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CES 2012: New Seagate drives support Thunderbolt, Verizon's 4G network

Seagate's new storage solutions on display at CES this week include products selling in partnership with Monster Digital and Verizon.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor

LAS VEGAS -- Seagate has a lot on its plate this year at CES with plenty of both consumer and enterprise storage options with a few key partners.

See also: CES 2012: ZDNet’s news and product coverageCES 2012: CNET’s news and product coverage

First up, Thunderbolt finds itself on more new products at the world's largest tech trade show.

Seagate is trotting out a pair of GoFlex adapters with support for Intel's Thunderbolt I/O. The storage solution maker boasts that these accessories "are the first to use the new Thunderbolt technology for widespread use by consumers for single drive enclosures." But only the basic GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapter will be available during the first quarter of 2012, while the GoFlex Desk Thunderbolt Adapter will roll out in the second half of the year.

Moving on, Seagate has inked deals with a couple of new partners for two different but enticing features that could come in handy for both consumer and business purposes.

First, there's another "industry-first innovation" in the Seagate Mobile Wireless Storage device for smartphones and tablets. Much like the GoFlex Satellite (the 500GB drive that emits its own Wi-Fi network for streaming from mobile devices, the Mobile Wireless Storage option steps up the game with another connectivity option: Verizon's 4G LTE network.

Although the battery life (five hours maximum) is rather slim, the drive does support both iOS and Android devices, and it also has a built-in Wi-Fi emitter for video and audio playback from the drive to mobile devices. The 4G LTE action comes into play for downloading content directly to the drive.

Finally, Seagate has also teamed with Monster Digital to upgrade Monster's PC storage with Seagate's Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive. Seagate boasts that Momentus XT performs up to three times faster than a traditional hard disk drive or other SSDs.

This will also include an easy upgrade kit, dubbed "Dakar," that will offer computer users with Monster's memory solutions to speed up boot times and overall performance on their computers along with a streamlined upgrade to the Momentus XT drive.

Dakar will be bundled with the 500GB and 750GB Momentus XT drives, retailing for $269.99 and $289.99 respectively.

But besides the Momentus XT drives, unfortunately, pricing for these products have not been disclosed yet.

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