LaCie, a leading supplier of advanced external storage solution and a division of Seagate, on Tuesday introduced the industry's first rugged external storage solution that features both Thunderbolt as well as USB 3.0 interfaces and can come equipped with either a solid-state drive or a hard disk drive.

LaCie Rugged SSD delivers record-breaking speeds up to 380MB/s, making it the fastest bus-powered external storage product ever and which can actually deliver all the benefits of the SSD tech thanks to speedy Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces. The hard disk version has maximum data rate of 110MB/s.

The LaCie Rugged can protect data against nearly any possible threat that can occur in normal conditions. The external storage device is MIL-compliant for superior data protection from accidental drops up to 1.2 meters (4 feet). In case a solid-state drive is installed into Rugged, it can resist intense vibration and shock. The LaCie Rugged is tough enough to be shipped for reliable delivery to colleagues, clients or partners and includes AES 256-bit encryption software to protect files from prying eyes or theft.

"Since LaCie introduced the Rugged, it has been a favorite of creative professionals. It is trusted and always with them through the content creation process. Today, LaCie gives the ultimate solution to those professionals. The most impressive speeds I have seen to revolutionize their productivity," said Philippe Spruch, chief executive officer of LaCie.

The Rugged USB 3.0/Thunderbolt series comes in a 1TB HDD model for $249.99, a 120GB SSD model for $199.99 and a 256GB SSD model for $349.99. It is available through Apple retail, as well as the LaCie online store and LaCie resellers.

Tags: LaCie, Thunderbolt, USB, SSD, HDD