According to the same article, it is claimed that Microsoft has decided to do the same as Sony and include an optical drive as part of its next-generation games console, widely expected to be called the Xbox 720.

FORBES: PlayStation 4 Was Almost A Discless Console

HDMI, USB, S-Video, composite, coax and optical audio are all part of the 1.5-inch high and 17-inch wide unit.

ENGADGET: D-Link's DSM-5210R Wireless HD streamer

The company makes two pieces of the system: a laser diode that shoots a signal at the player, recognizes her motions and reflects them back to the console, at which point they hit a second JDSU part, an optical filter.

FORBES: Magazine Article

We were able to go hands-on with both models -- they feel much more solid than Sony's less-equipped Handycams, such as the CX380 and PJ380, likely due in no small part to the large Balanced Optical SteadyShot module at the cameras' core.

ENGADGET: Sony introduces Balanced Optical SteadyShot for well under a grand with CX430V, PJ430V Handycams (hands-on)

Yet, despite the superior specifications of my own solid shooter, I was often quite jealous of the shots she was able to achieve, thanks in no small part to the RX100's optical zoom.

ENGADGET: IRL: Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and the full-frame RX1

University College London's part in the project has been to design and build an optical corrector for the camera - an array of five massive lenses that sit at the primary focus of the camera.

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It uses the US firm's optical frontplane but adds on its own backplane made out of non-rigid plastics, and then sells the part to device-makers.

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