Seagate Technology has introduced the world's first hard disk drive (HDD) with 4TB capacity. The new FreeAgent GoFlex Desk drive, which is available directly from the company, is based on a 3.5" HDD with four 1TB platters.

Seagate's latest 3.5" platters have areal density of 625Gb/s per square inch, which means that the company can fit 1TB of data onto just one platter and thus make relatively inexpensive 2TB and 3TB hard drives as well as to create HDDs with 4TB and eventually 5TB capacities, if needed for competitive reasons.

Seagate did not indicate the spindle speed or cache size of the 3.5" HDD inside GoFlex Desk external drive, but it is likely that the device sports 5400rpm speed and has 32MB of cache, which means that it is not a performance champ. With the pre-loaded back up software, the GoFlex Desk 4TB (model number STAC4000100) external drive provides automatic, continuous back with encryption for all your files. The included USB 3.0 adapter also works with USB 2.0 ports making it easy to connect to  Windows or Mac computers. The adapter also features an illuminated gauge to display available space on the drive.

“Yet another industry first for Seagate, we have reached a new high-capacity in the 3.5" hard drive form factor. At Seagate, we are committed to pushing the limits for our customers and will continue to adapt and innovate our products based on customer needs. This latest GoFlex Desk drive offering, with its new industry-leading capacity point, is a statement of our continued commitment to meet consumer needs," said Patrick Connolly, vice president and general manager of retail products for Seagate.

Earlier this year Seagate promised to start shipping 3.5" internal HDDs with three platters in mid-2011, but so far the company has not managed to ship such drives in volume. It remains to be seen whether the company will be in position to supply 3.5" internal hard drives with 4TB capacity in calendar 2011.

The new 4TB GoFlex Desk drive is now available from Seagate directly and will be available from select online retailers within the month for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $249.99.

“IDC foresees there being an increase in global demand for personal storage capacity driven by the growing creation and acquisition of digitized videos, photos and music,” said Liz Conner, senior research analyst of storage systems at IDC.

Tags: Seagate, HDD, GoFlex, barracuda