Hitachi and Tvonics Team to Bring Freeview Playback Digital Video Recorder to Consumers
Mon 04 June, 2007

SAN JOSE, Calif. and BRIDGEND South Wales – June 4, 2007– Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi) announced today that TVonics has chosen Hitachi’s CinemaStar™ hard drives as the storage backbone for its new line of digital TV recorders. Hitachi’s CinemaStar hard drive allows consumers to record as much as 125 hours of standard-definition video on TVonics’ DVR-FP250 and provides optimized capabilities like “bedroom quiet” acoustics as well as Smooth Stream™ technology to reduce disruptions in video delivery.

The new TVonics DVR-FP250 is among the first of its kind to offer Freeview Playback for recording free-to-air terrestrial television. The DVR features twin tuners and the CinemaStar 7K500 hard drive, allowing users to simultaneously record one channel while watching another. In addition, users are able to store, search and play back programming based on title and date of the program.

“As consumers transition from analog to digital television, they are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of digital recording and are seeking products that offer high-capacity recording, quiet and reliable operation and low-power operation,” said Paul Fellows, managing director TVonics. “We chose the CinemaStar range of hard drives because of their class-leading performance and Hitachi’s commitment to remaining at the forefront of consumer oriented storage solutions.

With the advent of more and more consumer products that incorporate storage, Hitachi has developed the “smart” hard drive – customized features to address specific applications. With the set of customized features in the CinemaStar line of hard drives, Hitachi delivers capabilities specifically addressing the needs of digital TV recorders and set-top box applications including:

• Silent-seek acoustics for “bedroom-quiet” operation
• Low-power idle allowing for cooler system operation and greater host-product reliability
• SMART Command Transport and adaptive error recovery for optimized video streaming and picture quality
• SmoothStream™ to minimize disruptions in video stream delivery;
• Thermal monitoring and Thermal Fly-height Control (TFC) to maintain consistent fly-height for improved error rates in varied temperature conditions

CinemaStar 7K500 hard drives are available in 250GB, 320GB, 400GB and 500GB capacities.

“TVonics is delivering an industry-leading digital TV recorder and as one of the first to feature Freeview Playback is expected to alter the television viewing habits of consumers,” said Nick Kyriacou, director, EMEA, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. “Given the rise in consumer interest in viewing and saving digital programming, the time is right for this introduction. The ability to time-shift programming is made possible in part by the hard drive inside and we are excited to be working with TVonics to supply the storage backbone for the DVR-FP250.”

TVonics DVR Availability
TVonics DVR-FP250 will be available in major retail outlets from June 2007 onwards at a suggested retail price of £189.99.

About TVonics
TVonics is a privately owned independent design and manufacturing company specializing in the digital television sector. The company focuses on delivering easy to use, energy efficient and small form factor solutions for the UK and European digital television markets.

Formed in 2004 and based in South Wales, TVonics has a design team with more than 60 man-years experience in the design and manufacture of digital set top boxes and televisions. The management of TVonics also has a strong background in digital television semiconductor device design and application development, and is well versed in high quality, mass-market design techniques. Previously the design team has delivered more than 3.5 million set top box products for free-to-air and pay-TV applications.

www.tvonics.com

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is a storage technology leader, founded in 2003 through the combination of Hitachi’s and IBM’s hard disk drive businesses. Hitachi GST enables users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing high-value hard disk storage in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home.

With its legacy in hard drive invention, Hitachi GST led the industry in celebrating the storage technology’s golden anniversary in 2006. The hard drive has had a profound effect on the computing and consumer electronics industries after five decades of innovation. That heritage lives on at Hitachi GST today through products that define the standard for hard drive miniaturization, capacity, performance and reliability.

With approximately 33,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance servers, notebooks and consumer devices. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site at www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 384,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2006 (ended March 31, 2007) consolidated revenues totaled 10,247 billion yen ($86.8 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.