TDK will start selling data storage cartridges based on the linear tape-open (LTO) Ultrium 3 format from the middle of November.
The cartridges have a capacity of 400Gbytes and can transfer data at a rate of 80 megabits per second. The price in Japan will be ¥20,500 (£145) per cartridge, according to Nobuyuki Koike, a company spokesman.
The storage media contains tape with a width of 12.65mm and has 704 recording tracks. It maintains a low error rate up to 25,000 reads/writes.
The product is the first to pass certification testing by the CVE (Compliance Verification Entity), the organisation certifying LTO standardisation.
LTO is a consortium comprising Certance, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, which collectively agree upon LTO Ultrium standards. LTO tape is considered a "super tape" format and competes with Quantum's SDLT (Super Digital Linear Tape) and Sony's S-AIT (Super Advanced Intelligent Tape) formats.
Certance announced Thursday that it had started selling its brand of LTO Ultrium 3 format cartridges for $147 per cartridge.
TDK also plans to sell a write-once type cartridge, but is not saying when.
Paul Kallender writes for IDG News Service
