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Monday, January 08, 2007
Philipp Gollner
LAS VEGAS: Hitachi Ltd. and Seagate Technology announced on Sunday massive new computer storage systems to accommodate growing consumer demand for high-definition movies as well as photos and music.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Inc., the consumer data backup unit of the Japanese electronics maker, unveiled a hard disk drive with a record-breaking 1 terabyte, or 1,000 gigabytes, of capacity.
That is twice the 500-gigabyte capacity in most models on the market and pushes the PC into the terabyte era, thanks to high-definition movies that take up much more space when downloaded than do conventional formats.
High-definition video requires four to five times more storage capacity than standard-definition video, Hitachi said. A terabyte drive allows viewers to store and retrieve nearly 250 hours of high-definition programming.
Hitachi plans to start selling the drive in the first quarter for a suggested retail price of $399, which compares with $250 to $299 for most 500-gigabyte devices.
"It's really high-definition video" that's driving consumer demand for storage, said Karin Gilles, a spokeswoman for San Jose, California-based Hitachi Global Storage. "High-definition programming is really coming up to speed."
Seagate, based in Scotts Valley, California, announced on Sunday a host of new storage systems that allow users to back up data online as well as on drives attached to home computers. The largest desktop drive holds 750 gigabytes of data.
Hitachi and Seagate announced the new devices in advance of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the industry's largest U.S. trade show. The event, expected to draw more than 1,40,000 visitors, gets under way officially on Sunday evening with a speech by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates.
Seagate said its new products will be available from next month. They include a system that lets users store 500 megabytes online via the Internet, which they can access from any computer while away from their home PC.
© Reuters
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