Western Digital sent out a press release today, announcing its new My Passport Essential Portable USB Drives. These stylish, pocket sized hard drives are available in capacities up to 320GB and can be powered directly through the USB cable.

WD (NYSE: WDC) today introduced its new My Passport Essential Portable USB Drives. Redesigned to complement WD's popular My Book family of external drives, the drives introduce a sleek new form that feels good in your hand and fits neatly in a pocket or purse. Available now at select retailers and at WD's online store (www.shopwd.com), the new My Passport Essential USB Drives feature a beautiful glossy black finish and put almost a third of a terabyte of digital storage in the palm of your hand.

Weighing in at less than 5 ounces, My Passport Essential Drives are light and compact to carry and because they are bus powered, they do not need an external power adapter. Equipped with sync and encryption software (Windows-compatible only), this lightweight drive with mega-capacity, makes it easy to securely carry thousands of songs, or videos or photos.
WD's My Passport Essential USB Drives are available now, with the 320GB version retailing for about $199.99. Full details can be found here.