With Blu-ray earning a sizable chunk of dominance in the format war, the obvious next step for Sony is to deliver cheaper Blu-ray drivers to make the format available to budget-minded consumers. That's exactly what Sony is doing. The company has developed the world's smallest Blu-ray drive with a laser unit that is only 3mm thick. Sony expects the device to appear in standard 9.5mm laptop drives later this year.
Additionally, the retooled laser can read dual-layer BDs and discs with organic dye in the recording layers. Said discs can also be easily manufactured from existing DVD production lines, again driving down costs. Overall, great news for consumers and Sony alike.
Sony shrinks Blu-ray lasers, drives cost down [Tech]