Samsung Electronics America, Inc., today announced the Samsung LEVEL U as the newest member of its LEVEL headset lineup. Incorporating the latest in Samsung technology, this new Bluetooth headset pairs a stylish design and a comfortable fit with crystal-clear call quality and a premium sound experience.

With a flexible neck band and soft ear grips, Samsung's LEVEL U offers exceptional wearing comfort and a simplified experience. Samsung's latest LEVEL headset is equipped with built-in controls that allow wearers to conveniently adjust volume, pause, play or skip a track without having to reach for their paired device. In addition, the LEVEL U provides up to 10 hours of usage time, so users can get the most out of their listening for much longer.

Micron Technology announced during its Q3 FY-2015 earnings call, that it began shipping GDDR5 memory chips based on its 20 nm-class node. The company is reportedly shipping 8 Gb (1 gigabyte) GDDR5 memory chips. The company was last reported to be acquiring Japanese DRAM major Elpida, which also supplies GDDR5 chips to graphics cards, notebooks, and game console makers. The GDDR5 memory space has been saturated by companies such as Samsung and SK Hynix. The memory standard itself is on the brink of becoming obsolete; with AMD implementing HBM on its new high-end GPU, and NVIDIA expected to implement HBM with its upcoming "Pascal" GPU family. There is still quite a few GDDR5-equipped graphics cards to be sold, before HBM takes over GPUs of all market segments.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., announced the introduction of the U24E590D and U28E590D, the first Samsung UHD monitors with AMD's FreeSync technology. These UHD monitors offer unprecedented picture quality for gaming, entertainment and multi-tasking activities.

The U24E590D and U28E590D are the first UHD Samsung monitors with AMD FreeSync capabilities. FreeSync synchronizes the monitors' refresh rates to eliminate large jumps in frame time for noticeably smoother multimedia use. The integration of AMD FreeSync is especially beneficial for gamers, who will notice an immediate increase in responsiveness and the elimination of screen tearing and shuttering.

AMD today announced that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. selected the AMD Embedded G-Series SoC (system on chip) for a new line of all-in-one cloud monitors featuring integrated thin client technology. The Samsung 21.5-inch TC222W and 23.6-inch TC242W are powered by AMD Embedded G-Series SoCs that couple high-performance compute and graphics capability in a highly integrated, low power design. The AMD SoC improves data transfer rates and saves space on the motherboard, which makes it a perfect fit for the compact form factors required by thin clients.

"Thin client is a key market for AMD Embedded Solutions and we're thrilled that Samsung has chosen to partner with us for their newest line of products," said Scott Aylor, vice president and general manager, Embedded Solutions, AMD. "The collaboration with Samsung builds on the number one position AMD holds in a market that continues to grow, becoming more and more prevalent in commercial installations that serve a broad range of markets."

Planned availability starting in Q3 2015, the Windows-supported Samsung cloud monitors will provide customers with expanded choice, capability and configuration flexibility. Complete with Samsung's professional-grade display panel, the cloud monitors will create a superior user experience through easy connectivity and high-quality reliability. As a superior option for effective desktop virtualization, Samsung's thin-client monitors will also enable improved productivity and optimized end-to-end performance.

Samsung HDD, a division of Seagate Technology, today announced 4TB M3 Portable and the P3 Portable external hard drives, which are the first 4TB USB-powered single drive solutions to come in 2.5" cases in the world.

"Previously only attainable in desktop or bulky multi-drive internal designs, we can now achieve a 4TB capacity in a compact drive thanks to the latest Samsung HDD technology," said Dave Klenske, director of product line management, Samsung HDD. "By going to a single drive solution, we can power the drive through just a USB connection while fitting it into a case that is only a 1/10 of an inch thicker than our 2TB drive. They are the perfect lightweight drives for notebook computer owners who need to access media collections too large to fit on traditional internal storage options."

Samsung Display Co., Ltd. unveiled the industry's first Mirror and Transparent OLED display panels in a dazzling state-of-the-art showcase for personalized shopping and informational browsing, held this week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The exhibit features the first retail use of advanced commercial OLED panels - a "virtual necklace" display for the world renowned Chow Sang Sang jewelry company.

The new Samsung Display OLED panel technology provides a digital viewing platform for making the consumer purchasing experience more visually engaging. When Samsung's OLED display technology is integrated with Intel Real Sense technology, a visually compelling, interactive closet or "self-modeling" wardrobe is created that can enable consumers to virtually "see" clothes or other retail items from an extremely realistic, customized perspective.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid state storage, is hosting two major extreme overclocking events at Computex 2015 (June 2~6): the OC World Cup 2015 and the OC World Record Stage 2015! 19 world-class overclockers, 5 motherboard vendors, and 3 hardware sponsors - all at the G.SKILL Computex Booth I0608, located at Nangang Exhibition Hall, 1F.

Very special thanks to Intel, Samsung, and Kingpin Cooling for sponsoring the OC World Cup 2015 and the 4th Annual OC World Record Stage extreme overclocking events. "Intel is pleased to be a sponsor of this year's G.SKILL OC World Cup & 4th Annual OC World Record Stage at Computex 2015," says Gregory Bryant, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Intel Corporation. "Intel processors and chipsets enable mind-blowing experiences and we are glad to be a part of this exciting event."

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today introduced its latest memory card lineups, PRO Plus and EVO Plus. The two latest product lineups add to Samsung's SD and microSD card portfolio to now consist of the PRO Plus, PRO, EVO Plus and EVO families, to address the rapidly growing consumer need for advanced multimedia memory solutions.

"Samsung is following through on our promise to deliver next-generation memory cards that have even faster speeds and higher memory storage volume that will enhance consumer satisfaction level and solidify Samsung's branded memory business leadership," said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Branded Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. "With the increase of 4K UHD enabled devices and market needs for memory capacity, the PRO Plus and EVO Plus lineups are optimized solutions that will meet today's user expectations."

AMD is readying its next-gen APUs, codenamed "Godavari" for launch in May 2015, according to industry sources in Taiwan. A successor to "Kaveri," Godavari will feature updated "Excavator" architecture based CPU cores, and the latest Graphics CoreNext 1.2 based stream processors on the integrated GPU. The APU will feature PCI-Express gen 3.0 and high-speed DDR3 integrated memory controllers, just like its predecessor "Kaveri," and could be based on the existing FM2+ platform. These chips will compete against some of the entry/mainstream variants of Intel's Core "Broadwell" processors. It's likely that these chips could be built on existing 28 nm process.

It's also being reported that AMD will launch its first APUs based on the 14 nanometer fab process, codenamed "Summit Ridge," in 2016. These will be succeeded by "Raven Ridge" APUs in 2017. AMD could use Samsung and GlobalFoundries to make its 14 nm chips. Lastly, AMD is reportedly in talks with ASMedia to integrate its USB 3.1 controller logic into its new motherboard chipset, which it plans to launch in September 2015.

G.SKILL International Enterprises Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid state storage, is thrilled to announce the world's first DDR4 128GB(16GBx8) 2800MHz CL16-16-16 -36 1.35V memory kit based on the newest 16GB capacity DDR4 consumer-class memory modules. These high capacity memory modules are manufactured with new 8Gb ICs produced on the latest 20nm fabrication process, which takes performance to a whole new level, by Samsung Electronics.

While 16GB capacity have been available for server memory in the past, support and design for such large capacity memory modules are now paving its way to consumer memory modules, suitable for workstation level workloads where high capacity memory is vital. These new G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 series high capacity memory kits are capable of running in quad-channel at a grand total of 128GB, and have already been validated on the latest ASUS X99 Rampage V Extreme motherboard with Intel Haswell-E processors. A stress-testing screenshot of the newly released memory kit with 16GB DDR4 modules can be found below.

AMD's next-generation GPU family, which it plans to launch some time in 2016, codenamed "Arctic Islands," will see the company skip the 20 nanometer silicon fab process from 28 nm, and jump straight to 14 nm FinFET. Whether the company will stick with TSMC, which is seeing crippling hurdles to implement its 20 nm node for GPU vendors; or hire a new fab, remains to be seen. Intel and Samsung are currently the only fabs with 14 nm nodes that have attained production capacity. Intel is manufacturing its Core "Broadwell" CPUs, while Samsung is manufacturing its Exynos 7 (refresh) SoCs. Intel's joint-venture with Micron Technology, IMFlash, is manufacturing NAND flash chips on 14 nm.

Named after islands in the Arctic circle, and a possible hint at the low TDP of the chips, benefiting from 14 nm, "Arctic Islands" will be led by "Greenland," a large GPU that will implement the company's most advanced stream processor design, and implement HBM2 memory, which offers 57% higher memory bandwidth at just 48% the power consumption of GDDR5. Korean memory manufacturer SK Hynix is ready with its HBM2 chip designs.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has started mass production of the industry's first NVMe PCIe solid state drive (SSD) which has an M.2 form factor for use in PCs and workstations. Samsung is also the first in the industry to announce that it has begun shipping NVMe SSDs to OEMs for the PC market. The new SM951-NVMe features the industry's most advanced performance figures, exceptionally low power use in standby mode and the most compact size of any NVMe SSD.

"Our new NVMe SSD will allow for faster, ultra-slim notebook PCs with extended battery use, while accelerating the adoption of NVMe SSDs within the consumer marketplace," said Jeeho Baek, Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to stay a critical step ahead of others in the industry in introducing a diversity of next-generation SSDs, that contribute to an enhanced user experience through rapid popularization of ultra-fast, highly energy-efficient, compact SSDs."

HP today introduced technology advancements designed to help artists, creatives and developers more quickly and efficiently bring designs and products to life. "As the leader in the workstation industry, we continue to develop customer inspired innovative solutions that solve real-world business needs," said Jeff Wood, vice president of product management, Workstation & Thin Client Business, HP. "Solving the storage bottleneck, delivering a light full-performance mobile workstation and allowing creative professional advanced visual solutions will bolster customer design workflows."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today introduced a high-performance mobile memory storage based on Embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) 5.0 technology. The new 128-gigabyte (GB), 3-bit NAND-based eMMC 5.0 storage is targeted at the smartphone and tablet mass markets.

"With the introduction of our value-focused, 3-bit NAND-based eMMC 5.0 line-up, we expect to take the lead in the expansion of high-density mobile storage," said Dr. Jung-Bae Lee, Senior Vice President of Memory Product Planning and Application Engineering Team, Samsung Electronics. "We are continuing to enhance our next-generation embedded mobile memory offerings with improved performance and higher densities to meet increasing customer demand across the mobile industry."

Intel Corporation CEO Brian Krzanich today announced a series of mobile platforms including the company's new low-cost system-on-chip (SoC) for phones, phablets and tablets, a global LTE solution, innovative personal computing experiences, and a range of customers for mobile device and network infrastructure offerings. With technologies that span silicon, software and security, Krzanich said Intel was one of the few companies able to deliver solutions end-to-end, for devices, the network and the cloud.

The announcements include the Intel Atom x3 processor series, Intel's first integrated communications SoC solution for the growing value and entry device markets, and the five-mode Intel XMM 7360 LTE Advanced solution, designed for performance and worldwide coverage. In addition, Krzanich highlighted joint efforts with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei to address the demand for new telecommunications, cloud and data center services, improve network efficiencies, and accelerate the industry's move toward a software-defined infrastructure.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it is now mass producing the industry's first 128-gigabyte (GB) ultra-fast embedded memory based on the much-anticipated Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.0 standard for next-generation flagship smartphones. The new embedded memory's UFS 2.0 interface is the most advanced JEDEC-compliant, next-generation flash memory storage specification in the world.

"With our mass production of ultra-fast UFS memory of the industry's highest capacity, we are making a significant contribution to enable a more advanced mobile experience for consumers," said Jee-ho Baek, Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing, Samsung Electronics. "In the future, we will increase the proportion of high-capacity memory solutions, in leading the continued growth of the premium memory market."

Russian cyber-security company Kaspersky Labs exposed a breakthrough U.S. spying program, which taps into one of the most widely proliferated PC components - hard drives. With the last 5 years seeing the number of hard drive manufacturing nations reduce from three (Korean Samsung, Japanese Hitachi and Toshiba, and American Seagate and WD) to one (American Seagate or WD), swallowing-up or partnering with Japanese and Korean businesses as US-based subsidiaries or spin-offs such as HGST, a shadow of suspicion has been cast on Seagate and WD.

According to Kaspersky, American cyber-surveillance agency, the NSA, is taking advantage of the centralization of hard-drive manufacturing to the US, by making WD and Seagate embed its spying back-doors straight into the hard-drive firmware, which lets the agency directly access raw data, agnostic of partition method (low-level format), file-system (high-level format), operating system, or even user access-level. Kaspersky says it found PCs in 30 countries with one or more of the spying programs, with the most infections seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it is now mass producing the industry's first ePoP (embedded package on package) memory - a single memory package consisting of 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM, 32GB eMMC (embedded multi-media card) and a controller. For use in high-end smartphones, the extremely thin ePoP combines all essential memory components into a single package that can be stacked directly on top of the mobile processor, without taking any additional space - a distinct improvement over existing two-package eMCP memory solutions.

"By offering our new high-density ePoP memory for flagship smartphones, Samsung expects to provide its customers with significant design benefits, while enabling faster and longer operation of multi-tasking features," Jeeho Baek, Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing at Samsung Electronics. "We plan to expand our line-up of ePoP memory with packages involving enhancements in performance and density over the next few years, to further add to the growth of premium mobile market."

Samsung rolled out the S34E790CN, a 34-inch, curved, ultra-wide screen monitor, offering pixel densities comparable to Ultra HD monitors. The monitor offers a native resolution of 3440 x 1440 pixels, with a curvature optimized for getting more detail through to your peripheral vision. It features in-built split-screen and PIP functions, and takes in input from DisplayPort 1.2 and two HDMI 1.4 connectors. Other display vitals include 4 ms (GTG) response time, 178°/178° viewing angles, 300 cd/m² maximum brightness, and dynamic mega-contrast ratio. Other features include a 4-port USB 3.0 hub, and 7W stereo speakers. Measuring 821.5 mm x 275.5 mm x 552 mm (WxDxH), it weighs 9.9 kg (including stand). It is expected to hit the stores around the 15th of this month.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has begun mass producing the industry's first 8 gigabit (Gb) GDDR5 DRAM, based on the company's leading-edge 20-nanometer (nm) process technology. GDDR5 is the most widely used discrete graphics memory in the world.

Designed for use in graphics cards for PCs and supercomputing applications, and on-board graphics memory for game consoles and notebook PCs, discrete graphics DRAM provides an extensive amount of bandwidth to process large high quality graphically-oriented data streams. With the rising popularity of 3-D games and UHD video content soon to be widespread, the need for high-performance, high-bandwidth graphics memory has begun to rapidly increase.

In a bid to stay current, with the advent of M.2, PCI-Express, and NVMe, OCZ announced its newest homebrew SSD controller. Called JetExpress, this controller has the potential to be the industry's fastest, rivaled only by Samsung, and its SM951 drives. The controller features a PCI-Express 3.0 x4 host interface, with 4 GB/s of bandwidth per direction, 8 GB/s in total. The controller supports 8-16 ONFI channels, 1-2 GB of DDR3 DRAM cache, and power loss protection circuits. It supports three popular form-factors, including M.2, 2.5-inch (likely SATA-Express), and SFF-8639. M.2 PCIe prototypes were put up for our lenses. The company plans to make both PC enthusiast and enterprise products using this controller.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has begun mass producing a high-performance, low-powered PCIe solid state drive (SSD), the SM951, for use in ultra-slim notebook PCs and workstations. "We are helping to accelerate growth of the ultra-slim notebook PC market with the introduction of this energy-efficient, high-speed PCIe SSD," said Jeeho Baek, Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing at Samsung Electronics. He added that, "We will continue to introduce next-generation high-density SSDs with improved performance and increased differentiation, as we further strengthen our business competitiveness in global SSD market."

The SM951 boasts outstanding performance, supporting both PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 2.0 interfaces. For use in the latest ultra-slim notebooks, it can read and write sequentially at 1,600 MB/s (megabytes per second) and 1,350 MB/s respectively based on PCIe 2.0. This performance level is approximately three times faster than that of the latest SSD with a SATA interface and about 30 percent faster than that of the Samsung XP941, its predecessor. In addition, the new SSD's random read and write speeds reach up to 130,000 and 85,000 IOPS (inputs/outputs per second) respectively.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today unveiled its 2015 monitor lineup, a series of premium products that offer outstanding viewing experiences for consumers and professionals alike. The new consumer models include the SE790C Curved Monitor, which provides an unparalleled, immersive experience as the world's first 3000R curved monitor with Ultra-Wide QHD resolution (3440x1440) and the UE590, a UHD monitor with an HDMI 2.0 port and extraordinary color detail perfect for editing and consuming multimedia and ideal for 60Hz PC gaming. Samsung is also launching the UE850 UHD and ECO-Friendly PLS SE650 monitors for creative and enterprise users. The new monitors will be on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Samsung's booth, 11906 in Central Hall, from January 6-9, 2015.

"Samsung is a longstanding leader in display technology, constantly innovating to create exceptional desktop viewing experiences," said Ron Gazzola, vice president of marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "We're proud to continue that legacy of innovation with the 2015 monitor line which offers truly remarkable and immersive visual experiences for all types of users."

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today unveiled the Samsung Portable SSD T1, a stylish, external portable solid state drive (SSD) that represents a new standard of storage for today's digital life. Designed for speed and security without sacrificing style, the Portable SSD T1 is ideal for business travelers, creative professionals and content creators with a need for secure local storage they can take on-the-go and use to quickly transfer large amounts of data. Available in 250 gigabyte (GB), 500 GB and 1 terabyte (TB) storage capacities, the Portable SSD T1 will launch globally in 15 countries across the United States, European and Asian markets later this month.

Powered by Samsung's proprietary 3D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) technology, the Portable SSD T1 is a high-performance memory storage device recently chosen as an honoree for the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation Awards. The new drive will be on display at the 2015 CES from January 6-9 at Samsung's booth, 11906, located in the Central Hall.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc., a world leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today unveiled its new ultraportable laptop, the ATIV Book 9. As the latest addition to the ATIV Book 9 line, this stunning, all-aluminum PC offers an unparalleled WQXGA display, as well as improved connectivity and mobility for today's always-on consumer. The ATIV Book 9 will be on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Samsung's booth, 11906 in Central Hall, from January 6-9, 2015.

"Samsung is dedicated to providing the best options for consumers to stay fully connected and productive from anywhere, and the ATIV Book 9 goes above and beyond in meeting that demand for both consumers and professional users," said Gary Riding, vice president of mobile computing marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "The new Samsung ATIV Book 9 will continue to revolutionize the ultrabook market with a stunning screen, thinner and lighter design, and easy connectivity with other Samsung products."