Ultra thin Blu-ray drive ships

Consumer electronics manufacturer Panasonic has begun shipping a new ultra-thin Blu-ray disc drive designed for lightweight notebooks.

In a statement released by the Japanese firm on Wednesday (December 26th), it was revealed that the built-in optical drive is just 0.37 inches thick. In the past, Panasonic's thinnest Blu-ray drive was 0.5 inches thick.

Reports suggest that the new drive will be officially unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 7th.

The new drive is capable of reading and burning Blu-ray discs, as well as traditional DVDs and CDs.

Thinner drives mean that manufacturers can develop even smaller and lighter laptops.

Recently, the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee revealed that sales had broken the seven figure mark, with the format accounting for 73 per cent of sales of high definition discs on the continent.

Frank Simonis, chairman of the committee, commented at the time: "Early indicators show that the Christmas holiday season will be exceptionally good for Blu-ray Disc across all categories from packaged media to standalone players and BD capable games consoles."