Fremont, CA. – September, 2007 -- Lite-On IT, one of the world’s leaders of optical storage solutions for PCs, announces their latest accomplishment of offering a complete line of SATA optical drives. Lite-On now incorporates Serial ATA interface from their entry level CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, Combo drives, to their mainstream DVD Writers, and top of the line Blu-ray writers.

With the introduction of broadband and the increased popularity of online entertainment, information, and applications, consumers are now demanding more advanced computer systems that offer more storage capacities and faster speeds to keep up with this information technology explosion. It is no longer enough to just have a basic computer system for word processing and simple excel sheets at home. Most consumers are now upgrading and adapting to new computer technologies. Some of these technologies include; new chipsets for superior performance, operating systems offering improved features and functions, and optical drives incorporating SATA interface for faster data transfer rates.

SATA is a serial link -- a single cable with a minimum of four wires that creates a point-to-point connection between devices. The SATA connection eliminates potential information and performance “bottlenecking” by offering at least 150 MB/s information transfer rate. SATA also uses thinner data cables allowing better airflow. As SATA interface becomes the new standard for optical drives, especially DVD Rewriters, more and more superior improvements will develop in the future.

For more information regarding the availability and model names of SATA optical drives, please contact your authorized Lite-On Distributor, Reseller or Retailer for additional information, or visit www.liteonit.com.

About PLDS & Lite-On:
PLDS (Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions) is a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics and Lite-On IT Corporation, established in 2007. PLDS is responsible for the sales and marketing of Optical Disc Drives (ODD). By combining strong R&D from Philips and Lite-On IT’s massive production capacity, PLDS will continue to provide innovative quality products and exceptional services to customers in Northern and Latin America.

Fremont, CA – Lite-On has won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award 2007 for its new external Blu-ray drive. Out of 2.548 submissions of high-quality products from 43 countries, the expert jury has chosen the external Blu-ray drive from Lite-On among those distinguished in this year’s “red dot award: product design”.

Since 1955, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, one of the oldest and most highly reputed design institutions in Europe, has been marking outstanding international product design with its famous dot. Red Dot stands for belonging to the best in design and business. The red dot is an internationally recognized quality label for excellent design that is aimed at all those who would like to qualify their business activities with the help of design.

“We are very pleased to receive this award for our external Blu-ray drive”, said Christine Hsing, Marketing Manager at Lite-On. “Blu-ray is all about experiencing high-definition and enjoying the high quality. With this in mind we designed an external drive that lives up to the expectations of delivering a new high quality standard. The design communicates the cutting-edge technology of the product and will attract those who are ready for the high-definition era in computing.”  

The award is as a seal of quality; it stands for membership of the best in design and business. The award has already been received by the design teams of many renowned companies, including Apple, Mercedes-Benz, Nokia, Philips and Sony. The award will be presented to Lite-On on the festive award ceremony in the Aalto-Theatre in Essen, Germany, on June 25th. From June 26th to July 23rd, the award-winning Lite-On product will be presented to the public in the four-week special exhibition ‘Design on stage – winners red dot award: design 2007’. After that, the award-winning products will become part of the red dot design museum’s permanent exhibition.

Lite-On was one of the first companies to introduce a Blu-ray drive to the market: the internal LH-2B1S is already available since November 2006.

About PLDS & Lite-On:
PLDS (Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions) is a joint venture between Royal Philips
Electronics and Lite-On IT Corporation, established in 2007. PLDS is responsible for the
sales and marketing of Optical Disc Drives (ODD). By combining strong R&D from Philips and Lite-On IT’s massive production capacity, PLDS will continue to provide innovative quality products and exceptional services to customers in Northern and Latin America.

Please contact your authorized Lite-On Distributor, Reseller or Retailer, or for additional information visit www.Liteonit.com.