Sony Corp. announced Thursday it will release portable mini disc products that can record up to 45 hours of music on a single disc.
The release will be in April in the U.S. and in June in Japan and Europe.
The consumer electronics giant hopes the introduction of the larger format will ignite renewed interest in MD technology in the U.S., where a growing number of music lovers download songs from the Internet.
The latest format, dubbed Hi-MD, boasts a high-density structure, which expands the amount of songs stored. A 1-gigabyte disc can record up to 45 hours of music.
By upgrading to the new format, users can also get double the recording time of MD discs currently on the market.
Sony designed the original MD only for music content. But Hi-MD can store digital data, including images and documents, through a connection with a personal computer.
The company will release audio products using the Hi-MD format in Japan in June, with a portable recorder/player likely to be priced at around 45,000 yen. The 1-gigabyte disc is expected to retail for around 700 yen.
The Hi-MD products will hit the U.S. in April in the U.S. and Europe in June, though product specifications may differ slightly, officials said.
Sony said it is considering adapting Hi-MD discs for camcorders and digital cameras in the near future.
It also said a few rival audio makers, including Sharp Corp., are planning to introduce products based on the Hi-MD format.
Sony introduced the MD in 1992 as the first digital recordable audio. According to the company officials, total shipments of MD products since then, including those by other companies, will reach some 80 million units by the end of March.
