Sharp Corporation has announced that their new laser diode "GH04P21A2G" can record Blu-ray and HD DVD discs at 6x speed. It achieves 210mW power output. The diode which boost a lifetime of 10,000 hours, costs about $430 and will be mass produced from May.

The firm is working on a prototype that will increase recording speed of the next-generation media to 12x. These new developments are expected to be available during 2008 and 2009.