Seagate today announced that its groundbreaking Momentus Self-Encrypting Drive, the world’s first laptop hard drive with built-in encryption to protect against unauthorized access to information on lost or stolen mobile computers, has secured FIPS 140-2 certification from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The key government certification clears the way for deployments of Momentus Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) by all U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, many state and local governments, and regulated industries such as healthcare, finance and defense required to use FIPS-certified gear to help protect sensitive data on PCs and computer networks. Many utility, education and transportation entities also have adopted the FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 standard to lock down confidential information. Foreign governments in addition to Canada also recognize FIPS-validated products. The Momentus SED is the first hard drive with native encryption to earn the FIPS certification.

“The FIPS 140-2 certification exemplifies Seagate’s commitment to security standards that enable the widespread adoption of encrypting hard drives for laptops and other computers as the explosive growth of laptop PCs puts more sensitive personal and business information at risk,” said Dave Mosley, executive vice president of Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management at Seagate. “Today’s NIST approval gives our system builder and end-user customers the peace of mind that Momentus ® Self-Encrypting Drives deliver the full power of government-grade security.”

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LaCie today announced the availability of the first RAID storage solution to incorporate the new USB 3.0 technology – the LaCie 2big USB 3.0. In addition to the 2big USB 3.0, LaCie also announces the availability of its award-winning single-disk professional solution with a USB 3.0 port – the LaCie d2 USB 3.0.

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Developed for professionals who require high capacity and fast transfer speeds, the LaCie 2big USB 3.0 offers the highest performances ever achieved in a USB 3.0 external storage solution, up to 205MB/s – setting a new standard in the market.

The LaCie 2big USB 3.0 is available in up to a 4TB capacity, allowing users to store and transfer large files without waiting. In fact, you can transfer a 50GB Blu-ray disk in less than five minutes, which is six times faster than USB 2.0. The 2big USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0, making it dependable for transfers with any workstation.

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Sharkoon equips another product from its inventory with a SuperSpeed port: Also the Rapid Case drive enclosure for 2.5" SATA hard drives is available with USB 3.0 access and thus available with data rates up to 5 Gbit/s.

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Sharkoon now has nine comprehensive Rapid Case series models aimed at users searching for beneficial and solid external hard drive enclosures for daily use. The sturdy aluminum housings are ideal for flexible data transfer, disk use is completed within a few simple steps. The Rapid Case 2.5" USB 3.0 provides space for 2.5" SATA hard drives with a maximum overall height of 9.5mm, and is quickly and easily connected via USB 3.0 to a PC or Notebook. The Plug&Play housing dimensions are 123 x 78 x 11 mm with an empty weight of 70 grams; the colors black, red and blue are available to own. In shipping you will find a brief instruction manual, screwdriver, a 100 centimeter long USB 3.0 cable (Plug A / Mini USB 3.0) and a transport bag.

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LaCie debuts today sleek USB 3.0 hard drives for your desktop or pocket – the LaCie Minimus and LaCie Rikiki USB 3.0. Proving size does matter, LaCie delivers the industry’s fastest transfer speeds at 5Gb/s in its ultra-small Rikiki form factor – perfect for users that refuse to sacrifice performance for mobility; and the LaCie Minimus – for users that enjoy their terabytes as much as desk space.

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Complementing their remarkably small sizes, the Rikiki and Minimus hard drives are encased in sturdy brushed aluminum for an elegant aesthetic appeal. The aluminum offers resilience from blunders, improved heat dissipation, and is fully recyclable.

Designed to be simple from the inside out, the Rikiki and Minimus come with LaCie’s Software Suite to ensure seamless setup and backup support for Mac or PC. Additionally, each product comes with 10GB of Wuala online storage so you can securely store and share files online.

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Toshiba Europe GmbH today announced its new HD multimedia storage drive, the STOR.E TV+. It stores multimedia content up to 2 Terabytes and serves as a media hub in the living room that allows to stream content to connected devices with a resolution of up to 1920x1080p (Full HD) and can work indepently, without the need of a computer. Thanks to its broad range of connectivity options, the STOR.E TV+ easily connects to your home network. It also supports a wide selection of latest media formats and can handle almost any multimedia files. The STOR.E TV+ will be available during the third quarter of 2010 throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa.

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"Today an external multimedia hard disk drive is capable of acting as much more than simply as a backup and storage device for digital content. It is also able to serve as a media hub for the home that controls multimedia streams between connected devices", says Marco Perino, General Manager Digital Life Products and Services. "This truly adds value as it allows to view footage captured in nearly any format on a TV without need of tedious transcoding on a PC."

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Today, LaCie announces the smallest 1TB hard drive in metal – the LaCie Rikiki Go. Measuring a mere 155cm3, its high capacity and portability make it a perfect companion for keeping your digital world close at hand.

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Outfitted with an embedded USB 2.0 cable, Rikiki Go connects instantly with your PC or Mac®. Simply remove the cable and plug it in – you're ready to store and share your favorite media with high–speed performance. Additionally, the Rikiki Go is encased in sturdy aluminum, giving it a resilient form factor that protects your media from everyday blunders.

Rikiki Go comes with a simplified software suite for quick setup and easy–to–use backup management, enabling complete configuration in just a few clicks. It also offers USB Boost software for enhancing speeds up to 33% (Windows® only). Completing the software offering, the Rikiki Go comes with an additional 10GB of Wuala Secure Online Storage.

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Buffalo Technology today announced a refresh of the highly popular DriveStation Duo and DriveStation Quad, formerly DriveStation Quattro, representing the latest generation of high-performance direct attached storage solutions. Combining performance and reliability, these new multi-drive external hard drives, equipped with NovaBACKUP® Business Essentials, are ideal for small servers, creative professionals, offices and consumers requiring redundant and high performance external storage. Also announced today is the new DriveStation Axis, a single drive storage solution combining unique features and simplicity with Buffalo’s distinguished reliability for an exceptional value.

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“Consumers and businesses alike have become quite savvy when it comes to protecting mission-critical or personal data such as file backups, work documents, music, photos and videos,” said Ralph Spagnola, vice president of sales at Buffalo Technology. “Buffalo has always recognized this need and has once again put forth best-in-class storage solutions providing a perfect blend of reliability, performance and flexible features at affordable prices.”

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Iomega announced today that it is moving to the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface for all Iomega USB 2.0 portable hard drives, beginning with the award-winning line of Iomega® eGo™ Portable Hard Drives. The new all-USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives will feature hardware encryption and super toughness, too, thanks to a drop spec twice the industry average – all at USB 2.0 product prices. This market-leading move continues Iomega’s tradition of technology leadership.

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“As a market leader in external hard drive solutions, Iomega is proud to be the first to move towards an all USB 3.0 portable hard drive lineup – and at no extra price premium to our customers,” said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega Corporation and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “With a super fast USB 3.0 interface delivering speeds of up to 10 times that of USB 2.0, super tough with a 7-foot drop spec that’s twice the industry average and super secure with AES 256 hardware encryption, Iomega’s eGo Portable Hard Drives will be the premium must-have portable storage product. Factor in our bundled software Protection Suite with popular titles such as Iomega’s QuikProtect, v.Clone and Trend Micro’s Internet Security, and that makes Iomega’s USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives an exceptional premium solution at the same price as most entry level basic USB 2.0 products.”

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Samsung Electronics today announced its new 2.5-inch external hard disk drive (HDD), the S2 Portable 3.0. The new high performance external HDD features an on-board SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface and a 7200RPM spindle speed, delivering faster performance over preceding versions.

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"As digital content continues to evolve from standard definition to HD and now 3D content, we expect the demand for high performance external HDDs to increase, especially among IT enthusiasts," Ho-Seong Lee, vice president, storage marketing, Semiconductor Business, Samsung Electronics. "The S2 Portable 3.0 delivers the benefits of top performance and quality, and as a result, lowers the power usage of the external hard drive also."

The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface offers a maximum transfer rate of 5 gigabits per second (Gbps) compared to the 480 megabits per second (Mbps) of USB 2.0. In addition, the 7200RPM rotation speed delivers high performance, while the low vibration Dynamic Balancing technology and the low noise technologies SilentSeek and NoiseGuard provide added convenience.

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ioSafe today announced the availability of the SoloPRO. The SoloPRO is the business-class edition of the award-winning Solo external hard drive and is available in USB 3.0 and eSATA/USB 2.0 formats, providing full support for Windows, Linux servers, and desktop operating systems.

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"Both homes and businesses need to store ever-increasing volumes of data quickly without worrying about data loss. ioSafe has always been about safely and securely storing data locally and now with its introduction of USB 3.0 and eSATA, homes and businesses can accomplish that more quickly than ever before ," said Jerome Wendt, an expert in data storage who serves as the Principal and Lead Analyst at DCIG.

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