Iomega sent out a press release today, announcing its new eGo Helium portable hard drive. This ultra-thin drive offers 320GB of storage and can be powered off a computer's USB bus. The eGo Helium also sports a sleek design that matches that of Apple's Macbook Air.
Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection and security, today announced the exciting new Iomega® eGo™ Helium portable hard drive USB 2.0 320GB*, a perfect match for the style and incremental storage needs of Apple's revolutionary MacBook Air™ notebook.
On display this week at the Apple Expo tradeshow in Paris, the new eGo Helium portable drive brings the MacBook Air™ notebook's aesthetic to Iomega's wildly popular eGo portable hard drive. In addition to the drive's portable storage, the eGo Helium also harnesses the benefits of cloud computing with Mozy™ online backup service, giving users incredible value and security for securely storing, protecting and accessing important files.
Cool Hardware
The tapered 320GB eGo Helium portable hard drive echoes the stylish lines of the streamlined MacBook Air™ laptop, enclosing a state-of-the-art 2.5-inch portable hard drive in an anodized aluminum shell to create a package that is a mere 0.63 inches thick (16 mm) and weighs only 7 ounces (200 grams). Formatted with Apple's HFS+ file system, the 320GB hard drive sports Iomega's Drop Guard™ design feature that protects the drive from drops of up to 51 inches (1.3 meters) onto industrial carpeting-40 percent above the industry average for portable hard drives. The eGo Helium receives power from the USB port so there's no power supply to carry around. And with space for up to 1,280,000 photos, over 5,920 hours of music or 480 hours of video**, the 320GB eGo Helium drive gives new meaning to stylish portable storage.
"Iomega's eGo portable hard drives have garnered tremendous attention in the beige world of external storage by offering consumers a choice of several different vibrant colors as well as a camouflage print and genuine leather," said Peter Wharton, vice president of marketing, Iomega Corporation. "The eGo Helium extends that strong commitment to delivering style with substance. What makes eGo Helium such an effective piece of industrial design is the way it dresses up a highly functional 320GB hard drive device into a durable and sleek package with plenty of storage capability, making it an easy-to-use 'eye-catcher' that's small enough to go anywhere."
Key Software
Iomega offers two Mac OS® X backup software applications with the eGo Helium portable hard drive as free downloads for added data safety: EMC® Retrospect® Express for Macintosh 6.1 software, and MozyHome™ online backup software (2GB free; unlimited online storage for $4.95/month). Retrospect Express protects a single Macintosh desktop or notebook computer by backing up to internal and external hard drives, NAS devices, CD/DVDs and removable drives such as Iomega's REV Backup Drive. MozyHome online backup service provides online storage for backing up selected folders or files to world-class EMC data centers.
Computer users running the Windows XP or Vista operating systems can reformat the eGo Helium drive to NTFS for use with Windows only, or the drive can be formatted as Fat 32 for use with both Macs and Windows PCs. Customers running Windows XP or Vista can also download Retrospect Express HD 2.5 for Windows with MozyHome integration, which gives users the convenience of shared setup information and the ability to send backups to either nearline storage (an external hard drive or network drive), online storage (the Internet), or both.
Compatibility
The Iomega® eGo™ Helium™ Portable Hard Drive USB 2.0 320GB is compatible with Mac OS X 10.1.5 or above and with Microsoft® Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP, and Windows Vista™. MozyHome software is available for Mac OS X 10.4 and above, along with Windows XP and Windows Vista. EMC Retrospect software is available for both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.
Price and Availability
The Iomega® eGo™ Helium Portable Hard Drive USB 2.0 320GB will be available worldwide in October for $149.99 from online retailers, VARs, resellers and select retailers, as well as at www.iomega.com. (All pricing in this news release is U.S. suggested retail.)
