Imation to Introduce Odyssey USB Removable HDD Cartridge

Users who depend on large amounts of removable storage space could find a great companion in Imation's latest Odyssey USB Removable HDD Cartridge. The need for mobility makes it impossible for the user to carry around power adapters and multiple enclosures with their respective disk drives. Using multiple external hard-disk drives may be a real pain, but fear not, Odyssey is here to help you.

The Imation Odyssey Mobile USB Adapter is a removable storage medium system that works using storage cartridges and a docking station to load or unload them.

"We've extended the portability of our award-winning Odyssey Removable Hard Disk Storage System with a small, mobile, yet secure device for quick, easy access when and where you need it," said Keith Schwartz, North America sales and marketing, Imation Corp. "Business users who are on-the-go want the confidence and reliability that the Odyssey system provides, and look to Imation to stay ahead of technology. We've done just that by harnessing the power of Odyssey and enabling mobile plug-and-play data exchange."

The cartridges come in multiple sizes, ranging from 40 to 250GB, with the possibility of further scaling to larger storage sizes in the near future, should it be necessary at some point. The Removable Hard Disk Storage System is an easy to implement, easy to use solution for securing, protecting and accessing the stored data. Protection is done via the bundled EMC Retrospect Backup software that offers password protection and 256-bit AES encryption.

"IDC believes the worldwide market for removable hard disk drives will surpass 3 million units and $500 million over the next five years," said Robert Amatruda, research director at IDC. "Small customers need access to their data anytime or anyplace, and Imation's Odyssey drive with its Mobile USB Adapter offers greater flexibility to increasingly mobile customers."

The Mobile USB Adapter can deliver data transfer rates of up to 32MB/s, and a life expectancy of more than 5,000 insertions or removals. The device is expected to hit the shelves in February and will feature a retail price of $29.99. The disk cartridges will include a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive with capacities of 40GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB and 250GB.