Toshiba unveils sub 1-inch hard disk drive

Toshiba Corp. has unveiled a prototype hard-disk drive smaller than any currently on the market.

The drive has a recording platter, the media part of the hard-disk drive on which data is stored, that measures 0.85 inches in diameter, the company said in a statement.

Most current desktop computers use drives with a 3.5-inch diameter platter while notebook computers usually use 2.5-inch drives. Even smaller drives are used in digital music players -- Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and iPod mini use 1.8-inch and 1.0-inch drives respectively, but until now no company has unveiled a smaller device.

Toshiba's drive comes in two versions: a single-head and double-head type, the former with a 2GB capacity and the latter with a total storage capacity of 4GB.

It has a total weight of less than 10 grams and external dimensions of 3.3mm by 24mm by 32mm.

It is expected to be used in small handheld portable devices such as cellular telephones, digital audio players, PDAs (personal digital assistants), digital still cameras and camcorders, said Toshiba.

Toshiba, which is showing the prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, said it expects to begin sample production in the middle of this year and begin commercial production in late 2004.