Fujitsu will facilitate the transfer by bringing its HDD-related businesses and functions together in a new company. Toshiba will acquire about an 80 percent stake in this company and make it a Toshiba Group subsidiary. In order to promote a smooth transfer, Fujitsu will continue to hold a stake of under 20 percent in the new company for a certain period of time, after which it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba.

The consolidation of the two companies' HDD businesses will enable Toshiba to reinforce its already strong position as a leading vendor of small form factor HDDs (2.5-inch and smaller HDDs), widely used in notebook PCs, mobile devices, automotive and consumer electronics. It will also give Toshiba entry into the enterprise HDD market for server and data storage system applications, where Fujitsu is currently a leader. Toshiba aims to build its position in the enterprise market to meet expected growth in demand for data storage systems.

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.”

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announces its new external DVD writer, the SE-S084B series. The new tray-type DVD writer is a slim portable device, available in seven color choices. Samsung’s new external DVD writer is designed to meet market demand for external DVDs to complement mini-notebook and netbook PCs, a fast growing sector in the PC industry.

The SE-S084B series adopts a single interconnect cable for both data transmission and power supply. The DVD writer is connected through a USB port without the need for a separate power cable. This tray-type slim DVD writer weighs less than a pound (0.4kg) making it an attractive easy to carry portable device.

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.