Hitachi Uses ESP & Other Shocking Technologies To Protect Hard Drive Data; Hitachi ''Extra Sensory Protection'' Technology Gives New ''Mikey'' Hard Drive A Soft Landing

Acting like a sixth sense, ESP uses a 3-axis accelerometer -- atype of drop sensor -- to detect a fall in as short as four inches (10cm). This in turn activates the hard drive controller to suspend aread or write operation and park the head safely away from the surfaceof the disk. By "unloading" the read/write head, the drive is placedinto non-operational mode, avoiding potential head/disk contact -- themost common cause of data loss. In effect, Hitachi's ESP technologyrenders every shock or impact to be a non-operational one,significantly increasing the overall shock tolerance of the hard driveand, more importantly, the overall safety of consumers' data.

ESP will be especially useful in emerging hard-drive-based smartphones, which may experience greater user handling and, potentially, agreater number of drops than other types of consumer devices. Hitachiis offering ESP as an optional feature on the Microdrive 3K8 -- theworld's smallest one-inch hard drive, also known as "Mikey." With ESPand other Hitachi shock-proofing technologies, Mikey proves to be themost shock-resistant hard drive on the market with a non-operationalshock rating of 2000 Gs. ESP will be available on Mikey in December ofthis year.

"We've been successfully studying and implementingshock-protection mechanisms on hard drives for many years, but theexplosion of hard-drive-based consumer electronics has brought aboutrenewed focus due to the more rigorous environments in which harddrives operate today," said John Best, chief technologist, HitachiGlobal Storage Technologies. "We believe ESP technology opens up abroad range of applications and environments where the high capacityof miniature hard drives -- like Mikey -- can be leveraged with peaceof mind."

Developed by Hitachi Metals, the drop sensor component being usedon Mikey features the ability to accurately detect a fall from threeaxes (X, Y, Z) simultaneously. In addition, the minute packaging ofthe sensor (3.4mm x 3.7mm x 0.92 mm) allows it to be placed on thesmallest hard drives, including the one-inch Microdrive, where it issituated on the drive's printed circuit board. A demonstration of thedrop sensor in action will be performed at the Hitachi TechnologySuite at IFA all this week (Hall FG-2121).

Other Shocking Technologies

In addition to ESP, Hitachi uses a variety of shock-proofingtechnologies to protect the hard drive from data loss, especially onMikey:

-- Snubbers: corner bumpers isolate the hard drive from surrounding host device components, reducing impact to the drive by up to 50 percent of what the host device actually sustains; effectively doubles the non-operating shock tolerance;

-- Head load/unload: Hitachi-patented technology, now widely used throughout the industry, moves the read/write head off disk surface while not operating to reduce incidence of head/disk contact; used in conjunction with drop sensors to comprise ESP technology;

-- Servo: series of technologies, patented by Hitachi as "TrueTrack," uses closed-loop, digital-control system to maintain precision in track positioning of the read/write head even under adverse conditions;

-- Femto slider: a 30-percent reduction in slider size -- the tiny flying wing supporting the read/write head above the surface of the disk -- increases shock performance by 25 percent over previous pico slider technology.

Hitachi owns a broad patent portfolio which includes patents forshock-related technologies on hard disk drives, including the use ofdrop sensors.

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies was founded in 2003 as aresult of the strategic combination of Hitachi's and IBM's storagetechnology businesses. Hitachi GST is the industry's second largesthard disk drive manufacturer in revenue.

The company's goal is to enable users to fully engage in thedigital lifestyle by providing access to large amounts of storagecapacity in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in thehome. The company offers customers worldwide a comprehensive range ofstorage products for desktop computers, high-performance servers andmobile devices. For more information on Hitachi Global StorageTechnologies, please visit the company's web site athttp://www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is aleading global electronics company with approximately 347,000employees worldwide. Fiscal 2004 (ended March 31, 2005) consolidatedsales totaled 9,027.0 billion Yen ($84.4 billion). The company offersa wide range of systems, products and services in market sectorsincluding information systems, electronic devices, power andindustrial systems, consumer products, materials and financialservices. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company'sweb site at http://www.hitachi.com.