Closely trailing Buffalo, Pioneer is ready with its BDR-206MBK internal SATA Blu-ray XL burner drive, slated for market release next month. If bezel design is anything to go by, Pioneer's drive closely resembles Buffalo's RXL-6FBS-BK. Perhaps they're both made by the same source. Like Buffalo's drive, this one burns BDXL discs at 4X, BD-RE XL discs at 2X, and conventional single and double layer BD-R discs at 6X. Pioneer will bundle CyberLink's PowerDVD 10, PowerProducer 5, Power2Go 7, InstantBurn 5, PowerBackup 2, Medi@Show 5 and LabelPrint 2 software with this drive.

Buffalo Technology Japan announced the world's first PC drives that can burn Blu-ray XL (BDXL) discs. BDXL is a next-generation Blu-ray based disc format that can hold up to 128 GB of data in standard-sized discs. Buffalo's BDXL burner lineup consists of a standard 5.25" sized internal drive with SATA interface, carrying the model number BRXL-6FBS-BK; and an external drive with USB 2.0 interface, the BRXL-6U2. Both these drives burn BDXL discs at 4X, BR-RE XL at 2X, and conventional single and double layer BD-R discs at 6X. The company is yet to announce market availability.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, has announced the opening of a new SSD manufacturing plant in Taipei, Taiwan slated to begin operation on Monday, October 25.

A testament to the Company's dedication to market leadership, the new facility features best of class manufacturing, as well as test and burn-in technology required by the Company's growing OEM client base. The new facility increases the Company's SSD manufacturing capacity to 140,000 units a month from 50,000 units a month internally, accommodating the growing demand for both client and enterprise OCZ SSDs.

WD today announced that the company is shipping the world's largest capacity SATA hard drive. As the latest addition to its WD Caviar Green family of SATA hard drives, the new hard drives deliver up to a massive 3 terabytes (TB) of storage capacity on a single drive. WD is leading the industry in capacity for SATA hard drives by utilizing 750 GB-per-platter areal density and Advanced Format (AF) technology.

WD Caviar Green drives are an eco-friendly storage solution with WD GreenPower Technology, which reduces power consumption by enabling lower operating temperatures for increased reliability and decreases acoustical noise for quiet operation. The WD Caviar Green 2.5 TB and 3 TB hard drives are designed for use as secondary external storage and next-generation PC storage in 64-bit based systems.

Sharkoon's "QuickPort" series has increased again: The youngest and smallest model from the external hard drive docking station product line is specifically designed for magnet hard drives and SSDs with 2.5 inch form factor and SATA interfaces. The Sharkoon SATA QuickPort Mini offers a convenient plug-in slot and eject button, the accessible data medium can be directly connected to a notebook or computer. With its miniature size of 85 x 55 x 45 mm (W x L x H), the stable adapter is suitable for easy transit in a jacket or notebook bag. Connection and the power supply occur through the external USB port. On the rear of the device you will find a separate power switch. A topside LED illuminates during operation and data transfer.

Sharkoon offers the SATA QuickPort Mini in two choices: One model with a USB2.0 high speed port (max. 480 Mbps) and one model with USB3.0 SuperSpeed port (max. 5 Gbps). Shipping includes the appropriate instruction manual and USB cable (USB-Y or USB3.0). End customers will find the Sharkoon SATA QuickPorts Mini available from authorized retailers.

RaidSonic introduced a pair of USB 3.0 compatible 2.5-inch SATA 3 Gb/s drive enclosures, the IB-230StU3-G and IB-223StU3+. The former sports a brushed metal body, with vibration-dampening rubber inlets, while the latter comes in white (IB-223StU3+Wh) and black (IB-223StU3+B) variants, with a polycarbonate body and a silicone sleeve to absorb mechanical shock. The IB-230StU3-G is priced at €26.90, and IB-223StU3+ at €23.90.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today introduced two 4G WiMAX-ready models of the Portégé R700, the world's lightest 13.3-inch full-performance ultraportable laptop with an integrated DVD drive2. The new Portégé R700 models not only provide business users with unprecedented performance and durability in a highly mobile form factor, but the most comprehensive connectivity options available.

"4G WiMAX coverage continues to rapidly grow and offers millions of people wireless access in many major metropolitan areas across the U.S.," said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Now with a WiMAX-enabled Portégé R700, Toshiba business professionals will be able to enjoy the benefits of having citywide connectivity at their fingertips."

Viking Modular Solutions, a division of Sanmina-SCI Corporation, today announced it has incorporated the SandForce SF-2000 processor family into its product portfolio, with new solutions ready for qualification in the first quarter 2011. Just released, the SF-2500 and SF-2600 are the second generation SandForce SSD processors for enterprise storage environments, and are designed to enable standard high density NAND Flash memory to reliably operate in SATA- and SAS-based enterprise storage applications without compromising performance.

Viking Modular has quickly developed and perfected SSD solutions in multiple form-factors for this latest generation, offering devices that can deliver 6Gb/s SATA III with performance expectations of 60K IOPS random read and write, and 500 MB/s sequential read and write. In addition, these devices utilize DuraClass technology, architected to leverage advanced SLC and MLC NAND Flash memory, and to deliver best-in-class performance, endurance, security and power efficiency in a single chip solution.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today introduced a 1.8" footprint version of the award-winning Crucial RealSSD C300 product line. The 1.8" profile, which is approximately 40% smaller than the standard 2.5" drive, provides an excellent solid-state storage option for the most portable products such as ultra-thin laptops, netbooks, and tablet PCs - without sacrificing performance and capacity. Based upon the Micron RealSSD product design and innovation, the new Crucial RealSSD C300 1.8" drive utilizes (multi-level cell) MLC NAND, advanced controller technology, and optimized NAND management, which together improve boot up and application load times dramatically and enhance overall system performance. No moving parts provides for quieter, cooler, and more durable solutions compared to traditional hard disk drives.

Following today's launch of the SandForce SF-2000 series SATA/SAS 6 Gb/s SSD processors, Other World Computing (OWC) announced its first enterprise-grade Mercury Extreme PCI-Express SSDs making use of these controllers. The first products in the company's next-generation Mercury Extreme lineup will start shipping early next year. These include a PCI-Express x16 card with eight SF-2000 series-driven SSDs in an internal RAID, totaling 3.2 TB in capacity, 4,000 MB/s sequential read, and up to 480,000 IOPS. A PCI-Express x8 model is also in the works, perhaps with lesser number of internal SSDs. There's scope for enterprise-grade features making use of SF-2000 series feature-set. SF-2000 series controllers enable features such as native 256-bit AES data encryption, and native command queuing with 32 concurrent operations. Applications of OWC's SSDs include I/O intensive enterprise servers, storage arrays, and high-end workstations in the financial, telecom, web/mail, gaming, public security, retail, and professional media creation/editing industries, according to the company.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, is teaming up with SandForce Inc. to deliver exceptional new SSD products that leverage Serial-ATA (SATA) 6 Gb/s and cost-effective NAND flash components. With the updated architecture, the OCZ Deneva Family will continue to lead the way in the transition from hard disc drives (HDDs) to SSD data storage and IT infrastructures. OCZ is set to begin sample distribution to current and potential clients in the fourth quarter of 2010, with mass production beginning in the first quarter of 2011.

"We have a strong partnership with SandForce and are excited to utilize their new SF-2000 family of SSD processors in our next generation Enterprise and Industrial Solid State Drive products," said Alex Mei, CMO at the OCZ Technology Group. "Together we will be able to offer our enterprise clients a very robust line of ultra reliable 6 Gb/s SSDs in a variety of interfaces ranging from SATA to SAS within our customizable Deneva Series."

SandForce Inc., the pioneer of SSD (Solid State Drive) Processors that enable standard NAND Flash deployment in enterprise, client, and industrial computing applications, today announced the availability of the SF-2000 Family of SSD Processors optimized for SSDs deployed in mission-critical Enterprise and Industrial computing applications. These chips feature a 6 Gigabit-per-second SATA host interface, industry applauded DuraClass Technology, an unprecedented 60,000 sustained random read/write IOPS (Input-output Operations Per Second) and sustained sequential read/write performance of 500 Megabytes per second. In addition to state-of-the-art performance, reliability, security, and Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) connectivity enhancements, the SF-2000 family supports single-level, multi-level, and enterprise multi-level cell (SLC, MLC, & eMLC) NAND Flash families from all major suppliers with its high-speed ONFi2 and Toggle Flash interface.

Knowing that every organization's computing needs are as diverse as the people they employ, Acer America Corp. is extending its professional all-in-one desktop line for the U.S. market. The newest model is the sleek Veriton Z410G boasting a brilliant high-def 21.5-inch display and full desktop performance. Acer also enhanced its value focused Veriton Z290G all-in-one model featuring an 18.5-inch display with a convenient touch panel and a more powerful Intel Atom processor.

Svelte and simple, the new silver and black Veriton Z410G and Veriton Z290G are attractive and easy to set up. The new all-in-ones include Windows 7 Professional and will be available via Acer's authorized resellers in October with prices beginning at just $599.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced its new 375GB/platter, 5,400 RPM and 7,200 RPM, 2.5-inch hard drives - the Travelstar 5K750 and the Travelstar 7K750 hard drive families. Featuring the industry's highest capacities in a standard 9.5mm two-disk design, the new drives come in capacities of 750GB, 640GB and 500GB. The drives are built on Hitachi's proven platform for quality and reliability, and feature innovative technology that delivers high shock protection, low power and fast performance for a variety of notebook computers, external storage solutions, gaming consoles and other mobile devices.

The Travelstar 5K750 and 7K750 drive families are the first Hitachi GST hard drives that feature Advanced Format. Advanced Format increases the physical sector size on hard drives from 512 bytes to 4096 (4K) bytes. This helps utilize the storage surface area more efficiently, allowing for increased drive capacities and improved data integrity at higher storage densities. By integrating Hitachi drives with the new Advanced Format, IT managers, system integrators and OEMs can take advantage of the latest operating systems to deliver new high-capacity, power-efficient systems.

Thermaltake, leading DIY chassis brand, is launching the world's first SideClick EasySwap HDD docking mid-tower with integrated USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connector particularly designed for AMD Leo gaming PCs, the ARMOR A60 AMD Leo Edition. Thermaltake lined up with AMD to design a computer chassis particularly catering to the latest AMD Leo gaming platform. It shows the typical bullet-proof armory contours of this series while the front panel has gotten an even fiercer AMD-red color ornamentation, with the left side panel sporting an AMD Leo tattoo.

The otherwise entirely black design with metal mesh elements lend the ARMOR series an extremely stylish and powerful appearance that attracts gamers and enthusiasts alike. The top and front red LED-fans enhance the overall combat ambience, resembling the typical MMORPG ambience but also providing ideal cooling characteristics for the AMD Leo platform. A special lock mechanism for your mouse and keyboard ensures that you'll always stay in arms.

Foremay, Inc., a leader of technology innovation in solid state drive and one of the world's Top 10 SSD OEMs, today announced the EC188 M-series SATA 6 Gb/s solid state hard drive which has standard host interfaces of third generation SATA, also known as SATA 6 Gb/s. The SATA 6 Gb/s SSD is designed for enterprise servers, studio workstations and high end DIY personal computers, with speeds up to 450 MB/s for reading and 350 MB/s for writing, with a capacity up to 500 GB.

"The mainstream motherboards delivered to the market today have significantly increased their support of the SATA 3 hard drive," said Jason Hoover, Foremay's VP Marketing. "Our SATA 3.0 SSD is designed to meet the demand for fully utilizing the advantages of SATA 3.0 speed in SATA 3-ready motherboards. Users will now be able to enjoy the ultra-high speed provided by our SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs."

Kingston expanded its SSD product lineup for Europe with the new SSDNow V+ 180 series. These drives come in the 1.8-inch SATA form factor, and are suited for both enterprise (servers) and consumer (notebooks). Kingston started off its SSD lineup with Intel's expertise, and this seems to be similar. Making use of MLC NAND flash chips, the SSDNow V+ provides read/write speeds of upto 230 MB/s (read), 180 MB/s (write). The controller has its dedicated 128 MB of DDR3 memory, and uses the SATA 3 Gb/s interface, it supports the TRIM function in supported OSes. The MTBF of 1 million hours seems to add to its prospects of making it to enterprises. It is available in capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB; priced at €180, €312, €737, respectively.

Addonics Technologies, announced a very small storage appliance which, despite being the size of a four inch cube, packs the power and features of RAID storage devices that are much larger and up to three times as expensive. Called the Compact RAID, the unit accommodates up to five 2.5", 9.5 mm height hard drives or SSDs to form high performance storage configurable to various RAID levels up to RAID 5. Drives can easily be removed or added to the Compact RAID, much like a tape cartridge without special tools.

In addition to the powerful RAID engine, the Compact RAID comes built-in with a high speed eSATA connection and can deliver a screaming throughput up to 300 Mbytes/sec. The Compact RAID weighs just over a pound without drive. It also features a silent operation and the ability to be used as a boot drive or as additional storage.

Flash-memory expert PhotoFast is releasing its fastest SATA solid state drive (SSD) series, the GMonster 3X V1. Based on a new controller, the drive supports SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and significantly relies on the higher interface bandwidth. These drives carry read speeds of up to 430 MB/s, writing at up to 300 MB/s. Available in 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB variants, these drives have different read/write speeds: the 64 GB model reads/writes at up to 370/120 MB/s, the 128 GB model at 410/190 MB/s, with the 256 GB model running full throttle at 430/300 MB/s. The controller makes full use of the NAND flash memory installed as data-area, while it has its own 128 MB DDR3 memory to carry out its tasks and use as cache. Aimed at consumers, these drives carry MTBF of 1.5 million hours. October is when these will hit the shelves, though prices have not been announced yet.

In the view of the demand for an ultra-low power platform with fan-less design strongly inquired from customers, MSI IPC debuts the IM-PV-N based on thelatest Intel Pineview-D D525/D425 processor and the Intel ICH9R chipset to provide the latest ultra-low power platform. With a compact 6.7"x6.7" size, IM-PV-N is designed with rich I/O functionality and has the new levels of performance and graphics for customer's demanding in network security applications such as VPN (Virtual Private Network ), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol ) and NAS (Network Attached Storage ). Powered by the Intel Pineview-D D525/D425+ICH9R chipset, consisting of the Intel Integrated Graphics GMA 3150 Engine, MSI IM-PV-N delivers high performance and powerful graphics.

MSI IM-PV-N supports 4 Gigabit LAN, and 2 LAN support Bypass function relay modes. With two DDR3 800 MHz So-DIMM sockets up to 4GB system memory, IM-PV-N is for better memory supply. For the storage application, it supports 4 SATA ports. Onboard I/O advantages include 10 COM ports and 6 USB 2.0 ports. Moreover, it features one compact flash slot, two PCI, one PCIex1 slot and one mini-PCIe slot for easy expansion.

Pioneer Japan rolled out the BDR-S06J internal Blu-ray disc writer drive. It is available in three bezel options: white (BDR-S06J-W), piano black (BDR-S06J-BK), and matte black (BDR-S06J-KR). The drive uses the standard SATA interface, and has a 4 MB buffer. It can burn Blu-ray discs at 12X, and has Blu-ray 3D support using PowerDVD. Along with this, it also supports AVCREC DRM (2D or 3D). Scheduled to arrive in November, the drive goes for ¥30,000 (or US $360).

Sharkoon equips another product from its inventory with a SuperSpeed port: Also the Rapid Case drive enclosure for 2.5" SATA hard drives is available with USB3.0 access and thus available with data rates up to 5 Gbit/s.

Sharkoon now has nine comprehensive Rapid Case series models aimed at users searching for beneficial and solid external hard drive enclosures for daily use. The sturdy aluminum housings are ideal for flexible data transfer, disk use is completed within a few simple steps. The Rapid Case 2.5" USB3.0 provides space for 2.5" SATA hard drives with a maximum overall height of 9.5mm, and is quickly and easily connected via USB3.0 to a PC or Notebook. The Plug&Play housing dimensions are 123 x 78 x 11 mm with an empty weight of 70 grams; the colors black, red and blue are available to own. In shipping you will find a brief instruction manual, screwdriver, a 100 centimeter long USB3.0 cable (Plug A / Mini USB3.0) and a transport bag.

If you recall, at this year's Computex event held in Taipei, almost every motherboard vendor scuffled to show of their first motherboards based on the Intel P67 and H67 chipsets, that support new socket LGA1155 socket processors based on the next-generation Sandy Bridge architecture. The Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2010 event is presenting many of them a second chance, and we're beginning to see some new designs that didn't make it to Computex. Intel's own Desktop Board division came up with a new Extreme Series motherboard, the DP67BG "Burrage". As with every other Intel Desktop Board, this one looks clean, and well spaced-out. While there's nothing fancy about the heatsinks, the glowing skull is there, and this time it's positioned properly.

The processor is powered by a 4+2 phase PWM circuit, it's wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory support. Among few of its kind, the Burrage makes room of all seven expansion slots in the ATX specification. There are two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (x8, x8 when both are populated), three PCI-E x1, and two PCI. Apart from six SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the P67 PCH, there's an additional Marvell-made SATA controller that drives an eSATA port. Connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, a number of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, and eSATA. After being neophobic toward USB 3.0, Intel has finally embraced it on its Desktop Board brand, an NEC/Renesas controller gives out two ports on the rear-panel. This feature-set should put rest to rumors of Intel embedding USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s into its chipset. The DP67BG from Intel should be out when the first-wave of LGA1155 processors make it to the market.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EPIA-M850 Mini-ITX board, the first board to feature the latest VIA VX900 media system processor, creating the ideal solution for today's HD-intensive, commercial multimedia-centric devices.

The VIA EPIA-M850 is targeted at OEM and ODM manufacturers of commercial multimedia embedded devices. Featuring a 64-bit, high performance VIA Nano E-Series processor and the VIA VX900 unified all-in-one media system processor, the VIA EPIA-M850 delivers a highly optimized platform that boasts comprehensive HD video performance, HD audio and HDMI support in a compact, power-efficient package.

Sharkoon expands on their PC-housings portfolio: The ATX Case Sharkoon Bandit brings together comfortable installation options, an elaborate airflow concept, integrated card reader and as a special feature, a practical docking station for 2.5 and 3.5 inch SATA hard drives.

Thus, Sharkoon has integrated for the first time their highly-demanded external QuickPort docking station into a housing. SATA hard drives of both sizes can be easily plugged into the PC without any complicated assembly. Another distinctive feature on the top of the housing is the blue illuminating 180mm LED fan, which blows warm air out of the housing. Also, easily accessible on the housing surface are Power and Reset switches, audio connections, a power and hard drive LED, an eSATA and two USB ports. A card reader is installed in the highest front panel which supports SD, SDHC, MS, as well as CF I formats and contains an additional USB port.