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Seagate wants to expand our storage capacity of our tablets beyond typical 64Gb or 128GB with the new Seagate Ultra Mobile HDD. The new Ultra Mobile HDD is designed exclusively for mobile device that has integrated with the Seagate Mobile Enablement Kit with Seagate’s Dynamic Data Driver software technology.
As the device is aimed for tablet, it is ultra-thin profile of 5mm thin and 3.3 ounce as shown on the picture below but provides up to 500GB of storage space, or 7 times of what we often get on a typical tablets (64GB). According to Seagate, in order to get the HDD to work under mobile apps, it has to overcome several key areas that includes shock management, heat and vibration and gyroscopic motion, which they claim have heavily tested to ensure the best experience.
In addition, the Dynamic Data Driver software also does some power management and shock detecting as well in the event that the mobile device is dropped. Working with the 8GB onboard flash NAND acting as cache, the Ultra Mobile HDD sounds a lot like SSHD (or Momentus XT we reviewed here) that is designed for laptops except that Seagate has shrunk the drive profile to fit into the tablets.
The drive comes with enhanced motion sensor, and thermal monitor protection to protect the data integrity during any impact. Further reliability reinforcement is done with Seagate’s Zero Gravity Sensor for better shock management. To ensure longer battery life, the drive has a rated idle power of 0.14W but no information about the load consumption is given.
We won’t know the impact of having an HDD on a tablet’s affect on the performance and/or battery life until we have a device with the Ultra Mobile HDD.
Ultra Mobile HDD Solution Empowers Tablets with 500GB of Storage and the Performance of a Flash Device
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX), a world leader in storage solutions, today took the wraps off the new Seagate® Ultra Mobile HDD designed exclusively for mobile devices. Integrated with the Seagate Mobile Enablement Kit which includes Seagate’s Dynamic Data™ Driver software technology, the new storage solution delivers up to 7x the storage capacity of a traditional 64GB tablet with the same power, performance and reliability of a flash device.
“Coupling an ultra-thin, high-capacity HDD with software designed to optimize integration into tablets at a value-add price has allowed us to deliver a truly ground-breaking solution, enabling our partners to reimagine the mobile device,” said Steve Luczo, president, CEO and chairman of Seagate. “By empowering our OEMs with this revolutionary new technology, we have invited the industry to re-think the mobile market making this offering a true game-changer in the world of storage.”
“When comparing side by side a tablet and a portable PC, today’s tablets are trading off storage capacity in order to realize a thin and light form factor device and long battery life,” noted John Rydning, IDC’s research vice president for hard disk drives and semiconductors. “Seagate’s new Mobile Enablement Kit will bring PC-like storage capacity to future thin and light tablet designs, and position Seagate as a potential storage solutions provider to the fast-growing tablet market.”
Seagate has addressed several key areas beyond a standard laptop HDD to optimize mobile applications with the Ultra Mobile HDD and Mobile Enablement Kit. These areas include shock management, heat and vibration and gyroscopic motion— all of which have been heavily tested to ensure the drive delivers the best experience in a tablet solution.
Seagate Dynamic Data Driver Software
Keeping pace with today’s mobile storage demands presents other challenges as well including power consumption requirements, device drops by consumers and user demands. Merging the new Ultra Mobile HDD with the Dynamic Data Driver software alleviates these obstacles enabling OEMs to comfortably fit high-capacity storage into mobile devices.
Seagate’s use of Dynamic Data Driver software addresses these challenges through a combination of system design considerations. Reduced power consumption and improved performance are achieved through an intelligent caching design that is implemented at the system level. As a result a mobile device using 8GB of flash and the Ultra Mobile HDD and Dynamic Data Driver software have the power consumption equal to that of a 64GB tablet and the performance equal to that of a 16GB tablet— while costing less than either.
The software provides drive protection through the use of enhanced motion sensor and thermal monitoring algorithms to control drive access and avoid usage conditions that might harm it. The drive is so well insulated that in many cases a dropped device’s screen would break before its hard disk drive.
To further reinforce reliability for mobile devices, the Ultra Mobile HDD integrates Seagate’s own Zero Gravity™ Sensor providing better shock management. Incorporated power modes support the drive in sleep, standby and idle enabling it to consume as low as 0.14W and support the long battery life demanded by tablets. Its slim, rugged design allows it to be utilized in new emerging applications like convertible and detachable storage.
Leveraging the company’s experience with ultra-portable applications like iPods, MP3 players, and handheld video recorders, the newly-engineered 2.5-inch drive is just 5mm thin while weighing in at a mere 3.3oz— about the same as a light bulb. Featuring up to 500GB of capacity, it delivers the highest areal density available in a small, ultra-thin form factor while supporting over 100,000 photos, 125,000 songs or 62 hours of high-definition video and movies.
The Seagate Mobile Enablement Kit includes the Ultra Mobile HDD, Dynamic Data Driver software, and an optional customized reference design which allows HDD-powered tablets to transparently deliver high-capacity storage space to an end user in a mobile solution. The kit is currently designed to support the Android operating system.
The Seagate Ultra Mobile HDD will be available separately and as part of the Seagate Mobile Enablement Kit. Dynamic Data Driver software not sold separately. For more information on both products please visit http://seagate.com/www/
About Seagate
Seagate is a world leader in storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com. Follow Seagate on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and subscribe to our blog.
Copyright 2013 Seagate Technology LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Seagate, Seagate Technology and the Wave logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC in the United States and/or other countries. When referring to drive capacity, one gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes. Your computer’s operating system may use a different standard of measurement and report a lower capacity. In addition, some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and will not be available for data storage. 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.
