I/OMagic, today announced that it will begin shipping its new 16x10x40 CD-RW drives to retailers nationwide. The MagicWriter 16x10x40 will be on retail shelves by late May and have a MSRP of just $149.

The MagicWriter 16x10x40 reads CDs at 40X speed, and writes CD-R discs at 16X speed, and CD-RW discs at 10X speeds. The unit will write a 650 MB disc in about five minutes. It features automatic selection for CD, CD-R and CD-RW media.

The MagicWriter 16x10x40 also includes the Nero CD mastering software for creating MP3, audio, video and data CDs

``We're excited to bring a quality product like the MagicWriter 16x10x40 into the channel at such a terrific price point,'' said Paul T. McCauley, vice president of marketing for I/OMagic. ``We look forward to experiencing significant market growth in this category during the balance of 2001 and into next year.''