I was tempted to try to find a late-90s press release for Pioneer's first 12x CD burner to see how closely the language matched this one—let's just assume "very"—but a) I couldn't find one, and b) I didn't want to diminish Pioneer's achievement here too much—any device that cuts into the atrociously long Blu-ray burn times we've become slowly and begrudgingly accustomed to is a categorically good thing. The BDR-205 is due in October for $250. [Crunchgear]

Pioneer Launches First 12x Blu-ray Disc Writer

High-Speed 12x Write Capability Lets Professional Users and Enthusiasts Quickly Test, Author and Preserve High Definition Content

LONG BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today announces its new BDR-205 Blu-ray Disc® Computer Writer, the industry's first and fastest model to feature up to 12x write speed for single and dual-layer Blu-ray Disc (BD) media*. Ideal for authoring providers and system builders, the Pioneer® BD/DVD/CD Writer provides accurate, rapid performance for demanding professional applications.

"The BDR-205 drive represents our ongoing efforts to combine Pioneer's engineering expertise with advanced technologies, and our next generation Blu-ray Disc writer is a great example of our no-compromise approach to optical disc product development," said Steve Cohn, director of optical disc sales for Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "We are bringing to market the fastest Blu-ray Disc writer to date, and it is just one of the many 'firsts' that have come to define Pioneer's 30-year heritage in optical disc innovation and leadership."

Dynamic Performance for an Array of Professional Users

When utilized with a properly configured PC, the drive's Low Vibration Mechanism Design improves overall writing accuracy, especially for those preserving copious amounts of critical data. Designed for maximum flexibility, Pioneer's writer provides significant solutions for multiple user groups, including:

* System builders can confidently recommend the sophisticated BDR-205 to their clients, noting the drive's unique design, robust build quality and high grade parts
* With 50Gbytes** of storage space on a dual-layer Blu-ray Disc, professional users can utilize the BDR-205 to rapidly test high definition feature films during the authoring process, as well as to back up large volumes of data with ease
* Besides up to 12x write speeds for Blu-ray Disc media, Pioneer's new computer drive also provides read and write speed performance up to 16x for DVD and 40x for CD media

The new BDR-205 Blu-ray Disc computer writer begins shipping October 2009. The retail version of this product, the BDR-2205, will be available Q1 2010 for $249 MSRP.

Pioneer has been an innovator of optical disc technology since it shipped its first LaserDisc products, the precursor to DVD, to the consumer market in 1980. Pioneer went on to introduce the first DVD writer for video authoring use in 1997, the first DVD recorder as a VCR replacement in 1999, the first DVD/CD writer for home computer users in 2001 and the first Blu-ray Disc writer in 2006. Pioneer Corporation is one of the original Blu-ray Disc Founders. More details can be located at www.pioneerelectronics.com.

SONY DEBUTS 8X BLU-RAY DISC WRITER DRIVE

Sub-$400 Model Leaps Ahead in Recording Speed; Includes Blu-Ray Disc Movie Title “Men In Black”

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 23, 2008 – Sony Electronics today announced its third generation internal Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) writer for the computer aftermarket, which at about $400 achieves a new level of affordability for BD enthusiasts.

The new BWU-300S model burns single and dual layer BD-R media at up to 8X speed, recording a full 25GB disc in about 15 minutes and a full 50GB disc in about 30 minutes. The 8X recording speed is achieved using 6X compatible BD-R media. The drive also records DVDs at up to 16X, CDs up to 48X, and supports DVD-RAM recording, with an eye towards data backup, making it an excellent replacement burner for a standard DVD drive while offering all the benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology.

To provide consumers with the opportunity to experience high-definition movie playback first-hand, the new drive comes bundled with a “Men in Black” Blu-ray Disc from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “Men In Black” stars Will Smith (“Hancock”) and Oscar®-winner Tommy Lee Jones (“The Fugitive”) saving the world from a total intergalactic disaster in Barry Sonnenfeld’s smash-hit sci-fi action comedy. The “Men In Black” high-definition Blu-ray Disc boasts advanced BD-Live enabled bonus features, including a multiplayer trivia game, an interactive Frank the Pug advice generator, an alien subtitle track and much more.

Also included with the drive is CyberLink’s software suite for capturing, authoring, editing, burning and viewing high-definition personal content.

“Consumers are demanding a better experience,” said Bob DeMoulin, marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics’ IT Products Division. “Not only are we providing state of the art hardware, but also the industry’s most complete software bundle and premium content.”

“Sony's new 8X Blu-ray Disc writable drive significantly improves the BD recording speed, a key feature in the optical storage technology,” said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director for removable storage at IDC. “The explosion of digital media usage by consumers, whether in the form of high-definition video, music or data, continues to grow at exponential rates. Innovative products such as this next-generation drive will help fuel the acceleration of Blu-ray adoption in the years ahead with more than 100 million drives shipping worldwide by 2011.”

The BWU-300S drive can record up to 50GB of data for random access storage and backup on BD-R (write once) or BD-RE (rewritable) discs, or up to 230 minutes of high-definition HDV 1080i video on a BD-R/RE 50GB disc. It also supports recording on standard single layer 4.7GB DVD+R/+RW/-RAM discs, 8.5GB DVD+R double/dual layer discs, and CDs.

The internal drive features a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and standard 5.25-inch form-factor for easy installation inside a desktop PC with Microsoft® Windows XP or Windows Vista® operating systems.

The new drive is fully supported by Adobe® Encore® CS3 software, now included with Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3, and Sony’s Vegas Pro 8 and DVD Architect Pro 5 software, providing video production professionals with another option for outputting high-definition video on a Blu-ray Disc with MPEG-2 or H.264 compression.

Availability

The BWU-300S drive will be available through select retailers, resellers and directly at sonystyle.com starting next month. Pre-orders are now being accepted by Sony on the website.

The drive will be compatible with both Windows and Mac, and will include Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium Blu-ray burning software for Mac. The FireWire and USB 2.0 drive will also be able to read and write DVDs and CDs. As expected, this first-out-of-the-gate McBurner won't be cheap, starting out at a $1148 retail price. No word when it will be available stateside. – Charlie White

Japanese Mac users get first OS X-friendly Blu-ray burner [Reg Hardware]

It handles BR-ROM, BD-R and BR-RE media at 2x, but its downfall is the price: $1045. It includes that loathsome Nero 7, which is capable of Blu-ray activities but we found it to be as insinuating and presumptuous as RealPlayer.

If you have over a grand to blow on a burner that will cost $99 a year from now, the TripleWriter will be available in August. – Charlie White

Philips TripleWriter all-in-one PC Writer [uber gizmo]

As with all Blu-ray, you'll be able to fit 25GB or two hours of HDTV on a Blu-ray disk; twice that on a dual-layer. Samsung didn t announce a price for any of these forthcoming products, but at CES there was a drive the company said was for industry use that had an $800 price tag attached. Our guess is that these will probably be a bit lower than that.

SH-B022A, Samsungs DVD of the future [Akihabara News]