Singapore & Tokyo, 21 January 2011 - Tera-Barrier Films Pte Ltd (Tera-Barrier Films) today announced that KISCO LTD. has made a strategic investment in the company's Series "A" Investment round and became the company's Exclusive Distributor for Asia Pacific. Tera-Barrier Films is a portfolio company of Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL), the commercialization arm of Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR) and Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc."We have been working with Tera-Barrier Films since before it spun-off from ASTAR, and continued to monitor its progress in bringing its barrier technology to the market. We are very impressed by the achievements that Tera-Barrier Films has made in such a short time, and believe that it is a good time for us to invest in the company and be part of its growth," said Koichi Takeda, director of KISCO's Electronic Materials Division.The funds will allow the company to continue its efforts to commercialise its proprietary, moisture resistant films for extending the lifetime of devices such as organic solar cells and flexible displays."This investment and distribution agreement with KISCO is a testament of the confidence KISCO has in Tera-Barrier," commented Mark Auch, CEO of Tera-Barrier Films. "Our immediate goal is to deliver our products to customers so they can begin extensive testing and validation and eventually incorporate them in their production lines. We also expect to initiate large scale manufacturing in the near future as we project market demand to grow extensively in the next 3 to 5 years.""We have evaluated Tera-Barrier's products and we know they have a very interesting technology," noted Masayuki Nakazawa, Managing Director of KISCO (ASIA) PTE LTD "Based on our preliminary feedback from potential customers, there is keen interest in these products from high tech manufacturers in the Asia Pacific region, so the distribution agreement is a win-win for both KISCO and Tera-Barrier.""This is indeed an important milestone for Tera-Barrier Films. This investment from KISCO is significant and we are pleased in KISCO's participation as not only a financial but also a strategic partner in Tera-Barrier Films. This will no doubt propel the young company to the next stage of growth. This is yet another testimony of the quality of ASTAR spin-offs," said Philip Lim, CEO of Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd."Since its launch from IMRE in 2009, Tera-Barrier Films has grown steadily, with additional partners coming on board to endorse its unique technology. This is a testament to the exceptional research and entrepreneurial spirit of Singapore scientists," added Andy Hor, Executive Director of ASTAR's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) from where Tera-Barrier Films spun-off. The company is currently located in IMRE under a special lab-in-a-research institute arrangement, enabling Tera-Barrier Film's R&D work to continue unabated.J Christopher Moran, Vice President and General Manager of Applied Ventures, additionally commented, "We are pleased to have KISCO join us as investors in Tera-Barrier Films and look forward to the commercialisation of Tera-Barrier's high performance barrier films. As OLED displays, solar photovoltaics, and other flexible electronics gain in popularity, we believe that barrier and encapsulation technology will become increasingly critical. Applied Ventures is committed to investing in and furthering the development of breakthrough technologies that will enable these industries to improve device performance while reducing costs."Tera-Barrier Film's barrier technology, which was developed by one of the founders, Senthil Ramadas, protects the easily-degraded, moisture-sensitive, organic materials of plastic devices and targets the burgeoning flexible electronics industry. Applications of the film include the manufacturing of flexible, lightweight and inexpensive electronics such as disposable or wrap-around displays, identification tags, flexible solar cells and chemical- and optical sensors.

AMD has announced immediate availability of the new AMD G-series accelerated processing unit (APU) for embedded systems. The AMD G-series, based on AMD Fusion technology, delivers a complete, full-featured embedded platform and incorporates the new low-power, x86 CPU based on the Bobcat core with a DirectX 11-capable GPU and parallel processing engine on a single piece of silicon.Embedded systems based on the G-series are available today or expected to launch in the coming weeks from companies including Advansus, Compulab, Congatec, Fujitsu, Haier, iEi, Kontron, Mitec, Quixant, Sintrones, Starnet, WebDT and Wyse, the vendor said.Expected products include graphics-intensive solutions like digital signage, Internet-ready set top boxes (STBs), mobile and desktop thin clients, casino gaming machines, point-of-sale (POS) kiosks, and small form factor PCs, as well as single board computers (SBCs).The open development ecosystem for the G-series platform includes multiple BIOS options, support for various Microsoft Windows, Linux, and real-time operating systems, the integrated OpenCL programming environment, and source-level debug tools.AMD also provides a dedicated design support team to help customers create distinctive new products and bring them to market quickly as well as online resources include an embedded developer portal, AMD embedded product selection guide and customer-submitted details on available boards and complete systems, the company said. AMD G-series platform specifications Item Detail CPU 1 or 2 x86 Bobcat CPU cores with 1MB L2 cache, 64-bit floating point unit and 1.6GHz clock speed. TDP 9W and 18W Memory DDR3 800-1066 memory with support for 64-bit channel and 2 DIMM slots. Graphics output DirectX 11 capable graphics engine Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, January 2011Applications based on AMD G-series platformPhoto: Company

Arbor technology has unveiled its new M1040, a portable medical tablet PC aiming for mobile clinical assistant applications.The M1040 is built with an Intel Atom N450 processor with ICH8M chipset, a 10.4-inch touch panel that supports both resistive touch and electromagnetic digitizer and supports DDR2 667 memory up to 2GB.The device also features slim appearance with only 1.3kg in weight and 26mm in thickness, and with its slip-free grip design, the M1040 is easy to carry for operation.The M1040 offers two options for storage - an 120GB SATA hard drive or a 32GB solid state drive (SSD), and is integrated with data retrieving devices such as 2D barcode scanner, smart card reader, RFID reader and 2 CMOS cameras. It features communication modules for Bluetooth, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and 3.75G HSUPA.Arbor M1040 medical tablet PCPhoto: Company

Micro-Star International (MSI) has launched its new GT680 gaming notebook with Intel's second-generation Core i7 quad-core processor and Nvidia's high-end DirectX 11-ready GeForce GTX 460M discrete graphics card with 1.5GB of GDDR5 memory. The machine also features four DDR3 memory slots, boosting memory capacity up to 16GB with accelerated dual SSD architecture.The GT680 also features MSI's Turbo Drive Engine (TDE) technology that enables the machine to instantly throttle up its performance with a click of a button, the vendor said. The notebook also includes MSI's Cooler Boost technology.The GT680 also features THX TruStudio Pro as well as Cinema Pro technologies to allow the notebook to present a cinema environment when playing multimedia files.MSI GT680 is equipped with a 15.6-inch 16:9 ratio LED display with support of resolution up to 1920x1080. The machine also features a HDMI port for outputing the image onto devices with bigger display. MSI GT680 notebook specifications Item Detail Processor Intel Core i7 2630QM OS Windows 7 Ultimate/Home Premium Memory DDR3 up to 16GB Display 15.6-inch LED backlight support up to 1920x1080 Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M with 1.5GB GDDR5 memory Video output One HDMI, one VGA Hard disk drive 640GB/1TB RAID 0, 120GB SSD + 500GB HDD Optical disk drive Blu-ray / DVD super multi Battery 9-cell Li-ion Dimension (WxDxH, mm) 395 x 267 x 55 Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, January 2011MSI GT680 gaming notebookPhoto: Company

Smartphone vendor HTC has announced the appointment of Ray Yam as corporate vice president and head of HTC Communication in China. Reporting directly to Fred Liu, president of engineering and sales, Yam will be responsible for all sales, marketing and operations activities for HTC in China.Prior to joining HTC, Yam has held management positions in the mobile industry with LG Electronics, Motorola and Nokia.

Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) has announced that TCL - China's largest TV brand - has adopted SiS9561 as the key SoC component of their first generation Internet smart TV. SiS9561 is based on the Android 2.2 Froyo platform, supporting an enhanced Internet browser with Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Skype video conference, and Quickboot. The proprietary Quickboot scheme sustains the SiS9561 Android Internet TV platform to boot up and activate the widget services/internet browser within 15 seconds.The SiS9561 Internet TV solution supports multi-language and various broadcasting television systems worldwide.In consideration of delivering more intuitive and convenient user experience to the web browsing and cloud entertainment, the SiS9561 Android Internet TV solution offers various customized and easy-to-use widgets including the most popular categories: Youtube for online video streaming; Facebook for social networking; eBay for auction; flicker for photo library; Pandora for online radio; weather; Google finance and US Traffic for daily life information; USA Today for news; and online film renting and online games, the company said. Moreover, the SiS9561 Android Internet TV platform allows users to communicate with embedded Skype Internet video conferencing.The SiS9561 Android Internet TV platform can be controlled by regular remote control switching the TV or Internet TV button to navigate the TV channel programs or Internet content to meet the expectation of keyboard-free usage. In addition, users can use their Android smartphone or tablet devices to control SiS9561 Android TV.The SiS9561 solution integrates a dual-core 32-bit 576MHz MIPS processors with 32KB/16KB cache, DDR3 1333 MHz memory controller, 2D graphic engine, 8-bit NAND flash controller, SD/MMC interfaces and 10/100 Ethernet controller. Engineering sample of the SiS9561 Android Internet TV solution has been under customers' verification now and it is scheduled to be mass-produced in the first quarter of 2011.SiS SiS9561 Android Internet TV SoCPhoto: Company

Kingston Technology has announced the release of HyperX Genesis Special Edition Grey. The high-performance dual-channel memory kits are engineered to complement the new motherboards featuring the Intel P67 Sandy Bridge platform as well as existing P55-based systems. "The modern design and look accentuates the new black and grey P67 motherboards just reaching the market," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. "With performance memory frequency initially at 2133MHz and 1600MHz, these new additions to the family of HyperX products meet the demands of everyone from the enthusiast vying for the fastest benchmark score to the weekend gamer." HyperX Genesis Special Edition Grey is available in DDR3 2133MHz and 1600MHz 4GB kits. Kingston: HyperX Genesis Special Edition Grey features and specifications Part number Capacity and features MSRP (US only). KHX2133C9AD3X2K2/4GX 4GB 2133MHz DDR3 (CL9-11-9-27) DIMM, 1.65v (Kit of 2) XMP X2 Grey Series US$149.99 KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 (CL9-9-9-27) DIMM, 1.65v (Kit of 2) XMP X2 Grey Series US$69.99 Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, January 2011 Kingston HyperX 2133MHz XMPPhoto: Company

Hanvon has unveiled the Hanvon WISEreader E920, a large-screen, high-resolution e-book reader, at CES 2011 (LVCC South Hall Booth #36062). The Hanvon WISEreader has a 9.7-inch screen and 200 dpi resolution, which provides some of the crispest and sharpest images ever seen on an E Ink-powered device, the vendor said. The e-book reader will be available by June 2011."Hanvon introduced the world's first color E Ink reader, and we are continuing to innovate with our large-screen, high-res e-reader," said Liu Yingjian, president of Hanvon. "Consumers should expect clear, detailed text and images from their e-books, readable in bright light conditions, and the WISEreader E920 delivers this experience."The WISEreader has a standby battery life of 15 days, and can read more than 10,000 pages before requiring a recharge, Hanvon said.The WISEreader will support extended MicroSD cards up to 32GB, allowing consumers to store more than 10,000 e-books on the reader. It provides all the traditional benefits of an E Ink reader and also supports a variety of formats, will speak in TTS voice, allows users to comment in PDF at any time and make instant Chinese-English translations, the vendor added.Hanvon 9-inch, high-resolution e-book reader, the WISEreaderPhoto: Company

At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Samsung Electronics, continued to raise the industry bar for plasma TVs with its extended plasma TV line-up of 16 new models across six product series.Samsung's 2011 ultra-slim plasma TVs add a touch of sophistication and style to any home. All new plasma TVs also offer Samsung's breakthrough Plasma+1 design, which features a new narrow bezel design that adds 1-inch of viewable screen size over last year's products for a greater viewing area without increasing the outside dimensions of the set.For example:2010 line-up: 42-, 50-, 58- and 63-inch2011 line-up: 43-, 51-, 59- and 64-inchThe TVs also offer richer connected entertainment options through one of the most comprehensive offering of apps and connected devices, so that people get the most out of their entertainment experience. Select models will offer Samsung's new Smart Hub, which includes:- Search all, which makes it easier to search for desired content on your TV and other DLNA-certified connected media storage devices, networked PC and mobile devices, and Internet and video-on-demand services.- Your video, which delivers recommendations based on a user's viewing history.- Web browser, which offers full web browsing right from your TV.- Samsung apps, the world's first HDTV-based application store, which offers a range of paid and free apps that help people connect to their various passions – whether in sports, entertainment, information, games or social networking.The latest TV lineup will be on display at Samsung's booth #12006 in the Central Hall at the International CES, which will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), January 6-9, 2011. The Samsung Plasma D6500 series TVs, a CES 2011 Innovations Design and Engineering Award winner, will also be on display in the Grand Lobby at the LVCC.Stylish TV with outstanding picture quality and a larger viewing screenSamsung's Plasma D8000 series is a full HD plasma TV that is designed to deliver our best viewing experience in 2D and 3D. The D8000 series features a dark metallic bezel combined with Samsung's ToC border for an understated cool elegance associated with luxury items. More importantly, the thinner bezel makes possible the added inch in screen size without an increase in the overall size of the TV.The Plasma D8000 series features Samsung's Real Black Filter technology, which reduces the onscreen glare to produce darker blacks and sharper images. The plasma panel has also been redesigned to deliver outstanding black luminance. The TV also includes Samsung's proprietary Crystal full HD engine with Cinema Smooth technology that delivers smoother motion effects when watching their favorite Blu-ray discs. These features combine to give the D8000 series a dynamic contrast ratio of 3,000,000:1, and pristine depth and dimension to onscreen images.The Plasma D8000 series is also compatible with Samsung's 3D active glasses and multi-display Touch Control. This remote can be a second portable TV, offers a Qwerty keyboard for easy text input during web browsing and acts as a universal remote control for your onscreen content. With built-in Wi-Fi, viewers have access to Smart Hub to view and search for content on Samsung Apps or on DLNA-certified devices.Solid all-round performer with advanced connectivity options, 3D video processing technology and stunning designSamsung's ultra-slim Plasma D6500 series is a 1080p 3D TV that offers a range of features that makes it an outstanding all-round choice for those looking to enhance their TV experience.The Plasma D6500 series offers a dichotomy in design texture, between cold, black metal and warm, smooth glass. The cabinet consists of a brushed metallic black frame and the translucent mold that encases the frame and uses Samsung's ToC technology to create a luxurious finish. The same pattern is reflected in the silver stand, where a reinforced glass neck is attached to a black matte metal base. With the narrow bezel, Samsung TVs can fit into viewing spaces previously reserved for smaller screen sizes, so for example, a 51-inch TV can fit into a spot previously occupied by a 50-inch screen.With Samsung's built-in 3D processing technology, viewers can easily up-convert 2D content and render it in high-definition 3D for a richer, more immersive entertainment experience. Its powerful system-on-chip not only renders standard 2D content into 3D entertainment in real-time, but also offers video-enhancing tools that produce sharp, color-rich and smooth pictures. The Plasma D6500 series connects seamlessly to Samsung's 3D active glasses, thereby eliminating problems such as interference and strict line-of-sight requirements, so that viewers can enjoy a more stable image and greater flexibility to watch the television from practically any viewing angle.With built-in Wi-Fi, viewers can also stream content to the Plasma D6500 series from other DLNA-certified devices using Samsung AllShare, as well as access to a broad range of apps via Samsung Apps.Samsung Electronics full HD 3D plasma TV, the D8000Photo: CompanySamsung Electronics full HD 3D plasma TV, the D6500Photo: Company

Samsung Electronics is showcasing its new tablet PC, the 7 Series sliding PC, featuring Intel's Atom processor (Oak Trail) and Windows 7, at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011.The device has a thickness of less than 1-inch and a keyboard appears with a sample slide of the panel. The 7 Series tablet PC is set to launch in the first quarter of 2011 with a price of US$599-799 depending on storage specifications.Since the 7 Series is a product based on x86, the development of the device is handled by Samsung's notebook division.Samsung 7 Series tablet PCPhoto: Yen-Shyang Hwang, Digitimes, January 2011