD or CD in seconds.

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Aleratec Inc., leading developer and manufacturer of "Prosumers' Choice" solutions for the USB, Flash, HDD, Blu-ray, DVD CD Duplicating, and publishing markets, is now shipping the 2nd generation of its award winning compact Aleratec DVD/CD Shredder™. The Aleratec DVD/CD Shredder is the quick and easy way to prevent unauthorized use of secret, classified, business, and personal confidential information recorded on discarded discs. The unit has an attractive compact design to fit on any desktop, yet it is equipped with a powerful motor and enclosed steel cutters that safely cut DVDs and CDs into 4 strips, successfully rendering them useless. A demo of the DVD/CD Shredder can be seen here.

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Lenovo sent out a press release this morning, announcing its ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive. Available in 160GB and 320GB capacities, this pocket sized hard drive uses a numeric keypad as well as 128-bit full-disk encryption to protect a user's data.

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Lenovo today announced the ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive to give customers a secure way to protect sensitive data in a lightweight and easy-to-use design. The award winning, high capacity hard drive, available in either 160 or 320 GB versions, uses a numeric keypad allowing users to type in their passcode to access their data. At less than an inch thin, and approximately the size of a 3 x 5 inch index card, its small enough to fit in a shirt pocket.

The new secure hard drive meets the 128-bit advanced encryption security standard to help ensure information remains secure, and real-time encryption means users dont have to wait for the lag time that typically accompanies encrypted drives. The hard drive features full-disk encryption for up to ten unique user IDs and one administrator, making it an ideal tool for ThinkPad notebook PC users on-the-go or collaborating at work. Additionally, the self-powered hard drive eliminates the hassle of keeping up with power cords, and a convenient built-in USB cable makes transferring data simple and stores in the hard drives housing when not in use.

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Antec TruePower Quattro 1000W PSU @ Hardware Zone
G.Skill F2-6400CL4D-4GPI-B DDR2 Memory @ Virtual-Hideout
GlacialTech GP-AL 650A Powersupply @ Rbmods
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Silverstone La Scala SST LC02B HTPC Case @ Redaktion ocinside.de
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Tuniq Potency 550W PSU @ BCCHardware

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