A Spanish press release from Hitachi touting its 6-GB Microdrive serves as indirect confirmation of palmOne's plans to expand its range of hard-disk equipped mobile devices.

Updated (30 jun 2005): Hitachi retracts about planned 6-GB palmOne device

(noticia también disponible en español)

Today, the Spanish branch of Hitachi distributed a press release about the company's new 6-GB version of its Microdrive hard disks.

However, most interesting for PDA users is a headline in the press release (download PDF) that reads The 6-GB Microdrive will be used in palmOne's new generation of handhelds. As our readers know, palmOne has recently introduced the LifeDrive, the first model of what the company calls a new category of mobile managers. The current LifeDrive includes a 4-GB Microdrive, also from Hitachi, but todays's leak seems to confirm palmOne's plans to expand its range with higher capacity models.

According to Hitachi, the Microdrives are designed according to the Compact Flash II industry standard and have a 7-Mbps sustained data transfer rate. Their average seek time is 12 ms and they are compatible with FAT32 file system. They are available in 2-GB, 4-GB and 6-GB capacities for storing large quantities of high-resolution digital pictures or up to 75 hours of CD-quality audio.

Microdrive hard disks are used by manufacturers of handheld computers, digital cameras and digital audio players (Apple's iPod Mini uses one) for storing large volumes of data. They are also small enough to fit into Compact Flash expansion cards.

Hitachi's new 6-GB Microdrive is not the biggest of its type commercially available. Geekzone says that Seagate recenty started shipping a similar 8-GB drive of its own to OEM customers. Even larger capacities are in the works: BargainPDA reports that researchers at Japan's Tohoku University have just developed a prototype 10-GB microdrive using perpendicular recording technology.