Advertisment

Iomega unveils high-capacity portable drive system

author-image
CIOL Bureau
New Update

ROY, Utah: Data storage firm Iomega Corp. on Thursday unveiled a portable

disk drive system that can hold massive quantities of music and data and fits in

a jacket pocket. The Utah-based Iomega, known for its Zip and Jaz drives and

disks, said that it was now shipping its Peerless system, a standalone,

peripheral drive that comes in 10 gigabyte and 20 gigabyte capacities, greater

than that of DVD or CD-write disks.

Advertisment

The two-piece system includes a disk roughly the size of a handheld computer

or PDA, which slips into a vertical docking station. The drive will sell for

about $250 while the disks will retail at $160 for 10 gigabytes and $200 for 20

gigabytes. Combined packages will be discounted, Iomega said.

Encouraged by the growth of gadgets that let consumers to combine contact

lists and scheduling information in one handheld device, Iomega launched

Peerless as a means for users to quickly carry and share large-scale files

between destinations. For example, a user at an office workstation would could

save a corporate application, hundreds of MP3 files and graphics onto the drive

and easily take it home and download the information.

Iomega is also working on internal versions that, for example, would fit in

television set-top boxes and in cars, giving users the ability to save, or back

up, prized data, as well as expand the capacity of devices such as personal

video recorder and digital music players.

Advertisment

"I could save my office files and my MP3 music to Peerless, and plug it

into a system in my car and listen to my music while I drive," explained

Iomega senior vice president of marketing Doug Collier. "Then, at home, I

plug it into my computer, and I finish my work, until I plug it into my set-top

box, where I download a movie and save it to the same disk."

"We are looking at Peerless as a way to bridge the spectrum of data

management," he said. Iomega said it worked with International Business

Machines Corp. to develop the hard drive. The company said it has a backlog of

about 25,000 units. It will begin to ship drives this week to those who ordered

early, and the models will hit retail store shelves in late June.

The Peerless system was discussed under the tenure of Bruce Albertson who

resigned on Monday, over differences with the board of directors about the

long-term direction of the firm. Albertson is the second CEO to leave the

company in less than two years.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

tech-news