Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, announced today its new family of hard disk drives, including two portable drives and a desktop storage station. Supporting the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, the new external hard drives can provide data transfer speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second, delivering a maximum 10-fold higher data transfer rate over the USB 2.0, allowing users to transfer a 25-gigabyte full HD movie in just four minutes.

Samsung's portable drives come in two designs, the entry-level M2 Portable and the premium C2 Portable 3.0. The M2 Portable comes with a wave-like matte finish that covers scratches and fingerprints, with curved sides for a comfortable grip. The drives are available in densities of up to 1 terabyte, USB 2.0/3.0 interface, and four colors: Brown Black, Noble Beige, Mist Gray and Clay Orange.

The C2 Portable 3.0 features an iF award-winning design with a transparent high-gloss cover and an in-depth crystallized pattern. This premium series also comes with convenient back-up solution, Samsung Drive Manager, for an advanced user experience. It is available in densities of up to 1 terabytes, a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface and two color choices: Mystic Gray and Ruby Red.

The M3 Station, for desktop applications, shares the aesthetic of the M2 Portable series. Rounded corners give it a slimmer form factor for less desktop space, an LED light on the face of the drive indicates the operation status and both USB 2.0/3.0 interfaces are supported. The M3 Station comes in 1, 1.5 and 2 terabytes densities, and two colors: Brown Black or Noble Beige.

Samsung¡?s external hard drives, the C2 Portable 3.0 and S2 Portable Series, incorporate Samsung Drive Manager, an upgraded software which provides users with a unified user interface to adjust settings for various features such as SecretZoneTM, to create a secure virtual drive, auto backup for both automatic and continuous data backup, and many other features including hardware evaluation, disk format and power conditions.

The new external hard drives will be released in the second quarter of 2011 according to regional shipment schedules. The M2 Portable series will begin shipments from mid April and the C2 Portable and M3 Station are expected to be available in May.