Seagate's Powerful Consumer Electronics Hard Drive Offering Grows Stronger With Leading 60GB 1.8-Inch Hard Drive, Plus New Hard Drives for DVR and Gaming Systems
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., June 7 - Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX), the world's number one hard drive maker, today introduced the ST18 Series -- Seagate's first 1.8-inch hard drive designed for handheld audio and video devices. The company also introduced its next generation LD25 Series hard drives with industry-leading capacity, up to 80GB, on a single platter for a growing class of new technology appliances. And Seagate's newest DB35 Series hard drive for digital video recorders (DVR) features a massive 750GB of capacity, providing ample room for high definition entertainment.
Consumers are driving a revolution in the way they access, store and enjoy digital content, creating an on-demand world. This on-demand world lets consumers choose to experience digital content when they want, where they want and on the device they want. The growth of services that allow audio and video to be stored on mobile devices, and the devices on which this content will be stored, make hard drives imperative in the on-demand world. Consequently, handheld video players are expected to continue to increase in their sales, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) forecasts that the mobile video and navigation market will grow to over one billion dollars in sales in the US by the end of 2006. And, according to IMS Research, DVRs are expected to reach a worldwide install base of 135 million households by 2010.
"The consumer electronics market is growing and on-demand video is a driving factor, whether in the living room, on a handheld device, or in the car," said Brodie Keast, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate's Consumer Electronics Business Unit. "With these new products, Seagate is able to deliver a comprehensive product portfolio to help the world's leading consumer electronics companies deliver the digital lifestyle."
Breakthrough Capacity in a Credit Card-sized Package
The Seagate ST18 Series hard drive from Seagate, based on perpendicular recording technology, delivers industry-leading capacity and value on a single platter, for 60GB of storage in a compact 1.8-inch hard disc drive. The ST18 Series hard drive combines best-in-class features for portable media players, portable GPS systems, digital video cameras, and palmtop PCs. These features include:
o G-Force Protection -- Optional drop sensing technology, when enabled,
increases robustness to 1500 Gs making the ST18 Series the toughest
1.8-inch drive on the market;
o Sophisticated power management technologies to deliver longer battery
life for handheld devices, and;
o Run-On Technology -- delivers uninterrupted streaming performance even
when the drive is under high motion conditions such as jogging.
The ST18 Series drives will offer compatibility with the new CE-ATA interface for handheld consumer devices. Seagate Design Service Centers can help with the transition to this highly efficient new standard. Additionally, the ST18 Series drives will support the IDE interface used in many current handheld devices.
Driving Videogames, New TVs, and Other Technology Appliances
The next generation LD25 Series hard drive is targeted at a new generation of "technology appliances." These product sets include videogame consoles, home entertainment devices, small footprint media PCs, low-profile set top boxes, embedded DVR TV systems, and other emerging applications used around the home. Seagate's industry leading DynaPlay technology optimizes the drive for media streaming, power consumption and content security.
The LD25 Series hard drives will be available in 20GB, 40GB, 60GB and 80GB capacity points. The increase in capacity, made possible with Seagate perpendicular recording technology, is required for the wider variety of media being downloaded into new systems. For example, videogame consoles are now centers for downloaded games, music and media; embedded DVR TVs are recording video content without an external box attached; and lower-profile set top boxes are storing IPTV and other content being distributed in interesting new ways. The LD25 Series hard drives also feature Seagate's patented SoftSonic fluid dynamic bearing motors for super-quiet operation and high reliability.
Customized Performance and Mammoth Capacity for Next Generation DVRs
The newest member of the DB35 Series hard drives is available with up to 750GB, and is another example of Seagate's leadership in the industry's transition to perpendicular recording. The DB35 series provides DVR customers with the industry's leading combination of cutting edge technology and customized features with world-class manufacturing and assurance of supply. Coupled with a relentless focus on quality and reliability, Seagate provides DVR manufacturers unsurpassed time to market and total cost performance.
Inveterate entertainment consumers can easily record entire seasons of high-definition television programming. Home media centers become a reality with massive capacity for movies, photos, music and home video.
DVR manufacturers need to custom-fit storage to their individual systems. The DB35 Series redefines value for high video capacities and lets manufacturers optimize HDD performance for demanding DVR environments. DynaPlay technology from Seagate optimizes the drive's operating parameters -- performance optimization tunes the drive for sequential streaming needed for uninterrupted digital media; drive security tools enhance fair use of digital programming by helping manufacturers implement appropriate digital rights management technologies; power optimization allows the manufacturer more leeway in selecting cost-efficient power supplies. These features also help to keep DVR internal temperatures under control for enhanced system reliability.
The next generation DB35 Series drives are scheduled to begin shipping in third calendar quarter of 2006, with the ST18 Series and next-generation LD25 Series drives scheduled to begin shipping in the first calendar quarter of 2007.
Check out the Seagate Podcast
To learn more about Seagate and the on-demand world, check out the latest podcast, now available online at http://podtech.net/seagate.
About Seagate
Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of hard disc drives, providing products for a wide-range of Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, and Consumer Electronics applications. Seagate's business model leverages technology leadership and world-class manufacturing to deliver industry-leading innovation and quality to its global customers, and to be the low cost producer in all markets in which it participates. The company is committed to providing award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage. Seagate can be found around the globe and at www.seagate.com.
NOTE: Seagate, Seagate Technology and the Wave logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC. DB35 Series, ST18 Series, LD25 Series, Dyna-Play, RunOn Technology, and G-Force Protection are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. One gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity. One terabyte, or TB, equals 1,000 gigabytes when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environment and formatting. Quantitative usage examples for various applications are for illustrative purposes. Actual quantities will vary based on various factors, including file size, file format, features and application software.
Source: Seagate Technology LLC
CONTACT: Colleen Rodriguez of Seagate Technology LLC, +1-831-439-2499, or colleen.rodriguez@seagate.com, or Woody Monroy, +1-831-439-2838, or woody.monroy@seagate.com, both of Seagate Technology LLC
Web site: www.seagate.com/
