Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announced today its new slim external 3-D Blu-ray combo, the SE-406A optical disk drive (ODD).

Featuring a sleek design with an anti-fingerprint surface, the SE-406A adds Blu-ray 3D to PC's. The new drive includes CyberLink TrueTheater software to test PC readiness for 3D and Blu-ray content. It also transforms 2D DVD movies into a thrilling 3D experience. Beyond these features, the SE-406A reads Blu-ray discs and reads and writes CD/DVDs.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced today that it started the industry's first production of four gigabit (Gb), low power double-data-rate 2 (LPDDR2) DRAM using 30 nanometer (nm) class technology earlier this month. The mobile DRAM chip will help the market to deliver thinner, lighter smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, with longer battery life, at a level unachievable until now.,

"Mass production of 4Gb LPDDR2 is a tremendous advancement for the mobile industry, one that will enable our OEM customers to move quickly in launching better differentiated high-performance mobile devices into the market." said Wanhoon Hong, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to take the initiative in accelerating growth of the market by providing high-performance, high-density green memory products as often and as early as possible."

Samsung flexed its market arm today by releasing one of the first monitors to feature Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology. UWB is a method of wirelessly connecting the monitor to the PC/Laptop. The power cord stays, but hey, the lesser the cables the better, right? Samsung is bundling a UWB dongle that plugs into the PC/notebook's display connector, and relays video wirelessly to the display.

The SyncMaster C27A750 from Samsung is a 27-inch full-HD (1920 x 1080 resolution) monitor with 300 cd/m² maximum brightness. UWB aside, users can physically connect the monitor to a PC/notebook using D-Sub or HDMI. The piano-black "easy hub" (base with connectivity) also packs USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 hubs. Slated for April, the Samsung SyncMaster C27A750 is expected to be priced at €599.

Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Corporation, today announced three new mobile PC lines for the workplace. The Series 2, Series 4 and Series 6 laptops combine first-rate reliability and enhanced security with features like anti-shock hard drives and pressure-resistant casings to meet the needs of a fast-paced enterprise or educational environment.

"Samsung's new mobile PCs deliver an unrivaled experience for the workplace, with features specifically designed to meet the needs of IT managers and end users," said Scott Ledterman, director of mobile PC marketing at Samsung Enterprise Business Division. "The new Series 2, 4 and 6 laptops present a unique opportunity for Samsung to specifically focus on the enterprise and educational channels and underscores Samsung as a global leader in the enterprise PC market."

Samsung launched its latest 950 series 3D LED monitors in Korea. It was first displayed to the public at this year's CES event, back in January. The series consists of two 27-inch displays, the 27TA950 with its asymmetric stand design, and the 27TA750 with its centrally-located stand. Both monitors feature full-HD resolution, HDTV tuners, 3D display support (refresh rate not known), and use LED for uniform illumination and high dynamic contrast ratio. The panel is backed with a host of features, including Samsung Ultra Clear Panel Technology, Samsung TV Apps and Smart Hub, and USB to share content both ways to/from the TV. In Korea, the 27TA950 is priced at 8.9 Million Won (US $8,000), while the 27TA750 goes for 8.4 Million Won, or $7,500.

NVIDIA today reported revenue of $886.4 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 ended Jan. 30, 2011, up 5.0 percent from the prior quarter and down 9.8 percent from $982.5 million from the same period a year earlier.

On a GAAP basis, the company recorded net income of $171.7 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, compared with $84.9 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the previous quarter and GAAP net income of $131.1 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the same period a year earlier. GAAP gross margin was a record 48.1 percent compared with 46.5 percent in the previous quarter and 44.7 percent in the same period a year earlier.

Prospects are looking brighter by the day for GlobalFoundries, as the firm is reportedly in talks with Toshiba to strike a chip foundry partner deal. The deal will give GlobalFoundries contract to manufacture any or many of the plethora of chips Toshiba uses in computer hardware and consumer electronics. On GlobalFoundries' side, Doug Grose, chief executive officer of the American foundry, told Nikkei that the two firms are in the final stages of negotiations.

"We had been considering outsourcing production to Samsung Electronics Co and GlobalFoundries since last year," said a Toshiba official. With this deal, Toshiba is looking for 28 nm and 40 nm class manufacturing, thereby cutting a chunk of its R&D, and making its engineers focus on chip design. Parallel to this, a deal with Samsung will allow the Korean electronics giant to manufacture low-cost image-processing chips, while GlobalFoundries manufactures products with the latest-technologies.

IBM and Samsung today announced they will collaborate on basic research into new semiconductor materials, manufacturing processes and other technologies. The agreement calls for the two companies to jointly develop new semiconductor process technology that can be used in a broad range of applications -- from smart phone handsets to communications infrastructure.

For the first time, Samsung researchers will join IBM scientists in the Semiconductor Research Alliance at the Albany Nanotech Complex, Albany, N.Y., where researchers will investigate new materials and transistor structures, as well as innovative interconnect and packaging solutions for next-generation technology nodes. The research developments from this joint activity are planned to enable the delivery of industry leading silicon solutions that are optimized for performance, power consumption and size.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced today that it completed development of the industry's first DDR4 DRAM module last month, using 30 nanometer (nm) class process technology.

"Samsung has been actively supporting the IT industry with our green memory initiative by coming up with eco-friendly, innovative memory products providing higher performance and power efficiency every year," said Dong Soo Jun, president, memory division, Samsung Electronics. "The new DDR4 DRAM will build even greater confidence in our cutting-edge green memory, particularly when we introduce four-gigabit (Gb) DDR4-based products using next generation process technology for mainstream application."

Micron Technology, Inc., (Nasdaq:MU) today announced results of operations for its first quarter of fiscal 2011, which ended December 2, 2010. For the first quarter, the company had net income attributable to Micron shareholders of $155 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, on net sales of $2.3 billion. The results for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 compare to net income of $342 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, on net sales of $2.5 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, and net income of $204 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, on net sales of $1.7 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

In the company's Memory segment (which excludes Numonyx and other non-reportable segments), revenue from sales of DRAM products was 19 percent lower in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 due to a 23 percent decrease in average selling prices partially offset by a 5 percent increase in unit sales volume. Revenue from sales of NAND Flash products was up slightly in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 due to a 20 percent increase in unit sales volume partially offset by a 15 percent decrease in average selling prices. The company's gross margin for its Memory segment was 26 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 compared to 37 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, primarily due to the decreases in average selling prices, partially offset by decreases in manufacturing costs.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced today that it has developed and started sampling 100, 200 and 400 gigabyte (GB) multi-level-cell (MLC) solid state drives (SSDs) for use as the primary storage in enterprise storage systems.

"As more and more server makers are adopting SSDs for use in eco-friendly platforms that consume less electrical power, the need for high-density SSDs in the server market is growing rapidly," said Byungse So, senior vice president, memory product planning & application engineering team, Samsung Electronics. "While Samsung is already well situated in the SSD market for enterprise servers with high-performance SSDs using single-level-cell (SLC) NAND flash memory, we are now expanding our line-up to include high-density SSDs using MLC NAND flash memory."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced the development of an eight gigabyte (GB) registered dual inline memory module (RDIMM) based on its advanced Green DDR3 DRAM. The new memory module, which has just been successfully tested by major Samsung customers, delivers superior performance, in particular because of its use of a three-dimensional (3D) chip stacking technology referred to as 'through silicon via' (TSV).

"At Samsung, we're well positioned to accommodate early market demand for our state-of-the-art TSV technology as the industry continues to forge forward with even further advances in bonding technology to enable greater performance and operational efficiency," said Dr. Chang-Hyun Kim, senior vice president and Samsung fellow, memory product planning & application engineering at Samsung Electronics. "Our 40nm-class* RDIMM being announced today marks the introduction of a more advanced eco-friendly 'Green Memory' product line up utilizing 3D-TSV technology that is expected to enhance the leadership of Samsung and our allies in server and enterprise storage."

Galaxy debuted a premium custom-design GeForce GTS 450 graphics card belonging to the company's new bleeding-edge factory-OC identifier, the HOF (hall of fame). The GTS 450 HOF from Galaxy uses a core clocked at no less than 1000 MHz, blazing past factory-OC levels set by the likes of Point of View (TGT-Beast @ 920 MHz); Gigabyte (WindForce XOC @ 930 MHz), Colorful (iGame @ 900 MHz), and EVGA (FTW Edition @ 930 MHz), etc.

Galaxy's card makes use of a rather simple 4+1 phase VRM to deliver power, drawing from a single 6-pin power connector, but relies on a powerful cooling solution designed by Arctic Cooling, and very low latency (0.4 ns) GDDR5 memory chips made by Samsung. The memory interface is clocked at 1025 MHz (4100 MHz GDDR5 effective), while the CUDA cores are clocked at 2000 MHz. The card was introduced to the Chinese market a little earlier this month, and is now on its way to western market. For EU, the same exact card KFA2-branded, isn't ruled out. Its pricing isn't known at the moment.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today the industry's first production of a 3-bit-cell (3bit), 64 gigabit (Gb) NAND flash using 20 nanometer (nm)-class process technology. The highly advanced new chip can be used in high-density flash solutions such as USB flash drives (UFDs) and Secure Digital (SD) memory cards.

"Samsung has repeatedly provided the market with leading-edge NAND flash solutions, including the introduction of 30nm-class, 32Gb 3-bit NAND flash last November," said Seijin Kim, vice president, Flash Memory Planning/Enabling, Samsung Electronics. "By now entering into full production of 20nm-class 64Gb 3-bit devices, we expect to accelerate adoption of our high-performance NAND solutions that use Toggle DDR technology, for applications that also require high-density NAND."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announced today its newest consumer-friendly external DVD writer, the SE-S084F optical disc drive This drive will be available just in time for the holiday season at select online retail outlets.

"Weighing less than one pound and available in five distinct colors, the Samsung SE-S084F DVD Writer was built for netbook and mini PC users, who require the flexibility of a smaller device, but do not want to sacrifice the benefits of an optical disc drive," said John Suh, director of OMS sales, optical disc drive division for Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "For ultimate portability, the DVD writer offers customers high-performance reading and writing functions directly from a USB power source, removing the need for an AC adaptor or power cables."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it is mass producing 100 and 200 gigabyte (GB) solid state drives (SSDs) for use as the primary storage in enterprise storage systems. "By being able to fully meet the rising demand for high-performance and eco-friendly server and storage platforms, SSDs will be able to penetrate the enterprise application market even more rapidly," said Dong-Soo Jun, executive vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Electronics. "We will continue to deliver SSD solutions with outstanding performance and low power consumption to provide optimal value for data centers and other enterprise storage environments."

The first recipient of the drive will be EMC. "EMC collaborated with Samsung to qualify Samsung's new enterprise-class SSDs for EMC's market-leading midrange storage portfolio," said Joel Schwartz, Sr. Vice President, Common Storage Platform Operations at EMC. Samsung started producing its 3.5 inch 100 and 200GB SSDs last month. Adopting SSDs as a main storage media in storage systems will minimize power consumption as well as enhance overall system performance, leading to a lowering of the total cost of ownership over time.

Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Corporation, the number one worldwide brand of LCD display products, today announced the launch of a new line of 31 series LED-backlit monitors. This new line-up is an ideal option for budget-conscious users looking for the energy-saving benefits of an LED monitor in a stylish and affordable package.

"The 31 series LED monitors fit the needs of consumers looking to upgrade to an LED monitor on a budget, especially this holiday season," said Young Bae, director of display marketing, Samsung Enterprise Business Division. "This line of monitors, designed with students and small and home office users in mind, stays true to Samsung's legacy of sleek design and superior LED performance."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it is mass producing the highest density memory module for laptops and mobile workstations ' an eight gigabyte (GB) small outline dual inline memory module (SoDIMM) or unbuffered dual inline memory module (UDIMM), based on 4-gigabit (Gb), 40 nanometer (nm)-class* DDR3. High-density DDR3 will benefit chip designers, CAD/CAM engineers and other professionals who need to work with large data sets at significantly faster speeds.

Samsung is shipping 1G x64 (8GB) configurations of its new high-density, high-performance 40nm-class DDR3-based modules. Dell, first to market with the new module, is offering it in the 17 inch Dell Precision M6500 mobile workstation, which features 32GBs of Samsung 40nm-class DDR3, or four 8GB SoDIMMs.

During keynote presentations today at the Intel Developer Forum, Intel Corporation executives outlined several software- and hardware-related efforts as the company intensifies its System-on-a-Chip (SoC) product plans based on the Intel Atom processor family.

Amid predictions of billions of additional Internet-connected devices going online, Renée James, senior vice president and general manager, Intel Software and Services Group, and Doug Davis, vice president and general manager, Embedded and Communications Group, discussed the expansion of these processors into high-growth areas including netbooks, tablets, CE, embedded, and smart phones.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has expanded its 'Green Memory' initiative going beyond DRAM and solid state drives (SSDs) to include several memory products for PC and mobile application areas. At the seventh annual Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum being held here today, Samsung announced that its 'Green Memory' initiative will now include Samsung LPDDR2 and GDDR5 green memory as well as its GreenDDR3 and Green SSDs.

Stepping up its efforts to increase worldwide interest in Green IT products and eco-friendly solutions, a new website has been launched to promote the expanded initiative to OEM customers and consumers. It provides detailed information on Samsung's green product strategies and green-focused partners, for all three market areas, as well as industry-wide green IT trends.

Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Corporation, today announced a series of new mobile PC products that combine Samsung's signature style and premium performance for use at home, in the office, or on-the-go. The new QX410, SF510, RF510 and RF710 laptops and the NF series netbooks showcase Samsung's continued dedication to innovation in mobile computing, and set a new standard for premium and functional design at any price point.

"Samsung continues to evolve our mobile PC line-up creating a sleeker, more stylish and technologically superior product perfect for professionals, students, or multimedia-focused consumers," said Todd Bouman, director of product marketing at Samsung Enterprise Business Division. "More importantly, the technological innovations within the QX, SF, RF and NF series of mobile PCs underscore Samsung's position as a leader in mobile computing, offering consumers the performance they've come to expect in an aesthetically pleasing package."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, today introduced its latest wireless universal serial bus (USB) solution, developed using Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology. Offered in a two-chip set, Samsung's newest S3C2680/ S5M8311 WUSB solution enables high definition content to be wirelessly transmitted from a mobile host device to a tethered device for viewing. Initial applications are high-resolution cameras, camcorders, TVs and PCs with prospects for adoption in other applications including tablet PCs, printers, beam projectors, portable HDDs, Blu-ray players, and mobile handsets.

"The ability to handle wireless high-speed data transmission while consuming less power is a key requirement for many consumer electronic devices," said Yiwan Wong, vice president, System LSI marketing, Samsung Electronics. "Due to power/performance issues, previous generations of WUSB products were unable to meet the consumers' expectations. Samsung's new WUSB chipset delivers up to 480Mbps (Megabit per second) data transmission rate, at an average power consumption of less than 300mW. This level of power efficiency greatly increases the attractiveness of WUSB connectivity in consumer electronic and mobile applications.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced the launch of the SF series of ultra-portable notePCs and NF series netbooks. Without compromising on powerful performance and enhanced features, the Samsung SF Series notePCs and NF Series netbooks set a new standard for design in mobile computing.

Coupling a unique, streamlined design with optimal features for mobile convenience, the new lineup of SF series notePCs and NF series netbookshave been designed to match the dynamic and ever-changing lives of mobile users. Smooth and refined body design attracts the most sophisticated of today's computer users.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it will demonstrate for the first time a 16-Gigabyte (GB), very low profile (VLP) memory module at the VM World 2010 in an IBM H22V blade server, running on Intel Xeon 5600-series processors.

Based on 4-gigabit (Gb), 40 nanometer (nm)-class DDR3, the new modules use 18 4Gb dual-die packaged (DDP) chips, and operate on 1.35 volts of electrical current. The 16GB 40nm-class DDR3 memory provides a powerful green solution, consuming 70 percent less power than four 4GB DDR3 modules and over 40 percent less than two 8GB modules, in setting a new "standard" for lower power consumption in servers. The module's very low profile (18.75 mm high) allows it to be used in extremely compact blade servers.

Samsung Japan recently added to its lineup, a 27-inch full-HD monitor with a blazing-fast response time of 1 ms. The new Samsung P2770FH makes use of a TN film panel with a matte screen. It features a piano black frame. Apart from the 1920 x 1080 pixels native resolution and 1 ms response time, the panel features a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 (70,000:1 DCR), and maximum brightness of 300 cd/m². Display inputs include DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub. Samsung did not give out a price yet, but one can expect it to be on the higher side.