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Since the first computer hard drive was introduced 1956, bits have been arranged in a flat, horizontal fashion on the spinning platters. Engineers reduced the size of the particles where those bits are stored to boost capacity, but minaturization is reaching its natural limits and the prospects of further capacity expansion were looking slim.

Seagate to the rescue!

By storing bits in a vertical, or perpendicular, arrangement, engineers are able to boost capacity by taking advantage of the real estate that is freed up.

Seagate’s new drive, the Momentus 5400.3, is now being shipped, the Scotts Valley, Calif.-based company said. The shift to perpendicular recording allows it to bump up the maximum capacity of its notebook drive to 160 gigabytes from 120 gigabytes.

The 2.5-inch drive costs $325, compared to about $240 for the 120 gig model. Seagate plans to extend the new recording technology to other notebook drives, as well its 1-inch drives used in handheld gadgets and 3.5-inch drives for desktop PCs.

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Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.