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-XU02JM 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-XU02J also writes to triple- (100GB) and quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 6x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.
The BDR-XU02JM does not ship with any software. However, it includes support for Pioneer's PureRead2+ technology as well as a new feature called RealTime PureRead which reduces the occurrence of interpolation data during playback of audio CDs. The BDR-XU02JM is scheduled to ship in late March and is expected to retail for about 20,000 Yen ($208US).
