Pioneer Japan sent out a press release today, announcing yet another new 16x Blu-ray Disc writer, the BDR-S09J-X. Like the original BDR-S09J, this Windows 8.1 compatible drive is is capable of 16x BD-R, 14x BD-R DL, 8x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 12x. The BDR-S09J-X also writes to triple-layer (100GB) BD-R media at 8x, quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 6x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.

What makes the BDR-S09J-X unique is its ability to check and display the playback quality of an audio CD (CD-DA) and, in the case of a low quality level, recommend the settings for optimal playback. In the case of a read error caused by dirt or a scratch, the drive uses Pioneer's PureRead3+ technology to reread these sections of a disc. Last, but not least, the BDR-S09J-X features a new technology called RealTime PureRead which reduces the occurrance of data interpolation in real time so that a CD can be played with the original sound quality.

The BDR-S09J-X ships with authoring and playback software from CyberLink and is expected to cost about 33,000 Yen ($276US) when it hits stores in late January.

Mushkin Enhanced MFG, an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance and mission-critical computer storage products, today announced at CES 2015 its new STRIKER series of solid state drives. Boasting top-tier performance specifications, the STRIKER 2.5” SSD is an important step forward for Mushkin to offer the most well-rounded SSD lineup – producing solutions for high value, performance, and capacity.

The STRIKER SSD provides sequential read and write throughput of up to 565 and 550MB/s respectively, with random performance of up to 90,000 4K IOPS.  Launching in 240-960GB capacities, the new STRIKER SSD series will be available at retail channels in Q1 2015.

DIGISTOR, a trusted provider of solid state drives, optical drives, and Blu-ray recordable media, has announced the release of their 4th generation external optical drive now with USB 3.0 connectivity. Designed to deliver tireless performance and reliability, DIGISTOR’s newest addition to their range of optical drives promises to be the most compatible external DVD and Blu-ray drives on the market.

The newly released external optical drives are self-powered with a single USB cable, offering energy efficiency and a simple setup. Thanks to the unique power efficient USB design the DIGISTOR drives are built to take advantage of the fast USB 3.0 bus as well as be fully backwards compatible with USB 2.0 connections making it the industry’s most compatible Blu-ray and DVD drive. The drive supports both USB 3.0 as well as USB 2.0 applications while still offering a single cable solution, no wall adapter needed.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, today at CES announced the Viper Pro Thunderbolt SSD external drive with Thunderbolt 2 technology. OWC Viper Pro Thunderbolt SSD features dual Thunderbolt 2 ports, offering extreme performance with phenomenal sustained speeds up to 1400MB/s, ideal for bandwidth-intensive workflows like professional content creation.

The Viper Pro Thunderbolt SSD will be offered in two models, the Viper Pro Thunderbolt SSD and Viper Pro Thunderbolt SSD RAID 4 Edition, with capacities up to 8TB. The RAID 4 Edition is powered by the SoftRAID engine preconfigured in RAID 4 for an optimized combination of speed and redundancy. RAID 4 provides the data integrity benefits of RAID 5 without sacrificing the incredible performance of SSD technology.

Toshiba Corporation’s Semiconductor & Storage Products Company announced it will showcase a reference display of the world’s first PCI Express (PCIe) single package SSD, integrating up to 256 GB in a single BGA package, at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), to be held from January 6 to January 9 in Las Vegas, U.S.A.

The “BG Series” SSDs on reference display will be products under development. Utilizing Toshiba’s cutting-edge packaging technology applied in products like e・MMCTM, it is the world’s first PCI Express single package SSD, available in capacities up to 256 GB in a 16 mm x 20 mm x 1.65 mm BGA package. Also to be showcased will be a reference display of the world’s smallest removable module type SSD, which integrates the BGA single package SSD on a single-sided form factor.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced the OWC Envoy Pro mini, a new ultra-portable SSD that delivers desktop-class performance in a tiny thumb drive form-factor. Envoy Pro mini will be unveiled today at CES 2015 and will be featured for a first-look, hands-on demonstration throughout CES at OWC's booth #30572. The OWC Envoy Pro mini has already received acclaim at CES 2015, winning the Storage Visions 2015 Visionary Product Award for Mobile Consumer storage.

Envoy Pro mini is available in 120GB and 240GB capacities (480GB coming soon). The Envoy Pro mini features a beautifully crafted aluminum enclosure and is ideal for storing, transferring, and backing up any Mac or PC. With SuperSpeed USB 3.0 performance, the Envoy Pro mini achieves sustained transfer speeds up to 433MB/s, making it the perfect portable storage solution for demanding creative production workflows, IT professionals, students and home users alike.

Toshiba Corporation’s Semiconductor & Storage Products Company announced the launch of its new solid state hybrid drive (SSHD) series, which is equipped with Toshiba's 19nm second-generation NAND flash memory. The new “MQ02ABD100H” SSHD offers 1TB capacity in a drive 9.5mm high, while the “MQ02ABF050H” offers a capacity of 500GB in a 7 mm high form factor. Sample shipments will begin from February.

SSHDs deliver better performance compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDD), because the drives feature NAND that is used as the secondary cache during operation. This means users see improvement to the drive’s performance compared to traditional HDDs, while still maintaining the equivalent capacities of traditional HDDs.