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- Optical Storage
Lite-On sent out a press release this morning, announcing its new line of 24x DVD writers. The company plans to ship the iHAS324 (SATA) and iHAP424 (PATA) in March. Both drives will feature Lite-On's SmartErase technology and, in the case of the iHAP424, support for LightScribe. Lite-On will also be shipping a third drive in mid-May. Along with SmartErase and LightScribe, the iHAS624 will feature Lite-On's new LabelTag technology. For those not familiar with LabelTag, the technology allows you to write text and graphics on the recordable side of a disc.
Lite-On, a global leader of optical storage solutions, today announces a new line of internal DVD writers that deliver a maximum write speed of 24X on select DVD media, the fastest in the market. Select drives will also include Lite-On’s own LabelTag and SmartErase technologies – unique labeling and data erasing features for DVDs and CDs.
Compared to similar devices in the market today, Lite-On’s new internal writers offer the fastest DVD recording available with its DVD writing speeds of 24X. All drives will include new Lite-On technologies designed for true power users who are concerned with more than just writing speeds. Lite-On’s SmartErase technology will be included in all drive versions, and the iHAS624, available in Mid-May, will also feature LabelTag – a new solution in disc labeling.
“PLDS is proud to manufacture the fastest 24X writers in the market, especially with included technologies such as LabelTag,” said Christine Hsing, Marketing Manager at PLDS. “LabelTag provides a cost-effective and flexible method for professional disc labeling, a great solution for today’s busy professional and people on-the-go.”
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- Optical Storage
NEC Electronics announced today that it has developed a new System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for DVD writers. The SCOMBO 8 integrates DVD drive control logic, synchronous DRAM, and flash memory all in a compact 14mm square flat package. It is also the first DVD controller to support 24x DVD recording and uses 50% less power than NEC's previous products when writing at 8x.
NEC Electronics Corporation today announced that it has developed a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) product integrating all the functionalities needed for DVD writing and reading on a single chip. The new product named SCOMBO® 8 is a SoC for supporting DVD Drives equipped in PCs and home write/read appliances and has following features: (1) Integrates DVD drive control logic, synchronous DRAM, and flash memory all in a compact 14mm square flat package; (2) Delivers industry's fastest 24x DVD writing; (3) Lowers power consumption during DVD writing at 8x speed to 0.8W, reducing by 50 percent compared to the previous products.
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- Home Entertainment
The Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News recently reported (via DigiTimes) that Lite-On has been developing Blu-ray Disc players and plans to begin production in the third quarter of 2009. Instead of selling them under their own brand, Lite-On will initially focus on production for ODM clients and may supply BD player loaders instead of finished products.
Lite-On IT, the largest Taiwan-based maker of half-height optical disc drives (ODDs), has been developing Blu-ray Disc (BD) players and plans to kick off volume production in the third quarter of 2009, according to the Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News (EDN).
Lite-On adopts BD pick-up heads supplied by Hitachi and chipsets by MediaTek, aiming to minimize the production cost of BD players to reach a retail price of US$150, EDN pointed out.
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- Network Storage
QNAP Systems, Inc. today announces the next gen Intel-based network attached storage TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS for business users. Featuring low power Intel 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB DDRII memory, and stylish industrial design, the TS-439 Pro supports dual Giga LAN, five USB 2.0 ports and two eSATA ports, RAID 0/1/5/6/5+spare configurations, Online RAID Capacity Expansion and Online RAID Level Migration, and offers advanced functions such as iSCSI target service with Thin Provisioning, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, automatic policy-based IP blocking, instant SMS and email alert, and SSL secure certificate etc.
"The TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS presents a new definition of high scalability, high redundancy, large storage capacity and high stability NAS in the current market. The 4-bay NAS supports up to 6TB storage capacity which can be further expanded by connecting external hard drives to the five USB ports and two eSATA ports. Yet, the NAS is able to maintain low power consumption by the energy-saving Intel CPU which allows 24x7 operation in the business environment," says Troy Lin, Product Manager from QNAP. Moreover, the TS-439 Pro supports a wide range of business-class features such as iSCSI target service with Thin Provisioning and AES 256-bit volume-based encryption. Up to 8 iSCSI devices can be created for storage expansion or backup destination of the existing application servers on the network.
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- Network Storage
Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the latest addition to its network solutions portfolio with the worldwide launch of the new Iomega® StorCenter™ Pro ix4-100. Based on enterprise-class EMC® storage technologies, the StorCenter Pro ix4 NAS is up and running in just four mouse clicks, providing small businesses and remote offices with up to 4TB* of networked storage that easily integrates with existing infrastructure for expanded storage, file-sharing and backup of critical business data.
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- Home Entertainment
SNL Kagan released a new study this week, forecasting the revenue growth in the retail home video business over the next decade. According to their study, Blu-ray player sales are expected to grow from $255.4 million in 2008 to $1.3 billion in 2010. SNL Kagan also projects that high-definition DVD will attain 73.8% market share by 2017. However, it will face some stiff competition from video-on-demand (VOD) services, which will improve in both technology and content over the next decade.
While the current impact of Blu-ray has been relatively minor (standard DVD still comprises 97.1% of the market), SNL Kagan projects that high-definition DVD will attain 59.7% market share in 2014, with $13.1 billion in revenue. By 2017, this figure is expected to soar to 73.8%, or $15.6 billion.
The SNL Kagan study points to 2010 as the start of the resurgence in retail revenue. Sales of Blu-ray players are expected to grow from $255.4 million in 2008 to $1.3 billion in 2010, reaching mass-market penetration and spiking to nearly $6.9 billion in 2013.
However, Blu-ray's unrivaled dominance may be short-lived, with video-on-demand (VOD) poised to become a major force in home entertainment after 2017. SNL Kagan estimates that there will be 98.8 million high-speed Internet homes capable of delivering VOD in 2017 compared to 115.2 million high-definition DVD homes.
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- Optical Storage
As a globally renowned manufacturer of computer peripherals and optical drives, ASUS is constantly at the forefront of cutting edge technologies, providing users with innovative solutions for everyday computing. In pursuing this philosophy, the new ASUS External Slim SDRW-08D1S-U utilizes user-centric design in the Scenario-Based Design model to better address the needs of the user. By integrating these needs into its development and creation, the ASUS External Slim SDRW-08D1S-U combines both aesthetics and practicality.
Sporting an elegant stand design and high glossy appearance showcasing excellent craftsmanship and quality, the ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U brings together high-speed data access technology and style with its attractive, vertical external DVD burner. A user-friendly software interface allows users to easily burn discs; allowing users to simply drag and drop data into the thumbnail layout when they are burning documents and media into a new disc. Drawing power from the computer and harnessing the transmission speeds of a USB 2.0 port, users can experience high-speed data transfer speeds while utilizing little power, perfect for the modern computing era.
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- Optical Storage
Today LaCie announced that it has doubled the speed at which its high-performance, large-capacity LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive burns discs to eight times (8x) standard data writing rates. The increased speed to burn files applies to both single and dual-layer discs. LaCie also has upgraded the authoring and backup software that ships standard with the product.
The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive packs up to 50 GB of data, or four hours of high-definition video, on a single Blu-ray disc – making it an ideal tool for video professionals and anyone who wants to backup and store significant amounts of data on reliable removable media. It sports both FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces for high-speed throughput between the drive and a PC or Mac.
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- Hard Disks
Seagate today introduced its Constellation(TM) family of new enterprise storage solutions for Tier 2 nearline storage applications. The two new drive models, the 2.5-inch Constellation and the 3.5-inch Constellation ES hard drives, include a combination of features that enable high capacities, increased power efficiency, enterprise-class reliability, and data security. Both drives also include PowerChoice(TM) from Seagate, which decreases power consumption by up to 54% for record power savings in enterprise environments.
"The need for greater storage capacity will continue to expand in multiple directions and dimensions, but there will be an increasing scrutiny of all storage system purchases, with an eye to decreasing power consumption, footprint, and cost per GB in unprecedented ways," said John Monroe, a research vice president at Gartner. "Performance will not be ignored, but a flexible balance of capacity, cost per GB, power and speed will become more crucial in fulfilling end-user storage demands at varied price points."
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- Flash Memory
Transcend sent out a press release today, announcing its new 192GB high speed 2.5-inch Solid State Disk (SSD) drive. This MLC-equipped SSD features a new controller and is capable of 150MB/s read and 90MB/s write speeds.
Transcend Information Inc. (Transcend®), the world’s leading manufacturer of memory products, is proud to release its all-new 192GB high speed 2.5-inch Solid State Drive (SSD). This SSD is made of reliable NAND flash memory that contains no moving parts, and therefore is not susceptible to mechanical failure resulting from vibration, shock or heat. Featuring a powerful new controller, Transcend’s MLC-equipped 192GB SSD far outpaces standard 2.5" hard drives, delivering exceptional sustained read/write speeds of up to 150MB / 90MB per second to guarantee fast throughput regardless of file size. With these high-speed transfer rates and virtually non-existent (0.2ms) latency, an SSD-equipped computer boots-up faster, games run more smoothly, and overall system responsiveness is improved. Moreover, this SSD’s industry-standard SATA II interface and 2.5" form factor allow easy and straightforward user installation in most notebook computers and mainstream PCs just like regular hard drives.
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