Calimetrics' Technology Drives CD-R/RW to Two Gigabytes; MultiLevel Chip and Media Now Implemented on CD Burners, Brings New Capacity and Performance to Recordable Optical Storage.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers CES 2002 Booth No. 235 ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2002 Calimetrics, Inc. announced that its custom-designed MultiLevel mul·ti·lev·el adj. Having several levels: a multilevel parking garage. Adj. 1. multilevel - of a building having more than one level (ML) chip is designed-in to TDK's new Two Gigabyte (2 GB) capacity CD-RW (CD-ReWritable) The only rewritable CD technology. CD-RW disks look like other CD media, but with close inspection, they have a more polished surface with a very dark blue-gray cast. burner. Launch of the new drive marks the first availability of the ML read/write chip and ML media produced by Calimetrics' partners, Sanyo, TDK TDK Türk Dil Kurumu (Turkish Language Council) TDK The Dark Knights (gaming clan) TDK Tokyo Denkikagaku Kogyo KK (TDK Electronics Co. Ltd. and Plextor, bringing new capacity and performance to the recordable CD market. TDK's new ML-enhanced drive, slated for commercial shipment in the second quarter of 2002, is being demonstrated in TDK's booth (N235) at CES 2002, January 8 - 12. The working engineering model supports recording to both 2 GB ML-enhanced optical media blanks and conventional CD-R/RW discs. This support for both "legacy" CD-R/RW and enhanced media highlights the value of ML technology as a very cost-effective bridge to future higher capacity systems. Development of the ML-enhanced drives and media is fostered by the ML Alliance, an informal consortium formed in late 2000 to support commercialization of the new technology. The group includes drive and media manufacturers, and component suppliers. "We are very excited that TDK, a principal founder of the ML Alliance, is introducing the industry's first ML-enhanced drives and media," said Ken Campbell, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Calimetrics. "At an anticipated retail street price of $199 for the drive and $1.99 to $2.99 for media, TDK has proven that the cost premium of ML technology is minimal compared to the benefits of dramatically higher capacity and read-write performance. We're looking forward to seeing the availability of ML-enhanced products ramp up Ramp Up To increase a company's operations in anticipation of increased demand. Notes: A company might 'ramp up' operations if they just signed a contract creating substantially more demand for their product. See also: Demand, Economies of Scale throughout 2002." The ML format extends and enhances the capacity, speed and value of CD technology. Implementing the technology requires the addition of a single integrated circuit integrated circuit (IC), electronic circuit built on a semiconductor substrate, usually one of single-crystal silicon. The circuit, often called a chip, is packaged in a hermetically sealed case or a nonhermetic plastic capsule, with leads extending from it for (IC) to the standard electronics of current CD-R/RW drives, so manufacturers can add ML capability without altering existing optics, mechanics or manufacturing infrastructure. ML discs, which also incorporate enhancements to triple the available storage capacity compared to current technology, maintain the cost-per-megabyte efficiencies of conventional CD-R (CD-Recordable) A writable CD technology using a type of compact disc that can be recorded, but not erased (CD-Rs are "write once" discs). CD-R discs are used to master CD-ROMs, to back up data and to make copies of data for distribution. and CD-RW discs. Calimetrics, Inc. is a data storage and communications technology company headquartered in Alameda, California. Incorporated in 1994, the venture-backed firm holds an extensive portfolio of intellectual property in the optical data storage and communications fields, and is the exclusive licensee of patents granted to the University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. Commonly referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley and Cal , related to optical data storage. Calimetrics-designed integrated circuits, cores and disc media enable low-cost production of optical data storage and communications systems with significantly greater capacity and faster data transfer rate than currently available systems. Calimetrics has received investment from venture capital and corporate investors, as well as significant support from the Advanced Technology Program of NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Washington, DC, www.nist.gov) The standards-defining agency of the U.S. government, formerly the National Bureau of Standards. It is one of three agencies that fall under the Technology Administration (www.technology. , part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. For further information on Calimetrics, please see: www.calimetrics.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion