Pioneer Rethinks DVD+RW

Pioneer Corp. took a step away from its exclusive support of the DVD-RW standard by announcing a new recordable DVD drive for PCs, the A-06, which will support the DVD+RW and DVD+R standards.

A Japanese version, the DVR-AO6-J, will ship in June to the Japanese market. A similar model for the Americas will ship at or around the June timeframe, according to a spokesman for Pioneer Electronics. The American version will carry a suggested price tag of $329, the spokesman said.

“We wanted to clear up all the confusion in the marketplace,” the Pioneer spokesman said. Consumers who entered major retailers were being told that a particular drive was “recordable”, but not exactly what its capabilities were, he said.

The A-06 will be the “first of many” PC drives which support the DVD+RW technology, the spokesman said. Pioneers consumer electronics division will not support the technology, as the company has deemed it too expensive.

The DVR-A06-J enables high-speed writing of 4x with DVD-R discs, 2x with DVD-RW, 4x with +R, and 2.4x with +RW discs, according to the company. It also allows 16x writing speed for CD-R discs and 10x for CD-RW media.