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Tag: terabyte

  • Optical Media With 1.6 Terabyte Capacity Created


    Researchers have announced they have created a "five-dimensional" optical media that can hold up to 1.6 terabytes of data.

    The team from the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia said the technology could easily be on the market within 10 years.

    In order to create the massive storage capacity the scientists used ‘nanoparticles and a "polarization" dimension’.

    The team has already signed a deal with Samsung, which says the disc could potentially hold up to 10 terabytes.

    Min Gu, a team member, said they were able to show how nanostructured material can be incorporated onto a disc in order to increase data capacity, without increasing the physical size of the disc.

    "These extra dimensions are the key to creating ultra-high capacity discs," he said.

  • WD Launches 2TB Hard Drive


    WD has announced the first 2 terabyte (TB) hard drive – the world’s highest capacity drive.

    The device is the latest addition to WD’s environmentally friendly Caviar Green hard drive family.

    This new 3.5-inch platform is based on WD’s 500 GB/platter technology (with 400 Gb/in2 areal density) with 32 MB cache, producing drives with capacities of up to 2 TB.

    Mark Geenen, president of Trend Focus, said there were some in the industry who wondered if the end consumer would buy a 1 TB drive.

    He said that already some 10 per cent of 3.5-inch hard drive sales are at the 1 TB level or higher.

    They served demand from video applications and expanding consumer media libraries.

    "The 2 TB hard drives will continue to satisfy end user’s insatiable desire to store more data on ever larger hard drives," he said.

    External storage solutions are a common place for extreme-capacity drives to help consumers manage these media libraries.
    The WD Caviar Green 2 TB will be available later this month at select resellers and distributors for Euro 299.00.

    This week, WD also reported revenue of USD $1.8 billion, on shipments of approximately 35.5 million units and net income of USD $14 million, or $0.06 per share, for its fiscal second quarter ended 26 December, 2008.

    The company’s results include charges of USD $113 million associated with the restructuring plan announced on 17 December.

    Excluding the restructuring charges and the related tax benefit of USD $4 million, non-GAAP net income was USD $123 million or $0.55 per share.

  • Toshiba Announces First 512GB SSD


    The rush to release the first Terabyte SSD continues with Toshiba’s announcement of a 2.5-inch 512GB NAND-based model.

    Market analysts expect SSDs will account for 10 per cent of the market for notebook computer storage by 2010, and 25 per cent by 2012.

    Toshiba also announced a family of fast read/write SSDs built around the 43-nanometer multi-level cell (MLC) NAND used in the 512GB.

    The drives are intended for notebooks, gaming and home-entertainment systems.

    They include capacities of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB and come in 1.8-inch or 2.5-in drive enclosures, or as flash modules.

    No price was announced for the 512GB SSD but it is expected to go on sale by the second quarter of 2009.

    Toshiba will be presented the new additions at next month’s CES in Las Vegas.

  • WD Launches Half Terabyte Portable Storage Drives


    WD has launched a 500 GB capacity portable USB drive that is designed to make it easy to store a half a terabyte of music, videos or photos while being small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

    A recent consumer study conducted by WD of 1,559 external hard drive users revealed that 54 per cent of survey respondents wished that there was an automatic way to back up their computer without having to think about it.

    My Passport Elite portable drives are equipped with software to automatically back up consumers’ ever-growing collection of personal media and digital files.

    Weighing in at less than 7 ounces and designed to withstand the rigors of everyday use, the new 500 GB My Passport portable drives are small enough to fit in a pocket or backpack for easy portability.

    Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups, said: "In our mobile society, there is an increasing desire to have data collection at your finger tips at all times.

    "The new My Passport 500 GB portable drives provide the convenience of a compact USB-powered drive with the high capacity previously only available in larger desktop drives."

    MSRP for the My Passport Essential family of portable drives is GBP £109.99 for the 400 GB and GBP £129.99 for the 500 GB capacities.

    MSRP for the My Passport Elite family of portable drives is GBP £133.99 for the 400 GB and GBP £153.99 for the 500 GB capacities.

    Features of the My Passport Elite and My Passport Essential portable drives include:

    – USB-bus powered, which eliminates the need for an external power adapter

    – Synchronisation software that lets users sync their changes and protect their information with 128-bit encryption

    – plug-and-play capability with gaming consoles to make it easy to play music and view photos and video files on a TV.