LG Electronics has announced the launch of three new Blu-ray Disc drives. Along with the external BE06, the company has introduced two new internal models, the GBC-H20L and GBW-H20L. These drives offer some of the fastest Blu-ray read and write speeds available as well as technologies such as SecurDisc and LightScribe.
The next generation in optical storage products, models BE06, GBC-H20Land GBW-H20L provide back-up for a wide variety of files, photos, businessdocuments, or video. Consumers will appreciate the 6x speed at which thedrives write and read information, their compatibility with DVD and CDRCDRW, as well as their quick and easy data storage option.

Perfect for laptop users or those that have a multitude of PCs, LG'sBE06 can be easily connected through the USB 2.0 connection and a DC poweradapter. The BE06 has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $379.95.

The GBC-H20L and the GBW-H20L are designed to satisfy consumer needsfor safe and fast data backup. Boasting one of the industry's fastest readand write speed at 16x, the GBW-H20L can also handle up to 50GB of data,equivalent to around 4-1/2 hours of high-definition video or 22 hours ofstandard definition video (on a dual layer 50GB BD-R/BD-RE recordablemedia). The GBC-H20L and the GBW-H20L carry manufacturer's suggested retailprices of $199.95 and $279.95 respectively.
If you'd like to read more, LG's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
While sales of Blu-ray players have been down since January, consumer awareness is on the rise. According to a new report by the NPD Group, 45% of HDTV owners in the U.S. claim to be familiar with the format. More importantly, 9% of HDTV owners plan to buy a BD player in the next six months.
According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, 45 percent of HDTV owners in the U.S. now claim to be familiar with Blu-ray Disc (BD), up from 35 percent in June 2007. And, while only 6 percent of all consumers surveyed said they plan to purchase a BD device, NPD found purchase intent to be higher among the growing population of HDTV owners, boding well for the future of the format.

NPD's “2008 Blu-ray Disc Report” reveals that 9 percent of HDTV owners plan to buy a BD-capable player in the next six months. “With HDTVs now in approximately 40 million US households, that percentage translates to a pool of almost 4 million potential BD player buyers,” according to Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD.
The NPD Group also found that Blu-ray still faces a number of challenges. Along with the high cost of BD players, many consumers believe that the DVD is “good enough.” If you'd like to read more, the NPD Group's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
While most Taiwanese media manufacturers have been reluctant to mass produce Blu-ray Discs, Ritek has begun to invest heavily in the format. According to the Taiwan Economic News, the company is already the world's third largest Blu-ray Disc manufacturer. Along with recordable media, Ritek manufactures pre-recorded discs through its subsidiary, U-Tech Media Corp.
Ritek has climbed to the world`s No. 3 BD disc maker in this year from No. 4 in 2007. The Taiwan company is scheduled to install three new BD disc production lines to meet such growing demand. The company stressed that it has a very flexible production system so could expand capacity easily to meet changing market conditions.

Ritek and its subsidiary U-Tech Media Corp., a maker of pre-recorded media, jointly announced the Rambo IV BD disc, which will be shipped from August. The BD disc is the first pre-recorded BD disc (double-layer) with storage capacity of 50 Giga-byte (GB).
If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Super Talent sent out a press release earlier today, announcing its new line of 1.8-inch Micro-SATA solid state drives (SSD). Developed for laptops, MasterDrive KX SSDs are available in capacities up to 120GB and are capable of 120MB/sec read and 40MB/sec write speeds.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today released a new line of 1.8-inch Micro-SATA SSDs.

At merely 5mm thick, these Micro-SATA SSDs are slimmer than most 1.8-inch hard drives, and hold up to 120GB of data. “In terms of performance, power consumption, and shock and vibration resistance the MasterDrive KX is substantially better than hard drives. The MasterDrive KX is an excellent upgrade for laptop users looking for greater reliability or to accelerate bootup and load times”, Super Talent Marketing Director, Joe James explained.

Built with MLC NAND Flash, the MasterDrive KX is offered in 30GB, 60GB and 120GB capacities. With 0.1ms access time and 120MB/sec and 40MB/sec max sequential read and write speeds, these SSDs provide lightning fast access to files. The Micro-SATA connector in a 1.8-inch form factor makes these SSDs an ideal upgrade for UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PCs).
MasterDrive KX SSDs are available now. Prices range from $299 to $679, depending on the capacity. If you'd like to read more, Super Talent's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Earlier this week, Seagate announced its third-generation small form factor enterprise drive, the Savvio 10K.3. This new 2.5-inch drive offers 300GB of capacity, a 6Gb/sec data rate and government-grade Full Disk Encryption (FDE) data protection.
To meet the growing demand for higher-capacity, more efficient enterprise storage systems, Seagate (NYSE:STX) today introduced the Savvio 10K.3 hard drive - the world's highest-capacity, small form factor 2.5-inch enterprise hard drive built for the demands of enterprise servers and storage arrays. This latest generation of 2.5-inch drive offers 70% lower power and greater than 60% performance density over traditional 3.5-inch drives. As the only 10K-rpm 2.5-inch enterprise design backed by two prior generations of field-proven reliability, the Savvio 10K.3 drive leads the industry with 300GB of capacity, reliability of 1.6 million hours MTBF, and an advanced SAS 2.0 (6Gb/sec data rate) interface. Seagate's Savvio 10K.3 drive is also the industry's first 2.5-inch self-encrypting enterprise drive with government-grade Full Disk Encryption (FDE) data protection.
No word on price. However, Seagate plans to ship the Savvio 10K.3 during the second half of 2008. If you'd like to read more, Seagate's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

ASUS P5E64 WS Evolution @InsideHW
ASUS Rampage Formula X48 Motherboard @TweakTown
ASUS Xonar D2X PCI-E Sound Card @Futurelooks
BODYGUARDZ iPod Touch Screen Protectors @BCCHardware
ECS 8800GT 256MB Graphics Card @Virtual-Hideout
Honeywell Arius 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor @ThinkComputers.org
Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Sonic @Benchmark Reviews
Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 Ultimate Edition @TweakTown
SilverStone Sugo SG02-F @Phoronix
Add a comment
Western Digital sent out a press release earlier today, announcing its new line of WD Scorpio Black hard drives. These new 7200 RPM 2.5-inch SATA hard drives are available in capacities up to 320GB and offer exclusive features such as WD's IntelliSeek, SecurePark and WhisperDrive technologies.
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced it is now shipping its new line of WD Scorpio Black 7200 RPM 2.5-inch SATA (Serial ATA) hard drives for high-performance notebook computers and portable storage devices. Available in capacities up to 320 GB, WD Scorpio Black hard drives are designed with ruggedness, reliability, and data-protection features that actively monitor and protect valuable data.

The WD Scorpio Black family of hard drives is destined for use in OEM notebook systems as well as by users who want to upgrade the speed and performance of their current notebook system. As one of the fastest and most efficient hard drives on the market, WD Scorpio Black drives combine desktop-class 7200 RPM spin speed with a SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache to deliver maximum notebook performance.
WD Scorpio Black hard drives are available now through select retailers and distributors. If you'd like to read more, WD's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
SanDisk recently announced the latest addition to its family of Extreme flash cards. The SanDisk Extreme III Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo is available in 4GB and 8GB capacities and is capable 30 MB/s read and write speeds.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today introduced the fastest card in its Memory Stick product family: the SanDisk Extreme III Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo with read and write speeds of 30 megabytes (MB)1 per second. The card, available in June in 4-gigabyte (GB)1 and 8GB capacities, is ideal for professional photographers and advanced amateurs who use Sony digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras.

SanDisk and Sony jointly developed Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo as an extension of the existing Memory Stick PRO format, to offer faster read and write speeds for PRO-HG capable Sony digital SLRs, point-and-shoot cameras and digital camcorders.
SanDisk Extreme III Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo cards will be available worldwide in June. The manufacturer's suggested retail price for the 4GB card is US $89.99 and for the 8GB card is US $149.99. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
With Samsung and LG already shipping 22x DVD writers, other drive manufacturers are scrambling to catch up. According to DigiTimes, Lite-On IT will begin production of its own 22x DVD writers in the third quarter of 2008 and has already secured orders from both Sony and BenQ.
Lite-On IT has obtained OEM orders for 22x DVD burners both from Sony and BenQ, with volume production to begin in the third quarter of 2008, according to industry sources.

Lite-On IT recently has been competing for orders for 22x DVD burners from Japan-based vendors and recently secured orders from Sony and BenQ, the sources indicated.

Taiwan-based Asustek Computer is evaluating the feasibility of offering 22x DVD burners and if it decides to offer such a product, Lite-On IT will most likely be the ODM or OEM maker, the sources pointed out. In addition to Asustek, Pioneer, Panasonic and other Japan-based PC vendor are expected to launch 22x DVD burners in the second half of 2008, the sources noted.
The article also mentions that Lite-On is working with Nero to incorporate SecurDisc into their drives. Drives with SecureDisc are also expected to go into production during the third quarter of this year. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
EDGE Tech recently announced the release of its new secure flash drive, the DiskGO Secure GUARDIAN. This new drive feaures mandatory 256-bit AES hardware encryption and is capable of 25MB/s read and 16MB/s write speeds.

EDGE Tech Corp (www.edgetechcorp.com), a leading U.S.-based supplier of DRAM and flash memory upgrades, portable computing products, storage devices, and other experience-enhancing technology solutions, introduced its rough-and-tough, hardware encryption-secured flash drive, the DiskGO Secure GUARDIAN.

Utilizing mandatory 256-bit AES hardware encryption, the DiskGO Secure GUARDIAN exceeds the government standard for encrypting data. The GUARDIAN features absolute security and mega-fast transfers, including dual-channel SLC flash that boasts read speeds of 25MB/s and write speeds of 16MB/s. The GUARDIAN is encased in an incredibly rugged, anodized-aluminum housing that withstands rough treatment and extreme elements such as water, dirt, and sand.
The DiskGO Secure GUARDIAN is available now in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities with prices ranging from $69.95 to $249.95. More information can be found here. Add a comment