Toshiba announces its new 500GB laptop drive. The good about this Hard Disk Drive is that it comes dressed in the same 9.5-mm slab, 2.5-inch 3Gbps SATA interface, 1.4 watt idle power draw, 5,400rpm spin, and 25dB. This drive is expected to come out of the market in full competition and ready for shipping in December.

Western Digital, a pioneer and leader in the information storage industry, introduced last week its new My Passport range of portable hard drives consisting of the My Passport Essential, My Passport Elite, and My Passport Studio.

USB-powered and weighing in at less than 5 ounces, the new My Passport portable drives put almost the third of a terabyte of digital storage in the palm of your hand.

“The new My Passport portable drives are the perfect travel-friendly storage devices to hold the rich media content generated by higher resolution photos and HD videos and music,” said Craig Davis, Asia-Pacific Sales and Marketing director of WD’s Branched Products Group.

“The desire to keep and carry digital files close at hand continues to grow and these new devices offer a sleek and stylish solution with plenty of storage capacity for consumers on the move,” he added.

The My Passport Essential portable drives are simple to use, light and easy to carry. Equipped with sync and encryption software for easy file transfer, the mega capacity of the My Passport Essential portable drives makes it simple to securely carry thousands of songs, videos, and photos.

WD sync software allows users to easily synchronize essential personal files from their desktop PC to their My Passport drive. My Passport Essential portable drives are ideal for file portability as well as keeping a backup copy of valuable content.

Should owners misplace the drive, they know their data are protected with 128-bit encryption .Google software on the drives allows users to quickly locate files with the Google Desktop Search search tool, manage photos with Picasa photo organizer software, and simplify Web searches with the Google Toolbar search bar.

The My Passport Essential portable drive, are available in a rainbow of fashionable colors: brilliant orange, super sunny yellow, raindrop blue, arctic white, deep violet, cherry red, ultra mint, real red, intense blue, and vibrant pink.

The My Passport Elite portable drives, on the other hand, are designed to easily and securely carry thousands of songs, videos and photos in style with a capacity gauge that enables users to know at a glance how much space is available.

Its soft-touch finish makes the dirves easy to grip, comfortable to hold, and fashionable to carry. Adding to the small footprint, these drives are equipped with powerful automatic backup software to be able to designate files and folders for automatic and continuous backup.

The My Passport Elite also allow users to retrieve forgotten presentations or files from the road. Connect My Passport to any PC (compatible with Windows only) and run MioNet Key software to remotely access files, music, and photos from any of your computers with MioNet software installed.

The My Passport Elite portable drives are available in four elegant colors: bronze, titanium, westminster blue and cherry red.

Last but not least, The My Passport Studio portable drives are designed for Mac users on the go, and are equipped with both FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interface, a clever capacity gauge, and include a soft drawstring carrying bag for protection from scratches and dirt.

The My Passport Studio drives makes it easy to securely carry office files, thousands of songs, videos or photos and back up a Macintosh laptop using the Apple Time Machine backup software utility.

With an elegant silver metallic finish that perfectly complements other Mac products, these portable drives feature a shock-resistant enclosure to provide protection from the bumps and jars of everyday life on the go.

The new My Passport family storage devices is available now at select retail stores in the Philippines.

Retail prices are P6,650 for my Passport Essential 320GB; P8,450 for My Passport Elite portable drive 320GB; and P9,395 for My Passport Studio.