by , 7:50 PM EDT, September 1st, 2005

Iomega announced Thursday the Iomega MiniMax, a hard drive aimed at Mac mini owners, but available only for the European market.

The device sports up to a 250 gigabyte hard drive, along with three USB 2.0 and three FireWire ports that act as a hub for the mini.

As of this writing, the device is only available in the European market. Chris Romoser of Iomega told The Mac Observer, "There are currently no plans to introduce this product into the U.S. this year, but we won't rule it out."

In addition to the drive and extra ports, the MiniMax features a "smart power switch" that allows the device to automatically power up and shut down with the Mac mini. It also features a cooling system that Iomega said uses active and passive cooling elements.

Lastly, Iomega is bundling Iomega Automatic Backup Pro Software. This allows users to schedule regular updatesm designate multiple backup locations, and have manage other backup tasks.

Pricing ranges from �199 to �249, and it's available immediately. The company has not yet added an information page on the unit (other than the press release).