Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, announced today it is shipping a bundle kit with the popular SSDNow M Series 80GB and 160GB solid-state drives. The SSDNow M Series are the Intel® X-25M SATA SSDs. The bundle combines the solid-state drives (SSD) with the software tools necessary to clone the contents of one’s hard-disk drive to the SSD, as well as installation hardware.

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“This all-in-one kit is the perfect solution for enterprise companies, corporate end users and consumers to incorporate SSD technology into existing systems,” said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston®. “The Kingston SSDNow M Series Bundle makes moving the operating system, applications and all other data from a hard-disk drive to a solid-state drive quick and easy whether for a notebook, desktop or workstation.”

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QNAP Systems, Inc. today announces the first 2.5" SATA HDD, 4-bay, Intel Atom-based SS-439 Pro Turbo NAS dedicated to SMB and SOHO users. Designed with Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB DDRII memory, and DOM (Disk on Module) architecture, the SS-439 Pro is the most compact, powerful, and power-saving 2.5" 4-bay NAS that supports RAID 5/ RAID 6 for highly secure data protection. The NAS supports four 2.5" SATA hard drives which are featured with high stability, low power consumption, low vibration, and longer life expectancy. With excellent cooling and energy-saving design, the power consumption of the NAS with four hard drives installed is as low as 18W.

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Moreover, the SS-439 Pro supports 3 USB 2.0 ports and 2 eSATA ports for storage capacity expansion and backup destination, and advanced features such as built-in iSCSI target service (max 8 iSCSI devices) with Thin Provisioning, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Online RAID Level Migration, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, Wake on LAN, automatic policy-based IP blocking, instant SMS and email alert, BT and eMule download, schedule power on and power off, 2 Giga LAN ports, 4 IP cameras for network surveillance, etc.

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JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced the publication of registered outline MO-297 for 1.8” Slim Solid State Drives. These types of SSDs have a range of applications in consumer products, including netbooks and laptops. As the first industry standard to target SSDs, MO-297 is indicative of JEDEC’s leadership in setting comprehensive SSD standards. The document is available for free download at www.jedec.org, as part of JEDEC Publication 95: Registered and Standard Outlines for Solid State and Related Products.

MO-297 defines the dimensions, layout and connector position for 54mm x 39mm solid state drives with a standard SATA connector. Adopting a standard form factor for these types of solid state drives will enable interoperability throughout the supply chain, benefiting drive manufacturers, product designers and consumers. Conforming to a single standard will simplify the product design process, shortening time to market and facilitating a reduction in costs.

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Mimoco, makers of the MIMOBOT collection of designer USB flash drives, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace with an all-new series of themed MIMOBOT characters, beginning with the iconic, tattooed face of the deadly Sith apprentice, Darth Maul.

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Episode I’s fan favorite Sith villain is scheduled to be released on June 10th at mimoco.com and will be accompanied by additional Star Wars characters that will be revealed on that date as well. Darth Maul is the thirteenth character in the Star Wars MIMOBOT collection of flash drives, joining current Series 3 characters such as evil Darth Sidious, the Emperor’s Royal Guard, adorable Wicket the Ewok, and the golden protocol droid C-3PO.

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OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today released the highly anticipated Summit Series 2.5” Solid State Drives, tailored to meet the stringent demands of business professionals, enthusiasts, and entry-level enterprise applications. Building on their premium flash-based storage solutions, OCZ’s Summit Series strives to bridge the gap between the needs of high-end gaming and professional desktops and notebooks to small scale server PCs that require amplified criteria for maintaining a solid and stable work environment.

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“OCZ’s SSD lineup offers drives for the complete spectrum of applications, and the new Summit SSD’s cater to both enthusiast level consumer and enterprise customers,” said Alex Mei, CMO of the OCZ Technology Group. “Making use of premium flash and a large 128MB cache, the Summit SSD delivers a combination of high speed, excellent compatibility, and superior reliability in mobile, workstation, and entry-level enterprise computing applications.”

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nero backitup burn box.jpgNero, creators of liquid media technology, recognizes that today's consumers are producing and enjoying more digital content than ever before and with this growing library of content come new challenges. The launch of the new Nero BackItUp & Burn product gives even the most non-technical user a powerful solution for burning, restoration, recovery and syncing needs.  With the release of this innovative new software, consumers can protect their content by doing scheduled backups; burn discs and share music, videos and data files; backup files to online storage; sync files and folders; and recover lost information from damaged or scratched media - all accomplished through an easy-to-use interface. This low cost, yet comprehensive offering empowers consumers to take control and secure their digital assets.  By solving the highly specific digital content needs of today's diverse digital consumers, Nero BackItUp & Burn is making liquid content distribution, anytime, anywhere a reality.

"To date, the available solutions for backup, burning or recovery have been created with more technical users in mind," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "Consumers who have turned towards all-inclusive suite offerings are presented with an array of options, but the average user is not looking for a full digital toolset.  Point products aren't guaranteed to work together. Non-technical users are looking for easy ways to solve immediate problems - how do I burn data to DVD or Blu-ray?  How do I recover data that seems ‘lost'?  Is there a way to securely and automatically backup my important information?"

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DivX, Inc. and LG Electronics today announced the first LG Blu-ray Disc player capable of playing back 1080p high-definition (HD) DivX(R) video files. The LG BD390, a WiFi-enabled Blu-ray Disc Player now available in the United States and Europe, allows consumers to play their favorite DivX HD videos from their PC to the TV.

Consumers are using HD video across multiple platforms and devices, and there is a strong demand for playback of DivX HD files. By adding DivX support to the BD390, now consumers can play DivX video up to HD 1080p burned to DVDs or stored on USB flash drives. DivX HD 1080p content can also be streamed directly from a network with a DLNA server making it simple for consumers to playback their library of favorite HD videos.

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Iomega, an EMC company and a global leader in data protection, today announced the worldwide availability of a new generation of the exciting Iomega® eGo™ Portable Hard Drive, featuring new look USB 2.0-powered models with superior ruggedness and the broadest suite of bundled data protection software in the industry, and all backed with a three-year limited warranty. Available in four different colors and up to 500GB* in capacity, the new Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive is the ultimate embodiment of style and function in portable drives today.

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"The new Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drives are the perfect companions for home users and professionals that want to take their files anywhere with the assurance of a superior rugged portable drive that has style to spare and a compact form with flair," said Jonathan Huberman, President of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. "After two very successful years with the previous model, the new eGo drive sports a compact, sleek new aluminum enclosure in eye-catching colors and comes complete with a suite of backup and anti-virus software to protect your data and your laptop, netbook or personal computer. Top it all off with the best drop spec in the industry and the new eGo drive is the portable hard drive this summer for dads and grads and everyone else."

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ASUS, a leading producer of home theater PC (HTPC) solutions, today added a new member to its HDAV family: the ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim sound card. The CES-award winning Xonar HDAV1.3 Series of audio cards has been credited for revolutionizing the world of HTPC by offering the world's first and only solution to bitstream true Blu-ray audio on the PC platform, and this new offering is no different.

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The Xonar HDAV1.3 features Protected Audio Playback Systems (PAPS) and full Advanced Access Content System (AACS) certification. Without both certifications, typical PCs must down-sample Blu-ray audio into DVD quality (48K/16bit). Utilizing ArcSoft's Total Media Theater, the ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 is capable of decoding Blu-ray movies and takes full advantage of lossless digital audio formats such as Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™ for professional, high-fidelity sound at 24bit, 96–192Khz. The PCI-based Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim is also designed from the ground up, and is built for next generation HTPCs. Equipped with the proprietary AV200 audio processor and certified HDMI1.3a connect, it is capable of delivering the highest quality 7.1 channel 192K linear pulse code modulation (LPCM) audio and high definition video through the HDMI port.

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verbatim 40th.jpgVerbatim is currently celebrating its 40th year in the data storage industry. The company recently sent over a stack of press materials covering its history as well as many of technological advancements its been responsible for. Verbatim also included a short Q and A with Verbatim's president, Randy Queen. If you've been wondering how Verbatim got where it is today or where its going in the future, you'll want to check it out.

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