MS doubles Dune storage

Microsoft has started offering a new model of the Zune HD portable media player with built-in storage of 64GB, double that of previous models, according to PC World.

The new model is available on Microsoft's online Zune store for $349.99. The company last week dropped pricing on existing models, with the 16GB and 32GB models now costing $199.99 and $269.99, respectively.

The 64GB device stores up to 20 hours of high-definition video or up to 16 000 four-minute songs, and plays at a 128-bit rate, according to specifications provided on Microsoft's Zune site.

Blu-ray has upgraded its disc standard to provide a storage capacity of 100GB rewritable or 128GB for a one-use disc, states CRN.

However, holographic storage discs offers one terabyte on a single disc while Blu-ray format is still cheaper to manufacture and purchase.

The BDXL specification won't be compatible with existing hardware and will force consumers to update their Blu-ray players.

Samsung has rolled out a high-capacity, 2.5-inch hard drive with a maximum capacity of 640GB, says Softpedia.

According to Samsung, the high rotary speed of the drive enables a performance boost of 30%; which makes the hard drive suited for gamers and multi-taskers where fast and sustained data access is needed.

HS Lee, vice-president of storage marketing at Samsung Electronics, says: “The large capacity and productivity improvements in the MP4 drive make is an optimal solution for our notebook PC and slim-desktop customers.”