Posted 09/25/09 at 08:42:02 PM by Ryan Whitwam

The first USB 3.0 controller was just recently certified, and now there’s a speedy external hard drive to go with it. Freecom has announced their “Hard Drive XS 3.0” as the first to support the new USB SuperSpeed standard.

The drives will come in 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB sizes. The enclosure contains a standard 3.5 inch drive and is capable of data transfer speeds of up to 130MB/s. Not bad for a first attempt. The XS drives are backwards compatible with USB 2.0, meaning users can purchase them right away with the intention of upgrading to USB 3.0 when it becomes widely available. They will be on sale starting this November in Europe. The 1TB version will go for a not completely outlandish $175.

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Posted 03/17/09 at 04:30:56 PM by Andy Salisbury

Freecom recently released their 2.5-inch ToughDrive Sport hard drive that has been built to endure “even the toughest conditions.” What exactly entails the toughest conditions though? We have no idea.

The ToughDrive comes in three different flavors, 250GB, 320GB and 500GB. To make sure that the drive is kept safe from hackers (and the occasional tech-savvy tribal woodsman) it comes with secure 256-bit password protection MD5 hardware. The drive can also transfer data at up to 480Mbit/sec through its built in USB 2.0 connection, and will weigh only 9.2 ounces.

“Business-user or consumer… we all carry our data with us and we all require it to be there when we need it," wrote Freecom in a press release. "Imagine what can happen when you’re on the move, for example biking, commuting to the office, running to catch a flight …. and suddenly your external hard drive accidentally falls from your notebook case or jacket pocket… it breaks, and hundreds of hours of video’s, music, your work, gigabytes of spreadsheets, documents, photo’s are all gone. Not anymore!”

Well played Freecom, well played.

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