Buffalo Intros Dual-Interface Thunderbolt Portable HDD

This week during Computex, Buffalo Technology demonstrated the world's first portable Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 dual-interface external drive. Dubbed the MiniStation Thunderbolt / USB Portable Hard Drive, it features a sleek aluminum body with a transparent frosted top, and an indirect disk access LED indicator on the underside that will illuminate a desktop or any other supporting surface.

"Creating, storing and moving digital content on the go has always been a challenging proposal for all types of users as either the interface was incompatible or too slow or the storage solution was physically too large," said Brian Verenkoff, director of marketing at Buffalo Technology. "Collaborating with Intel to deliver the world’s first dual-interface Thunderbolt and USB storage solution as well as the world’s first portable Thunderbolt hard drive reaffirms Buffalo’s pioneering spirit and engineering excellence."

Buffalo Japan offers a few additional details, reporting that it will be offered in 500 GB and 1 TB capacities, and technically labeled as the HD-PATU3 Series external drive. The USB 3.0 interface will provide transfer speeds up to 5 Gbps whereas the Thunderbolt connection will support up to 10 Gbps transfer speeds. It will be compatible with both the Windows and Mac platforms, it won't need a separate power connection, and it will be backwards compatible with USB 2,0 ports.

Buffalo’s MiniStation Thunderbolt drive will be available later this summer, so expect additional technical details -- along with pricing -- to be revealed soon.