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FUJIFILM LICENSES THE LTO ULTRIUM FORMAT GENERATION 2

HP, IBM Corporation, and Seagate Removable Storage Solutions, the technology provider companies (TPCs) for the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Program, have announced that Fujifilm is the most recent licensee of the Ultrium format Generation 2.

The LTO Program continues to penetrate the tape market with the Ultrium format open standards technology, allowing any company to license and develop products based on the Ultrium specification. This approach delivers increased competition to the market, technical innovation through collaboration, data interchangeability among tape drive manufacturers, multiple vendor and feature choices, scalability for growth, high performance, and increased speed and capacity. The LTO Ultrium format continues to experience growing market adoption in the 'super tape' drive category as indicated in a Gartner Dataquest market report published earlier this year.

"Customer demand for higher capacity storage formats is growing significantly and Fujifilm remains committed to supporting the development and marketing of next-generation tape products," said Steve Solomon, Sr. vice president & General Manager, Computer Products Division, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc. "Fujifilm's licensing of the Ultrium format Generation 2 specification highlights our hearty support of the format, and gives our customers confidence that their investment in the Ultrium format is protected with future technology generations."

The LTO Ultrium format Generation 2 tape storage capacity will increase to 400GB compressed (assuming a 2:1 compression). The data transfer speed of the Ultrium format Generation 2 will also advance, increasing up to 80MB per second compressed. In addition, the LTO Ultrium format Generation 2 tape drives will offer backward read-and-write compatibility with LTO Ultrium format Generation 1 data cartridges, protecting previous investments in LTO Ultrium based tape technology.

"The first generation Ultrium tape drive format set a new standard in the super tape drive category for the midrange market, and the LTO Ultrium format Generation 2 is also breaking new ground," said Frank Harbist, general manager, Nearline Storage, HP Network Storage Solutions. "Licenses procured by leading tape media vendors such as Fujifilm to develop Ultrium format Generation 2 products speak to the heart of the LTO initiative -- allowing any company to develop leading-edge tape storage products, opening the door to competition, and giving end users unparalleled choices."

As part of its compliance testing, the LTO Program requires all licensees to pass a series of compliance verification tests which call for rigorous data interchangeability testing before being issued a license and the right to display the trusted Ultrium trademark. Compliance testing of all Ultrium products must be completed annually to ensure that all manufacturers adhere to the LTO Ultrium format specifications. Buyers seeking true Ultrium format-compliant products should look for the Ultrium format compliance verification marks on both tape drives and data cartridges.

How to License LTO Ultrium Technology

The LTO Program offers several different license packages -- from enhanced packages that provide the specifications to manufacture Ultrium Generation 2 products, to basic license packages, providing Ultrium format specifications and guidelines for interchangeability.

Buyers seeking true Ultrium format-compliant products should look for the Ultrium format compliance verification marks on both tape drives and data cartridges. Storage and media manufacturers interested in licensing LTO technology may obtain information by contacting the Law Offices of Ladas & Parry at 323-934-2300, or by e-mail at LTO--INFO@ladasparry.com.

About Fujifilmm

Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc. is the U.S. marketing subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd of Tokyo (FUJIY), a leading global manufacturer in three business segments, including Imaging Solutions, Information Solutions and Document Solutions. Recognized for its technological innovation and high quality, Fujifilm offers a complete portfolio of imaging, information and document products, services and e-solutions to retailers, consumers, professionals and business customers.

The complete Fujifilm product portfolio in the U.S.A. includes: professional and consumer film and cameras; digital imaging products, including cameras and printers for commercial and consumer use; digital minilabs and kiosks; photographic paper and photofinishing supplies; professional motion picture film; high-capacity floppy disks, CDs and DVDs, tape cartridges and other data storage media; videotape and audiocassettes; professional and consumer optical discs; microfilm and other micrographic products; and graphic arts film, conventional and digital printing plates, analog ad digital color proofing systems, drum and flatbed scanners, imagesetters and computer-to-plate systems. Fujicolor Processing Inc, a subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc, provides wholesale photofinishing through a network of laboratories across the country. Fujifilm e-Systems is a subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc that develops workflow solutions to support the company's photofinishing labs and consumer photographic businesses, including online imaging services such as Fujifilm.net.

For more information on Fujifilm products, consumers can call 800-FUJI or access the Fujifilm USA Web site at: www.fujifilmmediasource.com.

About Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Technology

LTO technology is a powerful, scaleable, open tape format created by technology providers HP, IBM Corporation and Seagate Removable Storage Solutions to meet the growing demands of data protection in the midrange to enterprise-class server environments. This new generation of tape storage products delivers outstanding performance, capacity and reliability combining the advantages of linear multi-channel, bi-directional formats with enhancements in servo technology, data compression, track layout, and error correction.

The LTO Ultrium format storage solution is a single-reel, high-performance tape cartridge ideal for backing up, restoring, and archiving applications. As a market-leading tape technology for ultra-high capacity storage, the LTO Ultrium format is the only tape storage technology with a well-defined four-generation roadmap for growth and scalability -- doubling speed and capacity with each new generation, and delivering significant data integrity improvements over current tape storage formats.

While the LTO Program gives licensees wide latitude in implementing mechanical and electrical designs, strict adherence is required to format specifications impacting the ability to read and write Ultrium format tape cartridges. Independent compliance verification is vital to meet the free-interchange objectives that are at the core of the LTO Program. With numerous compliance checkpoints for each LTO technology product, end-users and OEMs can be confident of data interchangeability between LTO products regardless of the manufacturer.

Ultrium tape mechanism and tape cartridge interchange specifications are available on a licensee basis. For additional information on LTO Ultrium technology, visit the Ultrium Web site at www.ultrium.com.