14 DAY TRIAL // Like so many other companies on the IT market, I-O Data does not limit itself to just one segment of the industry, this once having delivered a pair of storage devices that are really just updated versions of those unleashed last year.
I-O Data's name does a very good job of relaying just what sort of hardware products the company deals in, but it doesn't really grasp the entirety of its business practices.
While one immediately thinks of storage devices connected externally (via USB, eSATA, FireWire etc.), they aren't all it makes, as proven by how it unveiled a pair of LCD monitors a while ago.
Still, its primary activities remain in the realm of storage, an assumption supported by the newest products to leave its labs, like a portable BDXL disk writer.
Simply put, I-O Data officially introduced two external hard disk drives that feature the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface.
They have capacities of 1 TB and 2 TB, respectively, are known by the names of HDCA-UT1 and HDCA-UT2 and have their own product page here.
Unfortunately, as one may have been able to surmise, they aren't going to be available worldwide, at least not at first.
Japan is the country that will get them in April, their prices set to be of ￥12,500 and ￥18,900, the equivalents of $150 and $227, respectively.
That said, they measure 39 (W) x 185 (D) x 120 (H) mm and have a weight of 1.1 kg each. They also can rest on any surface, horizontally or vertically, and use passive cooling. Finally, a blue LED on the front notifies onlookers when the device is in use.
For those that need a reminder, the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface has become popular because it has a theoretical maximum speed that is ten times higher than that of USB 2.0 (4.8/5 Gbps).