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     This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,

     located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.

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"...High-density floppies will get a new lease on life next year as the next generation SuperDisk drive will give high-density 1.44MB floppy users the ability to store up to 32MB on one disk.

Matsushita has developed a new slim-line SuperDisk drive, which will store 240MB on a SuperDisk media cartridge and will replace the current one-inch model. Just like the out-going 120MB model, the new high-capacity drive will read and write high-density (HD) diskettes, but the new drive will re-write the 1.44MB format and store up to 32MB using Matsushita's new "FD32MB" technology.

The technology works by increasing the density of each track on the HD floppy by using the Super Disc magnetic head for reading, and using the conventional magnetic head for writing data. Writing so much data on a HD floppy requires the tracks and sectors that store information to be much smaller. Matsushita has developed a technology that takes a conventional floppy with 80 circumference-shaped tracks and increased that number to 777. As a result, double the amount of data can be written on the former tracks.

The FD32MB technology will be part of all 240MB/120MB SuperDisk drives to be marketed in the future. Matsushita is already showing the new drives and FD32MB technology to computer makers and intends on releasing the product to be included in new PCs and as a standalone product probably by July of next year..."