Hitachi GST Launches Portable Storage Drives

The new Hitachi Touro line also gives Western Digital, which is in the process of acquiring Hitachi GST, a cloud storage offering of its own.

The new Hitachi Touro mobile and desktop external hard drives include software which automatically backs up users' files to the drives and then to a storage cloud from where they can be viewed, downloaded, and shared via a Web browser, Hitachi GST said.

Included with the drive purchase is 3 GBs of cloud storage. Customers can upgrade their cloud storage to 250 GBs and add the ability to work with multiple compute devices for $49 per year.

The storage cloud is a Hitachi GST offering called Hitachi Backup. Hitachi Backup provides for automated local and cloud-based backups, and can automatically archive up to 100 versions of a file. It is accessible from a Web browser or via an iPhone or iPad.

Hitachi Backup was originally introduced with the Hitachi SimpleTough line of portable external hard drives which were discontinued over a year ago, a Hitachi GST spokesperson said.

The spokesperson was unable to confirm which company is partnering with Hitachi GST to provide its cloud storage offering.

The Hitachi Touro drives come in multiple versions, and feature capacities of up to 3 TBs.

The Touro Mobile Pro Drive is a mobile version with a USB 3.0 interface through which it is powered. The Touro Desk Pro Drive features a stackable desktop design and USB 3.0. Both models also feature a 7,200-rpm hard drive.

The Hitachi Touro family also features two similar models, the Touro Mobile Drive and the Touro Desk Drive, which feature a USB 2.0 interface and a slower hard drive.

The Touro Mobile Pro Drive and Touro Mobile Drive are currently available, while the Touro Desk Pro Drive and Touro Desk Drive are slated to ship in June.