Hitachi GST: New Products, Branding For Consumer Storage Line

Hitachi GST on Monday showed off three new portable consumer storage devices, with the Hitachi logo in place of the original SimpleTech moniker, said Ken Higgins, worldwide vice president of sales for the company's branded notation.

Hitachi GST acquired Fabrik in February.

The first of the three, the Hitachi SimpleTough USB portal drive, is a portable hard drive with a tough, high-shock-resistance enclosure and a rubber exterior that can protect the drive against falls of up to 10 feet, Higgins said.

The enclosure is also water-resistant against temporary dampness caused by spilled water or soda, he said.

"This is really designed for people who take their data on-the-go," he said.

The Hitachi SimpleTough USB portal drive is available now ranging in price from $99.99 for a 250-Gbyte model to $149.99 for a 500-Gbyte model.

The second new product is the Hitachi SimpleDrive Mini Portable USB drive. It features a Hitachi GST hard drive in a stylish enclosure and is aimed at competing with similar products from Seagate and Western Digital, Higgins said.

The enclosure features an LED that sits under the drive to give it a nice underglow, Higgins said. "It's kinda cool," he said.

The Hitachi SimpleDrive Mini Portable USB drive is available now with list prices of $89.99 for a 250-Gbyte model, $109.99 for a 320-Gbyte model and $139.99 for a 500-Gbyte model.

The third new product is the Hitachi SimpleNet USB drive network adapter, a small device that lets users build network-attached storage out of their existing USB hard drives.

The SimpleNet plugs into a home LAN via a 100-Gbps Ethernet connector on the front, and into one or two portable USB drives on the back, When connected, it shows the content of the USB drives to every user on the LAN to let them all access the data, Higgins said.

It is not necessarily a high-performance device, Higgins said. "It's more about convenience for the consumer," he said.

The Hitachi SimpleNet USB drive network adapter lists for $79.

All the new Hitachi-branded consumer portable storage products will be available through major direct marketers, e-tailers and retailers, Higgins said. They will also be available to solution providers via Bell Microproducts, Synnex and Ingram Micro, he said.

With the new products, Hitachi GST is effectively starting to retire the SimpleTech brand name it inherited with its Fabrik acquisition and moving to use the Hitachi logo on all consumer storage products going forward, Higgins said.

However, it is keeping the G-Technology it also inherited from Fabrik, he said.

"G-Technology is on our Mac products for high-end video customers," he said. "We will remain with that brand. It has its own DNA for the Mac professionals. But we will add 'by Hitachi' to the logo, and call it 'G-Technology by Hitachi.' "