Company's Ultra-thin USB WD Passport(TM) Pocket Drive Makes it Easy to Take Digital Content Anywhere
LAKE FOREST, Calif. Mar. 29, 2006 Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today introduced a miniature digital storage device that holds as many as five two-hour feature-length movies1, 1,700 digital photos2, 1,500 songs3 or thousands of documents, enabling consumers to effortlessly take their digital library wherever they go. The new USB 2.0 WD Passport(TM) Pocket Drives, about the size of a matchbox measuring about one-third of an inch thin, one of the thinnest of any hard-drive based storage device, and weighing only 1.6 ounces conveniently store 6 GB of digital content and can fit into the smallest of pockets and purses.
WD Passport Pocket Drives offer consumers one of the easiest ways to transport large digital files personal or business and to share files between Mac® and PC computers. They can be used with any computer having a USB port. Measuring 0.37 x 2.41 x 1.80 inches and housing a one-inch WD hard drive inside, the ultra-thin WD Passport Pocket Drives feature a unique flip-out, rotating USB 2.0 connector that allows use in tight spaces. The USB connector is thin enough that two drives can be used at the same time in the tightly spaced USB ports found on notebook computers.
WD Passport Pocket Drives are powered by the computer so a separate power supply is not needed. An activity light on the drive glows when the drive is connected and flashes when the drive is storing data.
"Digital content, in many forms, is integral to our business and personal lives," said Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD's Branded Products group. "People want a portable storage solution for their digital library that requires the least effort and gives them peace of mind. WD Passport Pocket Drives offer huge capacity in a tiny package for the ultimate in plug-n-go storage. And like all WD drives, high quality is built in."
WD Passport Pocket Drives are available at storefront and online retailers, and via the company's online store (http://www.westerndigital.com). Estimated pricing for the WD Passport Pocket Drive 6 GB capacity is $129 USD. A product specification sheet and photos of WD Passport Pocket Drives are available on the company's Web site at http://www.westerndigital.com/en/produc ... riveID=226
About WD
WD, one of the storage industry's pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users' data close-at-hand and secure from loss.
WD was founded in 1970. The company's storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company's Web site (http://www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to expected price and availability of the WD Passport Pocket Drive 6 GB. These forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations, and actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including: changes in the availability and cost of specialized product components; supply and demand conditions in the hard drive industry and business conditions generally; and other risks and uncertainties listed in WD's recent SEC filings, including its form 10-Q for the second fiscal quarter of fiscal 2006. WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events or for any other reason.
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Examples of the number of photos, songs, videos and any other files that can be stored on a hard drive are provided for illustrative purposes only. Your results will vary based on file size and format, settings, features, software and other factors.
1MPEG-4 video was calculated at 720 x 480 resolution and on a data rate of 1.25 Mb/s, which translates to an average of .56 GB per hour.
2MP3 music files: Music capacity is based on 4 minutes per song. MP3 capacity is based on 128 kb/s bit rate and 11:1 audio compression ratio.
3Figure represents that average number of photos taken with a 6 megapixel camera in high-resolution JPEG mode with an average file size of 3.5 MB per photo. The actual number of images will vary by camera model and compression setting.