The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced it has published version 1.4 of the DisplayPort (DP) audio/video standard. The first major update to DisplayPort since version 1.3 was released in September 2014, DP 1.4 is also the first DP standard to take advantage of VESA's Display Stream Compression (DSC) technology. DSC version 1.2 transport enables up to 3:1 compression ratio and has been deemed, through VESA membership testing, to be visually lossless. Together with other new capabilities, this makes the latest version of DP ideally suited for implementation in high-end electronic products demanding premier sound and image quality.

DisplayPort is a packet-based, extensible protocol for transporting video and audio data. Initially introduced as a new external interface, its flexibility has enabled its adaptation to embedded displays and incorporation into other connectors like the new reversible USB Type-C interface and Thunderbolt. Its Multi-Stream Transport (MST) capability enables high-resolution support of multiple monitors on a single display interface.

Western Digital Corporation, a world leader in storage solutions, today announced the expansion of its award-winning portfolio of performance storage solutions with 8 TB capacity drives for NAS, video surveillance and desktop external applications. Increasingly centralized, rich-content, which continues to grow in popularity among enterprises, small business and consumers alike, is driving demand for greater storage capacities.

Launching throughout the first half of 2016, My Cloud personal storage devices (My Cloud, My Cloud Mirror, My Cloud EX2 Ultra), My Book external hard drives (My Book, My Book for Mac, My Book Duo and My Book Pro), WD Red, WD Red Pro and WD Purple hard drives will all be designed with the new high-capacity configuration. Each storage solution offers purpose-driven engineering and HelioSeal helium-technology with the new 8 TB drives for maximum and efficient performance in the applications for which each model is designed.

AMD is working on a standardized external graphics solution for notebooks. This solution will allow people with ultra-thin notebooks to enjoy the mobility served up by frugal, mainstream hardware; as well as high-end gaming, with the graphics card plugged in at home. It also probably gives AMD greater control over design and cooling solutions. Unlike a mobile GPU that sits inside your notebook, and makes it bulky due to additional cooling and power requirements, an external graphics card sits on your desk, sipping on wall socket power.

AMD's external graphics solution isn't necessarily an AMD-branded piece of hardware, but rather an open specification for notebook vendors to follow. AMD will merely provide the GPUs and software ecosystem that makes the solution truly universal and plug-n-play, with "standardized connectors, cables, drivers, and OS support." Such a graphics card will interface with just any notebook with a high-speed interface (eg: Thunderbolt). Its drivers will make it crunch your games, while sending back output to your notebook's display, over the same connection. This gives you the mobility of an ultra-thin notebook. You should also be able to plug this into your work's boring Dell desktop, or any SFF ITX box. Pictured below is a Razer Core graphics solution embedding a Radeon R9 Nano. Other examples include MSI Gaming Dock and Alienware Graphics Amplifier.

Following a month without any driver releases (the last one being dated December 21), NVIDIA released its latest GeForce drivers. Version 361.75 WHQL drivers are "Game Ready" for Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Tom Clancy's The Division (beta). This includes performance optimization, SLI profiles, and GeForce Experience optimal settings. The drivers also come with early (beta) support for GeForce GTX GPUs installed in external graphics solutions over the Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/s) interface. Grab them from the links below.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 361.75 WHQL for Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 32-bit | Windows 8.1/7 64-bit | Windows 8.1/7 32-bit

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is proud to launch exciting new high-end desktop motherboards and a new lineup of the award-winning GIGABYTE BRIX powered by the 6th Gen. Intel Core processors.

At CES 2016, GIGABYTE will be showing off these groundbreaking products, along with our latest developments in IPC and IoT solutions in the Pacific Ballroom of the Bally's Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. There will be product demonstrations designed by case modders such as Richard Surroz, Marc Molella, and Bob Stewart of BS Mods. Aside from all the product demonstrations there will also be live overclocking on site from GIGABYTE's world renowned overclocker, HiCookie, and demo systems from multiple system integrators such as; Cybertron PC, NCIX, ABS, CyberPowerPC, Network Allies and Digital Storm.

RAIDON announced the ST2-TB dual-bay HDD enclosure with Thunderbolt, with the ability to store up to 16 TB. The ST2-TB built-in with two disk configuration modes: RAID 1 (Safe Mode), RAID 0 (Speed Mode), and JBOD (Two Independent Volumes) for you to choose according to your needs.

In this mode, you can install two disks that have different volumes and use them independently.There is no RAID configuration and without special safety or speed differences. You can also use this mode in apply with other STARDOM modules.

GIGABYTE announced that it's enabling 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 support on select boards that have 20 Gb/s Thunderbolt 2 support, with a mere firmware update. It turns out that the Thunderbolt controllers on the company's Z170X-Gaming G1, Z170X-Gaming GT, and Z170X-Gaming 7 motherboards physically support Thunderbolt 3, but due to a lack of certification, its support was withheld, and bandwidth limited to 20 Gb/s.

What's more, these boards support the Thunderbolt protocol over USB 3.1 type-C, at lowered bandwidth, besides its traditional Thunderbolt/mini-DisplayPort connector at rated bandwidth. This should help with the new generation of Thunderbolt daisy-chaining docks that support USB type-C connections. To get the latest firmware, all you need to do is update your board's BIOS to the latest one on GIGABYTE's website.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory products, today introduced the Lexar Professional 2933x and 1400x XQD 2.0 cards, as well as the Lexar Professional Workflow XR2 (XQD 2.0 USB 3.0 reader) for professional videographers, photographers, and enthusiasts. The Professional 2933x XQD 2.0 is the fastest XQD card on the market today, delivering a dramatically enhanced workflow with the quickest capture and transfer performance available.

Designed for use with the latest generation of high-definition camcorders and high-resolution DSLRs, the new XQD 2.0 cards deliver read transfer speeds up to 2933x (440 MB/s) and 1400x (210 MB/s) respectively, enabling an accelerated workflow that allows users to quickly capture and store stunning, high-quality images and 4K video. These new rugged, high-speed cards support both PCI Express Gen 2 and USB 3.0 interfaces.

Apple today updated the entire iMac family, bringing a stunning new Retina 4K display to the 21.5-inch iMac for the first time and the Retina 5K display to every 27-inch iMac. The new Retina displays make photos and videos more immersive and true-to-life thanks to a wider color gamut and spectacular image quality. The updated iMacs also feature more powerful processors and graphics, two Thunderbolt 2 ports and new storage options that make the high-performance Fusion Drive even more affordable.

Apple today also introduced a new lineup of wireless accessories including the all-new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2. The Magic devices have been redesigned to feel more comfortable than ever, and feature rechargeable batteries that completely eliminate the need for disposable batteries. The new Magic Trackpad 2 also brings Apple's revolutionary Force Touch interface to the desktop, adding a new dimension to the iMac experience.

G-Technology, a leader in delivering premium storage solutions, today announced four new products in its Evolution Series, a flexible ecosystem of docking stations and interchangeable and expandable external hard drives and accessories that makes transferring, editing and distributing content more efficient, scalable and reliable. The new products include the G-SPEED Studio XL with two ev Series Bay Adapters, ev Series Reader RED MINI-MAG Edition, G-DOCK ev Solo and the ev Series FireWire Adapter. Designed with creative professionals in mind, the new Evolution Series products provide the ultimate flexibility and customization for all workflows.

The G-SPEED Studio XL with two ev Series Bay Adapters is a flexible, eight-bay Thunderbolt 2 storage solution, which comes with six enterprise-class hard drives and two integrated ev Series Bay Adapters. It offers professional content creators colossal capacity and huge performance. The integrated ev Series Bay Adapters accommodate all ev Series drive modules, enabling cross-functionality with the Evolution Series for enhanced workflow and productivity. Configurable in RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, & 10, it supports multi-stream compressed 4K workflows with extremely large volumes of data at transfer rates of up to 1,200MB/sec and has the ability to daisy-chain via dual Thunderbolt 2 ports. Complete with a three-year limited warranty and sleek black enclosure, this modular, enterprise-class solution provides optimal storage for demanding workflows. The G-SPEED STUDIO XL with two ev Series Bay Adapters will be available in October. Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing for 18TB is $2,799.95, 24TB is $2,999.95, 36TB is $3,999.95 and 48TB is $4,999.95.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is proud to be the first to bring Thunderbolt 3 to the desktop PC by launching the GIGABYTE Z170X-UD5 TH motherboard with support for the 6th Generation Intel Core processors.

Powered by Intel's own Thunderbolt controller the new Thunderbolt 3 protocol, which is available over two USB Type-C connectors on the back I/O of the GIGABYTE Z170X-UD5 TH, brings an unprecedented single-wire bandwidth of up to 40 Gb/s -- twice more than the previous generation of Thunderbolt! This incredible increase in bandwidth is also accompanied with support for different protocols such as DisplayPort 1.2 and USB 3.1, which is backwards compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, opening up a world of new possibilities.

WD, a Western Digital company, today introduced the My Book Pro storage device, providing professionals and enthusiasts who must efficiently manage large amounts of digital content with up to 435 MB/s transfer rates on WD's fastest external storage solution yet.

With capacity options including 6 TB, 8 TB, 10 TB and 12 TB, the power of two 7200 RPM WD drives with Intel's Thunderbolt 2 technology and a hot-swappable hardware RAID controller, the My Book Pro device enables creative professionals and enthusiasts alike to focus on what they love doing by significantly cutting the time to transfer large videos, photos and audio files.

MAINGEAR, an award-winning PC system integrator of custom gaming desktops, takes gaming performance to the next level with Intel's 6th Generation Core processors. Designed for maximum power, ultimate scalability and superior efficiency, Intel's newest processors are now available to power all MAINGEAR desktops, from the powerful SHIFT to the STEAM-ready DRIFT.

Intel's 6th Gen Core processors showcase Turbo Boost Technology and can be overclocked for even more astonishing gaming performance, including a gain of up to 15% more power with MAINGEAR's REDLINE overclocking service. The newest processors also feature Intel RealSense for immersive experiences; USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 compatibility; advanced security benefits like Biometric login; and cable-free connectivity with wireless docking and 4K WiDi.

Buffalo Americas, a leading provider of external storage, network attached storage (NAS) and networking solutions, today announced availability of its new DriveStation Ultra, a high-capacity direct attached storage solution ideal for businesses and professionals that demand fast data transfer speeds for large files, such as high resolution 4K video.

Professionals working in video production, gaming development, CAD design and more require both fast data transfer of extremely large files and the capacity to store them in a convenient form factor that is readily accessible. The DriveStation Ultra was designed to meet the performance and capacity needs of these industries with its 10-drive design, delivering up to 80 TB in a desktop form factor. Equipped with Thunderbolt 2, Mac users can experience write speeds up to 1243 MB/s using RAID 0.

Here are some of the first pictures of GIGABYTE's flagship socket LGA1151 motherboard targeted at professional overclockers, the Z170-SOC Force. Built in the standard ATX form-factor, this board offers strong CPU and memory VRM, and yet offers a connectivity loadout that's in league with "gaming" class motherboards. To begin with, the board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, 4-pin ATX, and 6-pin PCIe power connectors. A 24-phase VRM powers the CPU, its heatsink features preparation for liquid cooling. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots (supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory).

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical x16/NC/NC/x4 or x8/NC/x8/x4 or x8/x4/x4/x4); and three PCI-Express 3.0 x1. Storage connectivity includes three M.2 slots (32 Gb/s), three SATA-Express 16 Gb/s ports, and a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 ports (two type-A, from which one converts to type-C if it's populated), eight USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, four by header), and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports, including two type-A ports near the SATA ports (could help serve as "front-panel" ports in bench-type case setups). Display outputs include one each of DVI, HDMI and mini-DisplayPort (which likely also means availability of Thunderbolt 20 Gb/s). Gigabit Ethernet and GIGABYTE's latest generation Amp-Up audio solution make for the rest of it. A plethora of onboard OC control options are available. Find more pictures at the source.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is proud to announce that its 100 Series of motherboards is the world's first to feature the new Intel USB 3.1 premium I/O controller onboard, for the best I/O solution over Type-C connector. The new Intel 6th Gen. Core processor ready motherboards from GIGABYTE sports Intel USB 3.1 premium I/O controller to offer more protocol compatibility than any other I/O controller, such as USB 3.1, and in the future, DisplayPort 1.2 connectivity and Thunderbolt 3. All of this is achieved over the new popular reversible Type-C connector, making connectivity widely compatible.

Using PCIe Gen.3 x4 lanes from the chipset and Display connectivity from the processor, the USB 3.1 controller from Intel is capable of delivering a total bandwidth of 40 Gb/s. When configured to handle dual USB 3.1 connectivity either through the Type-C or Type-A connector, this means the USB 3.1 controller can deliver true simultaneous and uninterrupted 10 Gb/s bandwidth over both ports, making GIGABYTE motherboards the best USB 3.1 solution.

Intel Corporation today announced products and solutions that will deliver new user experiences and support the computing ecosystem's expansion into new areas. During the opening keynote address at Computex 2015, Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Client Computing Group encouraged the Taiwan ecosystem to work together and capture the opportunity to shape the future of computing.

"The power of Moore's Law has enabled incredible computing innovation over the past 50 years and because of it, nearly everything in the future will have the ability to compute and connect," said Skaugen. "Our 30-year history of collaboration with Taiwan has delivered historic innovation to the world, from personal computing to the cloud and data centers. The next 30 years will see even greater innovation as we deliver new computing experiences and bring intelligence and connectivity to the Internet of Things together."

Other World Computing announced today the Accelsior S, a new PCIe card with direct mount support for a 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD. The latest addition to OWC's award-winning Accelsior line enables PC, Mac Pro tower and Thunderbolt interface expansion chassis users to quickly and easily add additional storage. Utilizing the robust PCIe architecture, the Accelsior S card offers both storage expansion and 6Gb/s speeds up to 550MB/s - more than double the performance of SATA 3Gb/s.

When equipped with the Accelsior S PCIe card and an SSD, Mac Pro tower and PC users can launch, capture, render and process I/O-intensive apps without long wait times. The Accelsior S PCIe card is also extremely easy to install - no drivers or software are required.

Apple today updated the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display with the new Force Touch trackpad, faster flash storage, longer battery life and faster discrete graphics, delivering even more performance and capabilities to the MacBook Pro line. Apple also today introduced a new $1,999 configuration of the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display featuring a breathtaking 14.7 million pixel display, quad-core processors and AMD graphics, and lowered the price of the top-end iMac with Retina 5K display to $2,299.

"The response to the new MacBook and updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display has been amazing, and today we are thrilled to bring the new Force Touch trackpad, faster flash storage and longer battery life to the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Customers love the groundbreaking iMac with Retina 5K display, and now with a new lower starting price, even more people can experience the best desktop we've ever made."

Akitio today announced the availability of the new 12 TB Thunder2QUAD Mini Thunderbolt 2 portable storage engineered with 4K workflows in mind. With up to 22 hours of 4K video storage on tap (4096 x 2304, 29.97 fps, 8-bit ProRes 422 HQ) and available as an enclosure only or populated with up to 12 TB of storage (four 2.5" 3 TB SSDs), the Thunder2QUAD mini offers incredible performance and storage capacity with a tiny footprint.

The new QUAD mini features two Thunderbolt 2 ports for both storage and display and can reach speeds of up to 1,375 MB per second. With a size of just 3.75"x4.5"x7.5", the Akitio Thunder2QUAD mini is so small that it can easily fit into almost any bag or case for use in the field and the 12 TB version easily holds enough data for even the most demanding applications.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced today the arrival of the Viper Pro Thunderbolt external SSD. The OWC Viper Pro Thunderbolt External SSD is the pinnacle of fast, high-capacity, direct attached Thunderbolt 2 storage. Engineered to meet the extreme demands of content professionals, Viper Pro features dual Thunderbolt 2 ports and delivers extreme performance with sustained speeds up to 1350 MB/s.

Speed, Capacity and Flexibility. All in One. The Viper Pro Thunderbolt SSD will be available in two capacity options, 4 TB and 8 TB, which deliver versatile, pro-level performance for any workflow. With bandwidth to spare, not only does the Viper deliver big capacity and big speeds, it comes with the flexibility of Thunderbolt 2 connectivity and the power to use it comprehensively, supporting multi-stream, uncompressed 4K video and bus-powered daisy chains.

Sony's new HDD models offer dual Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces for compatibility with a range of widely used computers and devices. These newest entries in Sony's expanding portable storage line-up include PSZ-HB1T, a 1 TB model and PSZ-HB2T, a 2 TB model. Each delivers high performance and durability to professionals who need large capacity, fast, reliable data storage for transport, back-up and transfer of content in the field and on-the-go.

"Professionals need options when making storage purchase decisions, which is why Sony is now offering two high capacity, high-speed, rugged shuttle drives, with flexible interfaces," said Bill Cubellis, Director, Professional and Storage Media Sales & Marketing, Sony Electronics. "Compatibility is also critical, and based on user feedback we included a Thunderbolt port in our HDD. Now users can safely, affordable and easily transport large volumes of content, and deliver it in a timely fashion from the field, from nearly any device." The PSZ-HB2T offers transfer speeds of up to 122 MB/s, while the PSZ-HB1T can read and write at up to 120 MB/s.

Sonnet today announced the Fusion PCIe Flash Drive, a rugged, pocket-size solid-state drive (SSD) storage device with 256 GB or 512 GB storage capacity - and the newest member of Sonnet's growing family of Thunderbolt 2 technology products. The Sonnet flash drive serves as an ultra-fast alternative to USB thumb drives and portable SATA-based hard disk drive and SSD storage products, and it connects to a compatible Mac or Windows computer, or at the end of a Thunderbolt device daisy chain, via an attached 0.5-meter Thunderbolt cable.

Sonnet designed the Fusion PCIe Flash Drive around the latest generation M.2 PCIe SSD module, which is the fastest standard SSD type now available, and a 20 Gbps Thunderbolt 2 interface that provides the bandwidth necessary for the device to sustain ultra-high file transfer speeds - fast enough to support 4K workflows. Capable of transferring files at over 1200 MB/s, the Fusion PCIe Flash Drive's SSD module incorporates a PCIe Gen 3 flash controller, enabling the device to significantly outperform 6 Gbps SATA SSDs and USB 3.0 flash drives.

LaCie, the premium brand from Seagate Technology plc, announced today that its iconic Rugged Thunderbolt storage solution will be available in a 1 TB SSD capacity. With double the storage, the new LaCie Rugged is just as portable with no size or weight increase compared to the 500 GB offering. Plus, it still features the lightning-fast transfer rates of Thunderbolt and is tough in the field with shock, dust and water resistance.

"My expeditions take me all over the globe so I need equipment that's up for any terrain," said photographer and National Geographic Expeditions expert Kike Calvo. "The LaCie Rugged is my go-to hard drive because its fast speeds help back up my work quickly, and its toughness has yet to let me down. With the addition of drones into my workflow, I'm creating more content than ever before. So larger capacity in the same reliable enclosure means I can take fewer drives and save valuable luggage space."

Sonnet today announced the Echo Express SE I, the latest addition to the award-winning Echo Express line of Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe expansion systems. Like the other members of the Echo Express family, the SE I enables the use of a wide variety of high-performance PCI Express (PCIe) cards - originally designed for use in desktop computers - with any Mac or Windows computer with a Thunderbolt port. The new single-slot model supports nearly every Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card on the market, including double-width cards (PCIe card plus daughter card).

The Echo Express SE I features Thunderbolt 2 technology, which provides ample bandwidth for many of the most demanding, highest performance PCIe cards, and incorporates support for the DisplayPort 1.2 protocol, which enables video streaming to a 4K video monitor. The new expansion chassis is ideally suited for use with a wide variety of pro video capture, audio interface, SAS or SATA HBA, 16Gb or 8Gb Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and RAID controller PCIe cards, allowing them to connect with Thunderbolt-enabled iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro computers, as well as Mac Pro computers that lack PCIe expansion slots. Plus, the Echo Express SE I's dual Thunderbolt 2 ports not only support full-bandwidth connectivity with 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2-equipped host computers, but provide full backward compatibility with 10Gbps Thunderbolt-equipped computers and devices, and support daisy-chaining of other Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt devices.