AMD today announced its collaboration with Microsoft Corp. for more than 125 Windows 8-based PC designs from leading OEMs including ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and more. With a hardware accelerated user interface, Microsoft and AMD have collaborated to design Windows 8 to unlock the high performance graphics capabilities found in AMD accelerated processing units (APUs) and discrete AMD Radeon graphics processing units (GPUs) to deliver the best HD video, gaming and app experience consumers want with the always on, always connected, touch-driven interface with great battery life they need.

"There is a lot of exciting innovation happening in the marketplace today -- from the new Windows 8 graphics-accelerated user interface and apps, to ultraportable and sleek hardware designs -- and AMD's CPU, GPU and APU technology designed for Windows 8 helps enable a no-compromise solution," said Stefan Kinnestrand, director of Product Management, Windows Division at Microsoft.

AMD announced that its AMD Z-60 accelerated processing unit (APU) powers the new Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q572 10.1" tablet, providing quality and performance to professionals on the move. The combination of processor and system design provides users with portability, Windows compatibility and security in one tablet device. With impressive performance at low power, the AMD Z-60 APU supports unique Fujitsu features like an integrated Smart Card reader and removable battery.

Supporting a rich Windows 8 or Windows 7 experience with its AMD Radeon graphics, the AMD Z-60 APU enables the ability to run the full suite of legacy PC applications while supporting the most visually demanding programs. A suite of enterprise-friendly features such as the trusted platform module (TPM) and hardware-based disk encryption are also supported by the AMD Z-60 APU. The STYLISTIC Q572's lightweight (approximately 1.6-pounds) design and impressive feature-set make it an ideal match for the mobile workforce.

Fujitsu today announced the launch of the new Floral Kiss brand of FMV personal computers aimed at female users. The new series will be available throughout Japan beginning November 2 at electronics stores and from the Fujitsu WEB MART online store.

Based upon the design concept of bringing elegance to PCs, Floral Kiss is a new series that was planned and developed primarily under the direction of female employees.

The last among Fujitsu's big Windows 8 product family is the Esprimo all-in-one/desktop series, including three lines: the class-leading Esprimo FH, Esprimo DH desktops, and entry-level Esprimo EH. The Esprimo FH series includes the 23-inch FH98, and 21.5-inch FH56. Both models have similar hardware options, including Core i7-3630QM quad-core processors, 8 GB memory, 3 TB HDD, BDXL drives, IPS LED touchscreens with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolutions, and TV tuners.

The DH series are loaded with conventional desktop hardware, including Core i7-3770 quad-core processor, 8 GB memory, 4 TB HDD, BDXL drives, and a variety of screen size and connectivity options. The Esprimo EH series includes entry-level 20-inch all-in-ones driven by AMD E-1200 APUs, with 4 GB memory, 1 TB HDDs, 1600 x 900 pixels screens, 802.11 b/g/n, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0, and multi-format card readers. The three lines are expected to be launched on October 26.

Fujitsu unveiled a fleet of notebooks beginning with its 13.3-inch Lifebook SH series, driven by Core i5-3210M or Core i3-3110M processors, 8 GB memory, 128 GB SSD or 500 GB HDD, and sized at 316 x 226 x 13.5 ~ 19.9 mm. Moving on, the Lifebook UH series includes 13.3-inch Ultrabooks, driven by Core i5-3427U processors, SSD or HDD storage options, and anodized aluminum unibodies.

Next up is the wide range of Lifebook AH series, which includes mainstream notebooks ranging from 15.6-inch and above (desktop replacements). These models have the luxury of room for quad-core Core i7-3632QM processors, 8 GB memory, 1 TB HDDs, BDXL writers, 1920 x 1080 pixels screens, and a plethora of connectivity options including USB 3.0, 802.11 b/g/n, gigabit Ethernet, TV tuners, etc. A typical model measures 374.4 x 249.7 x 12.6 ~ 20.8 mm. The Lifebook AH is slated for November 2.

Fujitsu unveiled the Stylistic QH77, a 11.6-inch convertible, which works as a large-sized tablet PC, and as a notebook, when docked. Its 11.6-inch screen packs 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. Under the hood is an Intel Core i5-3427U (dual-core, 1.80 GHz) processor, 4 GB of memory, and 64 GB SSD. Windows 8 64-bit and Office Home and Business 2010 come pre-installed.

Connectivity on the Stylistic QH77 includes USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth, HDMI, D-Sub, and multi-format card-reader. The keyboard base adds physical connectors for additional USB 2.0 ports, the RJ45 jack for Ethernet, and D-Sub. As a tablet, the QH77 packs 4.8 hours battery life. The keyboard base, with its additional battery packs give it 10.7 hours to go on. With the base attached, it measures 302 x 203 x 26.1 mm weighing 1.7 kg. Detached from its base, it measures 302 x 195 x 12.7 mm, weighing 850 g. It is slated for October 26.

Fujitsu unveiled its FMV series Windows 8 PC family, which includes tablets, convertibles, notebooks, and all-in-one PCs, all of which are touch-enabled to take advantage of the new operating system. To begin with, Fujitsu unveiled the 10.1-inch QH55 tablet. Based on the x86 platform, the QH55 is driven by Intel Atom Z2760 (dual-core, 1.50 GHz) processor, 2 GB memory, 64 GB SSD, Windows 8 32-bit, with Office Home and Business 2010 pre-installed. Its 10.1-inch screen packs 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. Measuring 264.4 x 169.4 x 9.9 mm (width × depth × height), it weighs 574 g. Connectivity features include 8 MP back and 2 MP front-facing cameras, micro USB, micro SDXC, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, accelerometer, gyrometer, and stereo audio. It is slated for October 26.

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, announced today it has signed a patent license agreement with Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited. This six-year agreement covers the use of Rambus patented innovations implemented in a broad range of integrated circuit (IC) products offered by Fujitsu Semiconductor. Financial terms of the agreement are confidential.

"As a global leader in the semiconductor market, Fujitsu Semiconductor is an important customer and this agreement validates the continued strength of our portfolio," said Dr. Ronald Black, chief executive officer of Rambus. "We look forward to the opportunity to expand our customer relationships beyond patent license agreements to showcase our technical contributions and system know-how with our customers."

Fujitsu today expanded its mobile portfolio -- debuting the versatile STYLISTIC Q702 business hybrid tablet featuring an 11.6-inch AH-IPS HD, dual digitizer, multi-touch display for pen or touch input -- and a productivity-enhancing optional attachable keyboard docking station that turns the sleek tablet into a traditional notebook. For business professionals requiring a tablet with a keyboard attached at all times, Fujitsu has refreshed the LIFEBOOK T902 convertible tablet PC, featuring a frameless 13.3-inch HD+ anti-glare widescreen display -- the largest screen available with touch and pen support. Fujitsu designed the STYLISTIC Q702 hybrid tablet and the LIFEBOOK T902 tablet PC with the goal of being used with Windows 8.

The STYLISTIC Q702 hybrid tablet is designed to accommodate various work-styles. Ideal for on-your-feet computing, the STYLISTIC Q702 is perfect for use in healthcare, education, retail POS, insurance and anywhere where a tablet is the preferred solution, but it doesn't end there. Attach the optional keyboard dock and your tablet transforms into a notebook complete with WLAN, USB, and VGA connectivity as well as an additional battery. Complete all your keyboard intensive tasks with the keyboard dock and then, with the flip of a switch, you're back in tablet mode. You only need to take with you what you need when you need it.

Fujitsu today introduced a trio of commercial LIFEBOOK notebooks -- the full-size 15.6-inch LIFEBOOK E752; the 14-inch thin, light and economical LIFEBOOK S752; and the 13.3-inch high-performance, subcompact LIFEBOOK S762 notebook.

Powered by the new 3rd generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, all three LIFEBOOK notebooks feature optional SSD cache or SSD drives with Intel Rapid Start Technology for powering up with the speed of an Ultrabook device. In addition, the notebook trio offers a versatile modular bay allowing users to remove the optical drive to lighten the load when travelling or to install a second battery, which along with the high-capacity standard battery provides up to 15.5 hours of operation.

NVIDIA today announced that NVIDIA Tesla GPUs are now available in Fujitsu's PRIMERGY CX400 S1 servers, offering high-performance GPU-accelerated computing to Fujitsu's large installed base of customers in Japan and Europe.

Fujitsu designed the PRIMERGY CX400 S1 server for high performance in a compact form factor by using half-wide, two-socket server nodes -- doubling the number of cores per unit height. The system houses either four 1U hot-plug PRIMERGY CX250 S1 server nodes with two CPUs per node, or two 2U hot-plug CX270 S1 server nodes with two CPUs and one NVIDIA Tesla GPU per node.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that Fujitsu has selected the SanDisk iSSD integrated storage device for use in the new Fujitsu LIFEBOOK lineup of Ultrabook computers.

The 32 gigabyte (GB) SanDisk iSSD provides fast, reliable storage in the Fujitsu LIFEBOOK U772, UH772 and UH572 models, which Fujitsu introduced today. SanDisk iSSD technology is combined with Condusiv Technologies ExpressCache software in the new Fujitsu LIFEBOOK computers to deliver improved system performance. This software and hardware combination reduces system startup and application loading times to deliver a better overall user experience.

Fujitsu is kicking off the summer product season today, introducing two LIFEBOOK Ultrabook devices -- the 14" LIFEBOOK U772 Ultrabook designed for business professionals and the 13.3" LIFEBOOK UH572 Ultrabook ideal for consumers -- powered by the 3rd generation Intel Core processors, which enable improved performance and extended battery life. Stylish and durable with magnesium alloy housing, both Fujitsu Ultrabook systems offer large touchpads with integrated buttons and multi-touch gesture support.

In addition to the new LIFEBOOK Ultrabook systems, Fujitsu introduced the refreshed Fujitsu LIFEBOOK NH532 desktop replacement notebook featuring a 17.3" HD+ display and powered by a new 3rd generation Intel Core processor.

Alliacense today announced that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has purchased a license for its CORE Flash Portfolio Licensing Program. The agreement resolves the ITC Investigation and District Court lawsuit recently filed against the Korean electronics giant. Samsung joins a rapidly growing list of CORE Flash Portfolio licensees, including Lexmark, ASUStek, Philips and Lenovo.

In order to protect the investments of the CORE Flash licensee community, the successful CORE Flash Licensing Program has been dramatically enhanced with aggressive enforcement activities -- including the filing of two separate waves of patent infringement complaints with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and US District Court against nearly 40 companies in the past 9 months.

DisplayLink, the leading provider of technology for virtual graphics and USB-connected computing announced the introduction of the Fujitsu USB 3.0 Port Replicator PR08 powered by the latest DisplayLink's DL-3900 graphics technology IC, enabling the first USB docking station to feature DisplayPort connectivity, reaching resolutions of up to 2560x1600.

Leveraging the high demand for "hot-desking" and flexibility within corporations, Fujitsu's USB 3.0 Port Replicator PR08 extends the capabilities of PCs, notebooks and Ultrabooks for businesses, consumers and design professionals alike, facilitating the right ergonomics and providing the productivity benefits of a workspace with multiple displays by harnessing the dual-head video port power of DisplayLink's DL-3900 graphics technology.

Fujitsu, the No.1 Global Tablet PC Vendor (2011 by units shipment), today launches the first LIFEBOOK to incorporate the new mobile Intel platform. Symphony at your fingertips - the newest LIFEBOOK LH772 orchestrates and fulfils your multimedia and entertainment desires with the Japanese ONKYO box speakers and enhanced DTS UltraPC II Plus Sound System.

"Fujitsu stays dedicated to our Japanese roots and the Takumi philosophy with the new LIFEBOOK LH772, which is the perfect epitome of style and function," said Mr. Lim Teck Sin, Vice President, Product Marketing and Engineering, Fujitsu PC Asia Pacific Ltd. "We endeavour to keep our 'Made in Japan' promise of premium quality and will continue to deliver great surprises and exciting products to our customers in 2012."

Fujitsu today introduced the LIFEBOOK AH532 desktop alternative notebook and the LIFEBOOK LH532 thin and light notebook, which are among the first systems to incorporate the new mobile Intel platform.

Powered by the next-generation mobile Intel HM76 Express chipsets and the Intel Core i3-2350M Processor, the 15.6" LIFEBOOK AH532 and the 14" LIFEBOOK LH532 notebooks with Microsoft Windows 7 are enhanced with a performance boost, improved multitasking, stunning visuals, the latest Intel WiDi (Wireless Display), and better energy efficiency.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced that the company's enterprise class Deneva 2 solid state drives will be deployed within the newest NuVola Private Cloud Platform Solution Appliance - SAN Velocity powered by Fujitsu, which also utilizes Assurance Storage's ApplicationSmart software.

The SAN Velocity powered by Fujitsu appliance combines Assurance Storage's ApplicationSmart software with Fujitsu's server hardware, and delivers significant benefits of intelligent, autonomic data cache and tier management used to optimize the performance of I/O intensive applications. Customers using the SAN Velocity appliance gain the benefits of aligning the value of data with the value of OCZ Deneva 2 SSD storage and Assurance Storage's software, to improve performance for a variety of business critical applications such as OLTP, database applications and storage cache management.

Recognizing standout marketing campaigns within the Intel Inside and Intel Brand Advantage programs, Intel Corporation feted a handful of companies with the first Intel Marketing Innovation Awards.

Fujitsu took the Grand Prix for its LIFEBOOK4Life campaign, being the best all-around entry among the various award categories. Fujitsu's campaign sought to increase brand relevance and drive sales for LIFEBOOK notebooks based on the second-generation Intel Core vPro processor family. The campaign targeted IT decision-makers in SMB, enterprise and the channel in 40 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. The campaign resulted in a 65 percent sales increase by integrating innovative social media activities via LinkedIn, Facebook, word-of-mouth, augmented reality and viral videos with standard advertising.

Fujitsu today launches the new PRIMERGY CX400 S1 multi-node Cloud eXtension server. This innovative technology requires only half the space of a standard rack server to provide enterprises with cost-effective, energy-efficient access to smart scale-out capabilities for deployments such as private cloud, high-performance computing (HPC) and large-scale virtualization.

Enterprise customers of all sizes are increasingly looking for improved energy efficiency, higher platform density and better management effectiveness when realizing their cloud computing, high performance computing, virtualization, hosting, or virtual-client computing strategies.

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) on Toshiba's acquisition of certain of Western Digital's 3.5-inch HDD manufacturing equipment and related intellectual property, and the transfer to Western Digital of Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (TSDT), Toshiba's wholly-owned HDD manufacturing subsidiary located in Thailand.

Toshiba and Western Digital aim to complete the acquisition and transfer by March of this year after obtaining approval from the relevant authorities. Under the agreement, Toshiba will acquire the following equipment and intellectual property from Western Digital.

• Manufacturing equipment for 3.5-inch HDDs for use in desktop PCs and other consumer applications, plus related intellectual property; and
• Manufacturing equipment for near-line HDDs for server applications.

To help customers address the inefficiencies and lost costs of managing multiple support vendors, Dell ProSupport for Multivendor has been globally expanded beyond x86 to include support for storage, networking and UNIX products. This expansion also includes support for additional vendors for servers, desktops and laptops. By consolidating support under one service provider, customers can ensure consistent processes and reduce the resources required to manage complex services contracts from multiple vendors, ultimately simplifying IT management and reducing their IT costs.

"Our customers rely on the expertise, global network and 24x7 availability of Dell ProSupport for their Dell systems and can now experience those same benefits across their entire environment," said Doug Schmitt, vice president, Dell Services. "With the latest expansion of Dell ProSupport for Multivendor, customers around the world can rely on Dell for all of their support needs. From end-user systems to complex data centers and everything in between, customers will save time and money and receive the same award-winning support they've come to expect from Dell ProSupport."

Former hard drive maker (it sold the HDD business to Toshiba in 2009) Fujitsu has finally decided to give SSDs (solid state drives) a try and so it developed and released such a storage solution. Codenamed HLACC2031A-G1, Fujitsu's SSD has a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, a SandForce SF-2281 controller, MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory, and is capable of read/write speeds of up to 550/500 MB/s, and of a random read/write performance of 55,000/40,000 IOPS.

The HLACC2031A-G1 is first being shipped to APAC (Asia-Pacific) markets in two capacities - 120 GB (~ US$202) and 240 GB (~ US$427). Both models will come with a three-year warranty.

Fujitsu Laboratories of America announced that it is hosting its Fifth Annual Technology Forum in Santa Clara, California tomorrow. The theme for this year's event is "From Sensor Networks to Human Networks - Turning Big Data into Actionable Wisdom." This invitation only event will feature keynote talks and panel discussions on how "big data" is transforming our daily lives and will showcase innovative new big data based solutions from Fujitsu companies worldwide.

According to industry experts, as a result of broad adoption of new technologies for personal communication and online interaction including smart phones and social networking, 2.4 zettabytes (2.4 billion terabytes) of unstructured big data will be created in 2012. These new layers of data about people, places, and things are emerging in real time from many directions, providing context around our content, location, searches, purchases, environment, and social/interest graphs. This is creating new challenges for Information and Communications Technology ("ICT") industry around data privacy, storage, bandwidth and processing, but also new opportunities for delivering valuable services to customers and society, by converting this data into actionable wisdom.

Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO has today announced the upcoming formation of a fabless joint venture company that will focus on the development of "feature-rich, small-size, low-power-consumption semiconductor products equipped with modem functionality."

Allegedly targeting Qualcomm, this new joint venture, which will be established by the end of March 2012, is set to be backed by NTT DOCOMO (of course), Samsung Electronics, Panasonic Mobile Communications, NEC, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Semiconductor. This six-company JV will start off by making chips for the LTE and LTE-Advanced mobile communication standards. Said chips will be available worldwide so a variety of manufacturers can adopt them for future devices.

To get the ball rolling on the joint venture, DOCOMO wants to invest 450 million yen (~ US $5.8 million) into a new, wholly owned subsidiary, called Communication Platform Planning. This entity will be headed by Mitsunobu Komori who's the executive vice president and Chief Technical Officer of DOCOMO. The subsidiary will be established by the middle of January.