Back in Hannover Messe 2011, Germany announced the Industry 4.0 concept and initiated the world's fourth industrial revolution. Since then, Hannover Messe has become a focal point for Industry 4.0 innovations. As Hannover Messe 2016 closes in, the exhibition will once again be surrounded by various Industry 4.0-related hot topics such as integrated industry, smart manufacturing and more.Coming soon on April 25 to 29, Hannover Messe 2016 will be based on the theme "Integrated Industry – Discover Solutions", which aims to provide an interpretation of the smart manufacturing model of Industry 4.0. As a Taiwanese company with deep expertise in IoT automation, NEXCOM has planned four themed demonstrations that map out a complete solution blueprint for industry 4.0 in the upcoming event.Joe Lin, General Manager of NEXCOM's IoT Automation Solutions Business Group, states, "Early Industry 4.0 solutions focused on the lower layers of factory communication where IoT gateways were used to integrate different industrial protocols, bridging the Industry 4.0 last mile connection to fulfill the 'connected' concept. Now in 2016, NEXCOM will extend the pathway to the cloud through NEXCOM IoT Studio configuration tool and IoT gateways, which consolidate the management and connection of factory field devices onto a unified control interface, accelerating data aggregation. This will enable a two-way field-to-cloud connection for big data analytics, promoting development for more Industry 4.0 applications."NEXCOM's Four Themed Zones for Industry 4.0 ApplicationsNEXCOM's four main highlights for Hannover Messe 2016 will be "IoT Automation Solution", "NexMotion Solution", "Industrial 4.0 Wireless Factory and Industrial Cloud & Security", and "NexROBO Solution". Although different in context, all four themes will use NEXCOM IoT Studio and IoT gateways to integrate field data to a cloud service powered by Microsoft Azure. Furthermore, the demonstrations will show how integrating cloud-enabled services such as business intelligence (BI), big data analytics, machine learning and remote management can provide benefits such as remote monitoring to enable exception management and advanced process control.For IoT Automation Solution, NEXCOM will present how live data from different-branded PLC controllers can be collected and processed to a cloud service platform through NEXCOM IoT Studio and IoT gateways. For NexMotion Solution, an EtherCAT Master controller will be on stage to demonstrate its control performance and cross-vendor support by controlling up to 64 motors and drives to dance along to the music. Lin adds, "NEXCOM's EtherCAT Master solution has been certified to support over ten types of servo motors. In addition, the solution is cyber-physical system (CPS) ready to carry out the CPS convergence envisioned by Industry 4.0."In the demonstration area for Industrial 4.0 Wireless Factory and Industrial Cloud & Security, NEXCOM will simulate a factory operation and demonstrate how the use of IoT gateways, firewalls and NEXCOM nCare remote management software can give wireless networks within and across factory plants and enterprise offices a secure data path to the cloud. As for the NexROBO Solution, to showcase the visual processing capability of robots, an articulated robot will be on display to imitate the arm movements of visitors, showing how robots can replace workers in high-risk environments.Big Data Cloud Analytics: Enabler for Exception Management, Advanced Process ControlAll the application scenarios mentioned above can integrate with the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Operators can benefit from the remote management and data visualization offered through cloud, assisting them to get an accurate measure of machine status and factory operations in real-time, as well as providing integration with ERP and MES systems to optimize supply chain management.Based on live field data, big data analytics and machine learning using statistics and artificial intelligence can establish predictive models that assist operators in managing factory operations. Causes for abnormal conditions such as production disruptions and poor production quality can be accurately identified to ensure corrective actions are taken. For instance, preventive maintenance can be executed prior an equipment failure to ensure production efficiency and yield rate.Furthermore, Microsoft Azure provides high computing performance capable of processing even very large amounts of data accumulated throughout the years of an enterprise, sifting through the data quickly to accurately calculate production efficiency and quality factors to help businesses to fine-tune production parameters and achieve "advanced process control". At the exhibition, NEXCOM will share its NexROBO robot simulation software and NEXCOM IoT Studio configuration tool, and make them freely available to download (www.alliotcloud.com) to help accelerate the ecosystem of the industry.The Hannover Messe exhibition continues to introduce new technological breakthroughs, showcasing innovative convergence of data communication technology and traditional industrial production. At Hall 9, which has been recognized as the cornerstone of Industry 4.0 demonstrations, NEXCOM will unveil its Industry 4.0 solution blueprint and provide a refreshing visual feast of the seamless integration of "connected manufacturing and big data cloud computing".NEXCOM's complete Industry 4.0 solution blueprint seamlessly integrates "connected manufacturing and big data cloud computing

Clientron Corp., world-leading supplier of POS, will proudly present its latest product innovation including All-in-one POS terminal, POS PC, POS peripheral with the benefit of reliability, flexibility and functionality at FHA 2016 (Food & Hotel Asia 2016), Asia's most comprehensive international Food & Hospitality Trade Event. This exhibition will take place April 12-15, 2016 in Singapore Expo.Demonstrating its leading POS innovation and rich product portfolio, Clientron provides the all new 15" / 15.6" POS terminal "Bello 650/650w" that features high quality and sleek design with both power and flexibility. Clientron also introduces the butterfly light-weight All-in-one POS Terminal "Wing" series with new flexible dual-hinge stand design. The mainstream "Ares650" series with fan-less design and updated ultra-slim system enclosure. Both "Wing350w" and "Ares650" won the "Taiwan Excellence Award 2016" with innovation and the best design quality.In addition, Clientron offers the top-of-the-line POS terminal Evo770, equipped with powerful Intel Core i processor(s) and a big crystal-clear 17" touch display, targeting at niche market segment. Moreover, many of the extended portfolios of integrated POS peripherals will also be exhibited in this event. Clientron booth is located at Hospitality Technology sector, Hall 3/ booth 3E4-05. See more product information at http://www.clientron.com/.Clientron to display its latest POS terminals at Food & Hotel Asia 2016 Expo

Leading Japanese SoC (System-on-Chip) company Socionext Inc. was established in March 2015. Socionext Taiwan Inc. has been established in Taiwan on April 1, 2016. Socionext Inc. was established by consolidating the system LSI businesses of Fujitsu Limited and Panasonic Corporation to focus on the development and application of imaging, networking, computing and other state-of-the-art technologies. Currently, Socionext Inc. has seven business units (BUs), including Visual System, IoT & Graphics, Network SoC, High Performance SoC, Custom SoC, Milbeaut, and Connected Imaging, to engage in design, research and development, and sales activities. Five BUs are based in Japan, and one each in the United States and Europe.According to Nobuhiko Aneha, president of Socionext Taiwan Inc., Socionext Taiwan Inc. will develop more cloud and IoT applications with the company's core technology including computing, network, and imaging. By continuously developing advanced imaging technology, the company wishes to take the initiative in the 8K imaging market. As Taiwan plays a very important role in the IT industry, besides richly cultivating Taiwan to provide Taiwanese customers with faster response and more direct services, Socionext Taiwan Inc. will make Taiwan the forward base for the company to enter the Asia-Pacific, European, and US markets for huge business opportunities.At the forthcoming Secutech International Exhibition and Conference (Apr. 19-21) on security held in Taipei and 2016 COMPUTEX Taipei (May 31 – June 4), Socionext Taiwan Inc. will exhibit the newest super-resolution imaging technology, high-speed video streaming, smart professional cameras, and security monitoring applications to provide customers with advanced experience and solutions with greater benefits in data transmission, professional equipment, entertainment, and security monitoring.* Booth of Socionext Taiwan Inc. at 2016 Secutech International Exhibition and Conference: Room 441, 4th Floor, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.* Booth of Socionext Taiwan Inc. at 2016 COMPUTEX: M1019a, 4th Floor, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.For product information, visit the company's website at http:// http://www.socionext.com/

After Toyota successfully launched Mirai fuel cell vehicle last year and Honda will also unveil Clarity hydrogen car later this year, fuel cell technology, which has been developed for a long time, has finally attracted people's attentions and ignited the momentums in the market again. Featured with renewable energy of zero carbon emission, it is expected that fuel cell technology will soon emerge in commercial market and drive new business opportunities.Founded in 2012, YC Synergy started its business from powering all-electrical yachts applications. The company has proven its capability of developing fuel cell systems for transportation applications by delivering such systems for "Mu Yang" and "Star of Hope" green boats, which are now in full operation. With this foundation, YC Synergy is planning to further expand to various vehicle applications including sedans, buses, and trucks.At the recently held Taiwan International Boat Show, Mark Huang, General Manager of YC Synergy, introduced the company's latest YCS-MB109 series products. It mainly targets at power applications with output power over 15KW. Compared with previous generation product, its volume and weight is reduced by 2x and 3x respectively at the same level of power grade. With the advantages of lightweight and compact design, it can be more easily integrated in a constrained space and achieve fast adoption.Moreover, YCS-MB109, which is equipped with CAN 2.0B and complies with IP67 auto-grade interface, is specially designed for vehicle applications. Customers can use parallel structure to meet their power requirements and accelerate design cycle.System Integrators are Key to Drive Commercial Applications"The overall supply chain of fuel cell market involves key components such as Proton exchange membrane, bipolar plates, and Fuel cell stack, as well as the infrastructure for hydrogen dispensing," Huang said. "However, it is the system integrator that play the important role of bridging advanced technology and commercial applications to make it a reality."Therefore, by working closely with international companies and integrating their key components, YC Synergy endeavors to develop system products to meet the requirements of end applications. "Our core technology is to provide complete power-train solutions including fuel cell, hydrogen tank, motors, batteries, and control system, and help our customers speed up their vehicle development to achieve the goal of optimize system performance and lifespan.""The fuel cell system we developed must be able to satisfy real-world performance requirements, such as temperature, vibration, reliability, and operation life, as well as cost effectiveness. These are all the differentiating capabilities that system integrators should have.""Though Taiwanese makers are not strong at foundation research of up-stream key materials, we do have advantages in the fields of machining, metal treatment, and electrical-mechanical integration. Therefore, we should really embrace the opportunities as fuel cell market emerges and focus on application development to create values."Aiming to become the world's largest fuel cell system integrator, YC Synergy is teaming up with local and foreign companies to development various solutions. In particular, it will work as a test platform for the key components makers of fuel cell in Taiwan, in an effort to explore more business opportunities together.Eyeing Vehicle Market to Build Mass Production CapabilityAccording to Huang, in line with the trend of non-nuclear and clean energy development, fuel cell technology will surely gain a significant foothold in the new energy market. "As Taiwan has very limited natural resources, the hydrogen society blueprint that Japanese government is actively working on could serve as a very good example for us," said he.However, mass production is still a barrier to break for fuel cell technology to move to large-scale commercial applications. For Toyota's Mirai hydrogen car, though creating a hype in the market, its annual capacity is only 3000 units, far less than that of other mainstream cars. Huang is optimistic about this, saying, "The maturity of fuel cell application depends on the availability of hydrogen dispensing station and related infrastructures. I believe that the mass production capability will accelerate after the overall environment is ready."From YC Synergy's point of view, China's 13th five year plan holds a great opportunity because its goal is to have 30 million units of new energy vehicles made in China by 2020, and fuel cell technology is included in the project. "We already begin to talk with bus and truck makers in China and achieve very good results so far. It is hoped that we could complete prototype development later this year, and start pilot production by end of next year.""China is in an urgent need to reduce carbon emission. Therefore, they are accelerating the pace of moving new energy car into mass production. But for fuel cell system integrators, we used to focus on custom design, so mass production will be another challenge for us.""We are now trying to define the mass production lines for fuel cell systems, which is totally new for us and requires more explorations. But I am confident that the challenge will be overcome as the market and technology get more matured. We plan to complete the deployment of mass production line by end of next year, so that we can address the market demands in the future."Eyeing the promising potentials, YC Synergy will hire more staff and raise funds from capital market to further expand its business operations.

Acer has expanded its line of Chromebooks with the Acer Chromebook 14 with a battery life of up to 14 hours. In addition, the device is equipped with a 14-inch display and an all-aluminum chassis. The device targets students and businesses.The Acer Chromebook 14 is the company's first 14-inch Chromebook. The display features IPS technology and comes in either Full HD (1920 by 1080) or HD (1366 by 768) resolutions.The device is powered by an Intel Celeron quad-core or dual-core N3060 processor and supports 4GB/2GB dual-channel LPDDR3 SDRAM.The Chromebook 14 features two USB 3.1 ports, HDMI, and Bluetooth 4.2.The premiere model will be available in North America in April with a Full HD display, 32GB storage and 4GB RAM starting at US$299.99.Acer Chromebook 14Photo: Company

Tatung, a leader in smart energy-saving systems, plans to showcase six smart solutions for areas including smart community, smart energy, smart home, smart monitoring, smart healthcare and smart factory, at the 2016 Smart City Summit & Expo opening on March 22. Tatung, as a forerunner in smart energy-saving systems, stands out among the 120 presenters in the three following aspects, and has become the center of attention at this year's event:Tatung is introducing complete smart solutions including smart community, which incorporates smart property management to deliver community security and administration services and enable safe, healthy and comfortable community living; smart energy, which integrates solar power system R&D to serve electricity companies, governments and households around the world; smart home, which is an advanced, more environmentally friendly and healthier solution that addresses increasing demand for quality of life and concerns about global warming, as well as dealing with concerns of an aging population; smart monitoring, which leads the industry by combining smart video surveillance and environmental sensing, in addition to cloud services and cutting-edge machine intelligence systems; smart healthcare, which is a result of an active devotion to remote healthcare and medical information system development; and smart factory, where machines are connected to networks, data is collected, cloud processing is enabled and big data analytics is applied for smart manufacturing.Tatung has made numerous real-life achievements both domestically and internationally with its venture into the six smart solutions. The Tatung Smart Manor housing project, a candidate for " Diamond-Grade Smart Buildings" and "Gold-Grade Green Buildings" certifications, is included in Tatung's smart green community projects that combine smart healthcare, smart home and solar power system solutions.Farmland in the coastal region of Pingtung (in southern Taiwan) is no longer suitable for farming due to seawater intrusion and therefore is now used for power generation instead. Tatung has built micro-grids in Linbian, Pingtung with a production capacity of 78kW of solar power, 10kW of wind power and 159kWh of power storage. The project was awarded the Smart Grid Silver Medal from the APEC International Energy Smart Community Initiative.In addition, the Elite Building, which was featured in a live demonstration at the 2015 Smart City Summit & Expo, has been in operation for one year and exhibited a 13% saving in power consumption in 2015 compared to the corresponding period in 2014. With system upgrades, a more than 20% saving in electricity billing can be expected in 2016 and a 30% saving is likely achieved in 2017.Tatung has installed a smart PV atmospheric water generator system (winner of the 2016 System Integration and Output Prize) in Dubai (in the Middle East), where water can cost more than oil. The system can generate power during the day when there is sunlight and produce water at night when humidity is higher. By taking advantage of the environmental characteristics of the region, the system addresses the needs of the locals and contributes to making their lives better. It can also be used in agriculture as a smarter alternative to seawater desalination.Tatung has also had success and made contributions in Burma with its smart energy-saving systems. Villages in Burma have had 10kW solar power generators and 6kW power generating water pumps installed to provide local families with electricity for lighting and clean water for drinking. People living in remote areas now have access to a healthier life and electricity and water for farming, and therefore can turn barren land into fertile farms.

Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857, NYSE: ATE) will showcase its test solutions for measuring the connected world – and everything in it – at the SEMICON China trade show, coming March 15-17 to the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. In addition to exhibiting, this year Advantest is sponsoring two events at SEMICON China: the Build China IC Manufacturing Ecosystem Forum and the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC).Advantest's booth #4431 in Hall N4 will feature the newest test technologies enabling everything from handheld mobile devices to entire smart cities. Equipment on display will include the new AVI64 universal analog pin module that extends the V93000 platform's test capabilities to encompass all power and analog smart ICs. The 64-channel module, which has begun shipping to customers, gives the V93000 single scalable platform the broadest application coverage on today's market. When equipped with the new module, the tester can handle all system-on-chip (SoC) devices for such burgeoning markets as mobile computing and automobiles. A live product demonstration will be given in the booth.Also at the show will be the highly flexible T2000 SoC tester for device characterization along with a 28G OPM (28-gigabit Optical Port Module), designed to enable highly efficient testing of optical transceivers. Application module on-board (AMO) units, which can be used on both the T2000 and V93000 platforms for testing radio-frequency power amplifiers (RFPA) and radio-frequency switches (RFSW), will also be featured.Another major product on display will be the EVA100 Digital Solution. This measurement system, available in both production and engineering models, is designed to perform design evaluation, front-end and back-end measurements, fault analysis, package verification and acceptance inspection for all types of cost-sensitive digital devices used in smart electronics of the Internet of Things (IoT) era. The EVA100 Digital Solution is 40 percent smaller than the original EVA100 measurement system, saving time and money by simplifying operation and maintenance.In addition, the company's exhibit will feature a T6391 system for cost-efficient testing of LCD drivers, a T5833 engineering system for DRAMs and NAND flash memories, a TS9000 MTA system designed to perform non-destructive measurements and analyses of mold thicknesses, and displays on Advantest's handlers, burn-in test capabilities, nanotechnology and field services.Get the latest updates on all of Advantest's global market activities by following the company on Twitter @Advantest_ATE.

Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857, NYSE: ATE) has begun shipping its new DC Scale AVI64 module, designed to give the V93000 single scalable platform the broadest application coverage on the market. Using Advantest's innovative universal analog pin architecture, the 64-channel module extends the V93000 platform's capabilities to include testing of power and analog ICs that enable smart, internet-connected electronics for the rapidly growing mobile, automotive and Internet of Things (IoT) markets."By expanding our V93000 single scalable platform to enable advanced testing of analog and power devices, this platform can now cover the entire portfolio from low-pin-count ICs to complex, highly integrated SoCs (system-on-chips)," said Hans-Juergen Wagner, senior vice president of the SoC Product Group at Advantest Corporation. "We've achieved industry-leading utilization by combining power/analog testing with full SoC test coverage, allowing us to address the mega-trend of emerging IoT applications, from smart homes to smart cities and beyond."The IoT market is driving the development of new generations of SoC designs with integrated capabilities including analog sensing, mobile computing, wireless communications and high-efficiency power management. These smart devices combine more analog and power functions on an IC than ever before, enabling advances such as longer battery life for handheld mobile electronics and emerging automotive applications for smart and connected cars.With the new AVI64 universal analog pin module, Advantest's V93000 tester has all of the functionality needed to test advanced SoC devices. The module's highly integrated design allows it to perform more test operations with fewer channel cards. This not only leads to a smaller system footprint, but also improves expandability, flexibility, loadboard simplification and multi-site testing efficiency while achieving the industry's lowest cost of test. The total cost-of-test savings are substantial compared to competitors' systems that rely on a fleet of cards to deliver the same test results.Using Advantest's universal pin architecture, the AVI64 empowers each pin with all of the test capabilities that it needs including per-pin arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) and digitizers, per-pin high-voltage time measurement units (TMU) and per-pin high-voltage digital I/O. Furthermore, the AVI64 offers floating high-current units, differential voltage measurements, an integrated analog switch matrix and the ability to precisely measure voltage and current parameters simultaneously at every pin. Along with a high density of 64 channels per instrument, the module has the broad performance capabilities to test a wide range of ICs including precision analog, high-voltage digital, mixed-signal, smart sensors and high-current semiconductors. These features enable the AVI64 universal analog pin unit to deliver best-in-class testing accuracy per pin with maximum utilization of test resources and industry-leading throughput.Among the new module's key capabilities for testing smart devices is its Domain Sync feature for aligning the timing between analog and digital signals at the device under test (DUT). In addition, the system's high multi-site efficiency and smooth, glitch-free operation streamlines time to market and time to quality for new IC designs.The AVI64 universal analog pin module is already in use at multiple customer sites and Advantest has received an order from a leading fabless design house in China. At the upcoming SEMICON China trade show, March 15-17 in Shanghai, show attendees can see a live demonstration of the unit's capabilities in testing the newest generation of wireless chargers in Advantest's booth #4431 in Hall N4.New AVI64 module designed for efficient testing of highly integrated SoCs for IoT, mobile and automotive markets

Sage Microelectronics has been recently active as well and has acquired Taiwan based IC vendor Initio Corporation.In the past year, mergers and acquisitions among companies in the integrated circuits space have been a top priority for US and China-based companies like Tsinghua Unigroup. Technology mergers and acquisitions lead the way reaching an all-time high in 2015 with $313 billion. Foreign acquirers outpaced U.S. tech companies, investing 70 percent more capital in the U.S. than U.S. companies invested overseas. The record volume of deals in 2015 showed that the need to consolidate is now seen as essential. The semiconductor sub-sector the most active sector with $38 billion in deals and Intel's acquisition of Altera was a standout at $16 billion.Initio Corporation, a globally renowned bridge IC vendor, is somehow regarded as an US company because it was founded in US and its core design center was located in the Silicon Valley. It has more than 20 years' experience in design of storage interface ICs, an IP portfolio. Through this acquisition, Sage Micro will be able to obtain a wealth of knowledge in terms of global operations and market experience, further strengthening its R&D capabilities, and expanding its presence in the global market.A History of InnovationSage Micro is an international company that designs and builds IC's. Founded by a group of Silicon Valley veterans each having more than 10 years experience in the space. Sage Micro's team members come from all over the world, with its core group having more than 20 years experience in the China IC industry. The company primarily focuses on two core technologies - digital storage and information security. Sage Micro is involved in all aspects the design, development, production and marketing products related to storage chips, systems, and solutions. Sage Micro's R&D center, located in Silicon Valley, focuses on research and development of its new technologies and as its global sales office while its Hangzhou office in China is the manufacturing and IC design center for the company. Sage Micro also has sales; marketing and technical support centers located in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Taipei.Sage Micro's facility located in Hangzhouis where many of China's tech originals have come from. The first mobile phone was introduced by Hangzhou's Eastcom, Hikvision came to be China's largest surveillance company, and then Alibaba successfully established a nation-wide e-commerce platform. It is not surprising that Sage Micro started out and flourished in the city Hangzhou, which has deep cultural roots as well as a large capital market consisting of a wide range of companies in Zhejiang.In 2012 Sage Micro introduced its first solid-state hard drive controller based on its own proprietary architecture. Guangnan Ni, the founder of Lenovo Group was an early adaptor of Sage Micro technology. Currently, only US-based Intel and Marvell, as well as Taiwan-based SMI and JMicron produce similar IC products. Shortly afterward, Sage Micro introduced its first eMMC controller IC based on its own proprietary technology, with the device being used in tablets, smart phones, and embedded encryption systems.A global leader in massively dense SSDIn terms of solid-state hard drive technologies, Sage Micro is the global leader in ultra-high capacity and density technologies. Chris Tsu, Sage Micro's CTO, announced Sage's 5TB SATA IISSD (Figure 2) at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, California in 2014. At the China Data Summit held in Beijing on November 5, 2015, Sage Micro vice president Robin Chou displayed the world's first 10TB 2.5-inch SSD - the BlackDisk TM series.In December 2015, Sage Micro introduced its first PCIe+SATA dual interface solid-state hard drive controller IC (The S881 series, which supports NVMe). Sage Micro and Marvell are the only companies currently offering multi-interface IC technologies. This sets Sage Micro apart from other competitors that claim to have PCIe hard drive technologies but which are actually still in the FPGA stage. In addition, Sage Micro's S881 chips are being manufactured by SMIC in Shanghai, as well as being packaged and tested in China, making the solution the first solid-state hard drive controller IC completely produced in China.Unique technologySage Micro's solid-state hard drive controller ICs are based on the company's unique technology architecture. Jerome Luo (Sage Micro CEO) and Chris Tsu (Sage Micro CTO) have been working together for more than a decade. Beginning from SD/MMC memory cards, they gradually developed a unique multi-core parallel controller architecture. In multi-core multi-channel flash products, each channel is viewed as a separate hard drive, with the overall multi-channel system functioning similar to a RAID system. Such architectures are referred to as iRAID (intrinsic RAID) architectures. Sage Micro's chips are capable of driving multi-channel flash memories. In addition, Sage Micro was also first in the industry to develop drivers for multi-channel eMMC flash modules, making it a pioneer in this space, with such architectures referred to by the academic community as eRAID�]embedded RAID�^.Data Security in Storage SystemsData security solutions are another key technology for Sage Micro. Since 2014, a series of data leaks have occurred throughout the world. People have begun to realize data security measures established by most nations are completely ineffective, with the root cause being that encryption technologies are not implemented at the hardware IC level. If information security were a house, ICs can be seen as the bricks used to build it. The world's core ICs are mostly produced by a small number of vendors. CPUs, network router ICs, GPS chips, smart phone ICs, as well as video recorder/camera ICs are all monopolized by a small number of vendors. This can be thought of as a data warehouse that contains a safe, but whose bottom layer is already unsafe. Therefore, no matter how many layers of passwords you wrap over it, it will remain unsafe, because a small number of IC designers control how many electronic bombs or backdoors exist in these IC products.Sage Microelectronics possesses security solutions based on technology at the integrated circuit level, as well as utilizing technology from Sage Micro's storage controllers. Sage Micro is one of the few vendors in the world capable of providing a complete line of controller ICs for hard drives, solid-state drives, USB drives and SD/MMC cards. The company further embeds various encryption/decryption technologies in its ICs, allowing users to truly be able to control their data security. Sage Micro's products comply with encryption requirements of various geographic markets.Look into the FutureIn less than five years' time, Sage Microelectronics Corp has emerged as a star in China's IC design and digital storage industries. However, Sage Micro CEO Jerome Luo says that this is only the beginning for the company. Sage Micro's true strength will become apparent in the next three years. In addition to having solidified its status as a global producer of solid-state hard drive controller ICs, Sage Micro is also planning for the future- including a complete line of solid-state hard drive controller ICs (supporting common interface specifications such as USB, SATA, PCIe, and SAS); a complete line of bridge ICs for converting between different storage interfaces; as well as big data disk array ICs.Recently, China's government has implemented a series of policies and measures to drive growth of the nation's IC industry. Sage Micro CEO Jerome Luo believes that this is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. With the Big Fund operating in full swing, other sources of capital are also aggressively entering the IC industry. Tsinghua Unigroup is a well-known example of a Chinese company expanding into the IC industry. However, Luo has calmly stated that semiconductor companies are different from traditional companies, especially IC design companies, which are focused on the development of intellectual property, resulting in the valuation of such companies becoming particularly subjective. Only venture capitalists that are extremely experienced and possess very mature investment strategies are suitable for investing in IC companies. In any case, however, being supported by the national government as well as investors is definitely good for the industry.Governor of China's Zhejiang Province visits Sage Micro(governor Qiang Li is center-left and Dr. Jerome Luo, CEO of Sage Micro is center-right)Dr. Chris Tsu, Sage Micro CTO, Speaking at the 2015 Flash Memory Summit in Silicon ValleySage Micro's unique technology

Shuttle announces its latest XPC cube, the SZ170R8, with new "R8" chassis design. Only a fraction of the size of a normal tower PC, this computer can still accommodate four 3.5" HDDs and high-end graphics cards for various demanding graphics and storage applications.Equipped with the new LGA 1151 socket, the SZ170R8 supports Intel 6th generation (Skylake) Core i3/i5/i7, Pentium, and Celeron processors. Built-in four DDR4 memory slots, it supports dual-channel DDR4-2133 memory with the maximum capacity of up to 64GB (16GBx4). The SZ170R8 includes Intel Gigabit LAN, SATA 6Gbps, as well as USB3.0 high-speed storage interfaces, providing superb data transfer speed and powerful performance.With Intel Skylake processor built-in graphics core, the SZ170R8 is able to support 4K/Ultra HD video playback. Display imaging on up to three independent screens via one HDMI and two DisplayPort. Featured with one PCI-E x16 and one PCI-E x4 slots, the SZ170R8 can be installed up to 120mm of height dual-slot high-end graphics card (max. size of 267 x 120 x 34.6 mm), surveillance cards, or RAID cards to drive video wall, file server, network video recorder, and more applications.Another key feature of the new "R8" chassis design is its storage capacity. The new HDD rack can install up to four 3.5" HDDs to meet the requirement of storage market. With Intel Rapid Storage Technology and RAID 0/1/5/10 disk array modes, the SZ170R8 is suitable for storage applications such as file server, NAS, and multimedia work station. With the specifications and performance of a workstation desktop PC packed into a small form factor, some might be wary of cooling performance. Thankfully, the SZ170R8 employs Shuttle's proprietary I.C.E.2 heat pipe technology for outstanding cooling efficiency and low-noise footprint. The HDD bracket includes an independent cooler to maintain stable, long-term operation.The SZ170R8 with Intel Z170 chipset can support Intel K series overclocking function. Equipped with Shuttle exclusive I.C.E. 2(Integrated Cooling Engine 2) cooling technology configured four heat pipes thermal module and smart fan, the SZ170R9 is able to support CPU TDP of up to 120W. An 80 Plus Silver certified 500W power supply for highly energy-efficient stable long-term operation.The SZ170R8 has built-in one M.2 and one half-size mini PCI-e expansion slots. It can be installed for M.2 (2280) SSD and Wi-Fi module or other compatible devices. Provide four SATA 6G slots, eight USB 3.0, and built-in Intel Gigabit LAN as well as one eSATA for great connectivity.Aluminum SFF cube chassis fits four 3.5" HDDs and workstation-class specifications