Samsung has announced its 1.8-inch 120GB HDD, a credit card-sized 4200-rpm USB drive being referred to as SpinPoint N2. Enclosed in a glossy black chassis, the drive draws less than 1.4W and needs just 300mA from a 500mA USB port. Its power consumption is only one-fourth that of a 2.5″ drive and it has a read speed rated at 27MB/s and write speed at 23MB/s.

According to reports, Samsung has been convincing Apple into using the drive for the iPod and the MacBook Air. Samsung will also sell the USB drive in the Chinese market as a stand-alone drive.

Expect the Samsung 1.8″ 40GB version to be priced at $161, 60GB at $191, 80GB at $235 and 120GB at $293.

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