Sony said on Wednesday it will launch a DVD recorder using Blu-ray technology by the end of the year in Japan, fortifying its lineup of high-definition optical disc products.

Sony, which promotes the Blu-ray format in competition with the HD DVD standard led by Toshiba, did not give details such as a launch date, price or overseas release dates. The company showcased a protoype recorder at the company's annual convention event for electronics retailers event held in Japan on Wednesday.

The recorder will possibly have a hard disk drive, although this has not yet been decided.



In addition, Sony exhibited its BD-R and BD-RE media for video recording, without however giving pricing details.

It will be a key product for the company in the end-of-year sales period, said Kiyoshi Shikano, corporate senior vice president of Sony Marketing (Japan) Inc.. Sony is also expected to release a new series of it BRAVIA HD TVs as well as new HD cameras by the end of the year.

The Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment conglomerate already offers a Blu-ray drive in its Vaio computers and will be selling Blu-ray players in the United States from around October and in the first half of 2007 in Europe.

It also plans to roll out its PlayStation 3 game console, which is equipped with a Blu-ray player, in November in Japan and North America.