Toshiba Brings World’s First(*1) Slim HD DVD Re-writable Drive To Notebook PCs

-- Toshiba today announced the world’s first*1 slim HD DVD-RW drive for notebook PCs that can read and write and rewrite to HD DVD-RW discs, and read and write to HD DVD-R discs and to standard DVD and CD discs. Sample shipments of the new drive are scheduled to start next month. The new SD-L912A makes it possible to backup the large capacities of PC hard drives to the reusable format of HD DVD-RW discs, and store data-rich HD digital content. The drive’s ability to rewrite to HD DVD-RW also opens the way to a wide range of applications involving storage and rewriting of large volumes of data. The new product also supports high speed read and write*2 for standard DVD and CD discs, and the complete library of different DVD and CD formats. The new drive is compliant with the EU RoHS*3 directive on environmentally hazardous substances, which came into force in July 2006. Toshiba will feature the new drive at the Toshiba Digital Media Network Taiwan Corporation booth (booth: B1234) at Computex 2007, which will be held in Taipei, Taiwan from June 5 to 9. Background The growth of digital terrestrial broadcasting, increasing consumer demand for large screen, high definition TVs and for HD camcorders, are all spurring demand for the ability to record high-definition visual content using the optical drive of a PC. Against this background, Toshiba has developed a slim HD DVD rewritable drive for notebook PCs that will allow users to use the advanced capabilities of HD DVD to the full. Toshiba will continue to develop HD DVD drives and contribute to market penetration of the HD DVD format."