Following the acquisition of Fabrik earlier this year, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (GST) has just announced the introduction of a couple of new products designed for the consumer market. The three new Hitachi-branded products include the company's SimpleTOUGH portable USB drive, claimed to be the industry's only water-resistant and shock-resistant external hard drive built by a global hard drive manufacturer, a new SimpleDRIVE Mini portable USB drive and the SimpleNET network storage adapter for sharing and storing data across the network. According to the company, these new solutions have been designed using Hitachi's reliable hard drives.

 

“Today’s announcement further extends the Hitachi GST brand into the consumer market with the reliability, confidence and dependability you would expect from one of the world’s leading hard drive suppliers,” said Mike Williams, general manager of Hitachi GST Branded Business. “Re-branding SimpleTech to the Hitachi brand is an important step in differentiating our solutions in the marketplace. We believe that given the global strength of Hitachi, the close relationships we have built with our end-users as SimpleTech, and the continued support of our retail and channel partners, we are well positioned to move our Branded Business and the industry forward.”

 

According to Hitachi, the SimpleTOUGH drive can sustain a three-meter drop and withstand the pressure of a one-ton class commercial truck, being one of the world's most rugged drives. It features a foldaway USB cable and a topside LED for power status, and it will be available in 250GB, 320GB and 500GB capacities, priced at an MSRP of US$99.99, US$119.99 and US$149.99, respectively.

 

The SimplDRIVE mini portable USB 2.0 drive comes as a stylish alternative to the SimpleTOUGH solution, also available in the same capacities. The drives are priced at US$89.99, US$109.99 and US$139.99, with the following color choices: red wine, blue dusk and textured black.

 

Finally, the SimpleNET USB Drive network adapter has been designed to enable users to share and access existing content on a USB hard drive, over a home or small business network. The adapter will support Mac, PC and Linux users and become available for an MSRP of US$79.