News Releases

11/19/2007

HITACHI WINS POPULAR SCIENCE’S BEST OF WHAT’S NEW AWARD

-- Hitachi's Blu-Ray DZ-BD7HA Camcorder Declared a Winner --

SAN DIEGO – November 19, 2007 – Popular Science announced today that Hitachi America, Ltd.’s flagship DZ-BD7HA, a Hybrid Blu-ray model, is a winner of the 2007 Popular Science Best of What's New award. The Blu-ray camcorder’s revolutionary design and innovative style inspired judges to award this “Best of What’s New” gadget product.

The DZ-BD7HA camcorder is full of originality as it includes Blu-ray disc recording capabilities and a 30 gigabyte (GB) built-in Hard Disk Drive that can record approximately four hours of 1920 x 1080 high definition video (HX mode) or up to eight hours of 1440 x 1080 high definition video (HS mode). With the simple push of a button, it can copy the contents from HDD to BD within the camcorder itself, a major convenience feature for on-the-go consumers who can now bypass external devices (PCs, etc.) altogether to quickly dub a highlight reel.

The camcorder captures six times the data of standard definition camcorders, resulting in unprecedented texture and detail. Easy editing functions, such as split, delete and connect, make this product user friendly and attractive to the average user.

"It is an honor for our blu-ray camcorder to be presented with a 'Best of What's New' award," said Daniel Lee, VP of Marketing, Hitachi America, Ltd. "We are pleased Popular Science recognized the true originality of this product”

This is the first time Hitachi has won this award and the competition was thick. Thousands of products and technologies are submitted each year for consideration and only 100 of them receive a "Best of What's New" award. This year's winners' were judged on:

• Significance of the innovation

• The quality of the design and the finished product

• The originality of the product

• The ambition and scope of the project before when choosing the winners

Hitachi America, Ltd., Ubiquitous Platform Systems Division, produces and markets a wide variety of digital products for business and consumers. The division’s Consumer Group markets high-definition plasma televisions and monitors, LCD projection and flat panel HDTVs, LCD projectors, and DVD camcorders. The division’s Business Group markets LCD projectors, professional plasma monitors, interactive panels and whiteboards and security and observation system products through value added resellers, system integrators, distributors and OEM.

Hitachi has a unique position in the marketplace by manufacturing and developing its own core technologies to provide consumers and businesses with optimal product performance in each of Hitachi's product categories. For consumer products, please visit www.hitachi.us/tv. For business products, please visit www.hitachi.us/digitalmedia. For more information about electronic whiteboards and Starboard software, please visit Hitachi Software at www.hitachi-soft.com. Hitachi brand business products are connected through Hitachi’s OneVision program, which makes it possible for any Hitachi business unit dealer to sell Hitachi products from other Hitachi business units.

Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, and consumer electronics, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information, visit www.hitachi.us.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 384,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2006 (ended March 31, 2007) consolidated revenues totaled 10,247 billion yen ($86.8 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.