X-bit labs

Seagate Proposes Wireless Hard Disk Drives for Mobile Devices.

Category: Storage

by Anton Shilov

[ 01/31/2007 | 11:17 PM ]

The world’s largest producer of hard disk drives, Seagate Technology, has unveiled what it calls DAVE (digital audio/video experience) and what is a platform for creation wireless storage devices for consumer electronics or mobile gadgets, providing ease of sharing content across various devices.

Seagate suggests to equip small form-factor hard disk drives with 10GB – 20GB storage capacity with special set of controllers and a wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi 802.11b/g or Bluetooth 2.0, which, with the help of specially created software and firmware will be able to communicate with mobile phones or any other devices compliant with aforementioned wireless technologies.

Seagate believes that such approach gives end-users ability to store more information with their mobile devices or share the information with friends and relatives or simply transfer it to other type of storage.

“Mobile telephony is undergoing a multimedia revolution, and the DAVE mobile content platform will provide even more fuel for the growth of new music and video services over mobile networks,” said Patrick King, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate’s consumer electronics business unit.

The DAVE reference design is about the size of a centimeter-thick credit card, with dimensions of 3.5” x 4.7” x 47” (61mm x 89mm x 12mm) and weighing only 2.5 ounces (70 grams). Utilizing Seagate’s Storage Management Module power-saving technology unveiled at CES, the rechargeable lithium ion battery delivers several hours of media-streaming performance and up to 14 days of standby power.

“Products using DAVE technology will enable digital content, whether for business or entertainment use, to be stored, moved, and connected in ways never before possible. Mobile carriers can use this technology for creating value from their investments in high-bandwidth networks, and mobile handset manufacturers have another tool for turning the multimedia phone into the center of the mobile consumer's digital life,” Mr. King said.