Pioneer Japan sent out a press today, announcing a Mac version of its latest slot-loading Blu-ray Disc writer. Thanks to a magnesium alloy case, the BDR-XU03JM weighs in at a mere 245g and measures only 133 × 133 × 12 mm. This stylish, USB powered drive is capable of 6x BD-R, 6x BD-R DL, 6x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 6x. The BDR-XU03JM also writes to triple- (100GB) and quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 4x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.

The BDR-XU03JM includes features like Pioneer's PureRead2+ technology and noise reducing firmware. The drive is also compatible with the company's APS-WF01J wireless dock, which lets it be used with iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad. The BDR-XU03JM ships with Roxio's Toast software and is expected to hit stores in mid-December for about 26,000 Yen ($219US).

Mushkin Enhanced Mfg., an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance and mission-critical digital storage products, unveils the new REACTOR series of solid-state drives that offer cutting-edge 1TB capacity. The REACTOR SSD provides the extreme performance benefits of a solid-state drive, while enabling the big data capacity of mechanical hard drives.

“Solid-state drive technology is growing in leaps and bounds. Mushkin has been a leader in unleashing performance-maximizing products for a wide array of consumers, and we are pleased to be able to - once again - offer an SSD solution that can quench the growing need for large-scale data capacity at incredible speeds,” said Nicolas Villalobos, Director of Global Marketing at Mushkin.

Responding to the booming development of SSDs and the growing demands from users, QNAP Systems, Inc. has announced the TS-451S Turbo NAS, a 4-bay NAS that is optimized for high-density 2.5" SSDs and features an Intel Celeron 2.41GHz processor. Meanwhile, QNAP’s powerful SS-x53 Pro series (SMB models that are optimized for high-density SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" SSDs) have been renamed the TS-453S Pro (4-bay) and TS-853S Pro (8-bay) respectively to assist users in quickly recognizing different options in the same product category.

"Users can enjoy numerous benefits when using SSDs in a Turbo NAS, including a smaller physical size to host at least 4 SSDs, higher-density storage capacity, RAID 5 configuration for data protection, quieter system operations, a home theater multimedia experience with the HD Station, and the exclusive QvPC Technology that allows the Turbo NAS to be used as a PC," said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. The TS-x53S Pro series can also work silently and reliably with 2.5" hard drives as well.

Synology today launched DiskStation DS215j, a 2-bay NAS server designed for home and personal users to manage data, stream media contents, synchronize files on the cloud, while keeping their digital assets safe and secure.

"The DS215j is packed with advanced technologies to deliver feature-rich applications for users to organize and share their data. Its appealing price tag and intuitive user interface make it a perfect fit for users who are looking to upgrade their NAS or to use NAS for the first time," said Michael Wang, Synology's product manager.