| DVD Recordable Special Interest Group Welcomes Microsoft’s Announcement of Support for all Major DVD Recordable Formats Standardized by the DVD Forum 9 May, 2003 Hitachi, Ltd. May 9, 2003, Tokyo, Japan: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Pioneer Corporation and Toshiba Corporation, members of the DVD Forum, welcome the May 8 announcement by Microsoft Corporation that it plans to provide native support for all major recordable formats including DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW in the next version of the Windows operating system. With this announcement, all major DVD recordable formats standardized by the DVD Forum will receive native support from Windows, along with DVD-RAM, which is currently supported. This move will provide users of PCs with greater usability of DVD recordable products and higher compatibility between PC and AV products. DVD-R and DVD-RW, which will be newly supported by Windows, will easily be able to record and replay pictures, music and general PC data without any need for third party software. They will also enjoy the same “drag and drop” data handling capability as DVD-RAM, which supports their ease of use as back-up media or as media for data exchanges. The five companies will continue to introduce PC and digital AV products based on the Forum's DVD standards and seek to further promote the popularity of DVD recordable products in the market. DVD Recordable Special Interest Group The five companies, all fully involved in DVD recordable products, jointly exhibited as the “DVD Recordable Special Interest Group” at WinHEC 2003, Microsoft’s annual hardware engineering conference for Windows, held this year in New Orleans, Louisiana, from May 6 to May 8. The DVD Forum The DVD Forum is a global organization that establishes and promotes DVD standards. As of March 18, 2003, its membership comprised 215 electronics manufacturers, software houses, recording media manufacturers, and other companies from around the world. Of these companies, 17 are steering committee members that oversee the management of DVD Forum activities. Hitachi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Pioneer Corporation and Toshiba Corporation are steering committee members. For further information, please contact: Hitachi, Ltd. (In the United States) Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (In the United States) Pioneer Corporation Toshiba Corporation
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