WD, a Western Digital company and storage industry leader, demonstrated its revolutionary heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology at the 2013 China (Ningbo) International Forum on Advanced Materials and Commercialization. WD’s vice president of technology, Dr. William Cain, gave his presentation, ‘Magnetic Hard Disk Media: Enabling High Density Data Storage,’ on a PC powered by a fully enabled WD HAMR 2.5-inch hard drive.

“Analysts predict 25 trillion gigabytes of new data will be generated by 2020 and that average household storage needs in the U.S. will require as much as 3.3 TB by 2016,” said Dr. Cain. “This tremendous growth in data requires continued increases in storage capacity and performance for the cloud, big data and consumer technologies. WD is focused on hard drive innovations that will enable future storage capabilities, and HAMR technology is a key step in the migration path.”

HAMR technology may offer a solution for increasing areal density (AD) by magnetically recording data on high-stability media using laser thermal assistance. The technology shrinks data bits in a stable manner by briefly heating the disk surface during magnetic head recording. The method can increase data density by a factor of more than 5 and ultimately results in storage capacities as great as 4 terabits per square inch.

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WD, a Western Digital company, today introduced the My Passport Air 1 TB, the only 1 TB portable hard drive for Mac users available in a stylishly thin all-aluminum enclosure. With 1 TB of storage capacity, customers will be able to take all their digital photos, music, video, on the go, and still have enough room to save all the new content they capture along the way. The ultra-slim design of My Passport Air complements the popular MacBook and MacBook Air form factors with an all-aluminium exterior to give enhanced protection to the drive and its contents. Seamless, out-of-the-box operation with Mac computers, including Time Machine®, provides additional reassurance that valuable digital content is protected.

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The My Passport Air portable hard drive allows users to password protect access to their drive and hardware encrypts its contents, providing powerful protection of personal material. In addition, its USB 3.0 interface dramatically increases read/write speeds to help users manage, share, and enjoy digital content at a pace that is commensurate with the schedules of today's mobile consumer.

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G-Technology, a leader in delivering premium storage solutions for consumers and content creators, today announced two new high-performance portable external storage solutions. The sleek and portable G-DRIVE slim and G-DRIVE mobile, already favorites among design-conscious users who need fast, reliable storage on the go, are now available with 7,200 RPM hard disk drives (HDDs). When compared to 5,400 RPM-based HDD models, these external drives deliver up to 20-40 percent faster data transfer rates for quicker access to photos, videos, music and documents.

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"In this digital world, we all need reliable, fast storage to protect the photos, videos and music that mean the most to us," said Mike Williams, vice president and general manager, G-Technology. "Whether you're a professional photographer needing to store and protect content in the field, or a consumer needing a simple storage and backup solution, our new portable external drives are the solution. Each external drive delivers performance, reliability and style in a sleek, portable design."

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Seagate Technology plc today announced that its Samsung HDD division is shipping the new 2.5-inch Spinpoint M9T, which at 9.5 mm thin is the world’s thinnest 2TB hard drive.  Offered in capacities of 1.5TB and 2TB, the Spinpoint M9T mobile drive gives OEMs, channel system integrators and consumers a thin, high-capacity storage solution ideal for external storage, notebook integration and upgrades, desktop, and gaming system applications.

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“The M9T combines the highest areal density shipping in a single storage device with an innovative design that fits into mainstream notebook applications. While other 2TB are solutions on the market are 15 mm thick, the vast majority of mobile devices are designed to use a 9.5 mm drive; with the M9T, those devices can now have 2TB of storage, enabling a richer computing experience,” said Dave Frankovich, senior product line manager, Samsung HDD.

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HGST, a Western Digital company, today announced that it is shipping the 6TB Ultrastar He6 hard disk drive (HDD). Key OEM, cloud and research leaders working closely with HGST to qualify the drive include HP, Netflix, Huawei Unified Storage, CERN, Green Revolution Cooling and Code42, as well as some of the world’s largest social media and search companies. Revealed in September 2012, HGST’s cutting-edge HelioSeal™ platform provides a path for higher capacity storage for decades to come while significantly lowering customer total cost of ownership (TCO). Leveraging the inherent benefits of helium, which is one-seventh the density of air, the new Ultrastar He6 drive features HGST’s innovative 7Stac™ disk design with 6TB, making it the world’s highest capacity HDD with the best TCO for cloud storage, massive scale-out environments, disk-to-disk backup, and replicated or RAID environments.

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“With ever-increasing pressures on corporate and cloud data centers to improve storage efficiencies and reduce costs, HGST is at the forefront delivering a revolutionary new solution that significantly improves data center TCO on virtually every level – capacity, power, cooling and storage density – all in the same 3.5-inch form factor,” said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing, HGST. “Not only is our new Ultrastar helium hard drive helping customers solve data center challenges today, our mainstream helium platform will serve as the future building block for new products and technologies moving forward. This is a huge feat, and we are gratified by the support of our customers in the development of this platform.”

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HGST, a Western Digital company today announced that it has shipped more than 100 million Travelstar Z-series, 7.0-millimeter (mm), 2.5-inch hard disk drives (HDD). As the 7.0 mm HDD market maker, HGST also launched the new 2.5-inch, 1TB, Travelstar Z5K1000 drive – the industry’s fastest 7.0 mm 5,400 RPM HDD with best-in-class shock robustness for thin, ultra-portable laptops, Ultrabooks, external storage and ultra-compact CE devices. Embraced by all of the top global PC OEMs, HGST’s 7.0 mm Z-series HDD family features common connectors and mounting points for easy integration into existing systems to enable greater design flexibility for new thinner, lighter and more robust consumer electronics devices.

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“The 7.0 mm 2.5-inch mobile market continues to be a strategic space for HGST as evidenced by our record 100M shipments,” said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing, HGST. “With the addition of our new 1TB Travelstar Z5K1000, HGST continues to offer the market’s broadest 5,400 and 7,200 RPM 7.0 mm 2.5-inch hard drive portfolio to meet the needs of a diverse mobile computing and storage segment.”

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PROMISE Technology, Inc. today announced Pegasus2 and SANLink2, the world’s first storage solutions with Thunderbolt 2, the revolutionary technology from Intel that delivers blazing speeds of 20Gbps and allows for exceptional performance for creative workflows and 4K streaming and display environments. The Pegasus2 line of hardware RAID solutions provides blistering-fast transfer speeds that dramatically accelerate and simplify 4K workflows and offers industry-leading RAID protection in a sleek, compact, and portable enclosure at maximum Thunderbolt 2 data transfer rates. SANLink2, a Thunderbolt 2 to 8G Fibre Channel bridge, alleviates storage bottlenecks for desktop and portable computing systems by providing direct connectivity to an external Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) such as a VTrak x10 or x30 RAID storage system or a shared SAN filesystem for rich media video ingest and editing such as a VTrak A-Class.

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As one of the storage industry’s global leaders, PROMISE is the developer of high-performance solutions optimized for the video bandwidth requirements of the media and entertainment market and is the leader in developing cutting-edge Thunderbolt enabled devices. Thunderbolt 2 technology, the fastest PC I/O connection, has changed the industry by introducing new capabilities and opening new possibilities for content creators working with high-resolution files including HD, 3D, 2K, and 4K video. Running bi-directionally at 20Gbps – twice the bandwidth of Thunderbolt at 10Gbps – Thunderbolt 2 is a breakthrough technology for video creators and multimedia professionals because it allows for simultaneous transfer and display of high-bandwidth 3D and 4K video files, which often requires 15Gbps.

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The Storage Products Business Unit of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., a committed technology leader, announces the slim, 7mm two platter MQ02ABF series 2.5-inch 5,400 RPM SATA hard drive disk (HDD). The MQ02ABF series is Toshiba’s first two platter 7mm HDD model, delivering up to 1TB of storage capacity with both the performance and power efficiency required for thin mobile computing applications. Available in 750GB and 1TB, the MQ02ABF HDD series features a rigid chassis design and dual stage head positioning technology.

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“The MQ02ABF series fulfills our customers’ desire for a high capacity 7mm form factor HDD required for today’s thin and light laptops,” said Don Jeanette, senior director of product marketing at Toshiba’s Storage Products Business Unit. “We continue to focus on delivering a wide range of storage devices that enhance the computing experience, and we believe this newest addition to Toshiba’s HDD product line will deliver the features our customers need.”

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HGST, a Western Digital company, today announced that it is shipping its new MegaScale DC 4000.B, a 3.5-inch, 4TB, 6 Gb/s SATA hard disk drive (HDD). As the company's second-generation MegaScale drive, the new MegaScale DC 4000.B has been further optimized based on customer feedback to meet the explosive growth of infrequently accessed data, while balancing the right mix of power, capacity, performance and reliability. As part of a tiered storage strategy, the MegaScale DC 4000.B is designed for low-workload applications such as bulk storage for unstructured or big data, disk-to-disk backup, online archives, or long-term data retention where cost-per-GB, watt-per-GB and GB-per-square foot are critical parameters.

"With the explosive adoption of free email, social networks and Internet services, the capacity requirements for cloud and hyperscale data centers are growing astronomically. These environments are constantly looking for ways to improve their storage infrastructure costs and the bottom line," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing, HGST. "As a leading drive supplier to some of the world's largest cloud data center providers, we understand the demanding storage requirements for low workload applications in these hyperscale environments. With the MegaScale DC 4000.B, we're delivering massive capacity in a low-power, performance-optimized drive to help customers achieve superior capital savings, operational efficiencies and energy conservation in the data center."

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ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, has added another attractive storage gadget to the company’s popular DashDrive Choice family. With a USB 3.0 interface, the HC630 also boasts a gorgeous metal surface with sparkling etched patterns that reflect users’ outgoing style.

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Weighing in at just 160 grams (5.6 ounces), the fashionable, lightweight design of the HC630 is a welcome change from the dark and drab colors that are most often seen on this kind of device. Complementing the eye-catching exterior is an LED indicator that shows the transfer status of the drive. Furthermore, a raised lip around the edges helps protect the surface from scratching when the drive is placed on a flat surface.

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