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The technology is being pursued by many in the industry as it packs in a far greater capacity on a disk's platter than current technology.

Toshiba, for one, has been using perpendicular storage methods in its 1.8in hard drives used in the iPod, as we reported in December. The technology will also be applied to its 0.85in disks, raising the maximum capacity from 6GB to 8GB.

Seagate's Momentus disk is the first of its perpendicular line. The data is stored on the disks platter using magnetic fields 'upwards' and 'downwards' rather than along the same plane as the disc.

This increases the amount of data stored to 245GB per square inch (Gbpsi), more than twice today's maximum of 110 Gbpsi used in conventional 'longitudinal' data storage.

The 5,400rpm Momentus disk is a 2.5in notebook drive, yet boasts a capacity of 160GB - 25 per cent roomier than any other notebook drive.

But the potential for perpendicular recording is greater still.

Perpendicular magnetic recording doesn't require any extra power, either, a key factor in designing a laptop. Additionally, the drives themselves are constructed in such a way that it is less prone to data loss or corruption as a result of heat.

Seagate's Momentus drive also incorporates full disk encryption. Hardware-based encryption minimises the hit on the main processor and because the encryption is managed independently of the operating system, is not prone to bugs or flaws in the code of third-party software.

'Mobile professionals are turning to notebooks to satisfy both their mobile and office computing needs,' said John Buttress, IDC's research manager for hard drives. 'They are also demanding stronger, easier to use encryption solutions to protect their sensitive information. Drive manufacturers such as Seagate that can deliver stronger security and higher capacity using technologies such as perpendicular recording will be in the sweet spot of market demand for notebooks.'

Seagate also introduced a range of other disk drives including an 8GB 1in drive for music players and handhelds, and the first in a new line of drives destined for use in cars. As such they have been designed to resist extremes of temperature, altitude and other difficult environments.