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SmartDisk announced new versions of its SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable Thin Drive and SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable CD-R/W Drive, both designed with sleek, silver-colored casings to complement Apple's Titanium PowerBook G4.

With the SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable CD-R/W Drive, users can record and store music, archive and access photos, record digital videos and safely back-up large amounts of data while working on airplanes, in cars or in other restricted work spaces. The drive measures just 5.5 in x 7.0 in x 1.0 in and features a front-loading/ejection CD tray, ideal for small work spaces. Because the drive is FireWire-powered, it doesn't require an AC adapter or battery pack. The unit derives its power from a computer's FireWire bus via a standard two-foot FireWire cable. In addition, the drive features ``plug & play'' support, which allows immediate use upon plug-in without the need to shut down or reconfigure the computer.

Included with the SmartDisk VST FireWire CD-R/W Drive is CD burning software for both Macintosh and Windows. The drive works with Macintosh computers with FireWire support and Mac OS 8.6 to Mac OS 9.x, and with FireWire-enabled PCs running Windows 98 SE or higher. The SmartDisk VST FireWire CD-R/W Drive also supports Apple's iTunes for importing music CDs to MP3 files, creating play lists, burning music CDs, moving music to portable MP3 players and more.

Perfect for a variety of digital video, audio, data backup and multimedia applications used by consumers and professionals, the SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable Thin Drives rapidly transfer and store large volumes of music, movies, photos and data to and from desktops and laptops. Their small casing - just 3.0 in x 5.5 in x 0.68 in - and weight of just six ounces make them easy to carry and use with mobile applications.

To enhance user productivity and save time, the new SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable Thin Drives feature improved data transfer rates of up to 17 Megabytes per second - up to twice as fast as competing products. They incorporate next-generation FireWire technology and are compatible with any FireWire-equipped computer. Because the drives are FireWire cable bus-powered, no external power source is necessary even when they're used with a notebook computer such as the PowerBook G4. They also feature hot-plug/unplug support, which means users don't have to shut down or restart the computer when they install the drives.

Every drive ships with VST Format 2.3 with HotPlug Events(TM), software that allows a user to program the drives to execute any number of tasks automatically upon plug-in, such as backing up data or launching a favorite MP3 play list.

``With the SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable CD-R/W and FireWire Portable Thin Drives, consumers and professionals alike can simplify the way they capture, store, transport and edit music, movies, presentations and other applications they use on a daily basis,'' said Rod H. King, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for SmartDisk. ``The SmartDisk VST FireWire CD-R/W Drive and our line of new FireWire Portable Thin Drives bring these benefits to laptop users, giving them portable solutions that are easy to carry, easy to use and powered by the laptop itself.''

``The PowerBook G4 offers elegance, ultra-portability, speed, reliability and power,'' said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. ``Its unparalleled portable video editing and digital music management capabilities are well complemented by true plug & play storage solutions like the SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable Thin Drive and SmartDisk VST FireWire CD-R/W Drive.''

The SmartDisk VST FireWire CD-R/W is priced at $329.95 MSRP. The SmartDisk VST FireWire Portable Thin Drive is available in three capacities to accommodate a range of digital lifestyle needs. For less demanding digital applications, the 10 GB model is well suited, while the 20 GB and 30 GB models provide larger capacities for a variety of digital video, Internet content, audio and multimedia applications. Prices are $392.95 for the 10 GB drive, $469.95 for the 20 GB drive and $669.95 for the 30 GB drive.