Castlewood To Unveil ORB, First "MR" Technology Removable Media Drive,
At Comdex
ÿ
11/12/97
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 1997, Business Wire)
ÿ
PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1997--
Magnetoresistive technology offers radical improvements in disk
capacity, performance, reliability and pricing
Castlewood Systems, Inc., today announced it will exhibit the world's first removable media hard drive to use new magnetoresistive (MR) head technology at the Fall Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas.
The Castlewood MR product, named ORB, uses 3-1/2" removable media with a capacity of 2.16 GB, more than any other product in its category. At an impressive 12.2 megabytes per second maximum sustained data transfer rate--the fastest transfer rate of any removable media product available today--ORB is completely "video ready." The new drive also boasts a substantial increase in reliability over competitive products, with an estimated mean-time-between-failure rating 50 percent better than the competition. And, because ORB removable media drives are true hard drives, they outperform other removable media drives, such as magneto optical, high-density floppies, optical DVD and tape.
These capabilities come at a substantially lower cost: ORB drive retail packages, including one disk, have a suggested retail price of $199.95, about 70 percent lower than comparable packages. Separate disks have a suggested retail price of just $29.95, about 80 percent less than competitive media.
"ORB-it" disks are expected to be used in a variety of applications, including content authoring like CAD/CAM, graphic design, publishing, multimedia presentations, and music and video editing. Information technology markets are expected to use ORB to increase PC storage, and for backing up employee files and digital electronic sales via Web sites.
Additionally, Castlewood will provide "ORB-it" Tools, a feature-rich suite of functions such as cartridge copy, file copy, disk copy, write protect, "File Finder," media status reporting and more. Also, ORB's one-step backup sets a new standard for thoroughness, simplicity and security.
"I have built my reputation and my businesses on the cornerstone of leading-edge technology," says Syed Iftikar, original founder of SyQuest, co-founder of Seagate, and now CEO of Castlewood. "ORB is the first product of its kind to use MR technology and represents the first significant departure from present thin film-inductive head technology designs--a 20-year-old technology still used by the competition.
"We've interviewed 1,000 consumers and have fulfilled their need for capacity, performance and price," says Iftikar. "The initial interest from top PC manufacturers and major retailers has been exceptionally positive."
"ORB represents the beginning of an industry-wide shift to MR technology, as other companies embrace the significant benefits. So customers who buy an MR removable media drive and media today are assured of compatibility with future Castlewood products well into the next millenium," says David Swanson, director of marketing.
Removable media drives are expected to play a key role in broad-based consumer marketw!qu many more devices become digital and Internet-enabled. Currently, Castlewood is working with Vobis, a major European retailer, on PC applications, and with consumer electronics company Sanyo on a "VCR" using the ORB for digital content storage and playback.
"Sanyo is moving rapidly to integrate Castlewood's ORB drive technology into strategic products," says Tatsuo Tanaka, senior manager of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. "Our first implementation of the ORB drive is the VHD-1000 digital disk security recorder, which will be featured at Comdex 97. It is very possible that ORB is the storage Mgdqtm that will enable full digital convergence between digital consumer electronics products and personal computers."
Castlewood will provide four versions of ORB: internal IDE, external parallel port, internal SCSI and external SCSI. Various configurations are compatible with different operating systems, including DOS, Windows 3.X/95/NT and Macintosh. The two external configurations will carry a suggested retail price of $199.95. Individual 2.16 GB disks have a retail price of $29.95. The IDE and parallel port configurations will be available shortly. The SCSI versions will be available in the first quarter of next year.
"The growing adoption of digital video on the PC platform has increased the demand for low-cost, high-capacity storage mediums," says Clint Chao, director, PC Segment, for C - Cube Microsystems. "Castlewood's ORB-it offers a high-density, magnetic-based storage medium that complements C - Cube 's MVP format, providing the ideal video capture/storage solution for today's cost-sensitive consumers."
Castlewood Systems, Inc. is a privately-held company based in Pleasanton, Calif.
CONTACT: Castlewood Systems Inc., Pleasanton David Swanson, 510/224-9900 e-mail: D1Swanson@msn.com or New Directions Public Relations, Princeton Gary Frisch, 609/951-2230 e-mail: gfrisch@new-directions.com
08:53 EST NOVEMBER 12, 1997 |
