Pioneer Japan sent out a press release this morning, announcing its new 12x Blu-ray Disc writer, the BDR-S06J. This Serial ATA equipped drive is capable of 12x BD-R, 12x 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 8x. The BDR-S06J also includes features like Pioneer's PowerRead and PureRead2 technologies as well as an advanced firmware that reduces noise by adjusting the rotation speed when playing movies. Pioneer rounds all this out with a software bundle from CyberLink that supports Blu-ray 3D playback via PowerDVD 9.
The BDR-S06J is scheduled to ship in early October and is expected to cost about 30,000 Yen ($361US).