Samsung has reportedly dropped its $5.9 billion bid for SanDisk. According to Reuters, Samsung CEO Lee Yoon-woo wrote a letter to SanDisk management, informing them that due to their third quarter loss and recent renegotiation with Toshiba, Samsung is no longer interested in acquiring SanDisk at $26 per share.

"Your surprise announcements of a quarter billion dollar operating loss, a hurried renegotiation of your relationship with Toshiba and major job losses across your organization all point to a considerable increase in your risk profile and a material deterioration in value, both on a stand-alone basis as well as to Samsung," Samsung CEO Lee Yoon-woo wrote to SanDisk management in a letter disclosed on Wednesday.

"As a result of these developments, we are no longer interested in acquiring SanDisk at $26 a share."

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Good news for Linux users. Primera has released Linux drivers for its Bravo II, BravoPro, Bravo XR and Bravo XRP Disc Publishers. These drivers can be downloaded for free from Primera's website and can be integrated with both open-source and commercial disc burning engines.

Primera Technology, Inc., the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc™ duplication and printing equipment, today announced its support of Linux printing on its Bravo II, BravoPro, Bravo XR and Bravo XRP Disc Publishers (DP-II, DP-PRO, DP-XR and DP-XRP in Europe and Scandinavia).

Addressing the needs of the fast-growing Linux developer and user communities, Primera’s fully-featured Linux printer drivers can be easily integrated with open-source or commercially-available disc burning engines. Together, these components provide a complete, automated disc production solution.

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Super Talent recently announced the launch of its new Luxio family of USB flash drives. Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, the Luxio features AES-256 hardware encryption and comes in three colors: black, silver and wood grain. The drives will begin shipping this week with the 64GB version retailing for about $149.

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Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today launched a new family of high performance, feature rich Luxio USB drives in capacities up to 64GB.

A 64GB Luxio drive can store as many as 20,000 six megapixel photos or 16,000 MP3 songs. Luxio drives are housed in a sleek 21 x 76 x 10 mm UV coated ABS/PC case with chrome plated zinc trim. All models include advanced AES-256 hardware encryption as a standard feature for fast, convenient data security. Offered in three colors, black, silver and wood grain, Luxio drives are packaged in an elegant gift box and also include a custom made black leather carrying case.

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SanDisk announced today that it has added anti-malware protection from McAfee to its line of Cruzer Enterprise USB flash drives. This "always on" safeguard blocks malware, even when the device is used outside of the firewall. Its automatic anti-malware scan also prohibits file transfers to secure USB drives from infected PCs.

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SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) and McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) today announced SanDisk Cruzer Enterprise with anti-malware protection from McAfee. In addition to protecting corporate USB flash drive users from data leaks, the solution includes the McAfee® Scan Engine, which offers advanced heuristic analysis for comprehensive detection of both known and unknown threats. Expected to be available before year’s end, this “always on” safeguard blocks malware from entering the secure USB flash drive even when the device is used outside of the firewall.

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Broadcom announced today that LG has chosen the Broadcom BCM7440 for its new BD300 Blu-ray Disc player. This system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution is capable of playing back BD-Live enabled Blu-ray titles as well as movies and TV shows streamed directly from Netflix.

Broadcom Corporation, a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its highly integrated BCM7440 Blu-ray Disc® system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution has been selected by LG Electronics to power the world's first Blu-ray Disc player featuring Netflix® instant streaming. Leveraging the Broadcom® high performance Blu-ray SOC, LG's new BD300 player allows Netflix subscribers to instantly stream content over the Internet from a growing library of over 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes directly to their TVs, at no additional charge.

Broadcom's BCM7440 SoC has become the prevalent technology for Blu-ray Disc playback, exemplifying the company's technical abilities and commitment to this market. The new SoC offers high definition video playback at 1080p resolution, picture-in-a-picture video support, high definition multi-channel audio, and world class BD-Java performance for full support of BD-Live functionality. Integrated security and streaming features have enabled manufacturers to leverage the BCM7440 built-in Ethernet port to deploy a new class of Blu-ray players that feature Internet-based streaming media playback capabilities.

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SanDisk announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Toshiba to sell about 30% of its stake in the companies two flash memory joint ventures. Once the deal is complete, Toshiba will be the sole owner of 30% of the total production capacity, with the remaining 70% split equally between the two companies. While financial details have not been announced, SanDisk expects to receive cash and cut equipment lease obligations by about $1 billion.

SanDisk® (NASDAQ:SNDK) announced today that it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Toshiba Corporation to sell approximately 30 percent of the current manufacturing capacity of the parties joint ventures to Toshiba. The move will significantly reduce SanDisks capital spending, further strengthen its balance sheet and reduce NAND flash memory production commitments. SanDisk expects to receive cash and reduce equipment lease obligations by approximately $1 billion through this transaction.

SanDisk and Toshiba will continue to be equal partners for the approximately 70 percent capacity of the Fabs that remain in the joint ventures. SanDisk will have the option to purchase a part of the transferred capacity from Toshiba on a foundry basis and will continue to invest up to 50% in future Fab 4 expansions and technology transitions in Fabs 3 and 4. The parties will continue their existing joint technology development in advanced NAND and 3D read/write memory. SanDisk expects the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.

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DTS, Inc. launches a variation of it’s increasingly popular surround sound technology DTS-HD Master Audio, which delivers high definition audio that is bit for bit identical to the studio master. DTS-HD Master Audio Essential provides the same quality high-end sound that consumers have come to expect from DTS-HD Master Audio. DTS-HD Master Audio Essential will be a full Master Audio feature set for Blu-ray Disc, with the exception of DTS ES Matrix and NEO 6.

Although DTS-HD Master Audio Essential does not currently support DTS | 96 /24, DTS ES, ES Matrix, and DTS NEO 6, for standard DVD discs, DTS backwards compatibility makes it possible for you to automatically enjoy your DVD entertainment experience in high quality DTS Digital Surround.

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Plextor Europe sent out a press release this morning, announcing its first external Blu-ray drive. Along with support for both FireWire and USB 2.0, the PX-B920UF features 4x BD-R, 4x BD-R DL and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and is capable of playing back both Blu-ray and HD DVD movies.  The drive will be available through European retailers at the end of this month.

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Leading optical drive manufacturer and storage expert Plextor announces its first external ReWriter drive for burning high capacity Blu-ray discs – the PX-B920UF. Offering up to 50GB storage capacity (double layer), the dual-format drive is capable of writing Blu-ray discs at 4x (BD-R) and also plays HD-DVD ROM discs.

This fast drive is ideal for users serious about their storage and movies - and with both USB2.0 and FireWire connectivity, it’s compatible with Mac and PC systems. In addition, Plextor has added extra convenience by including LightScribe technology to enable custom text and designs to be printed/burned onto discs.

Developed from the company’s existing internal range of Blu-ray drives, the technology is experiencing serious demand from high-end users.  Rudy de Meirsman, Sales & Marketing Manager of Plextor Europe, explains: “Blu-ray drives are really taking off as HD movies become popular, availability increases and prices come down. Consumers still want high end, high reliability premium drives as part of their PC/audiovisual setup, despite the economic slowdown.”

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Optiarc Europe announced a new external slimline DVD burner this week. The DRX-S70U-R is capable of 8x DVD±R, 4x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x. It also sports a stylish black and silver design and is both Windows and Mac compatible.

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At less than two centimetres in height and weighing only 440 grams, the DRX-S70U-R easily fits into any item of hand luggage without making it difficult to carry. This aesthetic DVD burner in a stylishly subtle black and silver design looks good on any table top and blends perfectly into any environment. The DRX-S70U-R is also a versatile piece of equipment. It is Mac and Windows compatible and can process all standard DVD and CD formats. With comprehensive software and NERO 8 express software for Microsoft Windows as standard, the burner is also ideal for multimedia applications.
The DRX-S70U-R writes to DVD±R and DVD+RW blanks at 8x speed. It achieves 6x speed writing to DVD-RW media and 5x speed writing to DVD-RAMs, 4x speed writing to DVD-R DLs and DVD+R9s and 24x speed writing to CDs. The drive reads DVD-ROMs at 8x speed and CD-ROMs at 24x speed.