Japanese peripherals retailer AREA announced three USB 3.0 and one SATA 6 Gb/s add-on card models. The PE4U3E-3E1 "Sport Quattro" is a 4-port USB 3.0 card that uses a Etron EJ188 host controller, which connects to the machine over PCI-Express 2.0 x2 (physical PCI-Express 2.0 x4), resulting in higher downstream bandwidth when using multiple ports. The card features three external and one internal USB 3.0 type A ports, it draws auxiliary power from a SATA power connector. It is priced at 2,480¥ (US $30).

Next up is the SD-PEU3R-2E2IL, another 4-port PCI-Express add-on card, driven by Renesas D720201 4-port USB 3.0 host controller. The card features PCI-Express 2.0 x1 bus interface, and unlike the PE4U3E-3E1, features two type A ports on the rear panel, and two ports via standard USB 3.0 front-panel header. It is priced at 2,680¥ (US $33.5). The last of the three USB 3.0 cards is the D-EP34U3R-S3, which ships in ExpressCard-34 form-factor, is driven by Renesas D720202 host controller, and features just one USB 3.0 type A port. It is priced at 1,980¥ (US $24.7). Lastly, the company launched the SD-PESA3ES2L, a 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s add-on card, which lets you choose between using the two ports as internal or eSATA ports, using jumpers. It goes for 2,980¥ (US $37).

AREA released a unique portable hard drive enclosure that allows you to switch between SATA and USB 3.0 interfaces (model: SD-S35U3-SL2). Its modular design allows this change. When in SATA mode, the USB adapter is detached, and a cap covers the direct SATA (power+data) interface of the enclosed drive. When in USB 3.0 mode, the adapter interfaces with the SATA power/data connections, supplies power from an external DC power adapter, and connects the drive to a USB 3.0 host. It is backwards-compatible with USB 2.0. Switching between the two modes, and replacing the enclosed drive is a tool-free process. Measuring 190 x 133 x 38.3 mm, and weighing about 780 g (empty weight), the enclosure's body is largely made of brushed metal that's ridged on the sides to dissipate heat. Slated for April 16, the SD-S35U3-SL2 is priced at 2,480 JPY (US $30).

AREA introduced the SD-DSCV, a VGA down-scan converter device, that lets you convert your PC's VGA output to legacy/TV-compatible outputs such as Composite and S-Video. The converter supports output resolutions up to 1024x768 pixels, with TV formats such as PAL and NTSC. What's more, the VGA connection isn't interrupted, and VGA output can run simultaneously with the other analog outputs. Measuring 91 x 66 x 24 mm, the device requires an external DC power input, but instead of a bulky AC adapter, AREA included a USB-DC cable, that lets you plug the device to a USB port, and draw power from it. Slated for April 09, the SD-DSCV from AREA is priced as low as 4,980 JPY (US $59.4).

AREA PC also introduced the RAIDJet SD-PESA3-2RL, a cheap 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID card. The card uses a Marvell-made SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller that gives out two ports, and connects to the host of PCI-Express 2.0 x1. RAID 0 and 1 are the only modes possible. The controller supports standard AHCI/RAID drivers. The card has a half-height PCB, making it compatible with low-profile PCs. It will be available as low as 2,980 JPY (US $38).

Japanese peripherals maker AREA PC introduced a nifty little network controller called the USB2GLAN. Simply put, it's a network controller that plugs into a USB 2.0 port on one side, and gives out a gigabit Ethernet connection on the other. Needless to say, the 1000 Mbps Ethernet connection will be bottlenecked by the 480 Mbps USB 2.0 interface, but it's still a fair bit faster than 100 Mbps Ethernet. The main unit measures 57 x 14 x 14 mm, the short cable is about 8 cm long, the whole thing weighs 23 g, and is self-contained, as it draws power from the USB port. It works plug-and-play on Windows and MacOSX. It is priced at 2,480 JPY (US $32).

Apart from the powerful little Mr. Clone 3.0 drive-cloning and docking device, Japanese company AREA also launched the SATA 6 Gb/s TwinTurbo Hybrid addon-card. 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s cards aren't new, but they either come in 2-port internal SATA, or 2-port eSATA forms, making you have to choose between the two types. This addon-card from AREA features two internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two eSATA 6 Gb/s ports, and uses a common 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controller.

The ingenuity here is a simple jumper-based way of configuring those two SATA channels to individually work as internal SATA or eSATA. So now you can set the card to have two eSATA 6 Gb/s ports, two internal SATA ports, or one internal SATA and an eSATA, whichever way you'd like, by simply toggling two sets of four jumpers switching which way the data traces of each SATA channel end up. The card uses an ASMedia ASM1061 2-port PCIe SATA 6 Gb/s controller, which supports IDE, AHCI, and simple RAID modes. It connects to the host over PCI-Express 2.0 x1. Slated for May 2012, the AREA SATA TwinTurbo Hybrid will be priced at 2,980 JPY, or $38.

Japanese company AREA announced this nifty new gadget that can help you set up a quick external storage solution, or clone SATA drives in a jiffy. Called the AREA Mr. Clone 3.0, the device is a small box measuring 72 x 48 x 10 mm, with two sets of standard SATA interfaces (data + power) attached on its two longer sides, to which SATA drives (hard drives and SSDs in 3.5", 2.5", and 1.8" form-factors) can be simply plugged in. The device takes in an AC power input (includes a DC power supply to power connected drives and itself), it can connect to a host system using USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface.

Even without a host PC connected to it, the device can be used to clone hard drives. It will come handy when cloning drives for medium-large deployments, or moving from a slower HDD to a faster SSD. The device has its own control panel to manage and track progress of the cloning process. The SATA interfaces support SATA 6 Gb/s specification. Apart from a self-sufficient drive cloning tool, it can be used as a drive dock, connecting SATA drives (up to 6 Gb/s speed) to the host PC over fast USB 3.0 interface. Poised to release in May 2012, the AREA Mr. Clone 3.0 will be priced at 4,280 JPY, or US $55.