WD, the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its new high-performance My Book Studio desktop external drives with a customizable e-label that is always visible, even when unplugged, so it's easy to know the contents of the drive. Designed for Mac users and creative professionals, the new My Book Studio drives are equipped with a FireWire 800 interface to give users the speed they need for demanding tasks like photo and video editing and graphic design.

The new My Book Studio drives are TimeMachine compatible, offer automatic, continuous backup with WD SmartWare software, and include 256-bit hardware-based encryption to provide a high level of security. Available now at select retailers and the WD online store, the new My Book Studio drives are formatted for Mac and offered in capacities of 500 GB, 1 TB, 1.5 TB and 2 TB.

Buffalo Japan is ready with its first external hard drive that uses the new USB 3.0 interface to eliminate the bandwidth bottleneck posed by the older generation of the interface. The Buffalo DriveStation HD-HXU3, with its USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface comes in capacities of 1 TB, 1.5 TB and 2 TB. The drive offers transfer rates of around 125 MB/s, on par with drives connected using the eSATA interface. The advantage of this however, is its seamless backwards compatibility with older USB 2.0 generation of the USB interface. The company has also announced the IFC-PCIE2U3 USB 3.0 controller. The two are expected to be available in Q4.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the availability of a new Toshiba 3.5-inch External HDD, marking Toshiba's first entry into the 3.5-inch external HDD business. The product offers digital consumers and business professionals a stylish and affordable back up device with dual connectivity, robust software features and up to 1TB of capacity from a trusted brand.

"On the heels of successfully building a 2.5-inch external HDD business, we are ready to expand our hard drive expertise into the 3.5-inch HDD market," said Michael Cassidy, director, accessories and HDD marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "We designed the external hard drive to provide consumers an easy-to-use back up option that not only performs above competition, but is also a stylish accessory for their PC."

WD, the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its new one terabyte (TB) and 750 gigabyte (GB) capacity My Passport Essential SE Portable USB Drives. Available now at WD's online store, the new drives feature a titanium silver finish and put massive storage capacity in the palm of your hand.

Perfect for saving, storing and backing up all of the digital memories captured this summer, the new 1 TB and 750 GB capacity My Passport Essential SE drives are light and compact to carry and, because they are USB-powered, they do not need an external power adapter. Equipped with sync and encryption software (Windows-compatible only), this small drive, with mega-capacity, makes it easy to securely carry thousands of songs or videos or photos.

WD Sync software allows consumers to easily take desktop content with them by simplifying the synchronization of essential personal files and Microsoft Outlook data on a PC. Should owners misplace the drive, they know their data is protected with 128-bit encryption.

Today LaCie announced the Rugged XL, a super-sized expansion to LaCie's award-winning line of Rugged hard drives. Showcasing more than just its extra-large exterior, the Rugged XL doubles capacity to 1 TB, and will surely amplify the style of any creative desktop.
Rugged XL leverages the design and durability of the popular Rugged drive, offering aluminum casing for superior protection on your desktop, as well as the signature orange rubber sleeve. Taking advantage of the Rugged's reputation for resilience, the Rugged XL also features an internal bumper and heat dissipating features, making the LaCie Rugged XL able to withstand the challenges and blunders that can occur on anyone's desk.

Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd has launched EX-10 (1xHDD), EX-20 (2x HDD's), EX-30 (3xHDD's) and EX-50 (5xHDD's) external HDD rack to support your storage needs in an all aluminum frame and housing. The HDD rack has a front loading door, with individual handles on a bracket for each HDD, as well as a back panel PCB with a RAID controller from Silicon Image. The Sil5744 chipset offers hot plug and play capability with many of the RAID settings required today.

The SATA HDD configuration is in a Hot Swap Plug & Play backplate with an integrated RAID controller chip. To keep the device cool there is an appropriately sized fan for your unit with a washable nylon filter keeping dust and debris out.

Storage and peripherals specialist Buffalo announced the HD-PEU2-RD external hard drive. It is designed to woo the fairer sex with its glossy coloured shells, available in red, white and black. The 81 (W) x 16 (H) x 130 (D) mm shell houses a 2.5 inch hard drive, which comes in capacities starting from 250 GB to 500 GB. The unit tips scales at 190 g. The drive uses USB 2.0 to connect to any PC or Mac. Depending on the capacity of the hard drive, the HD-PEU2-RD is priced between $95 for the 250 GB model, and $171 for the 500 GB model.

Seagate, the world's leading provider of storage solutions, today unveiled the new Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD media player, a complete home theater solution designed to enhance the experience of enjoying digital media by providing an easy way to play your favorite videos, movies and photos on your TV. The Seagate FreeAgent Theater media player is a new accessory designed to work with the company's award-winning FreeAgent Go portable hard drive, enabling people to easily enjoy stored digital media on their TV screens rather than their computer monitors. Just tuck the media player next to your TV, pop in your FreeAgent Go hard drive, point, click, and enjoy as your personal memories and favorite movies come to life before your eyes in HD quality video with surround sound. The announcement was made at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show, taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Available in March, the Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD media player can be purchased as a stand-alone unit for use with any USB storage device, or a complete solution with a FreeAgent Go portable drive included, starting at just $129.99.