Melco Holdings Inc. is a
family business
A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...
founded by Makoto Maki in 1975 and is located in Japan. The company's most recognizable brand is Buffalo Inc.
Buffalo Inc. is currently one of the 16 subsidiaries of Melco Holdings Inc., initially founded as an
audio equipment
Audio equipment refers to devices that reproduce, record, or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units, headphones, and Speaker (audio equipmen ...
manufacturer, the company entered the
computer peripheral
A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by th ...
market in 1981 with an
EEPROM
EEPROM (also called E2PROM) stands for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or as a ...
writer. The name BUFFALO is derived from one of company's first products, a
printer buffer and the name for the
American Bison
The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...
(Buffalo).
Name
Melco's name stands for Maki Engineering Laboratory COmpany.
History
Melco Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1986; currently its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacture of
random-access memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A Random access, random-access memory device allows data items to b ...
products,
Flash memory
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
products,
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
products,
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
/
DVD-RW
DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('burne ...
drives,
hard disk drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...
s,
local area network
A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger ...
products,
printer buffers,
liquid-crystal display
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display
A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipmen ...
s,
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
accelerators,
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
components and
CPU accelerators. A subsidiary of Melco provides corporate services in Japan like
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
set-up,
computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. The teletype was an example of an early-day hard-copy terminal and ...
installation/set-up,
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
education and computer maintenance. The company has also started selling
solid-state drive
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...
s in Japan.
Buffalo Technology (USA)is the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n subsidiary of the group and is based in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. The company has been first to market on a number of new technologies.
A Timeline of Firsts
January 1999 – First Wireless Router
December 2002 – First Draft-11g Wi-Fi Products Shipped
November 2003 – First NAS Appliance
January 2005 – First RAID NAS Appliance
April 2006 – First Draft-11n Wi-Fi Products Shipped
November 2009 – First USB 3.0 Storage
January 2012 – First Draft-11ac Wi-Fi Solution Demonstrated at CES
May 2012 – First Draft-11ac Wi-Fi products shipped
June 2012 – First Thunderbolt + USB 3.0 Hybrid Device
May 2013 – First DDR Memory Buffer DAS Drive
Corporate Structure
Products
*
Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector
The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector is a wireless game adapter, developed by Nintendo and Buffalo Technology, which allows the Nintendo DS, Wii and 3DS users without a Wi-Fi connection or compatible Wi-Fi network to establish one via a broadb ...
*
Buffalo network-attached storage series
*
External hard drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magne ...
*
HD DVD Computer Drive
*
AirStation (
Residential gateway
A residential gateway is a small consumer-grade gateway which bridges network access between connected local area network (LAN) hosts to a wide area network (WAN) (such as the Internet) via a modem, or directly connects to a WAN (as in EttH), wh ...
)
*
AOSS AOSS (AirStation One-Touch Secure System) is a system by Buffalo Technology which allows a secure wireless connection to be set up with the push of a button. AirStation residential gateways incorporated a button on the unit to let the user initiat ...
* Memory -
SO-DIMM
A DIMM () (Dual In-line Memory Module), commonly called a RAM stick, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These memory modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal computers ...
and
DIMM
A DIMM () (Dual In-line Memory Module), commonly called a RAM stick, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These memory modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal compute ...
*
USB flash drive
A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...
*
UPnP Media Rendering Hardware
File:TS6400DN Front View.png, TS6400DN Desktop
File:TeraStation 6000.png, TeraStation with Hard Drives Included
File:TS51210RN.jpg, TeraStation 51210RN Rackmount with 12-Bays
File:TS6400RN front top.png, TeraStation 6400RN Rackmount with 4-Bays
File:LSSOHO.jpg, LinkStation SoHo
File:Kuro-box pro.jpg, Kuro Box Pro
File:Kuro-box hg.jpg, Kuro Box HG-WR
File:Linkstationhg.jpg, Linkstation HG
File:Terastation.jpg, Terastation
The Buffalo TeraStation network-attached storage series are network-attached storage devices.
The current lineup includes the LinkStation and TeraStation series. These devices have undergone various improvements since they were first produced, and ...
File:Buffalo HD-H250U2.jpg, Drivestation external hard drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magne ...
File:Nintendo-Wii-DS-Buffalo-Wifi-USB-Connector.jpg, Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector
The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector is a wireless game adapter, developed by Nintendo and Buffalo Technology, which allows the Nintendo DS, Wii and 3DS users without a Wi-Fi connection or compatible Wi-Fi network to establish one via a broadb ...
File:Buffalo AirStation WBR-G54.jpg, A Buffalo AirStation
File:Buffalo LinkStation Pro and KuroBox Pro together.jpeg, LinkStation Pro and KuroBox Pro
Litigation
In late 2006, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (
CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...
) won a lawsuit against Buffalo Inc. under which it would receive a royalty for every
WLAN
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office buildin ...
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.
[Tim Higgins, TG Daily.]
CSIRO shuts down Buffalo WLAN shipments
. June 20, 2007." 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.
See also
*
AirStation
*
Buffalo network-attached storage series
References
External links
Buffalo's web page
{{Electronics industry in Japan
Computer companies established in 1975
Computer memory companies
Computer peripheral companies
Electronics companies of Japan
Computer companies of Japan
Defunct defense companies of Japan
Manufacturing companies based in Nagoya
Japanese companies established in 1975
Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Japanese brands