Melco
Encyclopedia
Melco Holdings Inc. is a family business
founded by Makoto Maki in 1975. The name stands for Maki Engineering Laboratory COmpany. The company's most recognizable brand is Buffalo Inc.
Buffalo Inc. is currently one of the 14 subsidiaries of Melco Holdings Inc., initially founded as an audio equipment
manufacturer, the company entered the computer peripheral market in 1981 with an EEPROM
writer. The name BUFFALO is derived from one of company's first products, a printer
buffer
and the name for the American Bison
.
products, USB products, CD-ROM
/DVD-RW
drives, hard disk
s, local area network
products, printer
buffers
, Liquid crystal display
s, Microsoft Windows
accelerators, Personal computer
components and CPU accelerators. A subsidiary of Melco provides corporate services in Japan like Internet
set-up, Terminal
installation/set-up, Computer
education and Computer
maintenance.
Buffalo Technology (USA) is the North America
n subsidiary of the group and is based in Austin, Texas
.
As of June 28, 2007
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product worldwide. The lawsuits basis was that CSIRO was granted US patent 5487069 in 1996, which grants elements of 802.11a/g wireless technology that had become an industry standard. In June 2007, the federal court in Texas granted an injunction to prevent any more wireless products from shipping until a license agreement had been reached. On September 19, 2008, the Federal Circuit ruled in Buffalo’s favor and has remanded this case to the district court ruling that the district court’s Summary Judgment was insufficient on the merits of obviousness of CSIRO’s patent. Therefore, this case will be tried again before the district court. In this connection Buffalo is hopeful that it will shortly be permitted to, once again, sell IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g compliant products in the United States.
Family business
A family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being....
founded by Makoto Maki in 1975. The name stands for Maki Engineering Laboratory COmpany. The company's most recognizable brand is Buffalo Inc.
Buffalo Inc. is currently one of the 14 subsidiaries of Melco Holdings Inc., initially founded as an audio equipment
Audio equipment
A piece of audio equipment is any device designed principally to reproduce, record or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units and loudspeakers....
manufacturer, the company entered the computer peripheral market in 1981 with an EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices to store small amounts of data that must be saved when power is removed, e.g., calibration...
writer. The name BUFFALO is derived from one of company's first products, a printer
Computer printer
In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
buffer
Buffer (computer science)
In computer science, a buffer is a region of a physical memory storage used to temporarily hold data while it is being moved from one place to another. Typically, the data is stored in a buffer as it is retrieved from an input device or just before it is sent to an output device...
and the name for the American Bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
.
History
Melco Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1986; currently its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacture of random access memory products, Flash memoryFlash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
products, USB products, CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
/DVD-RW
DVD-RW
A DVD-RW disc is a rewritable optical disc with equal storage capacity to a DVD-R, typically 4.7 GB. The format was developed by Pioneer in November 1999 and has been approved by the DVD Forum. The smaller Mini DVD-RW holds 1.46 GB, with a diameter of 8 cm.The primary advantage of DVD-RW over...
drives, hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
s, local area network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
products, printer
Computer printer
In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
buffers
Buffer (computer science)
In computer science, a buffer is a region of a physical memory storage used to temporarily hold data while it is being moved from one place to another. Typically, the data is stored in a buffer as it is retrieved from an input device or just before it is sent to an output device...
, Liquid crystal display
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
s, Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
accelerators, Personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
components and CPU accelerators. A subsidiary of Melco provides corporate services in Japan like Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
set-up, Terminal
Computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
installation/set-up, Computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
education and Computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
maintenance.
Buffalo Technology (USA) is the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n subsidiary of the group and is based in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
Board of Directors
| Title | Person |
|---|---|
| President and CEO | Makoto Maki |
| Senior Managing Director | Kuniaki Saiki |
| Managing Director | Hiromichi Maki |
| Director | Hidetoshi Yamaguchi |
| Director | Tamio Matsuo |
| Director | Hiromi Maki |
| Director | Iwao Tsusaka |
| Senior Corporate Auditor | Kiyoshi Kobayashi |
| Corporate Auditor | Toshio Nishikawa |
| Corporate Auditor | Yuzuru Kawashima |
| Corporate Auditor | Tomotsune Sumi |
As of June 28, 2007
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Melco divisions
| Japan |
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|---|---|
| Asia |
|
| U.S.A. |
|
| Europe |
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Products
- Nintendo Wi-Fi USB ConnectorNintendo Wi-Fi USB ConnectorThe Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector is an accessory, developed jointly by Nintendo and Buffalo Technology, which allows Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS and Wii users without a Wi-Fi connection or compatible Wi-Fi network to establish one via a broadband-connected PC...
- Buffalo network-attached storage seriesBuffalo network-attached storage seriesThe Buffalo network-attached storage series are network-attached storage devices.They can be modified into miniature general purpose Linux-based computers...
- External hard drive
- HD DVD Computer Drive
- AirStationAirStationBuffalo AirStation is the name given to a series of wireless LAN equipment sold by Buffalo Technology.- Products :* Residential gateways* Wireless LAN cards- Use with third party firmware :...
(Residential gatewayResidential gatewayA residential gateway is a home networking device, used as a gateway to connect devices in the home to the Internet or other WAN.It is an umbrella term, used to cover multi-function networking computer appliances used in homes, which may combine a DSL or cable modem, a firewall, a consumer-grade...
) - AOSSAOSSAOSS is a system by Buffalo Technology which allows a secure wireless connection to be set up with the push of a button. Recent AirStation residential gateways incorporate a button on the unit to let the user initiate this procedure...
- Memory - SO-DIMMSO-DIMMA SO-DIMM, or small outline dual in-line memory module, is a type of computer memory built using integrated circuits.SO-DIMMs are a smaller alternative to a DIMM, being roughly half the size of regular DIMMs...
and DIMMDIMMA DIMM or dual in-line memory module, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal computers, workstations and servers... - USB flash driveUSB flash driveA flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
- UPnP Media Rendering Hardware
Controversy
In late 2006, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) won a lawsuit against Buffalo Inc. under which it would receive a royalty for every WLANWireless LAN
A wireless local area network links two or more devices using some wireless distribution method , and usually providing a connection through an access point to the wider internet. This gives users the mobility to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected to the network...
product worldwide. The lawsuits basis was that CSIRO was granted US patent 5487069 in 1996, which grants elements of 802.11a/g wireless technology that had become an industry standard. In June 2007, the federal court in Texas granted an injunction to prevent any more wireless products from shipping until a license agreement had been reached. On September 19, 2008, the Federal Circuit ruled in Buffalo’s favor and has remanded this case to the district court ruling that the district court’s Summary Judgment was insufficient on the merits of obviousness of CSIRO’s patent. Therefore, this case will be tried again before the district court. In this connection Buffalo is hopeful that it will shortly be permitted to, once again, sell IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g compliant products in the United States.
Competitors
- SeagateSeagate TechnologySeagate Technology is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives. Incorporated in 1978 as Shugart Technology, Seagate is currently incorporated in Dublin, Ireland and has its principal executive offices in Scotts Valley, California, United States.-1970s:On November 1, 1979...
- LaCieLaCieLaCie is a computer hardware company specializing in external hard drives, RAID arrays, optical drives, Flash Drives, and computer monitors. The company markets several lines of hard drives with a capacity of up to many terabytes of data, with a choice of interfaces...
- FabrikFabrikFabrik is a visual programming integrated development environment implemented in Smalltalk and designed at Apple Computer by Dan Ingalls, Scott Wallace, Yu-Ying Chow, Frank Ludolph, Ken Doyle and others during the mid-1980s...
- Western DigitalWestern DigitalWestern Digital Corporation is one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers in the world. It has a long history in the electronics industry as an integrated circuit maker and a storage products company. Western Digital was founded on April 23, 1970 by Alvin B...
- IomegaIomegaIomega is an American producer of consumer external, portable and networking storage hardware. Established in the 1980s, Iomega has sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks. On April 8, 2008, EMC Corporation announced its plans to acquire Iomega for a consideration of US $213M...