Pioneer Japan sent out a press today, announcing what it claims to be the world's thinnest and lightest slot-loading Blu-ray Disc writer. Thanks to a magnesium alloy case, the BDR-XU03J 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-XU03J 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-XU03J 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 Windows-based tablets and iOS devices. The BDR-XU03J ships with authoring and playback software from CyberLink and is expected to hit stores in late January for about 23,000 Yen ($211US).
