Plasmon, a leading manufacturer of the widest range of automated data storage solutions, announced today that it will demonstrate the first working prototypes of its new 30GB Ultra Density Optical (UDO) drives and media at Comdex in Las Vegas from 18th to 21st November 2002.

UDO is the next generation 5.25-inch optical drive technology and the world's first blue-violet laser optical disk drive developed for professional data storage markets. It delivers the performance of 5.25" MO, the longevity of 12-inch TrueWORM and the cost effectiveness of a DVD solution.

UDO uses 405nm blue-violet laser and phase change technology adapted from the Blu-Ray DVD type products. The UDO media cartridges are dimensionally identical to current 5.25" MO, providing compatibility with the existing 5.25" library automation. Both WORM and rewritable media will also be available. This first generation product provides 30GB capacity and a fast data transfer rate of up to 8MB/s. Future generations will increase capacity to 60GB and 120GB and backward read capability will be maintained throughout the product roadmap. Target markets include archiving, document imaging, call centers, email archiving, GIS, medical, telecom, banking, insurance, legal and government.

"The demonstration of our prototype UDO drives and media is a major milestone in the development of this exciting new product," said Nigel Street, CEO of Plasmon. "Interest in UDO technology is already growing rapidly and we expect this to accelerate following the demonstration of our product at this major trade show."

"Due to its compelling cost per gigabyte and WORM support, IDC believes UDO will quickly replace ISO MO in storage solutions," said Wolfgang Schlichting, Research Manager Removable Storage at IDC. "With the support of the major ISO 5.25" optical drive, jukebox, and media vendors, we believe UDO will have sufficient momentum to transition current users and possibly widen its user base," he added.

Plasmon's UDO development program continues on plan and well positioned to be the leading technology for future professional optical storage solutions.

The demonstration of the UDO drive and media at Comdex is by invitation only.