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Hitachi Global Storage Technologies this week unveiled the 500GB 3.5-in. CinemaStar hard drive, which it said mutes noise and cuts power consumption in set-top boxes and digital video recorder (DRV) storage devices.

Hitachi said the Cinemastar 5K500 is the first hard drive based on the company's revamped low-power "CoolSpin" design, which limits the energy needed during spin-up and operation. In fact, the 5K500 offers 30% improved power efficiency in both active and idle states over its predecessor, the 500GB 3.5-in. Cinemastar P7K500, said Lee Johnson, manager of strategy and marketing at Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd.

Framingham, Mass.-based IDC projects that shipments of disk drives for personal video recording applications will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14% from 2007 to 2012.

The Cinemastar 5K500 is slated to ship to manufacturers in June.

Hitachi said the two-platter 500GB drive can hold up to 250 standard definition feature-length films, 125,000 MP3 four minute songs or 250 video games.

Hitachi this week also introduced an upgraded version of its 2.5-in. hard drive for home systems storing and accessing digital video applications.

Also shipping in June, the Cinemastar C5K320 features capacity ranging from 120GB to 320GB, the company said. The 5,400 rpm hard drive includes improved Perpendicular Magnetic Recording head technology and enhanced video streaming capabilities over the Hitachi 2.5-in. C52K50 model it replaces, Hitachi said.

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