WD today introduced its new My Passport Studio portable drives featuring the FireWire 800 interface and a customizable e-label that's always visible, even when the drive is unplugged.

Sporting a sleek design, the new My Passport Studio drives are formatted for Mac computers, compatible with Apple TimeMachine software, and feature automatic and continuous backup with WD SmartWare software, and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. The new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB.

The drives' Smart display reminds users of what is stored on the drive and provides available capacity and security status at a glance. The e-label smart display on the front of the My Passport drives can be changed as often as desired using the included WD SmartWare software. Users can create a label to personalize their drive or remind themselves of its contents. The e-label also shows available capacity and whether the drive is locked. Utilizing e-paper technology, the information on the display remains clearly visible, even when the drive is unplugged.

According to research firm Parks Associates, the average U.S. broadband household currently has over 120 GB of digital media and files which is projected to grow to over 1 TB of data by 2013.

The new My Passport Studio is fully compatible with Apple TimeMachine software for easy backup. It also offers the option of the simple WD SmartWare software, with automatic continuous backup and real-time visual interface. After the first backup, users' files are backed up automatically every time they change or add a file.

My Passport Studio drives also feature user-selected password protection combined with 256-bit hardware-based encryption, which scrambles files before they are stored. The encryption acts as a virtual padlock to keep users' data safe.

The new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB and have a 3-year limited warranty. My Passport Studio ultra-portable drives are available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. MSRP for the My Passport Studio drives ranges from $149.99 USD to $199.99 USD depending on capacity.