Seagate’s St1 Series Hard Drive Enables World’s Smallest Smallest 10gb Digital Audio Player From Kenwood

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. - Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX), the world’s number one hard drive maker, announced that its 10GB ST1 Series Hard Drive is enabling the world’s smallest 10GB digital audio player, the Kenwood HD10GB7 – aka the “Media Keg” – which offers impressive high sound quality technology 1.

Kenwood’s HD10GB7, the “Media Keg,” has the ability to pack the large capacity of a hard drive into the world’s smallest hard drive player body. By using the Clear Digital Amplifier and Kenwood’s original “Supreme” sound quality enhancement technology, even compressed music has near-CD level sound quality. For audiophiles, the Seagate ST1.3 drive provides plenty of capacity to carry hundreds of uncompressed songs for complete audio enjoyment.

“Kenwood has been on the cutting edge of audio design for decades. With the Seagate ST1.3 hard drive inside, The Media Keg is yet another example of how Kenwood utilizes the most advanced technologies available to deliver value and outstanding audio performance to consumers,” said Rob Pait, director of Global Consumer Electronics Marketing at Seagate. “Consumers are rushing to products that will make their media libraries portable, and with a Seagate drive inside, entertainment is available when consumers want, where they want, and how they want it.” 

At a mere 40x30x5 mm, the ST1 Series drive allows for more streamlined and stylish consumer electronics devices without compromising storage capacity and also offers features targeted at the savvy mobile media consumer:

• RunOn Technology: Reliability Under High-Motion Conditions
  People often bring their mobile phones, PDAs and PMPs with them when walking, running or during other physical activities. Seagate’s ST1 Series drive differs from other hard drives because it is designed to compensate for the issues caused by such high-motion activities. The drive incorporates Seagate RunOn technology, which enables the drive to automatically keep the read heads on track while the device is in motion. Consequently, the RunOn technology can increase the reliability – and customer satisfaction – of a handheld consumer electronics device.

• G-Force Protection: Designed to Protect Against Everyday Bumps
  When many hard drive-based devices face the trauma of everyday use, the read/write heads remain over the media and a hard drop could lead to a microscopic dent on the internal components and can suffer additional damage if it’s still running when the device is dropped. Seagate understands that accidents can happen with handheld gadgets, and has built the ST1 Series hard drive with G-Force Protection, which protects the hard drive against shock by sensing when the system is in a free-fall situation, moving the heads off the platter, and turning the motor off – all within 3/10 of a second. Thus, during the day-to-day mishaps of using your favorite portable device, no parts make contact with each other inside the drive. G-Force Protection makes any handheld device using the ST1 Series hard drive more robust and more reliable.

Based on direct customer input at its CE Design Service Centers, Seagate develops drives to deliver the features CE manufacturers ask for. Seagate’s unique Advanced Manufacturing capabilities give customers flexibility because our manufacturing can quickly adapt to their requirements. Seagate CE engineers are ready to help solve integration issues at the company’s unique Design Service Centers. Seagate is the only hard drive company to provide CE manufacturers with a comprehensive partnership: products, technology and services.

The Seagate ST1 Series drives began shipping in the third calendar quarter of 2006. The Kenwood HD10GB7 began shipping in the Japanese market in December 2006.

About Seagate
Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of hard disc drives, providing products for a wide-range of applications, including Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Branded Solutions. Seagate’s business model leverages technology leadership and world-class manufacturing to deliver industry-leading innovation and quality to its global customers, and to be the low cost producer in all markets in which it participates. The company is committed to providing award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world’s growing demand for information storage. Seagate can be found around the globe at www.seagate.com.

About Kenwood Corporation
The Kenwood Corporation is “Reaching out to discover, inspire and enhance the enjoyment of life” as part of its bold, new vision for the future. A leader in “Mobile & Home Multimedia Systems,” Kenwood is comprised of three business units (Car Electronics, Communications and Home Electronics), 11 domestic and 22 overseas subsidiaries around the world. For further details, please visit the following URL:  http://www.kenwood.co.jp.

Seagate, Seagate Technology and the Wave logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC., ST1 Series, RunOn Technology, and G-Force Protection are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. One gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity. One terabyte, or TB, equals 1,000 gigabytes when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environment and formatting. Quantitative usage examples for various applications are for illustrative purposes. Actual quantities will vary based on various factors, including file size, file format, features and application software.

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(1) The Kenwood HD10GB7 “Media Keg” is currently available only in Japanese market.