Samsung Launches High-capacity Ultra-compact External Hard Drives

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, today announced its new S Series external hard disk drives. The Samsung S Series family consists of a 2.5-inch drive S2 Portable and a 1.8-inch HDD S1 Mini. The new external drives are designed in a sleek high glossy casing with a leather back-cover for a professional look and feel.

“Samsung’s line-up of external drives is tailored for demanding consumers who want the best in capacity, reliability and industrial design.”

“With an explosive 20 percent annual growth in the notebook market, external hard drives have become a popular and rapidly growing data storage medium,” said Tae-Yeop Oh, vice president, storage marketing, Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s line-up of external drives is tailored for demanding consumers who want the best in capacity, reliability and industrial design.”

By incorporating a USB controller within the conventional hard drive, the Samsung’s S Series has a smaller case footprint vs. competing external hard drives. The USB on-board technology also reduces the weight and the power consumption of the drives. In addition, a power savings intelligence program monitors the drive’s use and places the drive into a low power “sleep mode” whenever the drive has not been used for 10 minutes.

Added features enhance the usability of Samsung’s external hard drives. A Samsung Auto backup function allows the user to program the default backup in real time or as scheduled. A SecretZone™ protects important files and data in the form of software-based AES-128bit or AES-256bit encryption. The external drive owner’s data is also locked with a password-protecting SafetyKey™ which ensures data security. A capacity gauge enables users to see at a glance how much space is available, used, or designated as backup storage

Samsung’s external hard drive S Series is available in 2.5- and 1.8-inch form factor devices. The 2.5-inch S2 Portable, weighing 154g, is available in 160-, 250-, 320-, 500-GB capacities. The S2 Portable’s smaller form factor is a 17 percent reduction over competing 2.5-inch drive and power consumption shows a maximum 30 percent reduction rate. The credit card-sized 1.8-inch S1 Mini comes in 80-, 120-, 160-GB capacities and weighs just 91g.

The S Series will be available in Q4 in the U.S. The new drives are designed in four colors: piano black, snow white, wine red, and chocolate brown.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of US$103.4 billion. Employing approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, Telecommunication Business and Digital Appliance Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.