A revolutionary new Hitachi product has been unveiled, which uses a layer of ruthenium to provide huge storage capacity in a processing unit the size of a matchbox.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies's (HGST) new Microdrive product can store 75 hours of DVD footage or digital sound, despite its tiny size and weight of half an ounce, making it the world's smallest hard drive.

The unit was developed through the use of IBM's 'Pixie Dust' media technology, which involves taking a three-atom-thick layer of ruthenium and compressing it between three magnetic layers.

Company insiders are enthusing about the implications for handheld technology of their new development.

'The new drive uses miniaturised components, including a new read-write head that is almost the size of a grain of table salt. The density of the hard disk has been increased to accommodate 60 billion bits of data per square inch', said Hitachi officials.

The Microdrive will be of most relevance to those who manufacture portable devices, handheld and laptop computers, digital still and video cameras, MP3 players and other data-intensive electronic devices.