Panasonic is trying to tackle one of the major obstacles that has prevented mainstream adoption of recordable DVD drives with a new drive that can read multiple formats.
The electronics maker unveiled the DVDBurner II this week at the TechXNY technology conference in New York. The new drive meets the DVD Multi specification, meaning it is able to read and write recordable DVD formats recognized by the DVD Forum, an industry group with 230 member companies that support DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD-R formats.
Late last year, Hitachi unveiled its own drive, which, similar to Panasonic's DVDBurner II, supports the DVD Multi specification.
The DVD industry has been split in two over the issue of standards and technology. DVD Forum members--including companies such as Apple Computer, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp--advocate the DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW formats.
The DVD+RW Alliance, which includes companies such as Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Philips, has thrown its support behind the DVD+RW format, which also features support for DVD+R.
News source: Cnet
