Matsushita started shipping to Japan its new LK-RF240UZ drive capable of writing 32MB of data onto high-density 3.5-inch disks (the standard size makes only 1.44MB as you know).
Well, suppose it can write all this info on a disk like that and what about reading it then from this disk? (kidding :-) To tell the truth we don’t think that the data will be safe if written in such a strange way. What makes us think so, it’s the warning made by Matsushita company. They do not guarantee that the data will be safe and sound if all 32MB are written onto a regular 1.44MB floppy disk.
Besides this exotic use of the ordinary 3.5-inch floppy disks, the drive can also write 720KB onto double-density disks (i.e. use them in the regular conditions). Moreover, there are also special disks for this particular device with the capacity of 120 and 240MB. Of course, they should be much more reliable.
Other technical features of the drive look as follows:

• Interface: USB 1.1;
• Buffer size: 9KB;
• Max read/write speed: 600KB/sec;
• Max spindle rotation speed: 1500rpm;
• Average access time: 95ms;
• No external power supply is required, although a modification with the external power supply unit will be also available;
• Average power consumption: 2.5W;
• Dimensions (width x height x depth): 111mm x 24.6mm x 142.8mm;
• Weight: 310g.

Of course, this is a very curious development, however, we would like to mention once again that this exotic opportunity to write 32MB onto a regular 1.44-inch floppy disk will hardly be demanded because of low reliability and data protection. The device is selling at a recommended price of $33. Since Matsushita is going to produce around 50000 units per month, these drives have every chance to start selling in the States and other countries pretty soon.