100GB Apple iPod coming early next year?

TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation, the industry leader in bringing high storage capacities to small form factor hard disk drives, today announced a 1.8-inch drive that offers a storage capacity of 100 gigabytes, the largest*¹ capacity yet achieved in this class of HDD. The new drive, MK1011GAH, employs perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology and an improved error correction code to secure the highest*² areal density of any 1.8-inch HDD in the market, 240.8 megabits per square millimeter (155.3 gigabits per square inch). Toshiba will start mass production of this new best-in-class drive from January 2007.

*1      The industry's largest commercially available capacity in a 1.8-inch hard disk drive, as of Dec. 5, 2006 (source: Toshiba)
*2     The world's highest commercially available areal density in a 1.8 inch hard disk drive, as of Dec.5, 2006 (source: Toshiba)

Packing larger data capacities into small form factor HDD is a must to support continued advances in the notebook PC market and to meet growing demand for personal digital media supporting high capacity audio and video applications. Toshiba's new 1.8-inch drive builds on the Company's leadership in this key product segment as the first HDD in its class to achieve a 100GB capacity.

This latest Toshiba advance meets needs for enhanced, lightweight storage capacities and will support the development of future generations of smaller, lighter, more powerful mobile PC. In the personal digital media market, the new drive's unrivaled capacity will support storage of multiple data sources, including home video and movies, and will bring users improved functionality.

Alongside capacity improvement, Toshiba has also improved power consumption*³ to 0.003W/GB, as defined in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Energy Conservation Law, assuring a more environmentally friendly design. The new drive also complies with the EU's RoHS directive, which came into force in July 2006.

*3     Excludes power consumption from r ecording capacity, both of which are defined by the Energy Conservation Law.

Toshiba will feature the new drive at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 8 to 11, at booth 12832.

Background
Hard disk drives are now used in applications including mobile PCs to digital audio players. The market has a voracious appetite for larger data capacities, as more powerful networks and applications bring audio-visual capabilities to more products, particularly AV notebook PCs. By introducing a of 100GB 1.8-inch HDD, the world's largest*¹ capacity, Toshiba will sustain the industry's ability to meet customer needs in terms of storing multiple high capacity data files and achieving playback of data-rich movies. Toshiba expects the new drive to achieve sustained sales increases in the market.

PMR technology and improved error correction increase capacity.
PMR technology was adopted for the new drive, as it is superior in areal density recording and recording stability. The addition of an improved error correction code has made it possible to retrieve highly accurate data at high areal densities, further contributing to increased capacity.