Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (GST) has entered the Australian external storage market with two hard drive products — a water and shock resistant USB drive and a compact device with a focus on slimline style.
The products are branded SimpleTOUGH and SimpleDRIVE Mini, respectively, and highlight the increasing focus of consumer technology in the workplace. They are aimed across the market, from individuals in the enterprise to small and medium businesses and home offices.
The SimpleTOUGH drive is designed to take the hard knocks and includes a foldaway USB cable. It integrates Hitachi’s Travelstar hard drives, which are found in notebooks and feature shock protection at up to 400G when in operation, and up to 1000G when not operating. It comes in 320GB and 500GB capacities and retails for $130 and $199, respectively.
The SimpleDRIVE Mini portable USB 2.0 drive is also available in 320GB and 500GB capacities. It comes pre-loaded with Hitachi Local Backup software, which includes wizards for restoring data. The 320GB version is blue in colour and retails for $119. The 500GB version features a textured black look and costs $169.