Toshiba Storage Device Division, an industry provider of small form factor hard disk drives, recently shipped the world’s first HDD-based on perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR). The new 1.8-inch HDD, used primarily in consumer electronics devices, enables up to 10,000 songs or 25,000 photos on a single 40 GB platter, the single largest single-platter capacity yet achieved in the 1.8-inch form factor.
This breakthrough technology sets new benchmarks for data density with the highest areal density currently on the market at 206 megabits per square millimeter (133 gigabits per square inch).

“Toshiba has started an exciting new frontier for the HDD industry by leading the race to achieve this revolutionary technology, which has been the industry’s aim for more than 20 years,” said Scott Maccabe, VP, Toshiba Storage Device Division. “PMR opens the door to products we haven’t even begun to imagine, by removing the technical barriers inherent to packing more data on an HDD. Providing greater storage capacity on mobile disk drives allows Toshiba to give system OEMs the tools they need for next-generation digital information and entertainment devices.”

Toshiba acquired a design center in Freemont, Calif., to help US-based engineers and OEMs create new products using platforms such as PMR to span beyond the limits of today’s conventional digital products. The 1.8-inch HDD form factor has been a critical component for consumer electronics products from MP3 players to handheld GPS systems and ultra-portable PCs. To date, Toshiba has shipped more than 14 million 1.8-inch HDDs since its introduction in mid-2000. The addition of PMR technology will increase capacity optionsfor product designs beyond those currently on the market today, especially as Toshiba introduces an 80 GB 1.8-inch HDD with PMR later this year.

For more information visit http://sdd.toshiba.com/