Western Digital sent out a press release earlier today, announcing its new enterprise-class 2.5-inch SATA hard drives. The WD VelociRaptor offers 300GB of capacity and features a 10,000 rotation speed, SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache.

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Toshiba sent out a press release earlier today, announcing its new line of high performance 2.5-inch hard disk drives. These new drives offer a 7,200rpm rotation speed, 8MB buffer and 3.0Gbit/s Serial ATA interface. Toshiba has also reduced the seek noise of the 400GB MK4058GSX by 2dB for near silent operation.

Toshiba Corporation today announced a new line-up of high performance 2.5-inch HDDs, including a low-noise flagship model that boosts areal density to 477Mbit/mm2 (308Gbpsi) to achieve a capacity of 400GB on just two platters, plus five drives that bring new levels of performance and 7,200rpm rotational speeds to the company’s full range of storage capacities.

Mass production of the 400GB MK4058GSX will start from September, targeting notebook PC and consumer electronic applications. Mass production of the 7,200rpm drives will start in August. The line-up includes the 320GB MK3254GSY and models with 80, 120, 160 and 250GB capacities.
If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Seagate recently unveiled the world's first 1.5-terabyte desktop and half-terabyte notebook hard drives. The 3.5-inch Barracuda 7200.11 packs 1.5TB onto four platters and delivers a sustained data rate of up to 120MB/second. The 2.5-inch Momentus 5400.6 and Momentus 7200.4 are available in capacities up to 500GB and are tough enough to withstand up to 1,000 Gs of shock. The Momentus 7200.4 also offers a 7200-rpm spin speed and a 16MB cache.
The debut of the Barracuda® 7200.11 1.5TB hard drive, the eleventh generation of Seagate’s flagship drive for desktop PCs, marks the single largest capacity hard drive jump in the more than half-century history of hard drives - a half-terabyte increase from the previous highest capacity of 1TB, thanks to the capacity-boosting power of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology.

The Barracuda 7200.11 hard drive combines proven PMR technology, components and expert manufacturing to provide 1.5TB of reliable storage for mainstream desktop computers, workstations, desktop RAID, gaming and high-end PCs, and USB/FireWire/eSATA external storage.

Seagate’s new 2.5-inch half-terabyte 5400- and 7200-rpm drives - Momentus® 5400.6 and Momentus 7200.4 - deliver the best combination of capacity, mobility and durability for mainstream and high-performance notebook computers, external storage solutions, PCs and industrial applications requiring small form factor.
The Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB will ship to retailers in August 2008. The Momentus 5400.6 and 7200.4 hard drives are scheduled to ship some time during the fourth quarter of 2008. If you'd like to read more, Seagate's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Fujitsu recently announced a 500GB version of its HandyDrive. This USB-powered, portable hard disk drive comes with an 8MB buffer and has a maximum data transfer rate of 60MB/s. The HandyDrive also features an internal shock-endurance mechanism which protects it against drops up to 70cm in height.

Fujitsu Europe Limited today announced its newest travel-ready portable HandyDrive additions, featuring the world’s highest capacity 2.5-inch external hard disk drive (HDD) with up to 500GB* of storage space in one drive. Suitable for the busy mobile professional looking for a compact-size external HDD with industry-leading capacities, Fujitsu HandyDrives are equipped with the necessary components for safe and easy data transports. Its utility management reduces the drive’s power consumption in stand-by mode by 35% over normal idle mode. And for extra security, Fujitsu provides a new password lock tool option to secure stored data and prevent unauthorized access.
The 500GB HandyDrive will be available at the end of July for a recommended retail price of 229€. If you'd like to read more, Fujitsu's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Addonics has announced a new hard drive enclosure that provides native 256-bit AES hardware encryption on the fly with no detectable performance degradation. The Diamond Cipher enclosure can be connected to a computer via its built-in eSATA and USB 2.0 connectors or mounted into a 5 ¼” drive bay using Addonics cradle system.

Addonics Technologies www.addonics.com today announced a hard drive kit with built-in eSATA and USB 2.0 connectors that allows users to easily connect an external SATA hard drive to a system or use any SATA hard drive as a removable cartridge drive with the highest level 256-bit AES hardware encryption.

The 256-bit AES hardware encryption incorporated inside the Diamond Cipher enclosure is the most secure storage solution available today. AES is secure enough to protect classified information up to the “TOP SECRET” level, which is the highest security level and defined as information which would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security if disclosed to the public.

Diamond Cipher enclosure is also the first enclosure solution to provide native SATA encryption on the fly with no detectable performance degradation to the hard drive though a simple encryption key.
The Diamond Drive Cartridge system is available now and lists for $139. The system comes withDiamond Cipher drive enclosure, a Diamond drive cradle and a pair of 256-bit AES cipher keys. Full details can be found here. Add a comment