News briefs:

Enthone acquires Westbrook surface finishing IP

Enthone Inc., a business of Cookson Electronics (www.cooksonelectronics.com), has acquired exclusive rights and knowledge to all Westbrook Technologies (Scarborough, Ontario; www.westbrooktech.com) intellectual property as it relates to the surface finishing industry. The asset acquisition expands Enthone"s market presence throughout Canada and adds to its portfolio of corrosion-resistant coatings for the surface finishing industry. Prior to the transaction, Westbrook was the Enthone distributor in Quebec and Ontario since 2004. Incorporation of the Westbrook product line into the Enthone operational, technical, and commercial organizations worldwide is underway.

Molex PCIe connector approved for SAS 2.1

Molex"s (www.molex.com) iPass+ HD PCIe connector system has been approved for inclusion in the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) 2.1 standard, which is planned for release at the end of the year. The standard is created by the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS), which is accredited by and operates under rules approved by the American National Standards Institute. iPass+ HD is designed to provide the same port density for low-profile PCIe cards as the current iPass+ solution does for standard height PCIe cards. Several months ago, the T10 SCSI Standards Committee, a group within INCITS, moved forward with requirements for a new high-density SAS 6 Gbits/sec (12 Gbits/sec capable) I/O connector and scheduled a selection vote in the Oklahoma City March meeting. The Molex iPass+ HD system was chosen in the SAS Phy Work Group meeting on March 17 and recommended to the T10 Plenary meeting on March 19. "Several OEMs needed the higher-density connector solution for the new SAS switch and RAID controller products much sooner than the previous 2011 release plan for SAS 3.0," says Debbie Kiley, high-speed I/O group product manager.

Web site offers REACH, RoHS info

Molex"s Web site (www.molex.com/eco-are.html) now allows users to find REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) substance information and a RoHS (Restriction on the Use of Hazardous Material) certificate of compliance for every part published on the site. Users can find the REACH SVHC (substances of very high concern) content for each part number in the product environmental compliance section on the right-hand side of the part number data sheet. In addition, users can download a PDF file of the RoHS certificate of compliance that lists the RoHS compliance status for every part number online. Currently, users can only download the certificate by part number, but by the end of the year, Molex says customers will be able to get a RoHS certificate of compliance for a list of part numbers.