Seagate puts all optical eggs in Quinta basket

Seagate Technology is changing the way its subsidiary,Quinta, goes to market with OAW optically assisted Winchester (OAW) technology. In an effort to streamline its operations and avoid duplication of infrastructure, all research into optical storage technologies, including OAW will be done by Quinta. The company hopes this will get the technology into its product line more quickly. Seagate says that the move will allow Quinta to focus on its core competency, optical tech development, while putting the heavyweight punch of the Seagate brand behind the marketing side of operations. As soon as a technology is proven to be reliable, it will be transferred to Seagate's labs for product development and delivery. Quinta is currently developing technologies capable of achieving areal densities much higher than today's hard disc drives and hopes to break the superparamagnetic limit, the theoretical areal density limit of traditional magnetic recording technology. The OAW technology will demonstrated for the first time at COMDEX '98. "Quinta has made significant progress in the past year in developing OAW technology as well as other technologies that could impact current magnetic recording," said Steve Luczo, president and CEO of Seagate. Steve Kitrosser, president and CEO of Quinta, said: "Without this integration, there was a risk of becoming a one-product-at-a-time company, leaving valuable technologies sitting on the shelves, waiting for commercialisation. This change allows Seagate to fully benefit from the 200-plus engineers and scientists working in our labs in San Jose."