LaCie Doubles Blu-ray Burner Speed

The d2 Blu-ray Drive features dual FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces and is compatible with the Mac and Windows


LaCie Doubles Blu-ray Burner Speed

LaCie has introduced a faster version of its d2 Blu-ray Drive, available now for US$649.99.

The d2 Blu-ray Drive features dual FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces and is compatible with the Mac and Windows. It ships with Roxio's Toast Titanium software for Mac OS X and Easy Media Creator for Windows, and it lets you burn Blu-ray, DVD and CD media.

In addition to the faster drive mechanism -- which now operates at 4x Blu-ray burning speed -- LaCie has also augmented the drive with an updated aluminum alloy case and better software.

Blu-ray Disc is the high-capacity optical medium used by the Sony PlayStation 3 and other high definition drives. It's the successor to DVD and the heir apparent to the HD throne following Toshiba's withdrawal of HD DVD from the market earlier this year. Double-layer Blu-ray Discs can store up to 50GB, more than 10 times the capacity of a single-layer DVD disc.

Blu-Ray Sales Still Low?

A Blu-ray win over HD-DVD in the bloody format war hasn't translated into a sales victory for the next generation DVD technology.


Consumers Not Buying Blu-Ray Format Despite Format Win

A recent study by the NPD Group has shown that Blu-ray sales only increased by 2 percent from February to March and that Blu-ray sales dropped 40 percent from January to February.

That's a big disappointment for supporters of Blu-ray. After all Toshiba announced in February that it would cease production of HD DVD players, essentially killing off the next-generation media format and leaving Blu-ray as the lone next-generation format.

One conclusion that could be reached is that despite the format war being over and a winner being crowned, people still aren't ready to ditch the traditional DVD in favor of the next-generation Blu-ray. Any hopes Blu-ray had of a giant sales increase due to the end of the format war proved otherwise.

At least now the focus in terms of promotion and advertising can be placed upon one format, which might resonate better with the general public and slowly begin to sway that public into the next-generation world.