Seagate Announces 8GB, One-Inch, iPod-Ready Drive

Seagate announced Wednesday an 8 gigabyte (GB), one-inch hard drive which could be used by Apple Computer in future models of the iPod mini.

The ST1 series drive will let users store 200 hours of music or 4,000 songs as well as video and digital photos. Seagateis unique RunOn Technology improves performance while in a high-vibration environment, such as jogging. The ST1 Series supports low-power modes, and the driveis time-to-ready is a mere 1.2 seconds.

Apple uses a number of Seagate drives in its line of iPod digital media devices, leading many to speculate the just-announced drive will find its way into a new iPod mini sometime soon. In February, Apple released a 6GB version of the iPod mini using a Seagate hard drive. Seagate manufacturers 6GB, 5GB, 4GB, 3GB and 2.5GB capacity one-inch drives.

Seagate also said Wednesday it is planning to introduce an 8GB CompactFlash Photo hard drive that can store 2400 high-resolution, 6 megapixel pictures. The drive will work with existing digital cameras that support Compact Flash Type II, and will be sold directly at retail outlets.