FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Company
Contact:
Kenwood Technologies (USA), Inc.
Robert Selzler 408-467-7916
selzler@kenwoodtech.com
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Kenwood
Editorial Contact:
Shotwell Public Relations, Inc.
Lyn Balistreri 408-530-8081
Lyn@shotwellpr.com
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Zen Editorial
Contact:
Big Sky Communications, Inc.
Stacey Byrnes 250-767-9581
staceyb@bigskypr.com
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Kenwood Technolgies
Unveils Blazing Fast Kenwood 52X TrueX CD-ROM
Drive
Second Gereration CD-ROM using Zen's TrueX
Technology Raises the Industry Standard Performance
Cupertino, CA,
February 2, 1999--; Kenwood Technologies (USA), Inc.
today unveiled the Kenwood 52X TrueX
CD-ROM drive, the second in a family of high performance
drives based on Zen Research's TrueX
technology. Unlike other "Max" CD-ROM drives that reach
top performance only on the outermost tracks of the disc,
the Kenwood 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive
delivers a typical transfer rate ranging from 6750-7800
KB per second across the entire disc.
Kenwood Technologies began shipping its first
breakthrough CD-ROM drives in August 1998, marking the
company's official entrance into the computer peripheral
market. Since introduction, the Kenwood MULTI BEAM 40X
Plus CD-ROM drive, distributed by Santa Ana,
California-based Hi-Val, Inc., has won numerous awards
and reviews and continues to gain widespread industry
acceptance. The Kenwood 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive, builds
upon the success of the 40X and will be brought to market
under both the Kenwood and Hi-Val brand names.
"With the 52X TrueX, Kenwood establishes a clear
leadership position in CD-ROM technology today and lays
the foundation for future success in the DVD arena,"
stated A. J. Hart, senior vice president of Kenwood
Technologies. "The Kenwood 52X TrueX is just the
beginning of a stream of exciting new products from
Kenwood that will deliver superior performance,
exceptional value, and the quality of the Kenwood brand
name."
Kenwood's Competitive
Advantage
FASTER-- Data is written on to CDs starting at the inner
tracks, continuing to the outer tracks. A typical CD is
less than half full, and the majority of all CDs contain
no data on their outer tracks. Depending upon the
operating environment and quality of media, the Kenwood
52X TrueX CD-ROM drive delivers a typical performance
ranging from 45X to 52X across the entire disc. An
advertised 48X "Max" CD-ROM drive performs at 19X on its
innermost tracks, but achieves 48X performance only on
the disc's outermost tracks (if the disc is full).
MORE RELIABLE-- Traditional "Max" CD-ROM drives use a
single laser beam to read data from a single track on a
disc. The only way to increase the "X" rating with this
approach is to physically spin the disc at a faster
rotational speed. This increased speed can compromise
reliability by degrading a drive's ability to read
standard media and by introducing excessive vibration,
both of which result in rotational speed "kick-downs" and
reduced performance. The Kenwood 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive
offers rotational speeds that are nearly half that of a
48X "Max" drive, enabling precise readability of media
(including CD-R and CD-RW) with limited vibration, all of
which translates into a more reliable flow of data to the
user.
QUIETER-- Zen's TrueX technology enables the Kenwood 52X
TrueX to read multiple tracks simultaneously,
dramatically increasing the drive's data transfer rate
without increasing its rate of rotation. A reduced rate
of rotation equates to less noise.
The Kenwood 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive is faster, quieter and
more reliable, thus providing consistent high performance
data throughput across the entire disc, making it ideal
for graphic-intensive applications such as 3D games,
multimedia, and other reference content.
"Kenwood's CD-ROM drives, exclusively incorporating Zen's
TrueX technology, have a unique appeal to the serious
professional segment of the CD-ROM market," said Robert
Abraham, vice president of Santa Barbara,
California-based research firm Freeman Associates, Inc.
"While DVD-ROM will inevitably overtake CD-ROM in the
future, the CD-ROM market continues to thrive
particularly at the high end, providing a substantial
opportunity for technologies such as Zen's TrueX."
"Kenwood has proven what is possible with Zen's TrueX
technology and have taken CD-ROM drive performance to
levels that many in the industry thought were not
possible," said Emil Jachmann, president and CEO of Zen
Research.
Pricing and
Distribution
Kenwood is marketing its new 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive (part
number UCR-412) through value-added resellers and system
integrators and has established distribution
relationships to cater to these channels. In addition,
Kenwood will continue to build on its successful
relationship with retail partner Hi-Val, who sells both
the 40X and the 52X CD-ROM drives from Kenwood. The 52X
TrueX CD-ROM drive is available now at a suggested retail
price of $129.95 through CompUSA, Ingram Micro and other
major distribution channels. The Kenwood MULTI BEAM 40X
Plus CD-ROM drive has a suggested retail price of $99.95.
Both products are also available in bulk or white box.
For channel sales inquiries, please call Robert Gronski,
vice president of sales at 408-863-6823. For OEM sales
inquiries, please call Kevin Kurzenknabe, OEM national
sales manager at 408-863-6821.
About Kenwood
Technologies
Established in 1946, Kenwood Corporation is a
world-renowned manufacturer of consumer audio and
communications equipment with annual revenues of more
than $3 billion. In 1997, Kenwood Corporation established
and headquartered Kenwood Technologies (USA) in
Cupertino, California, as a new division to launch
Kenwood into the computer and technology sector. The
MULTI BEAM 40X Plus, the world's first TrueX CD-ROM
drive, was Kenwood Technologies' initial product
offering. Kenwood has also recently entered the PC audio
arena with its CL Series of computer sound systems.
Additional information about Kenwood Technologies is
available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.kenwoodtech.com.
About Zen
Research
Zen Research, a privately held multinational company,
designs and produces high performance CD and DVD-ROM
optical drive components. Zen has a multi-disciplinary
research and development team in Israel and a marketing
affiliate in Cupertino, California. Through creative
innovation and revolutionary component design, Zen
Research has developed TrueX technology, which
dramatically improves optical disc drive performance. The
company has been awarded 17 patents on these core
technologies, with another 15 pending or in process.
Additional information about Zen Research is available on
the World Wide Web at http://www.zenresearch.com.
Zen, TrueX and Multibeam are trademarks of Zen Research
N.V. and its affiliates in the United States and other
countries.
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