Sony 6X Blu-ray Writer USB Drive May Be Too Fast for PCs

Sony will launch an external Blu-ray Disc rewritable drive this month that can burn BD-R discs that support 6X speed, but users hoping for fast transfers might encounter a bottleneck in the form of their computer.

The 6X speed offered by the BDX-S500U when writing to single-sided discs translates into a write speed of 27MBps, according to the Blu-ray Disc specification. The drive connects to computers via USB 2.0, which has a theoretical maximum speed of 60MBps, but has been measured to run much slower in real-world tests.

Some of that speed is taken away by networking overheads built into the protocol, and more by inefficiences in many USB interface chips. A test earlier this year by Techworld found a USB 3.0 chipset, one of the first to support a new breed of faster USB connections, supported a maximum USB 2.0 write speed of just 11MBps. The speed is also shared among other peripherals on the USB bus, so could fall further.

Sony is bundling a 25GB single-sided 6X BD-R disc and CyberLink Media Suite 8 disc burning software with the drive, but the drive can also write to dual-layer 4X BD-R discs that hold 50GBs of data. It can also record to most of the common DVD and CD rewritable and writable formats.

Corsair Offers Up HS1 USB Gaming Headset

Corsair is all about computer memory and flash storage. The company has a lot more gear in its line than those two categories though with SSD and liquid cooling among others. Corsair has announced a new gaming headset today called the HS1 USB Gaming Headset.

The HS1 needs only a single USB connection for both power and connectivity to the PC. Corsair says that the headset delivers amazing sound with virtual 7.1 surround sound and nice bass. That bass comes thanks to a pair of 50mm drivers.

SanDisk reveals "something big:" 32GB microSDHC card

SanDisk today revealed the origin of its teaser spot as a record in large-capacity mobile storage. Its 32GB microSDHC card is the first to ship with its level of storage and gives those with some camcorders, smartphones and other devices a much larger amount of space. It can hold about 7,000 songs or multiple hours of HD video.

The card is based on three-bit-per-cell storage that packs more data into a given space. SanDisk is shipping the 32GB capacity online today for $200 and should have the card in retail stores by April. It should work with any microSDHC-to-SDHC adapter.
 

Kingston intros 32GB microSDHC memory cards

Kingston on Wednesday introduced its first 32GB microSDHC memory card. The Class 4 card will ship on October 11, and effectively doubles the largest microSDHC offering from the memory maker. The company trailsSanDisk, who was first with a 32GB microSDHC card.

Kingston's card was tested to work flawlessly with a range of new smartphones, including the HTC Evo 4G and Shadow, BlackBerry Bold 9000, Motorola Droid X, and Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant.

The card alone is priced at $153, while packages with one or two SD adapters can be purchased for $155 or $159, respectively. It ships with a portable USB reader.