Panasonic Blu-ray burner set for June

Panasonic has announced a June 10 launch date in Japan for its first PC-based Blu-ray drive.

Dubbed the LF-MB121JD BD, the drive is a half-height drive that can read and write single-layer 25GB and single-sided, dual-layer 50GB blank Blu-Ray discs (BDs).

Boasting two lenses – one for CD/DVDs and the other for BDs – the drive will write to an impressive array of formats including BD-RE, BD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-R DL, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW, CD-R and CD-RW.

It can also playback DVD and CDs, as well as BD-Roms when software becomes available.

Panasonic said the drive will come with a wide selection of software to make backing up and archiving data easy, as well as video and audio editing tools that will let users drag and drop data for DVD and CD burning.

Rivals Toshiba and Fujitsu will be launching rival HD-DVD equipped notebooks in May and June, respectively.

As internal PC burners go, the new BD drive will not be cheap, arriving with price tag of almost £500.

It is unclear when the Panasonic burner will be available in Europe but Panasonic said at Cebit earlier this year that its Blu-ray products would be launched simultaneously across the world.

June 10 is the second day of the World Cup, an event many in the industry hope will provide a big boost in demand for high-definition products.