Tag Archives: WD

HGST unites nanoimprints, self-assembling molecules to double hard drive space

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HGST melds nanoimprints, selfassembling molecules to double hard drive space

Hard drive makers are in a race to boost capacities and keep spinning disks at least a beat ahead of flash drives on the value curve. We've seen some exotic developments as a result, but HGST wants to go the extra mile by relying on two breakthroughs at once. Its future storage primarily takes advantage of self-assembling polymer molecules that align themselves into rows. By first splitting the molecules into very small lines and then using an equally rare nanoimprinting technology to put them into circular tracks, HGST can create platters with a 10 nanometer-wide bit pattern that's twice as dense as current hard drives. The technique should hold up in the real world despite ditching typical photolithography, the company says: the nanoimprinting remains useful in the error-prone world of storage, and it should scale as the patterns get smaller. If only the drive designer had a roadmap -- while the company has a tendency to bring its research to market, the lack of a timetable hints that we won't see these nanoimprinted drives very soon.

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IRL: Western Digital MyBook external hard drives, Doxie Go and Apple’s Podcasts App

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Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

IRL: Western Digital MyBook external hard drives, Doxie Go and Apple's Podcasts App
Merry Almost-Christmas, folks. Time to find out if Engadget's editorial staff was naughty or nice this year. If our recent experiences with tech are any indication, we might be atoning for something: Billy's external hard drive is about to die a drawn-out death and Brian's still looking for an alternative to Apple's lousy Podcasts app. But at least Darren's enjoying his mobile scanner, so that 's good, right?

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Western Digital ships 4TB WD Black hard drive, melds speed with space for $339

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Western Digital ships 4TB WD Black hard drive, melds speed with space for $339

The 4TB hard drives that we've seen gradually filter into the marketplace have come with a few snags for desktop users; they're usually either external drives we'd never boot from or pokey internal models not meant for anything speed-intensive. Western Digital doesn't want us settling. It's shipping a 4TB version of its WD Black desktop drive that holds nothing back for the sake of the extra storage, spinning at a healthy 7,200RPM while packing 64MB of cache, dual processing and a two-stage actuator that together keep the drive working at full burn. At $339, the SATA 6Gbps drive undoubtedly carries a premium in trying to be the best of all worlds; it may be worth the expense for performance-minded types who've been out of options (and capacity) for awhile.

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Western Digital My Net router leaps to 802.11ac speeds, gets a bridge to keep it company

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Western Digital My Net router leaps to 80211ac speeds, gets a bridge to keep it company

Western Digital only just broke into the networking field this spring, but it's already settling in as a regular with a quick performance upgrade. The company's fledgling My Net router line is making the leap to bleeding-edge 802.11ac WiFi through the release of the AC1300 (above), which sees the expected boost to a quick 1.3Gbps and supposedly outpaces its rivals with a unique horizontal 3-by-3 antenna layout. Whether or not that lead is real or just marketing bluster, WD isn't as concerned about the symbolic link to its storage brand this time around -- it's relegating any hard drive sharing to two USB 2.0 ports and relies on either the fast wireless or four gigabit Ethernet ports for local media. Going with the AC1300 will carry a typical 802.11ac premium at $190, but there's also a more focused $150 My Net AC Bridge (pictured after the break) for those who just need four or fewer of their Ethernet devices linked over extra-speedy WiFi.

Continue reading Western Digital My Net router leaps to 802.11ac speeds, gets a bridge to keep it company

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Western Digital My Net router leaps to 802.11ac speeds, gets a bridge to keep it company originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital boosts entire MyBook Studio line with USB 3.0, adds 4TB model to the mix

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Western Digital boosts entire MyBook Studio line with USB 30, adds 4TB model to the mix

After bumping its Thunderbolt and regular MyBook line with a couple of extra terabytes, Western Digital turned its attention to its shiny MyBook Studio offerings to kick those up a notch too. WD's family of premium aluminum-clad drives finally gets USB 3.0 across the line, along with a new top-of-the-pack 4TB capacity model. All the Studio drives feature WD Security, seamless integration with Time Machine and a 3-year limited warranty. Pricing for the 1TB, 2TB, 3TB and 4TB drives are $159.99, $189.99, $239.99 and $299.99 respectively. Western Digital says they'll continue to offer older USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 models, just in case you're still struggling along with a storage-starved relic from the past.

Continue reading Western Digital boosts entire MyBook Studio line with USB 3.0, adds 4TB model to the mix

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Western Digital boosts entire MyBook Studio line with USB 3.0, adds 4TB model to the mix originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IRL: iPhoneTrip, PDP Afterglow headset and Western Digital’s My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender

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Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

IRL: iPhoneTrip, PDP Afterglow headset and Western Digital's My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender
It's a mixed bag this week, with Zach trying out the SIM rental iPhoneTrip, Jason adding a budget gaming headset to his collection and Darren finding success with a Western Digital WiFi range extender. Turns out, it's thumbs up all around. Click through to see what we liked.

Continue reading IRL: iPhoneTrip, PDP Afterglow headset and Western Digital's My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender

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IRL: iPhoneTrip, PDP Afterglow headset and Western Digital's My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital bumps My Book Thunderbolt Duo to 8TB, consoles regular My Book buyers with 4TB

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Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo at Macworld 2012

Many of us may have liked the prospect of Western Digital's My Book Thunderbolt Duo, but there's no doubt some of us who discovered that even 6TB just wouldn't cut it. If that digital pack rat mentality describes you, the solution is here: the company has taken advantage of larger 4TB hard disks to stuff a total 8TB of storage into the Duo's enclosure. The extra capacity hikes the price to $850, although the company notes that it's including the often expensive Thunderbolt cable to avoid any surprise trips to the store. Those without the ports or budget for the Duo can still reap some of the benefits through an updated, 4TB version of the regular My Book that hums along on USB 3.0 at a more reasonable $250 price. Either of the new drives should be lurking in stores if you're hurting for space as we write this.

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Western Digital bumps My Book Thunderbolt Duo to 8TB, consoles regular My Book buyers with 4TB originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HGST develops helium-filled, high-capacity hard drives: no, they won’t float away

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HGST CinemaStar Z7K500

With certain exceptions, talk of advanced hard drive technology regularly has a tough time escaping research labs. Western Digital's HGST is promising a much more tangible project that could boost data capacities by a wide margin. By filling the gaps between drive platters with less buffeting-prone helium instead of air, HGST can safely fit as many as seven platters in a typical, 3.5-inch desktop hard drive instead of the current five. Going with the lower density gas creates a raft of side benefits, such as fitting more data on a single platter along with reducing the drag that both slows down and heats up the disk. We'll have to wait until 2013 to see shipping helium-filled drives in our PCs; given the slightly exotic nature of the technique, though, we wouldn't count on HGST or Western Digital handing out drives for free like balloons at a birthday party.

Continue reading HGST develops helium-filled, high-capacity hard drives: no, they won't float away

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HGST develops helium-filled, high-capacity hard drives: no, they won't float away originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 08:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on (video)

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Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on video

We're a jaded bunch here at Engadget sometimes, and with most of us using SSD-based systems these days it's hard to get too excited about good old spinny disks. Still we're also suckers for impressive technology, so our interest was piqued when Western Digital announced its 5mm thin 2.5-inch hard drives the other day. Luckily, the company saw fit to bring samples of its skinny new WD Black hybrid drive and WD Blue HDD to IDF 2012 and let us handle both briefly. The verdict? These are impossibly thin -- perfect for all those nice Ultrabooks we're expecting to see hit the market in the next few months. Details on performance, availability and pricing are scarce since these drives are intended for OEMs. Take a look at our gallery below, which includes thickness comparisons with WD's upcoming 1TB 7mm thin HDD and a standard-sized loyalty card -- then peek past the break for our hands-on video.

Gallery: Western Digital 5mm thin hard drive hands-on

Update: yes, the loyalty card was demagnetized in the making of this video, and you now owe us all coffee.

Continue reading Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on (video)

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Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital builds 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, Ultrabook makers sign on early

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Western Digital builds 5mmthick hybrid hard drive, Ultrabook makers sign on early

Those 7mm-thick hard drives you've seen in some Ultrabooks are already looking a tad on the chunky side. Western Digital has started producing sample versions of a hybrid hard drive (you're not yet looking at it here) that measures just 5mm (0.2in) tall, even as it crams in both flash and a 500GB main disk. If you think the slimmer drive is just the ticket for a best-of-all-worlds laptop that's both fast and capacious, you're not alone: Acer and ASUS have mentioned their collaboration in the same breath, which may be a strong clue as to where future Aspires and Zenbooks are going. The remaining question is when they arrive. Sampling isn't the same as mass production, which could leave us with months to go before the 5mm drive lands in future extra-skinny PCs.

Continue reading Western Digital builds 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, Ultrabook makers sign on early

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Western Digital builds 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, Ultrabook makers sign on early originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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