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Seagate’s premium brand of external hard drives, LaCie, announced an update to its iconic Rugged hard drive, featuring faster speeds, a tougher design and an integrated interface cable.
The Rugged features improved transfer speeds thanks to the Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces. With the solid state drive (SSD) version, the Rugged delivers up to 387m bps, the company claimed.
The hard disk version performs at speeds of up to 122m bps, which is a 35 percent improvement over FireWire 800.
Designed by Neil Poulton, a Scottish born product designer, based in Paris, the drives are expected to be broadly available this month through LaCie resellers in 1TB ($219.99) and 2TB ($299.99) capacities.
The 250GB SSD ($299.99) and 500GB SSD ($499.99) capacities will be broadly available early July, a company statement said.
The drive is also protected by a three-year limited warranty, which includes complimentary Web-based resources, in-house technical support and worldwide repair and replacement coverage. The company noted warranty extensions and their Advance Care option can also be purchased.
The integrated Thunderbolt cable stows when not in use and the drive is tougher than ever thanks to improved shock, dust and water resistance.
It is MIL–compliant, which means that data is protected even during accidental drops of up to 6.6 feet. During transit, users can attach the removable cover to provide IP 54–level protection against dust and water.
The SSD version goes a step further with resilience against vibration and shock. Both versions are tough enough to be shipped for reliable delivery to clients or partners. Included software also protects files from prying eyes with AES 256-bit encryption.
“My assignments take me to the top surf spots all over the world,” Surfer Magazine staff photographer Zak Noyle said in a statement. “So it’s imperative that my equipment is ready for any challenge. The LaCie Rugged’s speed allows me to deliver projects quickly, and its resilience to water, sand and drops make me confident that my photos are protected. From the beaches of Oahu to Tahiti, the LaCie Rugged has never let me down.”
Earlier this year the company upgraded its Fuel wireless hard drive with an expanded capacity of 2TB. With double the capacity than before, the Fuel offers more storage than any 2.5-inch wireless hard drive on the market.
Designed for use with portable Apple devices, it offers the ability to create its own WiFi network and act as a hotspot when connected to the Internet through WiFi, and provides wireless streaming of content to up to five devices without an Internet connection.