Pioneer Japan recently announced its latest 16x Blu-ray Disc writer, the BDR-212JBK. This new drive offers support for M-DISC media and is capable of 16x BD-R, 14x BD-R DL, 8x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 12x. The BDR-212JBK also writes to triple-layer (100GB) BD-R media at 8x, quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 6x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.

What makes the BDR-212JBK truly special is its ability to play back Ultra HD Blu-ray content. When installed in a Windows 10 PC with the included PowerDVD software and an i7 or i5 Kaby Lake processor, users can watch movies at 4K resolutions. The drive also ships with authoring software from CyberLink and is equipped with Pioneer's PureRead 3+ technology, which greatly improves the reading performance of scratched and dirty discs. The BDR-212JBK is expected to hit stores in mid May for about 16,000 Yen ($143US).

Micron Technology, Inc., today unveiled its new series of flagship solid-state drives (SSDs) featuring the NVM Express (NVMe) protocol, bringing industry-leading storage performance at higher capacities to cloud and enterprise computing markets. The Micron 9300 series of NVMe SSDs enables companies with data-intensive applications to access and process data faster, helping reduce response time.

“The introduction of our third generation of NVMe SSDs endorses our tradition of continued innovation for cloud and enterprise markets,” said Derek Dicker, corporate vice president and general manager for Micron’s Storage Business Unit. “The Micron 9300 is our flagship series of NVMe SSDs, which feature industry-leading sequential write performance and latency, increased capacities, and delivery of a 28% reduction in power over the previous generation.”

QNAP Systems, Inc. today launched the next-gen TDS-16489U R2 NAS that features dual Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 processors, and a dual OS system for businesses to flexibly deploy an operating system that fits their needs and goals. Users can take advantage of the ZFS-based QES for enterprise-level, efficient and reliable storage for mission-critical tasks, or to install QTS for virtual machine applications, diverse applications, and auto-tiered storage.

“With QTS and QES, QNAP have developed two operating systems that provide users with exceptional functionality based on their needs. By supporting both systems, users have greater flexibility on how to use their TDS-16489U R2,” said David Tsao, Product Manager of QNAP, adding “Whether for a file server, virtualization server, VDI, medium-scale data center, video streaming, surveillance storage, or efficient file backup/recovery, the cost-efficient TDS-16489U R2 with dual processors and dual OS options demonstrates an ideal storage solution.”

ADATA Technology a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, and mobile accessories today announces the launch of its industrial-grade ADATA IUDD362 microSD cards that features high-quality SLC NAND Flash for enhanced durability and a prolonged lifespan, ideal for automated systems.

Wide Operating Temperature Range and Excellent Durability
The ADATA IUDD362 microSD card is ideally suited for industrial systems that are in continuous operation. Equipped with SLC NAND Flash, the IUDD362 offer improved stability, durability, and performance over its counterparts that utilize MLC or TLC NAND Flash. What’s more, the IUDD362 is designed to operate in a wide range of temperatures, from -40°C to 85°C, ensuring optimal performance, even in harsh conditions. Also, the IUDD362 is rated at 3 million MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) for added trustworthiness.

Stability, Reliability, Peace of Mind
The IUDD362 comes in capacities of 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB, sports read/write speeds of up to 30/25/MB per second, and can operate on just 0.6W or power. These characteristics make it ideal for industrial automation (e.g., PLC), transportation systems (e.g., in-vehicle data loggers) and other applications that support microSD cards. In order to ensure the stability required by industrial applications, the IUDD362 supports a number of technologies. These include Error Correcting Code (ECC) technology, which can detect and fix errors to ensure data integrity, Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.), which can indicate imminent drive failures, and Wear-Leveling, which is a technique that enables the use of each block of NAND Flash installed in memory from being damaged prematurely, thus prolonging its service life.

CDRLabs has put together a brief review of iStorage's diskAshur PRO2 USB 3.1 portable hard drive. Designed to be the ultimate secure data storage device, the diskAshur PRO2 offers real-time military grade AES-XTS 256-bit full disk hardware encryption as well as a dedicated on-board Common Criteria EAL4+ ready secure microprocessor to protect itself from any external tampering, bypass laser attacks and fault injections. Despite its many layers of security, the diskAshur PRO2 is very easy to use. Simply connect the integrated cable to any device with a USB port, enter your PIN on the keypad and you have access to your data.

OWC; a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company and one of the world’s most respected creators of SSDs, Thunderbolt external drives, PC & Mac docking solutions and performance upgrade kits, today proudly announced its new line of Aura Pro X2 SSDs for select MacBook Pro Retina, MacBook Air, Mac Mini and Mac Pro models. OWC believes the need for more storage capacity shouldn’t force users into spending $1,300-$4,000+ for a new MacBook when a DIY upgrade for a fraction of the cost of a new model keeps Macs running at peak performance for years to come.

Up to 16X the Capacity

It is easy to underestimate how much storage you need and how fast that original stock drive inside your Mac can fill up, especially with photo and video files, games, or even just email. Aura Pro X2 SSDs are available in capacities up to 2TB, giving users a massive (up to 16X) boost in space to work and play. Benefiting from nearly a decade of SSD design experience to use less power and run cooler, Aura Pro X2 is the best way to upgrade most 2013 to 2017 model year Apple Macs.

Synology Inc. today launched RackStation RS819, a compact and scalable 4-bay rackmount NAS with snapshot technology support, designed for business workgroups to effectively manage, share, synchronize, and back up data.

"For growing business workgroups on limited budgets, setting up an effective data protection and backup plan is sometimes not their first priority, leading to catastrophic losses in case of server failure," said Michael Wang, Product Manager at Synology Inc. "By adopting a new 64-bit quad-core CPU, RS819 is our first RackStation in the Value Series to support snapshot technology, bringing easy data protection solutions."