Storage capacity never ceases to increase, while form factor appears to move in the inverse direction. Toshiba Storage Device Division announced its 160GB 1.8-inch hard disk drive. The new drive uses the CE-ATA interface – designed for optimal performance and power utilization in small devices – and marks the first drive from Toshiba with the technology.

In addition to the two-platter 160GB drive, Toshiba will also offer a single-platter 80GB model. Both drives achieve an areal density of 353 megabits per square millimetre (228 gigabits per square inch). In addition to increased capacity, Toshiba has reduced the power consumption of the 160GB HDD to 0.002W/GB, which is 33 percent less than the previous 1.8-inch 100GB model, said the company.

"Toshiba's new 1.8-inch HDDs build on our long-time leadership in this key product segment and gives CE manufacturers the tools to create smaller, lighter and more compelling handheld devices," said Scott Maccabe, vice president and general manager of Toshiba Storage Device Division. "Storage is an integral part of the digital experience, and these small form factor HDDs deliver the capacity, power efficiency and throughput to support, if not accelerate, consumer demand for sophisticated portable computing, multimedia and entertainment devices."

Toshiba’s new 80 and 160GB drives are expected to be used digital audio players, digital video recorders, copiers, mobile PCs and more. Interestingly, the capacities of Toshiba’s newly announced drives match up with the storage sizes of the newest iPod classic players announced yesterday – though neither company has made any indication of which drives Apple is sourcing.

The new 1.8-inch HDDs are being integrated by OEM partners for consumer products slated for the holiday season.


Source from DailyTech