I/O Magic Corporation announced that it will begin shipping the next generation of high-speed dual drives -- an Internal 12X DVD+/-RW/+/-R Dual Format drive -- into the North American marketplace in late May 2004 with an introductory price of $129.99. The new Internal 12X DVD+/-RW/+/-R Dual Format drive burns all standard media discs, including DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW and CD-R/-RW and is compatible with a broad variety of DVD players.

"The growing popularity of digital music, photography and video is driving consumer demand for the best in fast and flexible optical storage solutions," said Tony Andrews, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development for I/OMagic Corporation. "This new drive more than meets these demands and we're excited to bring it to market so soon.

"No longer will consumers have to worry about what type of media to buy or the differences between plus and minus rewritable technologies. Our Internal 12X DVD+/-RW/+/-R Dual Format drive combines the best of these technologies into one flexible solution."

The Internal 12X DVD+/-RW/+/-R Dual Format drive is a 12x8x12x DVD Recordable drive and a 48x24x48x CD-RW Recordable drive that includes premium software. The software allows users to create and edit videos, burn DVDs and CDs in all popular formats, as well as watch and store home movies, photos and MP3s on either DVD or CD discs. Operating systems supported are Windows XP/2000/Me/98SE.

According to NPD Intelect(R) Market Tracking, I/OMagic currently is the market share leader in unit and dollar sales in the DVD Recordables category, based on year-to-date February 2004 sell-through in North America.