Western Digital (WD) has announced its take on the USB-driven external microdrive, launching a bus-powered 6GB hard disk drive under its Passport Pocket brand. The 6 x 4.5 x 0.9cm, 45g unit contains a 1in, 3,600rpm HDD with a 2MB cache. It has a mean read seek time of 11ms, WD said, and a nominal average latency of 8.3ms.

The drive's USB 2.0 connector folds into a recess in the drive housing, a feature WD claimed was "unique", even though LaCie's Skwarim drives already offer such a facility, as do other such drives. WD said the USB connector is sufficiently thin to allow two of the drives to be used simultaneously on two of the most proximate USB ports.

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WD wants $130 for the drive, which is available immediately. ®

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