Micron Technology, Inc. has raised the performance bar for SSDs. The company today announced its RealSSD C300 SSD, the industry’s fastest for notebook and desktop PCs. Micron’s new RealSSD C300 drive enables users to enjoy a more powerful and responsive computing experience—including faster operating system (OS) boot and hibernate times, and speedier application load, data transfer and file copying.

“The C300 SSD not only delivers on all the inherent advantages of SSDs – improved reliability and lower power use – but also leverages a finely tuned architecture and high-speed ONFI 2.1 NAND to provide a whole new level of performance,” said Dean Klein, vice president of memory system development at Micron.

While benchmark tests have shown that the C300 SSD is the fastest PC SSD leveraging the industry standard SATA 3Gb/s interface, the SSD performance is further boosted by natively supporting the next generation high-speed interface – SATA 6Gb/s.

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I-O DATA Japan has announced a new portable 6x Blu-ray Disc writer based on the Sony Optiarc BD-5730S. The BRP-US6 is capable of 6x BD-R, 6x BD-R LTH, 4x BD-R DL, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD read speed of 6x. The drive is also backwards compatible with all DVD and CD formats and can be powered off a computer's USB bus or the included AC adapter. The BRP-US6 is expected to ship in the middle of December for a suggested retail price of 29,600 Yen ($342US).

In a move that is poised to elevate the Blu-ray(TM) Hi-Def format and provide consumers with the ultimate in convenience and viewing flexibility, Universal Studios Home Entertainment (USHE) announced the introduction of groundbreaking dual-format discs containing both Blu-ray(TM) Hi-Def and DVD versions of some of Hollywood's most iconic films. An industry first, the new "flipper" discs will launch on January 19, 2010 with the blockbuster superspy thrillers The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, starring Matt Damon, premiering as individually packaged Blu-ray(TM) discs.

For the first time ever, consumers will have the ability to choose between Blu-ray(TM) and DVD formats, simply by flipping a single disc. With complete utility in one convenient package, the revolutionary medium can be used on any DVD or Blu-ray(TM) compatible player, game platform or computer, making it ideal for anyone planning to upgrade to Blu-ray(TM) at a future date as well as current owners of both Blu-ray(TM) and DVD systems. Each side of Universal's flipper discs includes the entire movie as well as all available bonus features, with the Blu-ray(TM) side featuring exciting BD exclusives such as U-Control and BD-Live(TM).

"Universal's flipper discs are the perfect way for consumers to future-proof their collections while still enjoying their favorite movies on all their existing DVD players," said Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "The flipper disc offers an easy way for viewers to convert to Blu-ray now or at any time in the future, confident in the fact they will be able to experience their home entertainment purchases in the highest quality picture and sound when they do."

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Buffalo Japan sent out a press release this morning, announcing its new external 12x Blu-ray Disc writer, the BR-X1216U3. Based on the Pioneer BDR-205, this USB 3.0 equipped drive is capable of 12x BD-R, 12x 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 8x. The BR-X1216U3 is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0. However, as Buffalo is quick to point out, its BD-R writing speed is limited to 7x. The BR-X1216U3 comes bundled with CyberLink's Blu-ray Disc Suite and will cost 39,100 Yen ($451US) when it hits stores in December.