The large electronics company LG has announced it will be releasing three new PC Blu-ray drives with a price range of $200 USD to $380 USD.
The three drives, the BE06, GBC-H20L, and GBW-H20L are the latest in a successful line from LG. The BE06 is an external model which connects through a USB 2.0 port. It is supposed to be compatible with “all” Blu-ray disc formats, as well as all CD and DVD formats. The drive however, can only write DVDs and CDs at up to 16x and 24x speeds respectively and read BD-R at 6x speed. BD-REs can stream at 2x. That drive will cost $380 USD.
The other two models are internal drives and the GBW-H20L is the only of the three that can write Blu-rays. It “has a read/write capacity of 6x for BD-R discs, and 2x for BD-RE. A 16x speed is retained for DVD+RW/-RW in both models.” The models are listed as $200 USD and $280 USD, respectively.
Result for: disc formats
Robbie Bach, Microsoft’s president for entertainment and devices has once again denied the rumors that have flared up on the internet that a Blu-ray enabled Xbox 360 or a Zune mobile phone is coming soon, or at all.
When asked if a Zune phone was coming to rival Apple’s iPhone, Bach said “there are plenty of Windows Mobile products on the market right now and that Microsoft doesn’t have any plans to make phones ourselves.”
When told that rumors had flared up again about a Blu-ray Xbox 360, Bach added the rumors are “so far out that there isn’t anything to talk about.”
When asked if he felt HD disc formats were a failure so far, Bach added, “You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition player. The reality is there is some difference, but most people look at it and say, “I am not going to pay extra for that.”
In the wake of anticipated 3G iPhone launch today, Microsoft is expected to make a new product announcement as well, and it appears the product will be a touchscreen Zune.
We will update the article when we know the announcement for sure.
