Toshiba develops laptop HD DVD-RW drive

(InfoWorld) - Toshiba will unveil in Taipei on Tuesday a slim HD DVD rewriter suitable for use in laptop computers.

The SD-L912A, which will be unveiled at the Computex trade show, can read and rewrite to single and dual-layer HD DVD-RW discs and also read and write to recordable HD DVD, DVD, and CD media, Toshiba said Monday on the eve of the Computex trade show in the Taiwanese capital. Sample shipments of the drive to PC makers will begin in July.

A single-layer HD DVD-RW disc can store up to 20GB of information, which is just over four times the capacity of an equivalent DVD.

Toshiba expects the drive will find favor among manufacturers of multimedia laptop computers. Applications like digital television recording or high-definition video editing are pushing up storage demands and leading many users to store data on optical discs or external hard-disk drives.

The drive is compliant with the European Union Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (ROHS) directive.

Pricing information was not immediately available.

Toshiba plans to offer the drive on an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) basis to PC makers and not as a drive direct to consumers.