Panasonic has announced that they will release their first Blu-ray disc drive, the LF-MB121JD, on June 10. Along 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 4x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds, the LF-MB121JD can write to both BD-R and BD-RE media at 2x.
Panasonic, the brand for which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, today announced that the company will introduce a half-height internal Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive for desktop computers* in Japan on June 10, 2006. The LF-MB121JD BD drive can read and write single- and dual-layer BDs as well as DVDs and CDs. Prior to the introduction of the BD drive, Panasonic releases 2x-speed 25 GB and 50 GB non-cartridge BD-R and BD-RE discs for PC drives on April 28.
Increasing data volume on personal computers and the rapid and continued growth of high definition (HD) television have accelerated consumer demand for an optical drive that can read and record massive PC data as well as HD content at home. The new BD drive and discs will meet this growing demand.
The LF-MB121JD, complied with Blu-ray Disc Association's BD-R, BD-RE and BD-ROM standards, can read and write single-layer 25 GB and single-sided, dual-layer 50 GB BDs. Supporting the three generations of optical discs, the 41.3-mm high internal BD drive is compatible with 11 different writable optical discs and 13 different readable optical disc formats**.
While Panasonic has not announced a price, its not going to be cheap, especially considering I-O DATA's LF-MB121JD based drive, the BRD-AM2B is going for 105,000 Yen ($899US). If you'd like to read more, Panasonic's entire press release can be found here.
