Storage startup to challenge Iomega

Datazone has introduced a transportable hard drive which weighs seven ounces and comes in a range of capacities from 2Gb to 8Gb. The Databook, which is priced at $379, will compete against Zip, Jaz and SparQ cartridge systems, the company said. It has two options to connect to notebooks and desktops - either using the parallel port or through a PC card interface, and will support Win95/98 and NT 4.0 platforms. The sealed unit can be password protected and comes with backup software which is encryptable, said Datazone. According to Steven Kanczeus, president of Datazone: "We felt it was time to offer an alternative to the numerous cartridge based storage options on the market, especially with the growing fears over reliability." He said that the reason cartridge based units fail is because they are not sealed, and thus open to contamination. Datazone is a privately held startup based in California. Kaczeus has a background in the magnetic storage industry. ®