Western Digital (WD) has announced its take on the USB-driven external microdrive, launching a bus-powered 6GB hard disk drive under its Passport Pocket brand. The 6 x 4.5 x 0.9cm, 45g unit contains a 1in, 3,600rpm HDD with a 2MB cache. It has a mean read seek time of 11ms, WD said, and a nominal average latency of 8.3ms.

The drive's USB 2.0 connector folds into a recess in the drive housing, a feature WD claimed was "unique", even though LaCie's Skwarim drives already offer such a facility, as do other such drives. WD said the USB connector is sufficiently thin to allow two of the drives to be used simultaneously on two of the most proximate USB ports.

WD wants $130 for the drive, which is available immediately. ®

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