A rumor surfaced this week, claiming that Microsoft was preparing a Blu-ray addon for the Xbox 360. According to the report, Microsoft has contracted with Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) to manufacture the drive and that it would be priced between $100-$150. Microsoft has been quick to squash these rumors. In a statement issued to Edge Online, the company said that it has no plans to offer a Blu-ray addon and that it will instead focus on games.

"As we’ve said before, Microsoft has no plans to introduce an Xbox 360 Blu-ray add-on," the firm told Edge. "Games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available."

While I think there is some truth to these rumors, Microsoft isn't going to release a Blu-ray addon for the Xbox 360 until they are good and ready.

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Buffalo Japan has announced yet another 8x Blu-ray Disc writer. Based on the LG BH08NS20, the BR-H816FBS features 8x BD-R, 8x BD-R DL, 2.3x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 8x. The drive will ship in mid-October and is priced at 39,100 Yen ($390US). Here are some of the BR-H816FBS's specs:

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Writing Speeds:
BD-R: 8x
BD-R DL: 8x
BD-R LTH: 2x
BD-RE: 2.3x
BD-RE DL: 2x
DVD±R: 16x
DVD±R DL: 4x
DVD+RW: 8x
DVD-RW: 6x
DVD-RAM: 5x
CD-R: 48x
CD-RW: 24x

Buffer: 4MB
Read Speeds:
BD-ROM: 8x
BD-R: 8x
BD-R DL: 8x
BD-R LTH: 2x
BD-RE: 4.8x
DVD-ROM (Single): 16x Max
DVD-ROM (Dual): 12x Max
DVD±R: 16x Max
DVD±RW: 8x Max
DVD±R DL: 10x Max
DVD-RAM: 5x Max
CD-R/ROM: 48x Max
CD-RW: 40x Max
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Super Talent has launched a new line of solid state drives (SSDs) designed for the Asus Eee PC. These new mini PCIe SSDs are available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities and are capable of 40MB/s read and 15MB/s write speeds. The drives will go into production in November and will range in price from $53 up to $149, depending on capacity.

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Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced a new line of mini PCI-Express SSDs, available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, that were designed explicitly for the Asus Eee PC.

Standard Eee PCs have maximum 20GB of storage. These cost-effective upgrade cards offer up to 64GB of solid state storage. Super Talent’s Mini PCIe cards have been tested extensively with Asus Eee PCs to ensure performance and compatibility.

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Kingston sent out a press release this morning,announcing its new DataTraveler 150 USB Flash drive. Offering 32GB of storage, the DT150 gives users the ability to transport and store entire libraries of music, photos, documents and video on a single USB drive.

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Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is shipping its high capacity 32GB DataTraveler 150 (DT150) USB Flash drive. The DT150 offers the largest capacity in Kingston’s entire line of DataTraveler® USB drives and allows users to conveniently combine work-related content and personal digital content on the same drive with plenty of room to spare. Users can now transport and share entire libraries of music, photos, large business documents, and even video without ever having to change USB drives or search other portable storage devices containing specific content.

“The new DataTraveler 150 has broken through storage barriers by allowing users to store all their digital files ― business or personal ― all under one roof,” said Mark Akoubian, Flash business manager, Kingston®. “As file sizes increase especially with content such as music and photos, the need for small form factor storage drives with high capacities will continue to go up. The DT 150 certainly addresses those needs today.”

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While Blu-ray has struggled to catch on with consumers, the folks at Disney have high hopes for the format. In a recent interview, Disney vice president of Blu-ray and DVD creative production, David Jessen, forcasted that sales of Blu-ray discs in the U.S will overtake DVDs within two years. Jessen also expects Blu-ray to succeed in Europe and other overseas markets. However, it could take as long as 4 years.

Walt Disney Co., the second-largest U.S. media company, forecast sales of high-definition Blu-ray discs in the U.S. will overtake DVDs within two years.

Consumers will adopt the new technology "much sooner than we think," David Jessen, Disney vice president of Blu-ray and DVD creative production, said in an interview in Milan today. "It's right on the verge of becoming really big in the U.S., where in two years Blu-ray will eclipse DVDs." 

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LaCie recently announced its latest network storage system, the 5big Network. Available in capacities up to 7.5GB, the 5big Network features five hot-swappable disks and supports seven RAID modes including RAID 5 and RAID 6. The system can also be expanded by connecting external hard drives via its USB 2.0 and eSATA ports.

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LaCie today announced the 5big Network, the most complete five-bay RAID solution for small and medium workgroups or offices that need large storage and backup capacity, improved performance and advanced security. Offering capacities of up to 7.5TB* (7500GB) and a versatile hot-swap feature, the 5big Network supports seven RAID modes including RAID 5 and RAID 6 for more flexibility and superior data protection.

“The LaCie 5big Network delivers the best storage RAID value for workgroups and medium-sized offices,” said Edin del Mar, LaCie Product Manager for SOHO NAS Solutions. “Now small companies can benefit not only from huge capacities and extra security, but also from a complete backup solution for their business.”

Responding to the expanding storage needs of small and medium workgroups or businesses, the 5big Network’s huge capacity can be expanded by connecting external hard drives via its Hi-Speed USB port or three eSATA ports. Users can also easily set up scheduled incremental backups onto external disks to protect the 5big Network’s data.

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Samsung anounced today that it has added three new models to its Super-WriteMaster DVD burner lineup. Along with the SATA equipped SH-S223Q, the company has begun to ship two new PATA drives, the SH-S222A and SH-S222L. The three drives feature 22X DVD±R, 16x DVD+R DL, 12x DVD-R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and, according to Samsung, are capable of burning an entire 4.7GB DVD in four minutes and 26 seconds.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the worldwide digital consumer electronics and information technology leader, today announced shipment of three new DVD burners in the Super-WriteMaster SH-S223 series. In addition to the SH-S223F DVD burner announced earlier this year, Samsung is now shipping the SH-S223Q SATA drive and the SH-S222A and SH-S222L PATA drives. The three drives share the same industry-best 22X writing speeds of approximately 29.7 megabytes per second.

The SH-S223Q is a SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) drive with embedded LightScribe technology that lets users easily engrave labels, photos, and designs directly onto DVDs and CDs. LightScribe engraving produces a professional look without the cost and hassle of printing labels. The label-making software is pre-loaded on the drive and offers a variety of designs and label layouts.

The new SH-S222A and SH-S222L drives are optimized for the PC upgrade market since they have a PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment) interface. Although a majority of new computers are shipped with a SATA interface, a significant portion of consumers with older computer models are looking to upgrade their slower drives. These new PATA drives offer the speed of a leading-edge drive with the compatibility required for mature PC models. Similar to the SH-S223Q, the SH-S222L drive is equipped with LightScribe technology.

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Pioneer Eruope has announced its new flagship Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-LX91. Along with support for BD-Live, the BDP-LX91 features a newly-engineered 16-bit video engine to provide video decoding, I/P conversion, video scaling and video adjustments. The player also supports full decoding and bit-stream output for high-resolution audio formats including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

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Available across Europe in November, our anticipated BDP-LX91 flagship BD-Live™ Blu-ray Disc player is designed to take your audio and video experience to the next level.

The reference-quality player features unique technologies and is built with the industry’s most advanced components including a Pioneer-Renesas jointly developed core processor chipset.

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Traxdata announced today that it has added solid state drives (SSD) to its product lineup. The Ultra-S Plus Series MLC is available in capacities up to 128GB and is capable of 110MB/s read and 78MB/s write speeds. The Ultra-S Plus Series SLC boosts performance even further with support for 119MB/s read and 99MB/s write speeds.

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The new SSD range includes the Ultra-S Plus Series multi-level cell (MLC) and the Ultra-S Plus Series single-level cell (SLC) in order to suit a variety of needs. The Ultra-S Plus Series MLC is available in varying sizes of 32, 64 and 128 GB and allows users to read up to 110MB of data per second and write up to 78MB per second; while the Ultra-S Plus Series SLC reads up to 119MB per second and writes up to 99MB per second and is available in 32 and 64 GB.

SSD is a particularly stable and reliable storage solution as there are no mechanical moving parts like there are in a traditional hard disk drive. A SSD drive therefore allows faster access to data and eliminates the risk of mechanical failure.

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