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IMATION LICENSES LTO ULTRIUM FORMAT GENERATION 3

Certance, HP and IBM Corp, the three technology provider companies (TPCs) for the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Program, announced Imation as a licensee for the LTO Ultrium format generation 3.

"The LTO Ultrium format has been well received by customers and has been a proven winner for Imation. We believe the third generation LTO Technology will be widely accepted by end users," said Colleen Willhite, vice president and general manager of Imation Corp. "The LTO Technology's roadmap continues to meet our customers' growing storage needs and is delivering the LTO Ultrium format generation 3 to the market at the right time with the right solution."

The LTO Ultrium format generation 3 offers twice the storage capacity over generation 2, with an increase to 800GB compressed (assuming a 2:1 compression) and transfer rates of up to 160MB compressed (assuming a 2:1 compression). To protect customer investments in LTO Technology, LTO Ultrium format generation 3 drives will offer backwards-compatible read-and-write capability with generation 2 cartridges and backward read capabilities with generation 1 cartridges.

"LTO Technology licensees provide end users the power to choose the solution that best meets their needs, which has played a central role in helping make the LTO Ultrium format the super tape technology market leader," said Howard Matthews, president and CEO of Certance LLC. "Continued support from key media storage vendors such as Imation for the LTO Ultrium format generation 3 highlights the value an open specification technology brings to the marketplace - multiple vendors and feature choices, data interchangeability, high speed and capacity, reliability as well as scalability."

In adherence to its compliance testing, the LTO Program requires that all licensees 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 LTO 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 LTO Ultrium format compliance verification marks on both tape drives and data cartridges.