Panasonic has developed what it claims is the world's first recordable Blu-ray Disc capable of laying down a track at 6x speed - 20 per cent faster than a 16x DVD-R.

Of course, 6x BD-R burners have been available for a while - though Panasonic itself won't be introducing them until September. LG, on the other hand, released one over here in March - you can read Register Hardware's review of it here

Panasonic's 6x BD-Rs: partners for your 6x drive at last

The discs themselves go on sale in July, initially in Japan. They'll be available in single-layer, 25GB and dual-layer, 50GB versions.

Panasonic claimed the discs can be burned at any speed from x6 down to x1, allowing them to cope with any "power fluctuations" the writer's laser may inflict upon them.

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