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Seagate Technology has doubled the capacity of its premium brand of LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt solid state drives (SSDs), which will now be available in a 1 terabyte (TB) capacity, with no size or weight increase compared to the 500 GB offering.
Designed by award-winning product designer Neil Poulton, the Rugged will be available this month through the LaCie Online Store and the company’s network of resellers.
The LaCie Rugged is MIL–compliant, which means that data is protected even during accidental drops of up to 6.6 feet. With its cap in place, the drive is also IP 54–rated for protection against dust and water splashing — even during operation.
In addition, the drive is resistant to vibration and shock and can be shipped for reliable delivery to clients or partners.
“Design is in LaCie’s DNA. This stems from our first collaboration with Philippe Stark two decades ago. It’s guided by our intent to not only offer great looking products, but products in which the design serves a purpose,” Erwan Girard, LaCie business unit manager, told eWEEK. “We could talk for hours about the painstaking amount of detail that goes into every product we make. This is all aimed at offering best-in-market, one-of a kind products.”
With both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces, the Rugged is a suitable solution for Mac and PC users.
The Rugged is fully bus-powered through the Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 cables and the integrated Thunderbolt cable stows when not in use to prevent loss. Other features include a backup software suite and compatibility with Time Machine and Windows Backup.
It also includes LaCie Private–Public software, which enables users to password–protect the entire drive or only certain volumes with AES 256–bit encryption.
The Rugged also features a three–year limited warranty that includes complimentary Web–based resources, expert in–house technical support, and worldwide repair and replacement coverage.
It is possible to upgrade this service with warranty extensions and fast product replacement.
Last month the company announced the addition of USB–C technology to its Porsche Design Mobile Drive.
The product combines the recently unveiled USB–C standard with the style features of the company’s Porsche Design line, and is marketed as a natural pair to the latest MacBook, which was also announced in March.
Featuring the same aluminum finish as the latest MacBook, it is Time Machine compatible, so Mac users can use the LaCie Mobile Drive to back up files using built-in software.