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Imagine storing gigabytes of data in a format the size of postage stamp. This is the promise of Toshiba's recently developed 0.85-inch hard disk drive, which is set to go into production later this year. The 3,600 rpm drive is about the same size as an SD card.

The electronics giant is demonstrating a prototype version of the hard drive at the CEATEC Japan 2004 tradeshow this week. Although the drive works with a handheld as part of an Secure Digital (SD) card, it is anything but compact.

In fact, the hard disk drive itself sits outside of the SD slot (see image) of a handheld, making it impractical for most applications. You can easily picture the microdrive snapping off.

It is not known if Toshiba plans to release a hard disk drive in this format. More likely, the company is probably using it to demonstrate the capabilities of its technology.

Micro Microdrives
Toshiba's 0.85-inch hard disk drive will be the first of its type to deliver multi-gigabyte data storage (probably 2GB to 4GB) in a sub-one-inch form factor. It is only a quarter the size of the 1.8-inch drives used in many gadgets, such as Apple's famous iPOD music players. And it requires 50 percent less power and is sturdier too.

The new hard disk drive is aimed at delivering enhanced data storage to products that include mobile phones, digital camcorders, digital cameras, PDAs and more. Toshiba said it anticipates achieving higher densities in the near future for even larger storage capacities.

Although the 0.85-inch hard disk is small enough to fit in a memory card, Toshiba will most likely offer it as an embedded solution, at least initially.

In related news, Samsung is also developing a hard drive of this size.