WITH SUPERIOR NEW TECHNOLOGY, SONY'S NEW GENERATION OF SPRESSA CD-R DRIVES MAKES CD-R DISCS WORK LIKE GIANT FLOPPIES; Innovative CDRFS Technology Brings True Incremental Writing to CD-R Discs, Enabling Practical Desktop Use of Spressa CD-R Drives By Consumers For Multiple Applications

Business Wire, June 3, 1996

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1996--Until now, CD-R (Recordable CD-ROM) drives have been used mainly as an authoring tool in the CD-ROM publishing and professional audio worlds. With today's introduction of Sony Electronics' newest generation of Spressa CD-R drives that incorporate Sony's innovative CD-R file system (CDRFS) technology, consumers can use drives on the desktop as easily as a hard disk or floppy drive. With CDRFS, the new Spressa drives enable consumers to use them as practical secondary storage products.

"Sony is known for developing easy-to-use products incorporating innovative technology with exceptional reliability," said Chuck Bridges, data storage products marketing manager for the Multimedia Products Division of Sony Information Technologies of America. "We've taken that heritage to the next level with Sony's new Spressa drives by including CDRFS technology, 4X CD-ROM playback capabilities, and easy-to-use Corel CD Creator mastering software." With the two new Spressa CD-R drives (the Spressa 940 is an internal drive; the Spressa 9411, external), users can now save files to a CD-R disc without complicated commands and without a storage-hungry staging process. In addition, users can "delete" files like they would on a hard drive or floppy disk. (Because CD-R is a write-once technology, when data is "deleted" with CDRFS it is actually "hidden" from the user, but can be recovered later.) The CD-R drive seamlessly integrates into the operating system and becomes another convenient storage device, like a floppy disk.

Using the Spressa CD-R drives, users can easily back up files on their computer system or permanently archive hard disk data. Other applications the Spressa CD-R drives might be used for include creating a "digital scrapbook" of family photographs, downloading and storing information from the World Wide Web, and developing multimedia presentations.

Bridges notes, "The real benefit of CDRFS is its simplicity and its familiar appearance to users as another storage option in their computing environment. Additionally, CDRFS will complement CD mastering software because the mastering software is still necessary for complex functions like multimedia development."

The Spressa CD-R drives have been designed to make it easy for users to get up and running. The package includes the award-winning Corel CD Creator mastering software from Corel Corporation. Corel CD Creator makes it simple to record CD-ROM discs. Not only does its integrated "disc wizard" feature help users master compact discs through a series of step-by-step questions and explanations, but it also includes integrated editors for mastering discs and customizing the compact disc insert. Corel CD Creator is offered on a "hybrid" disc with Macintosh and PC versions, so users of both computer platforms can take advantage of the Spressa CD-R drives.

With a 2X recording speed, the Spressa drives can record a full 650 MB disc in as little as 45 minutes. To facilitate the smooth flow of data from the hard drive, the Spressa drives feature a one megabyte data buffer. If data transfer is interrupted and a "buffer underrun" does occur, Spressa's special disc recovery algorithm "seals off" the section of the disc where the error occurred, enabling the Spressa drive to utilize the rest of the disc, unlike conventional CD-R drives, in which such discs are ruined entirely.

The Spressa drives have also been designed for reliability. Thanks to the drives' high tolerance for reading from and writing to different media types, users are virtually assured of readability by CD-ROM drives. The Spressa systems, which incorporate an industry-standard SCSI-2 interface, also perform as 4X CD-ROM readers with a quick access time of less than 230 milliseconds.

According to Bridges, it's easy to take advantage of CDRFS technology. A CD-ROM drive that supports packet recorded discs needs only a Read Only driver to read a disc recorded with the Spressa CD-R drives. (All Sony CD-ROM drives read packet recorded discs; most other manufacturers' drives are expected to read packet recorded discs as well).

Each Spressa CD-R drive has an option to include the Read Only driver and installer program on a CD-R disc when it formats the CD-R media. If this option is selected, each CD-R disc it formats will carry the Read Only driver and installer program so that anyone who receives it will be able to install the software and read the disc. Sony expects to distribute the Read Only file system driver at no cost through the Sony BBS (Bulletin Board System) and the company's World Wide Web site.

Along with the Spressa CD-R drive, Corel CD Creator, interface and audio cables, the Spressa packages also include recordable Spressa discs. Like all Sony CD-R drives, the Spressa drives include a one-year, parts-and-labor warranty.

The Spressa 940 (internal) CD-R drive is currently available for a suggested retail price of $899.99; the Spressa 9411 (external) is available for a suggested retail price of $1,059.99.