Sony Electronics has unveiled its first internal Blu-ray Disc (BD) rewritable drive for the computer aftermarket. The new drive (model BWU-100A) supports up to 50GB of data on BD-R (write once) or BD-RE (rewritable) discs or up to four hours of high-definition video using HDV 1080i on a BD-RE 50GB disc.

The new drive is capable of burning a full 25GB disc in about 50 minutes. For personal content captured on a HDV camcorder, the BD drive is optimized for keeping the video in the native HDV 1080i for playback on home players compatible with BD-AV format and PCs with BD drives installed. Sony's BD drive also supports recording of standard single layer 4.7GB DVD+/-R/+/-RW/RAM discs, 8.5GB DVD+R Double/Dual Layer Discs, and CDs, making it a multi-format burner.

The BWU-100A drive comes bundled with the CyberLink BD Solution from CyberLink Corporation, which provides a complete software application for capturing, authoring, editing, and burning high-definition personal content captured by a HDV 1080i format camcorder onto BD discs. Video can also be "down-converted" to standard-definition resolution for burning onto DVDs. The internal drive features an IDE (ATA/ATAPI) interface and standard 5.25-inch form factor for easy installation inside a PC.

The recordable/rewritable drive will be available in August for about $750. Pre-orders are now being accepted at sonystyle.com. Sony BD/DVD/CD rewritable drives are sold direct through sonystyle.com, at Sony Style retail stores nationwide (www.sonystyle.com/retail), at authorized resellers and retailers across the country, through mail order catalogs, and by select online shopping sites.