If you’re one of the few (but growing!) number of people with USB 3.0 interfaces on your computer, Samsung has a peppy new external storage option for you: it’s just revved its Story external hard drives to offer a USB 3.0 port, which in theory gives it up to 10 times the transfer capability of its USB 2.0 predecessor. The improved speed makes it quicker to transfer large heaps of data like video and movie files, and the drive is backward compatible with USB 2.0 and even USB 1.1 so users can still connect the drive to old-school systems.
“The Samsung Story Station 3.0 has been built for advanced users who demand fast transfer speed and data security without sacrificing design,” said Samsung Electronics’ VP of storage marketing H.S. Lee, in a statement. “The Story Station creates a seamless user experience that allows users to move large chunks of high-quality multimedia content with minimal wait time.”
The Story Station’s design remains unchanged: a grey brushed aluminum casing with a red stencil logo straight out of a 1980s Radio Shack; however, the design is RoHS-complaint and the drive features three operating modes (idle, sleep, and suspend) that save power.
The USB 3.0 storage stations should be available globally in capacities ranging from 1 to 2 TB—although Samsung hasn’t announced any pricing information—and come pre-loaded with Samsung Auto Backup, SecretZone, and SafetyKey backup, encryption, and security software for Microsoft Windows. Other versions of the Story Station drives with USB 2.0 and eSATA ports are still available.
