Seagate Powers Next Generation Of Computing With Three New Hard Drives, Including World's First 1.5-Terabyte Desktop PC And Half-Terabyte Notebook PC Hard Drives

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.-July 10, 2008-Seagate (NYSE:STX) today unveiled the industry’s first 1.5-terabyte desktop and half-terabyte notebook hard drives to meet explosive worldwide demand for digital-content storage in home and business environments.

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.

Highlighting the global growth of digital content, Seagate expects to ship its two billionth hard drive within the next five years. Earlier this year Seagate shipped its one billionth hard drive since the company’s inception nearly 30 years ago.

“Organizations and consumers of all kinds worldwide continue to create, share and consume digital content at levels never before seen, giving rise to new markets, new applications and demand for desktop and notebook computers with unprecedented storage capacity, performance and reliability,” said Michael Wingert, Seagate executive vice president and general manager, Personal Compute Business. “Seagate is committed to powering the next generation of computing today with the planet’s fastest, highest-capacity and most reliable storage solutions.”

Momentus 5400.6 and Momentus 7200.4 hard drives are the fourth generation of Seagate’s laptop family to use PMR. The Momentus 5400.6, a 5400-rpm drive, combines a powerful Serial ATA 3Gb/second interface and capacities ranging from 120GB to 500GB with an 8MB cache.

The Momentus 7200.4 hard drive, with its 7200-rpm spin speed and a Serial ATA 3GB/second interface, delivers true desktop performance. The power-efficient 7200-rpm drive maximizes battery life and comes in capacities ranging from 250GB to 500GB with a 16MB cache.

Both Momentus drives are built tough enough to withstand up to 1,000 Gs of non-operating shock and 350 Gs of operating shock to protect drive data, making the drives ideal for systems that are subject to rough handling or high levels of vibration. For added robustness in mobile environments, the Momentus 5400.6 and 7200.4 are offered with G-Force Protection, a free-fall sensor technology that helps prevent drive damage and data loss upon impact if a laptop PC is dropped. The sensor works by detecting any changes in acceleration equal to the force of gravity and parks the heads off the disc to prevent contact with the platter in a free fall of as little as 8 inches and within 3/10ths of a second.

Seagate’s new Momentus drives are lean on power consumption, allowing notebook users to work longer between battery charges, and are virtually inaudible thanks to Seagate’s innovative SoftSonic™ fluid-dynamic bearing motors and QuietStep™ ramp load technology.

The Barracuda 7200.11 hard drive combines the capacity and speed required for today’s most demanding desktop PC applications. The drive packs 1.5TB on just four platters and its fast Serial ATA 3Gb/second interface delivers an industry-leading sustained data rate of up to 120MB/second for fast boot, application startup and file access. The 3.5-inch drive is also offered in capacities of 1TB, 750GB, 640GB, 500GB, 320GB and 160GB with cache options of 32MB and 16MB.

All Momentus and Barracuda drives are backed by Seagate’s leading five-year warranty. You can find photos of these three new drives, and other Seagate products, at: http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/about/news_room/photos/

Availability
Shipments of the Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB are set to begin August 2008. Momentus 5400.6 and 7200.4 hard drives are to begin shipping in Q4 calendar 2008.

They took a Gateway T-6828 with Vista Home Premium SP1 and tried it with its native Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS and two SSDs: a Samsung SATA II 64GB, and a SanDisk SATA 5000 32GB.

And guess what? Both SSD's resulted in an extra 10 minutes of battery life, versus the native hard drive. That's not a huge difference, sure, but it's a completely different story to the Tom's Hardware study which showed worse battery performance.

Laptopmag admits that the absolute hardware choices both studies make may have a large impact, but they conclude "in real-world use, SSDs offer a small improvement in battery life." And, of course, there's the potentially faster loading times you get from SSD's, meaning your laptop's uptime may be more productive. [Laptopmag]

SEAGATE’S NEW CENTRAL AXIS NETWORK STORAGE
MAKES BACK UP AND ACCESS TO FILES EASIER THAN EVER

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. — June 25, 2008 — To address the growing consumer need for storage in the home, Seagate (NYSE: STX) today announced the Maxtor® Central Axis™ network drive, a network storage drive that can be used by the whole family. This latest drive from Seagate provides a terabyte of storage that every computer in the home can back up to. In addition to media streaming capabilities for video, photos and music, the new Maxtor Central Axis network drive also includes an easy-to-use remote accessservice that allows people to easily and securely retrieve content stored on their network drive through any Internet browser.

A concept once only reserved for the small business and enterprise space, networked storage
is increasingly becoming a viable option for multiple-computer homes. According to Yankee
Group’s 2008 Device Survey, of those who purchased network routers for the home, 75.9%
did so with the intent of providing multiple computers with access to the Internet. The
challenge of these multi-computer households is the ability to share and back up files from
each computer. Maxtor Central Axis network drive allows for each computer in the home to
be automatically backed up, so important files and precious memories are sheltered from
virus infections or disc drive failures. Sharing files from computer to computer is easy when
there is one repository for any file that you would like to share. Additionally, since the storage device
is connected to the router and not formatted for an individual computer, files can be accessed and stored from both Mac OS X and Windows operated PCs.

“The days of external storage simply serving as an extension to a full hard drive are over – the era of personal digital content has seen to that,” said Josh Martin, senior analyst of Yankee Group’s Media and Entertainment devices.

“Survey data indicates that over 41% of recent external storage buyers did so to back up their data not because they ran out of room on the primary computer. With the emotional connection people have to their photos and videos, I believe the trend will only continue.”

The Maxtor Central Axis network drive liberates content that was once trapped on individual computers. This easy to use solution enables multimedia file sharing from every computer in the home as well as from common entertainment devices, which are DLNA compliant, such as Microsoft® Xbox® 360 and Sony® PlayStation® 3™. Watching home movies, viewing pictures of the last family vacation and listening to music can now all be enjoyed in the living room through networked console players instead of having guests crowd around a computer monitor in the den or a small laptop computer screen. This storage device helps put your digital entertainment back in a room where the whole family can enjoy it.

“Our Central Axis solution is a snap to set up and use for nearly every member of the family. Any household with a network would benefit from having a way to back up every PC in the home and share files between them,” said BenHur Castor, director of product line management for Seagate’s Consumer Solution Division. “Back up is essential to make certain photos, videos and other important files live beyond the life of an individual computer. The Central Axis network drive provides a complete solution for back up storage as well as file sharing in the home and from the road.”

In addition to providing networked access to important files, Maxtor Central Axis network drive provides a way to easily share and access files when you are not on the network. With the ever-growing dependence on access to information and digital content, whether that be multimedia content, spreadsheets or business-related documents, you’ll find there are times when you’ll need to access these files remotely. Retrieving content that is saved to a network drive when you are not local to the network has always raised concerns about security and complexity. Most applications involve installing software on the computer accessing the drive. Many remote access applications also require a breach in a firewall, leaving the network and your data open and vulnerable to attack.

With Maxtor Central Axis, you can easily log into the remote access service from an Internet browser to securely access and share the files stored on the networked storage drive. There are no applications to download or plug-ins required. Central Axis establishes a secure connection to the service without the need to disable firewalls. All that is needed to access the drive from any Web browser is a username and password.

Central Axis Network Drive
Designed as a home network storage drive, the Maxtor Central Axis 1TB capacity drive is expected to be available in the US in July from major retailers, distributors and online stores, as well as at www.maxstore.com, for a suggested retail price of $329.99. Availability in Europe and Asia will come later this year. Please visit www.maxtorsolutions.com for more information, including local distribution channels and retail outlets.

Samsung Announces Mass Production of the World's Highest Capacity Hard Drive for Mainstream Laptops
San Jose, CA on Jun 18, 2008

San Jose, CA - June 18, 2008 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announced today the mass production of the world's highest capacity hard drive for laptops - the new Spinpoint M6, and mass production of one of the world's fastest laptop hard drives - the new Spinpoint MP2. The Spinpoint M6 features a stunning 500GB capacity and the MP2 has a 250GB capacity operating at a 7,200rpm rotation. Both hard drives are currently shipping. The Spinpoint M6 has a $299 MSRP and the MP2 has a $199 MSRP.

"The Spinpoint M6 is ideal for notebook power users who require vast amounts of storage space for their data, video and music files," said Hubbert Smith, Director of Storage, Samsung Semiconductor. "The MP2 has speed, features and capacity similar to a 3.5" hard drive and is perfect for users who require a smaller form factor with advanced data storage needs."

Size Matters: The 500GB Spinpoint M6 Hard Drive

The Spinpoint M6 fits the industry's standard 9.5mm height dimension and is armed with a massive 500GB capacity consisting of three 167GB platters, notebook PC manufacturers can integrate the Spinpoint M6 into the tens of millions of notebook PCs that ship every quarter as well as slim form factor PCs and high density mobile applications.

Mainstream notebook PCs can now support capacity of up to one terabyte by employing two Samsung Spinpoint M6 drives. For premium notebook PCs, the Spinpoint M6 meets the Microsoft fast-boot design requirements and supports ramp load and unload of up to 600,000 times.

The Spinpoint M6 500GB hard drive features a 5400rpm spindle speed, a 8MB cache, and 3.0Gbps SATA interface with a Free-Fall-Sensor available as an optional feature. Perpendicular Magnetic Recording technology enables the 500GB drive to store 160,000 digital images, 125 hours of DVD movies, or 60 hours of high definition video images. The drive also features Samsung's Flying-on-Demand head technology that improves recording stability over changing temperature ranges.

The Need for Speed: Spinpoint M2P Hard Drive

The Spinpoint MP2 is a 250GB 2.5" hard drive consisting of two 125GB disks. Operating at a 7200rpm rotation speed, the MP2 is ideal for high performance, desktop replacement notebook PCs, and entry-level enterprise applications such as workstations and RAID or blade servers.

In step with the surging growth of multimedia content and the demand for smaller form factor devices, 2.5" drives meet the stringent environmental demands of notebook PCs and slim form factor desktop PCs. The high performance characteristic of Samsung's MP2 expands the scope of applications for 2.5" drives to entry-level enterprise applications.

The Spinpoint MP2 features 7200rpm speed rotation, SATA II 3.0Gbps interface and Native Command Queuing functions for advanced performance. Samsung's proprietary SilentSeek™ and NoiseGuard™ technologies are incorporated in the drive to offer ultra quiet operation. An optional Free Fall Sensor is also available for data protection in case of any unexpected external impact. The Spinpoint MP2 drive has a 16MB buffer memory and is available in 80GB to 250GB capacities.

[Samsung]

Jun 18, 2008 04:01 ET
Panasonic Adds Two New HD Camcorders to Its Line — World's First AVCHD Models With a 3MOS System
New High Definition Camcorders Offer Increased Manual Functions for More Creative Use and Intelligent Auto Mode to Make Shooting More Intuitive

Panasonic HDC-SD100: World's First AVCHD Camcorder With a 3MOS System
SECAUCUS, NJ—(Marketwire - June 18, 2008) - Panasonic today expanded its High Definition (HD) suite of products, with the announcement of two new full-HD camcorders, the HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100, the world's first* AVCHD camcorders with a 3MOS system which provides superb video image quality. The HDC-SD100 records to SD Memory Card, while the hybrid HDC-HS100 records to both SD Memory Card and to its internal 60 GB* hard drive. Both models include manual functions for the user wanting more precise control over zoom, focus, iris, shutter speed and white balance. The models also include Panasonic's new Intelligent Auto (iA) mode, an intuitive set of technologies that automatically activate, making video shooting an easy, seamless process.
"The camcorder market is moving swiftly to High Definition and superior image quality is now a must-have feature. Moreover, many consumers are also demanding higher-level features, and the ability to be more creative," said Zoe Susice, Group Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. "For these users, we introduce two new full-HD 3MOS models — the HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100 — with manual functions that give users the power to create dramatic, artistic images. At the same time, we also have our Intelligent Auto mode, which activates several technologies automatically, so the user doesn't need to make any adjustments, and shooting video is an easy and enjoyable experience."
The world's first AVCHD camcorders with a 3MOS system are newly developed by Panasonic and based on the company's 3CCD technology, an already-established and renowned system that provides excellent color reproduction. With their expanded light-receiving areas, the MOS sensors also significantly improve image quality, even in low lighting. The three MOS sensors process the red, green, and blue components of incoming light separately, so color reproduction is superb. These sensors also have about double** the light-receiving area of CCD sensors, so image quality when shooting in low light is much higher. Compared with a conventional 1MOS, Panasonic's new 3MOS system captures more vibrant, true-to-life colors, greater detail and richer gradation. This high-precision imaging element is first in the world*** to shoot in lighting as low as 2 lux and helps the SD100 and HS100 capture exceptionally clear, bright images.
Adding to the 3MOS sensor, Panasonic HD Advanced Pure Color Engine and a new Leica**** Dicomar lens — helps the SD100 and HS100 deliver the outstanding images in full-HD 1920 x 1080 recording*****. Full-HD recording, with its total of 2,070,000 pixels, provides exceptional image details and rich colors. The Leica Dicomar lens system used in camcorders comprise 12 lenses in 9 groups, including aspherical lenses to improve resolution and contrast and an LD (low-dispersion) lens to help prevent color bleeding. Also, a special multi-coating process is applied to all lens elements to minimize chromatic aberration, so images are crisp, clear, and free of flare and ghosting. The use of a highly refractive lens also made it possible to have both 12x zoom power and a compact body.
To maximize the capabilities of the new HD-level 3MOS sensor featured in the SD100 and HS100, Panasonic further enhanced the company's renowned Advanced Pure Color Engine image processor with the introduction of the new HD Advanced Pure Color Engine. A noise reduction circuit combines with the Intelligent Contrast Control circuit to boost image quality while reducing power consumption. The dynamic range is also about twice that in previous Panasonic models, which helps prevent blown highlights and blocked shadows and allows more natural color expression. Offering both higher image quality and longer battery life, the HD Advanced Pure Color Engine takes camcorder performance to new heights.
Panasonic's iA mode, automatically activates several convenient shooting functions at once, so the user does not have to manually change any settings. These include:
— Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) detects hand-shake and
then triggers the lens to shift to correctly align the optical axis,
helping to ensure videos are sharp and reduce blur. This happens at a rate
of 4,000 times per second.
— Face Detection automatically adjusts the exposure, contrast, skin
complexion effect, and focus so that faces are always clear. Face Detection
can detect up to 15 faces in a frame.
— Intelligent Contrast Control continually measures the ambient light
intensity and adjusts the contrast as it changes, helping to prevent a
washed-out look in bright parts of an image and black-outs in parts with
shadows.
— Intelligent Scene Selection which determines the shooting environment
and automatically selects the appropriate scene setting for optimal
results.

Both camcorders come packaged with HD Writer 2.6 software for Windows, and also support iMovie '08 for Apple, which let users directly edit the high-quality full-HD moving pictures they capture with their camcorders. The SD100 and HS100 are compatible with Panasonic's VIERA Link™, allowing users to connect the camcorder to a VIERA HDTV via an HDMI cable, and operate the camcorder using the TV remote control, and following on-screen prompts. Furthermore, users can also take the SD Memory Cards from the camcorders and slip it into the SD card slot on a Panasonic PZ850 series VIERA HDTV, or a Panasonic BD50 or BD30 Blu-ray Disc™ Player, and enjoy easy, instant large-screen viewing of stunning HD video.
Both Panasonic models will be available in September 2008 for manufacturer's suggested retail prices of $1,299.95 for the HDC-SD100 and $1,099.95 for the HDC-HS100. For more information, please visit www.panasonic.com.
*1GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Usable capacity will be less.
** Compared with the HDC-SD9/HDC-HS9.
*** For HD camcorders as of June 18, 2008, shooting in Low Light mode at a
shutter speed of 1/25.
****Leica is a registered trademark of Leica Microsystems IR GmbH, and
Dicomar is a registered trademark of Leica Camera AG.
***** In HA/HG/HX mode. "Full-HD video with 1920 x 1080 pixels" in
Panasonic home-use camcorders refers to video recordings with 1,920 pixels
in the horizontal direction and 1,080 pixels in the vertical direction.
About Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company
Based in Secaucus, N.J., Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company (PCEC), a market and technology leader in High Definition television, is a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (NYSE: MC) and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Information about Panasonic products is available at www.panasonic.com.

[Panasonic.com and AV Watch]

The Price: $200

The Verdict: This thing kinda sucks. I was hoping the ScreenPlay would be able to replace my current setup of streaming media over an Xbox 360. The 360 works most of the time, but sometimes it gets hung up buffering large files, and I don't have an external HDD the size of the ScreenPlay to plug into it. If this one could play all the codecs of the Xbox while looking halfway decent and not lagging, I'd convert in a heartbeat.

The first problem came when I tried to load files from my Mac. The drive is formatted in NTFS, rendering it incompatible with OS X. Worried I'd lose the ScreenPlay's UI if I formatted the drive, I got some files from my roommate's PC first. (Later, I formatted the drive to FAT, and everything loaded fine from both computers.) The AVIs transferred quickly, and I hooked it up to the TV via HDMI.

The UI is just a basic file manager, nothing special or sexy about it. One thing I found particularly annoying is that the button in the center of the D-Pad is "Play" and not "OK," so pressing play on a folder went straight to the first file. It took me about five times of hitting it to figure it out. However, I did like that the ScreenPlay accepted multiple levels of folders, something I haven't been able to figure out for my Mac files on the Xbox.

Picture quality on the ScreenPlay wasn't very good. It claims to upscale content, but my low-qual Flight of the Conchords videos looked like junk, and higher-res BSG episodes looked the same as they do on Xbox. When I tried to play a 720p ep of Planet Earth, I got a "resolution not supported" error—this never happens on Xbox. The MP4 videos that I use to encode all my Handbrake rips didn't show up in the menu, since they are not supported. Music and photo playback were decent, but the interface wasn't nearly as robust as the Xbox.

The ScreenPlay HD didn't meet my expectations at all. Sure, it can play some videos and other multimedia, and it's nice to not worry about buffering, but the playback limitations outweigh the benefits. On top of that, $200 is steep for a 500GB HD, especially considering Iomega sells others for under $100. There's no chance that this would replace my Xbox for watching computer media on TV, but it could make a nice, if expensive, addition to plug into the 360's USB port. [Iomega]

Jun 11, 2008 01:00

Toshiba's New 1.8-Inch HDD Achieves 160GB, the Industry's Largest(1) Storage Capacity for Drive with a Serial ATA Interface

TOKYO —(Business Wire)— Jun. 11, 2008 Toshiba Corporation today announced a new line-up of 1.8-inch hard disk drives (HDD) adopting a serial ATA interface, including the industry's first(1) drive of this type with a capacity of 160 gigabytes. The new 160GB drive, MK1617GSG, and an 80GB drive, MK8017GSG, will enter mass production in August.
Toshiba's new 1.8-inch HDDs boost interface speed to 1.5Gbps and offer a rotation speed of 5,400 rpm, faster than the current generation of Toshiba 1.8-inch HDD (MK1214GAH, parallel ATA, 120GB). By realizing the industry's first 160GB 1.8-inch drive with a serial ATA interface, Toshiba assures that mobile PCs will be able to meet the most demanding user needs.

The new MK1617GSG drive is more environmentally efficient than Toshiba's current MK1216GSG (120GB) model, and raises energy consumption efficiency, as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.00281W/GB, a 25% improvement. The drive improves the maximum internal data transfer rate by approximately 17%, and supports faster data access in reading and writing that enhances overall performance.

Alongside Toshiba's 1.8-inch HDD of 80GB and 120GB serial ATA interface drives already in the market, the new drives will provide product manufacturers with a broad line-up that supports diverse applications. The new drives will also contribute to achievement of environmentally conscious products in full compliance with the EU's RoHS directive(2). -0-

Outline of New Models
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Model name Formatted Capacity Dimensions Weight
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
MK1617GSG 160GB 54.0 x 78.5 x 8.0mm 62g
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
MK8017GSG 80GB 54.0 x 78.5 x 8.0mm 60g
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Background

Hard disk drives for mobile PCs must be small, light and able to withstand vibration and shock. While Toshiba's 1.8-inch HDD are more robust than 2.5-inch HDD, they have not matched the larger drives in data transfer rates. However, the company's new 1.8-inch HDD combine a serial ATA interface with a faster rotational speed to realize a high speed transfer rate. Building on the achievements of providing a 1.8- inch HDD that employs industry's largest capacity with a serial ATA interface, and expanding its product line-up, Toshiba will continue efforts to provide innovative products that meet market needs for HDD integrated mobile PCs.

Key Features of New Products

1. Industry's largest storage capacity:160GB (MK1617GSG)

The new MK 1617GSG brings the industry's largest capacity of 160GB to a 1.8-inch HDD with a serial ATA interface.

2. Improved energy consumption efficiency (MK1617GSG)

Compared to the MK1216GSG (Serial ATA, 120GB, 1.8-inch HDD), the new MK1617GSG raises energy consumption efficiency, as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.00281W/GB, a 25% improvement.

3. Lighter weight (MK8017GSG)

The new 80GB drive weighs only 60g, 3% lighter than the MK8016GSG (serial ATA, 80GB, 1.8-inch HDD).

4. Higher rotational speed (MK1617GSG and MK8017GSG)

The serial ATA interface supports an interface speed of 1.5Gbps, surpassing the performance of drives with a parallel ATA interface. The drives also operate at a maximum rotation speed of 5,400 rpm, 29% faster than Toshiba's current MK1214GAH (parallel ATA, 120GB, 1.8-inch HDD), supporting much faster data transfers. The disk's higher areal density improves the maximum internal data transfer rate by approximately 17%, and supports faster data access in reading and writing that enhances overall performance.

5. High vibration and shock resistance (MK1617GSG and MK8017GSG)

Compared to current 2.5-inch HDD (MK1652GSX), the new drives offer the higher levels of vibration and shock resistance needed in mobile PCs.

6. Environmentally conscious products offering efficient power consumption (MK1617GSG and MK8017GSG)

Alongside capacity improvement, Toshiba has also achieved a power consumption efficiency of 0.00281W/GB for the MK1617GSG, and 0.00563W/GB for MK8017GSG, as defined in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Energy Conservation Law, assuring a more environmentally friendly design. The new drives also comply with the EU's RoHS directive.

(1) The industry's largest commercially available capacity in a serial ATA interface 1.8-inch hard disk drive, as of June 11, 2008 (source: Toshiba)

(2) The RoHS Directive, which came into effect in July 2006, is a European Union directive that eliminates the use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

Toshiba Group, a Corporate Citizen of the Planet Earth, is committed to realizing a better environment. Guided by Toshiba Group Environmental Vision 2050 Toshiba Group is implementing measures to boost environmental efficiency by 10 times in FY2050, against the benchmark of FY2000. Toshiba Group is seeking to reduce CO2 emissions by a total equivalent to 57.6 million tons by FY2025, through the development and sales of high efficiency power supply equipment and systems, and the manufacture of environmentally conscious home appliances and office equipment. By working to mitigate global warming, make efficient use of resources and control management of chemicals, Toshiba creates value for people and promotes lifestyles in harmony with earth. -0-

Main Specifications
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Model name MK1617GSG MK8017GSG
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Formatted capacity 160GB 80GB
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Number of platters 2 1
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Number of heads 4 2
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Average seek time 15msec
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Rotational speed 5,400rpm
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Interface Serial-ATA
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Interface speed 1.5Gbps
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Dimensions (W x D x H, mm) 54.0 (W) x 78.5 (D) x 8.0 (H)
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Weight 62g (max) 60g (max)
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Energy consumption efficiency 0.00281W/GB 0.00563W/GB
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--
Operating: 4,900 m/s2 (500G, 2msec)
Shock resistance —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—
Non-operating: 14,700 m/s2 (1,500G, 1msec)
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--

Note: Hard disk capacity is calculated on the basis of 1MB = 1-million bytes, and 1GB = 1-billion bytes.

[Toshiba]

Even while the new 20,000RPM Raptor could be engineered to be ultra-fast and more or less silent at the same time, the challenges for a mechanical design are too many to ignore. Mainly, there's is the issue of power consumption: this rotation speed will require a lot of extra energy compared to normal drives, which is a bad spot in a market that is claiming for greener technology, and is moving away from the desktop into the mobile space, where power consumption is a make or break issue. The reliability of such a complex mechanical design would be another potential problem.

Everything to try to match Solid State Drives, which also will keep evolving, getting faster and even more efficient down the line. [Bit-Tech]

THE CABLE SHOW '08, New Orleans — May 19, 2008 — At NCTA's Cable Show, Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) announced it will introduce its Seagate® Showcase™ storage solution, a new series of products that extends the storage capacity of your Digital Video Recorder (DVR), so you never have to say goodbye to your favorite movies and television shows. Seagate also announced that the Showcase family of products will be designed to be compatible with Motorola's market leading e-SATA capable high-definition (HD) digital video recorder (DVR) set-top portfolio.

The new Showcase™ products will provide television and movie fans with the ability to store even more shows, movies and sporting events. With initial capacities up to 1TB, consumers will be able to keep up to 200 hours of additional HD movies or 1,000 hours of additional standard definition television. You'll never have to choose between your kids' favorite shows or the big game. Plug-and-play capability, via standard USB 2.0 or eSATA connection, makes setup easy while the stylish design fits seamlessly into entertainment centers and complements the look of existing A/V equipment.

"Today's consumers are constantly demanding more storage for high-definition video and high-fidelity audio - and they want it as part of their home entertainment system," said Patrick King, senior vice president of Seagate's Consumer Solutions Division. "We believe that the Seagate Showcase product line will take its place alongside the receiver, speaker system and television as a must-have component for the entertainment center. We are pleased to be working with Motorola to enable an enjoyable consumer experience."

"As consumer video consumption continues to increase at exponential rates, Motorola strives to provide flexible and cost-effective solutions" commented Larry Robinson, vice president, Set Top Product Management at Motorola. "By demonstrating interoperability with the Seagate Showcase storage solution we are offering consumers additional compelling storage options for their entertainment content."

The new Showcase family will feature Seagate's recently announced Pipeline HD™ Series of hard drives purpose-built for DVRs. Seagate Pipeline HD™ Series hard drives are the gold standard in high definition performance and capacity with bedroom-quiet acoustics, low power operation and the ability to support up to 12 simultaneous HD streams. The drives are Windows Vista Certified, making them an ideal solution for Home Media Centers.

Seagate is working with Motorola, the leader in digital set-tops with over 73 million shipped, to deliver external storage solutions for DVRs. By connecting a Seagate Showcase product with its included eSATA cable, the capacity of these DVRs can instantly be increased - eliminating the need to delete your favorite movies or shows. The 1TB Seagate Showcase drive can be seen exclusively in the Motorola booth # 1405 during The Cable Show '08 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

Availability

Seagate Showcase™ products are scheduled to be available for purchase on the Seagate website beginning in the third calendar quarter of 2008.

Phoenix also noted that in the event that the Fujitsu FDE HDD product is removed by the thief, it can be restored remotely by the rightful owner and further steps can be taken at that point to secure and recover their data. Exactly how the user will be able to LoJack their hard drive was not outlined in the press release, but if it works as advertised, having the ability to track down, disable or destroy data remotely could prove invaluable for individuals privy to sensitive information. Exactly when the FailSafe system is expected to be released has not been announced.

Press release:

Phoenix Technologies Brings Remote Data Protection to Fujitsu Mobile Disk Drives

- Phoenix FailSafe(TM) will enhance FDE-based notebooks with remote secure erase functionality and more
- Phoenix FailSafe service is optimized for the leading mobile hard drives available in the market today

MILPITAS, Calif., May 5, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTEC) today announced it is working with Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) to enable remote disk control and disk data protection for mobile computing environments equipped with Fujitsu's new full disk encryption (FDE) 2.5" 7,200RPM SATA hard disk drive (HDD). With Phoenix FailSafe, the laptop or notebook owner can remotely disable the Fujitsu FDE drive in the laptop, thus ensuring "failsafe" protection against data theft and personal information loss.

"Fujitsu's new FDE technology delivers the industry's strongest security method for mobile computing, while preserving a high level of performance," said Joel Hagberg, vice president, marketing and business development, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. "Our encryption capabilities ensure data on the disk drive is inaccessible to unauthorized users if a laptop is lost or stolen. By enabling users to remotely disable, enable or securely erase the drive in a laptop, the Phoenix Failsafe solution provides an added level of protection to further prevent any confidential information from being compromised."

Surendra Arora, vice president of business development at Phoenix Technologies, said, "We are committed to providing the best theft deterrence service and data protection solutions in the PC industry. Phoenix's FailSafe theft-deterrence service will allow the PC owner to track, remotely disable and securely erase the Fujitsu disk drive. In the event of laptop theft, if the FailSafe agent pre-installed on the Fujitsu FDE HDD product is removed by the computer/data thief, the authorized owner will be able to remotely re-install the FailSafe agent in the compromised system and take further steps to ensure protection as well as recovery of the data on the laptop."

Phoenix FailSafe not only enables laptop owners to remotely protect and encrypt vital content stored on their laptops' hard drives, it also provides the ability to locate/recover missing laptops and lost data as well as remotely 'kill' sensitive data or the device to avoid potential misuse.

MvixUSA Launches Ultra Portable HDD-based Hi-Def Media Player

Mvix (USA), Inc., a leader in HDD-based, portable media playback solutions, announces the launch of yet another hi-def media decoder now in ultra small size. The new Mvix MV-2500U supports the small 2.5-inchhard drive, but boasts of most of the key features of its predecessors like MX-780HD or MX-760. It can support HDDs as large as250GB hard disk, enough to carry 100 DVD quality movie titles.

Fairfax, VA (PRWEB) May 1, 2008 — Mvix (USA), Inc., a leader in HDD-based, portable media playback solutions, announces the launch of yet another hi-def media decoder now in ultra small size. The new Mvix MV-2500U supports the small 2.5-inch hard drive, but boasts of most of the key features of its predecessors like MX-780HD or MX-760. It can support HDDs as large as250GB hard disk, enough to carry 100 DVD- quality movie titles.

Introducing this next generation portable gadget in MvixUSA's corporate office in Fairfax, VA, Mike Mallon, the Business Development Manager of MvixUSA commented, "MvixMV-2500U is the perfect companion for the people on the move. People, who enjoy traveling on RVs or boats, can virtually carry their entire home theater collection in this tiny marvel, and enjoy the same hi-def video quality. What differentiates our product from other portable video devices are the quality of video output and versatility in terms of video and audio formats support."

Extremely competitively priced, this black beauty fits everyone's pocket, both in terms of size and dollars
MV-2500U comes in a stunning black look and just measures under 5x3x0.5 inches in dimension, almost the size of a PDA. "Extremely competitively priced, this black beauty fits everyone's pocket, both in terms of size and dollars," commented Mike.

Mvix MV-2500U uses a 2.5" PATA / IDE HDD and supports large-sized hard drives (250GB). When connected to the PC, it works just like an external USB 2.0 hard drive. It comes with a highly functional and ergonomically-designed IR remote control. It is capable of storing and decoding hours of standard or high definition digital video (480p, 720p, 1080i) in over a dozen file formats. Video file formats supported include files encoded in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, DVD (VOB, IFO), DivX ® (3/4/5/6), Xvid, BivX ®, VCD (DAT) for both PAL and NTSC systems.

The news of Mvix MV-2500U comes within three months of launch of MvixUSA's flagship model MX-780HD (introduced during CES in January). MvixUSA foresees a very positive response for MV-2500U from the market, particularly in mobile entertainment segment. "MV-2500U is our exclusive product for the mobile community, who wants to maintain the quality of their digital lifestyle, even when they are on the move. We continue to innovate in products and features, catering to different markets and supporting our customers with our unmatched technical support platform," Mike added.

According to the product page, the Hard Disk crusher can dispose of a drive in about 10 seconds or about 60 disks in an hour (fuzzy math). So my guess is that this device is aimed at large commercial organizations or military operations. You know, the kinds of businesses with lots of sensitive data that don't mind wasting a crapload of money on a device like this. Speaking of that, a warranty extension on this bad boy will run you an extra $995 per year. What a bargain. [EDR via Gearlog via OhGizmo]

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I don't think that there is quite enough cool looking circuitry in a portable HDD to warrant a clear case, but the design works. At 3.5" (W) x 5.5" (D) x 1" (H) and at 2.5 lbs it is as light as can be expected. The kicker for the Mercury is the price; it is $359.99, which means that you are going to want to go on the road with your equipment a lot in order to justify the expense. If you work from home a 3.5" will give you a lot more bang for your buck. [OWC via Slippery Brick]

In the end CI believes that the decision on what to buy is going to come down to a combination of what each individual needs in a camcorder and what they can afford. The HDR-SR12 is going to set you back a few at $1399, but you get a ton of capacity and a HDD for those who prefer it. On the other hand, you could always drop down to the 60GB HDR-SR11 and save yourself about $200. If you want to save some money and get a more portable device, the HF10 may still be your best choice at $1100. Hit the link for the full review. [Camcorder Info and Sony]

The WriteMaster SH-S223 will offer high-speed DVD burning on low speed media; 16X and 8X media will be written to at 22X and 12X write speeds, respectively. The SH-S223 will be able to write at the following maximum speeds; 22X DVD±R recording, 12X DVD-RAM recording, 16X DVD+R Dual Layer recording, 12X DVD-R Dual Layer recording, 8X DVD+RW recording and 6X DVD-RW recording. Time wise, 4.7GB of data can be burned to a DVD±R disc in approximately 4 minutes and 26 seconds. That kind of performance puts even Speedy Gonzalez to shame. All around, it looks like it has been a fantastic record-breaking weekend for our chums at Samsung. Well done, chaps. [Gizmag]

This isn't the first time we have heard a story like this, and it is certainly not the first time we have heard about rampant douchebaggery going on in the anals of Best Buy. However, it is not all that surprising when you consider that Best Buy had no way of knowing if the complaining consumer was the culprit. So, the lesson here is always check your merchandise before checking out. [Money Helps]

Despite recording in MPEG 2 1080i, the camera uses a conversion engine to fire out a 1080/60p signal through HDMI to your HDTV. This is, according to JVC, a world first. To find out whether this improves your video viewing quality, you'll have to wait until mid-February to buy it in Japan and spend ¥170,000 ($1,600) on the HD6 or ¥150,000 ($1,400) on its 60GB sibling, the HD5. [Impress AV Watch]

All three have new Konica-Minolta lenses with a 35mm equivalent zoom of 44-440mm, record video in the highest Fine mode at 720 x 480 pixels and have 2.7 inch 122,000 pixel LCD monitors. The ISO1000 mode will appeal to shooters who often find themselves in low light. Somewhat confusingly the blurb tells us that you can also record to microSD(HC) cards, but what the heck: this may be useful to augment the 30GB hard drive on the entry level version (40GB on the upper end). Around 2.7 x 4.7 x 2.7 inches and 0.84 pounds with battery, they will come with a dock and be available first in Japan for between ¥90,000 and ¥100,000, which is about $850 to $950 once they make their way over the Atlantic.

[AVWatch]

Since all the data encryption done in firmware and hardware it requires no special drivers, it should play nicely with both Macs and PCs via USB 2, and since it's bus-powered the only extra thing you need to carry around is one of its keys.

Like many others in its class it takes 2.5" SATA drives, so it's pocket-sized. It's probably pretty useful if you're carrying around sensitive company data and are worried about theft. Or you are a spy with a taste for Brando products, who will sell it to you for $56. [Brando]

Seoul, Korea, January 3, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announced today its new F1 RAID Class 3.5" SATA hard drive featuring 1TB of capacity specifically designed and manufactured for enterprise storage and surveillance applications. Offering the world's highest recording density using only three platters and running at 7,200rpm, the F1R drive is designed for demanding applications such as database, email servers, web servers, super computing, software development, data warehousing, surveillance, call center and nearline/backup storage systems. "Demand for storage capacity continues to grow at an annual rate of nearly 60 percent and high capacity disk drives are increasingly being deployed in data centers to meet this demand." according to John Rydning, IDC's research manager for hard disk drives. "Samsung's new F1R with 1TB of capacity on three platters offers enterprise customers an attractive combination of capacity and features for this growing segment." Samsung's new Spinpoint F1R is made to meet the industry's highest quality standards, providing a mean time between failure (MTBF) of up to 1.2 million hours. The new F1R also offers enterprise class features such as command completion time limit, and vibration tolerance with RV controller (RVC). It features a 16 or 32MB cache, a Serial ATA 3.0Gbps interface, a 175MB/s maximum media transfer rate, and NCQ for random I/O performance. Samsung leads the industry with its implementation of perpendicular recording and three platter 1TB design. The new Spinpoint F1R is ideal for use in video surveillance and similar environments with critical features such as high reliability in heavy-duty, 24/7 operations, low power consumption, improved performance, high capacity, and A/V streaming firmware command set. The Spinpoint F1R ensures low heat generation and power consumption, high durability and stability in extreme environments (low/high temperatures, high humidity), stable performance for prolonged operation periods, and large storage capacity for extended recording time. Samsung has improved recording stability via PMR recording and data integrity, and reliability through full-extent dynamic Flying-On-Demand (FOD) control. This advanced FOD control technology ensures enhanced read/write sensitivity by dynamically lowering the fly-height in read or write mode while maintaining a consistent and higher fly-height across the disk in standard mode. "The dramatic increase in digital content is driving the need for greater storage capacity across the board, " said Andy Higginbotham, director of hard drive sales and marketing, Samsung Storage System Division. "With our new F1R, we are entering the enterprise marketplace in full force by offering best-in-class performance and low power consumption." The Spinpoint F1R incorporates a wide range of proprietary technologies to achieve increased performance and lower power consumption. The three-platter structure provides a higher data storage density per platter, resulting in faster data processing speeds when compared with other 1TB drives. The optimized electronics and power saving modes reduce power consumption and resulting heat dissipation, making the F1R the coolest operating 1TB drive in its class. Under the same test conditions with similar drives, the Spinpoint F1R uses the lowest power, just an average of 6.7 watts in idle mode and an average of 7.2 watts in random seek mode. In addition, the drive operates at just 2.7 Bell in idle mode. The Spinpoint F1R drive features a 334GB per-platter capacity, a 7200RPM spindle speed, and a 32MB cache. Its performance is further enhanced through Samsung's optimized firmware system, a rotational vibration controller (RVC) for vibration tolerance, and an optimized system-on-chip (SOC) controller that lowers power consumption. Samsung's Spinpoint F1R will be available in the first quarter of 2008.

SSDs have no moving parts, so seek time is drastically reduced. No spinning=less battery vampirage, so your laptop lasts longer too. And finally, the lack of a deadly read-write head means you can drop your SSD-powered lappy with far less chance of weeping. Right now, SSDs are usually made with either SDRAM (like RAM used in computers) or NAND flash (like in thumb drives, iPod nanos, etc.). Flash is more common, since it doesn't need a battery even though it's slower. Problems: Gig for gig, SSD is way expensive. The beefiest you'll be able to get soon is 128GB (or maybe 256GB)—but the current 64GB 2.5" SSDs go for $1,100 and up. Still got questions?