Akihabara News Visits CAETEC 2004, Spots Tiny Hard Drive

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://akiba.sorobangeeks.com/revue_24.html' target='_blank'>http://akiba.sorobangeeks.com/revue_24.html</a><br /><br /></div>Daimaou, over at Akihabara News, was lucky enough to go to CAETEC -- an A/V convention over in Japan -- and report back with the nifty toys they had. Amongst the many things in the report (English translation <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=mozclient&u=http%3A//akiba.sorobangeeks.com/revue_24.html">here</a>) was Toshiba's 0.85" hard drive packaged onto an SD card and inserted into a Pocket PC. Yes, I didn't typo that, I said SD. 8O<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20041007-ToshibaSDHD.jpg" /><br /><br />No idea if this will ever be released, and I don't know if it'll ever be practical, but it's amazing to see it done. There's lots of other impressive items, including a pic of the 2.2" Casio VGA screen in action, so check it out. I'm very envious.

[surur]

Does that fully insert? If so WOW.

I found quite funny the picture of the JVC Robot followed by a scene from the Matrix where they are fighting the squiddies. Talk about juxtapositioning :)

Surur

[Janak Parekh]

Does that fully insert? If so WOW.
Now that I don't think. But we'll see. ;)

--janak

[Darius Wey]

Does that fully insert? If so WOW.

The fact that it inserts is one thing, and makes the concept of such a device interesting in its own right, but I don't know if that big plastic bulge appeals. :lol:

[gibson042]

Did anyone else get a load of the QVGA 3D? Wild stuff that is...

[Darius Wey]

Did anyone else get a load of the QVGA 3D? Wild stuff that is...

Haha. It kind of makes my current Pocket PC screen look dull. :roll:

[Jonathon Watkins]

I'm impressed, though I think that Flash storage is the way to go for PPCs. More robust & less power hungry.

[Jonathan1]

Does that fully insert? If so WOW.


I don’t think so. The big white thing is the HD and it looks to be a tad larger then a standard SD card. You can see the mini ribbon cable going from the HD to what I’m presuming to be the controller card. I really don't expect to see a HD that actually fits in an SD slot anytime soon. Its just too thin.

[surur]

I don’t think so. The big white thing is the HD and it looks to be a tad larger then a standard SD card. You can see the mini ribbon cable going from the HD to what I’m presuming to be the controller card. I really don't expect to see a HD that actually fits in an SD slot anytime soon. Its just too thin.

No, the HD is only .85 in diameter, thats 21.5 mm. MY SD card is 23 mm wide, so it should fit. That big white disk is just a support.

Surur

[PPCRules]

This is for the person that wishes s/he'd picked the PocketPC model with the Compact Flash slot.

[Ripper014]

I don?t think so. The big white thing is the HD and it looks to be a tad larger then a standard SD card. You can see the mini ribbon cable going from the HD to what I?m presuming to be the controller card. I really don't expect to see a HD that actually fits in an SD slot anytime soon. Its just too thin.

No, the HD is only .85 in diameter, thats 21.5 mm. MY SD card is 23 mm wide, so it should fit. That big white disk is just a support.

Surur

Given your dimensions you still need room for clearance... and the wall of the casing... This concept I do not feel will work for SD unless you are willing to have the drive extend outside the slot. I wonder why they just didn't create it in a CF format... oh wait there are MicroDrives...

I agree... mechanical drives are power hungry and I am not sure this is the way of the future... but as long as they provide more storage for the money than solid state there will be a market for them for those willing to put up with the battery life trade offs..

[x999x]

If this was ever released, I'd hate to imagine what your battery life would be like with wifi net browsing while listening to mp3s on that tiny hd.

I'm all for mass storage, but after going back to solid state from the days of Microdrives, I'm glad to be back.

[Jonathon Watkins]

This is for the person that wishes s/he'd picked the PocketPC model with the Compact Flash slot.

:lol: Very good. Any PPC I'll get for the foreseeable future will have a CF slot. :D Even with SD cards catching up, CF should always stay ahead of the game. But, as I said, I am imresses with the tiny size of this thing.

[Jonathan1]

No, the HD is only .85 in diameter, thats 21.5 mm. MY SD card is 23 mm wide, so it should fit. That big white disk is just a support.

Surur


Are you sure? :confused totally: I'm seeing a yellow cable ribbon running towards the white disk.

Googling the drive I came away with: 3.3 x 24 x 32 mm for the Tosh drive.
vs.
SD's 2.1 x 24 x 32 mm

The thing is going to be too fat to fit in a SD slot. Like I was saying I don't think we are going to see a 2.1mm SD hard drive anytime soon.

[surur]

Googling the drive I came away with:

3.3 x 24 x 32 mm for the Tosh drive.
vs.
2.1 x 24 x 32 mm for SD's

The thing is going to be too fat to fit in a SD slot. Like I was saying I don't think we are going to see a 2.1mm SD hard drive anytime soon.

Its suspiciously close though :)

Surur

[jlp]

I don’t think so. The big white thing is the HD and it looks to be a tad larger then a standard SD card. You can see the mini ribbon cable going from the HD to what I’m presuming to be the controller card. I really don't expect to see a HD that actually fits in an SD slot anytime soon. Its just too thin.

No, the HD is only .85 in diameter, thats 21.5 mm. MY SD card is 23 mm wide, so it should fit. That big white disk is just a support.

Surur

The white rectangle with the black "TOSHIBA" writing sideways is the disk and the green thingie below is the electronic board & SD connector; obviously the whole is too long, much longer than a standard SD card, so the drive itself is like those GPS, digicam, etc. "dongle" that stick out of the slot.

I believe it's more a technology demonstration than a practical product; they sho it can be done, but people want their drive inside their device more or less permanently. And as I understand the drive is not more than 2-3 GB, and Sandisk has presented their SD Ultra II flash card with a capacity of 2 GB available this month (October 04).

So whether for PDAs or phones, this Toshiba HDD has no compelling advantage over flash; And I don't think it will be priced much lower than SanDisk's, the which fits completely inside the slot, consumes much less power, probably costs less and is available these days.

[maximus]

The white rectangle with the black "TOSHIBA" writing sideways is the disk and the green thingie below is the electronic board & SD connector; obviously the whole is too long, much longer than a standard SD card, so the drive itself is like those GPS, digicam, etc. "dongle" that stick out of the slot.


No dongle please. Instead, make the electronic board inside the SD slot, anc connect it via flexible cables to the harddisk, so we can bend it onto the back of the PPC. That will be nice.

But of course, flush is the best way of doing it.

[jlp]

The white rectangle with the black "TOSHIBA" writing sideways is the disk and the green thingie below is the electronic board & SD connector; obviously the whole is too long, much longer than a standard SD card, so the drive itself is like those GPS, digicam, etc. "dongle" that stick out of the slot.


No dongle please. Instead, make the electronic board inside the SD slot, anc connect it via flexible cables to the harddisk, so we can bend it onto the back of the PPC. That will be nice.

But of course, flush is the best way of doing it.

Flush, but of course CF is the only way of doing it :twisted: Then again you get 5 GB not 2 :lol:

[Fishie]

Got my presscard and went to CEATEC today, the hard drive does NOT get inserted in the Toshiba, they did this to show of how small it is and were running a movie of the HD to show that it actually works
They have NO intention of making a HD that fits in an SD slot(it doesnt, its too thick)

They did have a model of an open cellphone and how the harddrive would be imbedded in those though(I assume the 2gig hard drive cellphone Samsung now makes uses these)

[maximus]

Flush, but of course CF is the only way of doing it :twisted: Then again you get 5 GB not 2 :lol:

Nah .. I need the CF slot for other more interesting stuffs :p