Samsung Cell Phones to Get Tiny Hard Drive

[Astronuc]

Samsung Cell Phones to Get Tiny Hard Drive

By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has announced the world's first mobile phone to sport a tiny hard drive. With the built-in 1-inch, 1.5-gigabyte hard disk, the SPH-V5400 could store about 15 times more data than conventional handsets - everything from digital music files and photos to video, Samsung said.

The phone is equipped with a mega-pixel camera, camcorder, MP3 player, a high-resolution 2.2-inch display, a microphone and dual speakers. It will be available in South Korea later this month. Samsung did not disclose a price or any plans to sell it in the United States or elsewhere.

Hard drives are becoming an increasingly popular component in consumer electronics to accommodate the need for more digital data storage, and makers of the mini drives have worked to squeeze more and more capacity out of the coin-sized disks.

Seagate Technologies LLC has a 1-inch drive that holds 5 gigabytes of data, while Toshiba Corp. has developed an even tinier drive - at 0.85 inches in diameter - to store 2 to 3 gigabytes of data.