Sony may be reeling from recent production delays of next-gen products and a massive laptop battery recall, but the setbacks haven't stopped the company from introducing two new Blu-ray Disc writers with single-layer 25 GB capacity.
Blu-ray chief advocate Sony and other proponents have long been touting the format's full capacity of 50 GB, which is achieved using dual-layer discs. However, this single-layer, 25 GB writer introduced at CEATEC is said to be smaller than Toshiba's standalone HD DVD recorder, which can write on dual-layer, 30 GB discs (HD DVD-R).
Sony's new disc writer is backward-compatible to read BD-RE Version 1.0 discs. According to published reports, Sony envisions a startup production capacity of 10,000 units monthly for both writer models. The high-end model will have a 500 GB hard disc drive, while the basic model will weigh in with half that capacity, 250 GB.
