WD®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company and world leader in storage  and connected-life products, today announced it is shipping  the world’s first  ultra-slim  2.5-inch, 5 mm hard drives and solid state hybrid drives (SSHD) , which are designed for integration into the slimmest devices and  space-constrained computing environments. With 500 GB of storage capacity and models  with high performance-enabling solid state hybrid drive technology, this slim  product line helps to address the tradeoffs system designers often make between  capacity, physical size and performance.
 
     “With  the launch of our new WD Blue™ 5 mm ultra slim hard drives and our WD Black™ SSHD  products, currently shipping to OEMs, WD is delivering to our customers a  variety of solutions that maximize storage capacity and volumetric efficiency,  as well as performance and system responsiveness, for consumers,” said Matt  Rutledge, vice president of WD’s client computing business unit. “Our engineering team took a clean-sheet approach with 5 mm  to deliver an ultra-thin hard drive that enables a world of  possibilities and applications for mobile computing and beyond.”

     WD  designed the new WD Blue and WD Black 5 mm drives to enable  new levels of device portability. The new drives are aimed to increase internal  storage capacity while enabling it to fit into smaller device slots. In  addition, the slimmer and more portable the device, the more vulnerable the  hard drive is to user-induced stress. To battle this, WD has designed key  enablers to the 5 mm form factor:

• Ultra-slim Form Factor – 5  mm height with compact connector offers system designers a greater degree of chassis  design freedom. This ultra-slim form factor reduces weight by up to 36 percent compared  with a standard 9.5 mm drive.
• Best-in-class Acoustics and Shock –  WD’s best-in-class acoustics use technologies that reduce noise when the drive  is active or idle. The WD Blue and WD Black 5 mm drives deliver unprecedented  operation and non-operation shock specifications with 400 G and 1000G,  respectively. 
• Edge  Card Technology – WD designed the connector and board  utilizing cell phone miniaturization technology to maximize the mechanical sway  space in the hard drive and ensure shock performance.
• Edge  Card Connector – WD Blue 5 mm hard  drives also feature the first application of a new small form factor SFF-8784 edge connector. This new connector  receives power from and interfaces with the host I/O bus via the SATA interface  connector SFF-8784.
• StableTrac™ – The  motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and  stabilize platters for accurate tracking during read and write operations which  enables consistently higher performance.
• Dual Stage Actuator –  Leading-edge enterprise dual stage actuators provide two actuators that improve  positional accuracy over the data track(s). The primary actuator provides  coarse displacement using conventional electromagnetic actuator principles. The   secondary actuator uses piezoelectric motion to fine tune the head positioning  to a higher degree of accuracy.

Price and Availability
     Shipping today to select industrial distributors  and OEM customers in 500 GB capacities, WD Blue 2.5-inch 5 mm hard drives,  (model: WD5000MPCK) has a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail  Price (MSRP) of $89.00 USD. WD Blue 2.5-inch 5 mm hard drives are covered by a two-year limited warranty. WD Black SSHD versions are currently shipping to OEM’s and  integrators with both WD proprietary hybrid technology and industry standard  SATA I/O technology. More information on WD Blue 2.5-inch 5 mm  hard drives may be found on the company's website at http://www.wd.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=800#tab11.