In addition to the Stackable 3.5-inch SATA enclosures, Japanese company Logitec introduced the LBD-PMF6U3HBKW slim-line external Blu-ray writer drive. Taking advantage of USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, with a single cable for both power and host connectivity, the LBD-PMF6U3HBKW supports streamed digital broadcast recording, which writes Blu-ray discs much in the same was as VCRs would, given of course, if it's configured with the right kind of TVs or PCs with the required software (DiXiM BD Burner 2013).

The LBD-PMF6U3HBKW otherwise supports Blu-ray XL 4-layer and 3-layer writing at 4X, BD-RE XL at 2X, double- and single-layer BD-R discs at 6X, DVDs at up to 8X, and CDs at up to 24X. Measuring 136 x 142 x 19 mm (WxDxH), it weighs 300 g. TotalMediaRecord 2 and TotalMediaTheater 2 come bungled. It is priced around 9,800¥ (US $117).

Japanese peripherals maker Logitec announced the LHR-DS05EU3 line of 3.5-inch external HDD enclosures. Available in four color options - silver, red, black, and purple; the enclosure is sold empty/dry, priced at 4,280¥ (US $50), with a 3 TB WD Green HDD pre-installed for 19,980¥ ($237), and a 2 TB WD Green HDD pre-installed for 13,980¥ ($166); and WD Red HDD pre-installed options priced at 22,980¥ ($273) for 3 TB and 15,980¥ ($190) for 2 TB.

The enclosure features a front-loading caddie that makes it easy to swap out the enclosed HDD, lending it hot-plugging capabilities. Internally, it features a SATA 6 Gb/s interface, which is wired out as both eSATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 SuperSpeed. The enclosure features shock and vibration dampening material to protect the enclosed drive, which is also kept cool by a temperature-controlled 40 mm fan. The body, made of steel and ABS, is designed to be stackable. Measuring 50 x 195 x 134 mm, its dry-weight is about 340 g.

Phanteks launches PH-TC12DX, a U-Type dual tower heat-sink with four 6mm heat-pipes allows for optimal airflow and cooling. PH-TC12DX's 6mm heat-pipes are linearly aligned and developed to have the least amount of air and thermal resistance. Incorporating P.A.T.S and C.P.S.C Technologies, PH-TC12DX delivers better heat dissipation and heat transfers. PH-TC12DX includes dual PH-F120HP PWM Premium fans to allow for higher performance and/or silent operation.

Have you ever felt the need to have control (which can't be second-guessed by the OS) over which drives stay active in your multi-bay drive enclosure? If so, this enclosure (model: CRCH35U3IS) from Japanese peripherals vendor Century could be a Godsend. The enclosure allows you to manually toggle power to individual drives. It features four 3.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s lockable caddies, and connects to its host over USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface. A single SSD has been tested to achieve transfer rates as high as an honest-sounding 400 MB/s. The enclosure is cooled by a temperature-activated fan, which can be overridden. Measuring 130 x 260 x 185 mm (WxDxH), the enclosure weighs about 3.2 kg (probably because it includes a power supply). Slated for early-December, it is priced at 17,800¥ (US $220)

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., a leading SAS/SATA HBA and storage solutions manufacturer, proudly announces that its entire line-up of 6Gb/s SAS and SATA RAID PCI-Express 2.0 host bus adapters are Windows 8 ready: RocketRAID 4500 Series SAS 6Gb/s Hardware RAID HBA's, RocketRAID 2700 series SAS 6Gb/s Host RAID HBA's, RocketRAID 600 Series SATA 6Gb/s Host RAID HBA's, and RocketU Series USB 3.0 HBA's. HighPoint has actively supported every major Windows operating system from the early days of 3.1, to the recent debut of Windows 8. Our extensive line of 6Gb/s SAS RAID, 6Gb/s SATA RAID, and USB 3.0 HBA's are ideal storage solutions for any Windows 8 platform.

Ratoc Systems unveiled the RS-EC32-CLD, a 2-bay 3.5-inch SATA drive enclosure that works as both a USB 3.0 RAID enclosure, and a RAID-enabled NAS. The enclosure offers RAID 0, 1, JBOD modes, with the ability to hot-swap drives in RAID 1 mode. When connected via USB 3.0, the enclosure behaves as a USB mass-storage device. As a NAS, it supports basic features and protocols, including remote access over internet. Measuring 81 x 173 x 123 mm (WxDxH), and made mostly of SECC steel, its dry-weight is around 820 g. Slated for early-October, it is priced at 16,800 JPY (US $214).

Marshal announced its newest 2.5-inch portable enclosure for hard drives and solid-state drives, the MAL-4625SBKU3. The enclosure combines an internal SATA 6 Gb/s interface with USB 3.0 host connection. It uses a single USB cable for power and host connectivity. It is designed to accommodate 2.5-inch drives as thick as 12.5 mm. Measuring 75 x 123 x 16 mm (WxDxH), its dry-weight is 91 g, since the enclosure is mostly made of brushed aluminum. The enclosure features internal cushioning and a suspension frame to hold the drive. Slated for late-September, the MAL-4625SBKU3 is priced at 2,780 JPY (US $35.75).

Run out of expansion slots in your system? Bulky graphics cards eating into smaller PCI-Express x1/x4 slots for devices such as PCIe SSDs, sound cards, and other expansion cards? ELSA has a solution for you, provided you have a Thunderbolt port to spare. The company announced the MAGMA ExpressBox 3T, an external add-on card enclosure, which talks to its host over Thunderbolt.

The MAGMA ExpressBox 3T encloses three standard expansion card bays, with two open-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x8 slots and a PCI-Express 2.0 x4. The three can be used for PCI-Express add-on cards of nearly every electrical configuration. The enclosure packs its own 250W power supply. It features two Thunderbolt ports, with which it can be a part of a larger Thunderbolt device daisy-chain, letting you conserve the limited number of Thunderbolt ports in your system. The enclosure is PC and Mac-compatible. Measuring 371 x 200 x 110 mm (WxDxH), the enclosure is made of aluminum panels with a steel frame. The company did not reveal pricing or availability information.

Century Japan released Greenline 2.5-inch (model: CGL25U3S6G), a SATA HDD/SSD enclosure that takes advantage of the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, and UASP (USB-attached SCSI protocol). UASP gives the enclosure superior performance over standard USB mass-storage device protocol, particularly during random-access. UASP streamlines the command pathway, allowing multiple commands to be transacted between the host and the drive, simultaneously. Internally, the enclosure supports SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The enclosure bears a sleek piano-black finish with a green highlight. Measuring 84 x 135 x 14.5 mm (WxDxH), its dry-weight is 67 g. Slated for late-September, it is expected to be priced at 2,980 JPY (US $38).

ORICO introduced the 6518 series HDD dock that lets you snap in 3.5-inch (or smaller) SATA hard drives or solid-state drives, and connect them to a host over a choice of USB 3.0 or SATA 3 Gb/s interfaces. The enclosure is bus-powered when connected via USB, and needs an external DC power input when connected via eSATA. The body of the 6518 is made of ABS plastic, and is available in jet-black and silver color options. The dock provides basic power and activity indicators. ORICO did not reveal pricing or availability information.

Netstor is pleased to announce the release of TurboBox Extreme PCIe Gen3 GPU enclosure series of desktop version NA255A and rackmount version NA265A. These newly-launched GPU enclosures apply the latest PCIe 3.0 technology and PCIe 3.0 x16 (16-lane) host interface with 8Gbps throughput per lane, offering blazing-fast data transfer rates up to 128Gbps between host and enclosure, dedicated for GPU-accelerated applications. The GPU enclosures are designed to have 4 PCIe x16 slots and 2 PCIe x4 slots (optional) on backplane, supporting up to 4 double-width Gen3 GPU cards (backward compatible with Gen2 GPUs) to work with host, server or workstation for areas such as HPC, telecom, and data centers.

For those with appetite for terabytes of storage space, Century Japan announced the CRST1035EU3 "Sky Tower" external HDD enclosure. The enclosure stands tall, ten 3.5-inch SATA bays-tall, with lockable caddies. It uses USB 3.0 and eSATA interfaces to communicate with a host, and an external power supply. Cooling the unit is a 140 mm 1400 RPM fan with a maximum noise output of 34 dBA. The enclosure makes the host identify each drive as an independent mass-storage device, as it lacks RAID functions. Measuring 179 x 385 x 330 mm (WxDxH), the enclosure weighs 6 kg (dry-weight). Slated for late-September, it is priced at 36,800 JPY (US $470).

RAIDON announced the Runner R2420-B3, a dual 2.5-inch SATA external enclosure. It can enclose two 9.5 mm-thick 2.5-inch SATA hard drives or solid-state drives, and offers RAID capabilities. The two drives are held in place by caddies that eject the drive when the lid is opened (push to eject).

The SATA 3 Gb/s controller offers RAID JBOD, RAID 0 (performance) and RAID 1 (redundancy) modes, which can be configured by setting a pair of DIP switches on the back of the enclosure. The controller connects to the host using USB 3.0 interface. The enclosure draws power from an external 5V AC adapter. Measuring 174 mm x 105 mm x 33 mm (L x W x H), its dry-weight is about 490 g. The company did not give out pricing information.

Every year, technology is able to become more and more advanced and is constantly improving. Also, with being physically the smallest, and performing the best is the end goal of any storage system. This is why SFF (Small Form Factor) storage systems are becoming more popular due to its low power consumption and space-saving benefits. With the advent of recent solid state technology, this allows 2.5" SSD's to easily achieve 500MB/sec in transfer rate, which overcomes the 3.5" SATA hard drives in every category except capacity. Therefore, maximize the capacity in a limited space becomes the most important task that many storage consulting firms are faced with often. For SFF systems, we introduce the Icy Dock MB992SK-B 2.5" SATA Mobile Rack solution for use in 3.5" device bays (Floppy bay).

Thermaltake, being the industry pioneer brand with expertise in PC chassis, power supply and thermal solution, introduces the Muse 5G series, the next-generation external hard drive enclosure for authors, scientists and artists in the 21st century to unite their power and soul by collecting and protecting all precious inspiration.

Thermaltake Muse is named after the 9 goddesses of Greek mythology, poetry and literature. The goddesses are considered the source of knowledge that became the representatives of poetry, the arts and science, and sources of inspiration. Thermaltake, carring the corporate mission of "delivering the perfect user experience",has insight into the importance and the power of knowledge, thus specially developed the Muse 5G series in a high quality aluminum housing to provide a better heat dissipation as well as an elegant look like the goddesses we all have imagined.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash, storage, and enthusiast computer products today launches its new wireless personal storage enclosure the Gauntlet Node. Previously announced as the Gauntlet Wifi, the Gauntlet Node will allow users to break free from the hardware limited storage options offered in today's most popular tablets, smart phones, and laptops by offering up to 1 terabyte of untethered external storage.

Providing an extremely flexible wireless storage solution, the Gauntlet Node can be fitted with any new or used 2.5" mechanical hard drive or solid state drive and is hot swappable for no hassle use with multiple drives. Using Gauntlet Connect, available through Google Play, Amazon App Store, and iTunes, the Gauntlet Node is capable of sharing or streaming to 8 connected devices for excellent on the go productivity or entertainment. Powered by a lithium ion battery, the Gauntlet Node can stream movies, music, and photos or transfer data continuously for up to 5.5 hours.

Sharkoon is expanding its assortment of external RAID hard drive enclosures: The Sharkoon 5-Bay RAID Station and the Sharkoon 8-Bay RAID Station contain both 2.5 and also 3.5 inch SATA hard drives. With its fast RAID controller, simple handling and high-quality finish, they together form a perfect base as a fail-safe backup system for private media collections or SOHO environments.

Both cases are presented in a classy medal design from black SECC steel. Concealed behind the plastic front door with a mesh insert is the mounting frame for hard drives in both 2.5 and 3.5 inch formats. The frames with screwed in place storage mediums can simply be slide in place and locked by a lever. To cool the hard drives, a 120 mm silent fan is pre-installed in the rear panel.

Toshiba's Storage Products Business Unit, a division of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., and a committed technology leader, today announced the AL13SE series of 2.5-inch 6Gb/s SAS interface hard disk drives (HDDs), which offer enterprise-class performance in capacities ranging from 900GB to 300GB.

The AL13SE is the first 10,000 RPM class model enterprise drive from Toshiba to achieve 900GB capacity and is also the first of Toshiba's 10,000 RPM drives to employ a dual-stage head positioning actuator that provides additional performance gains, including a 32% increase in sustained transfer rate.

Akitio, a leading manufacturer of storage solutions, announced today the release of the Neutrino U3+ laptop hard drive enclosure to the company's ever-expanding product line. With the news of Apple's integration of USB 3.0 to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the Neutrino U3+ is ideal for Mac users, as well as audio and video professionals, looking for a portable, speedy storage solution.

Akitio's Neutrino U3+ is encased in a portable aluminum enclosure and was created for ease of use and the latest 2.5" SATA hard drives. By combining USB 3.0 SuperSpeed technology with FireWire 800, Neutrino U3+ provides two of the fastest transfer speed combinations available.

Patriot made an addition to its Gauntlet line of storage products, the Gauntlet NODE. While other storage manufacturers are offering fully-built wireless HDDs, Patriot Gauntlet NODE gives you the flexibility to add your own 2.5-inch SATA drive (be it HDD or SSD). The enclosure supports 802.11 b/g/n (up to 150 Mbps), with WPA security. It packs a lithium ion battery, which can keep it running for up to 5.5 hours, on full charge. In the wireless mode, the NODE can stream media and files to iOS and Android devices (phones and tablets), for which it has apps in both marketplaces. It doesn't end there, the Gauntlet NODE even features USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, with which it can connect to PCs as common USB mass-storage device, and allow you to quickly transfer files. The device charges with its included AC adapter.

External enclosures provide a great avenue for many professional & enterprise users in the media field looking for an easy way to store, backup data or transport hard drives. The ability to have slim, removable and heat dissipation are all critical features that truly protect, transport and store your data. With that said, Icy Dock is proud to introduce the MB559U3S-1S, 3.5" SATA III USB 3.0 slim aluminum external hard drive enclosure.

The MB559U3S-1S uses an ultra slim fan-less design, to give the best portability in any professional environment. The height of the enclosure reaches just a bit higher than the standard 3.5" hard drive height under 2 inches, making it easy to place anywhere from your suitcase to your office drawer. The hard drive removability compliments the portability of the MB559U3S-1S by utilizing a simple and easy tray system to swap and transport your hard drive to different locations.

Century Japan introduced CRNS35U3MR "EX Volume" 2-bay HDD enclosure, which provides fast external storage. The enclosure holds two 3.5-inch SATA hard drives in lockable caddies. It allows you to run them in standalone (as independent USB mass-storage volumes), or in RAID 0 (performance) and RAID 1 (redundancy) modes. To alleviate host interface bottlenecks, the enclosure utilizes USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface.

The enclosure draws power from an external AC power line (power supply is located internally), its controller logic spins down the hard drives sensing extended periods of inactivity (5 minutes, by default). The enclosure also has a temperature-controlled fan that completely spins down, below a temperature threshold. Measuring 130 x 210 x 115 mm (WxDxH), the enclosure weighs about 1922 g. Slated for early-June, the CRNS35U3MR from Century is priced at 14,800 JPY (US $186).

Scythe Japan introduced a new accessory that makes hot-plugging 3.5-inch HDDs possible for most users, taking advantage of AHCI hot-plugging feature. The SCEMR-1000 from Scythe occupies one 5.25-inch drive bay in your chassis, and provides a 3.5-inch SATA HDD caddie. Key mounting portions of the enclosure are made of steel, other parts made of ABS. The interface portion of the enclosure is "dumb", in that it merely conveys the SATA interface of the drive inserted to your SATA host controller and PSU. Slated for mid-May, the SCEMR-1000 will be sold by Scythe for 1,480 JPY (US $18.5).

ORICO unveiled an interesting portable hard drive enclosure, which doubles up as a wireless NAS and internet access point. Called the WiDrive (model: WDX-8 625), the device can enclose one 2.5-inch SATA HDD/SSD, and share its contents over a secure wireless network (802.11 b/g/n). As an added value, it can also serve as a wireless internet access point, if an upstream wired internet connection is plugged into its 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port. As a NAS, it packs most modern features, including SAMBA, FTP, Bit Torrent, iTunes server and Media Center. Its storage can be expanded by a USB 2.0 port (mass storage device). The enclosure draws power from an external AC adapter. ORICO plans to charge 899 RMB (US $142) for the WiDrive.

Japanese peripherals company Marshal introduced Easy Go MAL-3435SBKU3, a desktop external hard drive enclosure, which can pack a 3.5-inch SATA hard drive. Apart from close to zero interface bottlenecks, thanks to its USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connection, the enclosure's design focus is on cooling. It packs an 80 mm fan on its side panel for ventilation of the hard drive and other electronics. The fan can be toggled, and its designers claim that running it can lower the drive's temperatures by as much as 10°C. Its native logic features an Eco Mode feature, which completely spins down the drive while keeping its volumes mounted on the host machine, when there is inactivity for a set amount of time. The enclosure is made of rugged materials such as steel and ABS. Measuring 46 x 210 x 146 mm (WxDxH), it weighs a little over 600 g. It is priced at 3,480 JPY (US $43).