Sonic Solutions and DivX, Inc. today jointly announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement for Sonic Solutions to acquire DivX, Inc., a leading digital media company, based in San Diego, California. Under the terms of the agreement, approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Sonic would acquire all the outstanding shares of DivX and merge DivX operations into those of Sonic. DivX stockholders would receive a combination of cash and stock equal to $3.75 in cash and 0.514 shares of Sonic common stock for each share of DivX they hold. The acquisition, which is expected to close in September 2010, is subject to approval of the shareholders of both companies as well as applicable regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

For more than 20 years, Sonic has been the leader in developing technologies for the preparation and delivery of entertainment content in popular formats — CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc and most recently Internet delivery of video. The acquisition of DivX is expected to advance Sonic's mission to deliver technology that makes it easy and convenient for retailers, online services, Hollywood studios, and manufacturers of CE and mobile devices to distribute premium digital video content over the Internet. DivX is expected to enable Sonic to deepen and broaden the technology it offers for Internet-based video delivery and expand its relationships with leading retailers and consumer electronics manufacturers.

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Plextor LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, announces its new PX-MMC-BMW1 (or PlexMedia ) networked media player, as well the compatible PX-B120U external BD-ROM drive, at Computex 2010 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Visitors can take a first look at Plextor’s new networked media player, the PX-MMC-BMW1 (or PlexMedia), while at the show.  This is the first networked media player that can be connected to an external USB BD-ROM drive, making it possible to watch high-definition Blu-ray discs in your living room without having to purchase a Blu-ray disc player.

Simultaneously with the media player, Plextor also launches the PX-B120U, a compatible external BD-ROM drive. This portable drive can be connected to the media player to become your living room Blu-ray disc player, but is versatile enough to carry in a notebook bag or connect to a desktop PC – allowing you to enjoy HD everywhere.

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SanDisk Corporation today introduced its latest solid state drive (SSD) products. The SanDisk® SSD G4 serves as a drop-in replacement for hard disk drives (HDD) in notebooks; while the SanDisk® SSD P4, the successor to the widely used pSSD modular drive, enables designers to offer even thinner netbook and tablet computers.

The new drives offer a unique balance of performance, high-capacity storage and long-term reliability. SanDisk SSD P4 and SanDisk SSD G4 offer up to 128 gigabytes (GB) and 256GB of storage respectively, double the capacities of the company's previous SSD offerings. The drives are available in various compact form factors, which SanDisk can customize according to manufacturers' specification, offering greater freedom and flexibility in how OEMs design their products. The SSDs use SanDisk's advanced 32-nanometer (nm) multi-level cell (MLC) process technology, which enables cost-competitive high-capacity storage with a tiny footprint.

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Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced the industry’s broadest family of ultra slim and light 7mm z-height drives. Whether customers need a slim 7mm drive that is the highest capacity, fastest or tuned precisely for A/V streaming, the new Hitachi Z-series family of Travelstar and CinemaStar drives delivers on the company’s proven strengths of reliability, low-power consumption, exceptional shock resistance and quiet acoustics. With the entire family offered in capacities up to 320GB – the industry’s highest 7mm drive capacity in a one-disk design – Hitachi is at the forefront, leading the shift from 9.5mm 2.5-inch drives to 7mm 2.5-inch drives across a broad range of market segments.

From laptops and handhelds to PVRs and blade servers, Hitachi’s new 7mm Z-series family of Travelstar and CinemaStar drives are designed as a direct replacement for today’s standard 2.5-inch, 9.5mm hard drives. All Hitachi Z-series drives feature common connectors and common mounting points for simple integration into existing systems, and enable greater design flexibility to differentiate and meet market demands for new, thinner, lighter and more robust devices.

When combining cost per gigabyte and gigabyte per cubic millimeter (GB/mm3), Hitachi 7mm drives are the most cost-effective and space-efficient storage solutions when compared to solid state drives (SSD), 2.5-inch 9.5 mm and 1.8-inch hard drives, offering a compelling value proposition for OEMs and system integrators.

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