Iomega (http://www.iomega.com) has announced the worldwide availability of a new generation of single-drive Iomega eGo portable and desktop hard drives, including a new smaller Compact model with up to 1TB in capacity, new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 portable and desktop models, and new high capacity FireWire 800 Mac edition portable and desktop HDDs with up to 2TB of capacity.

Iomega now has two different USB interface versions of its eGo Portable Hard Drive: the new 500GB SuperSpeed USB 3.0-powered eGo Portable Hard Drive, and three capacity flavors of the new Iomega Compact Edition USB 2.0 eGo Portable Hard Drive. All eGo portable models are designed for slipping into a laptop bag or pocket to take anywhere your laptop goes. The USB interface eGo portable models require no external power supply.

The new charcoal gray Iomega SuperSpeed USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drive boasts transfer speeds up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0 models. The new 500GB SuperSpeed USB 3.0 eGo drive works with the 3.0 standard offered on native USB 3.0 Windows laptop and desktop computers. The USB 3.0-powered eGo Portable Hard Drive is also backward compatible for USB 2.0. Conversely, Iomega offers USB 3.0 adapter cards (sold separately) to insert into your USB 2.0 laptop or desktop so you can experience native USB 3.0 transfer speeds of up to 5 GB per second.

The new Iomega USB 2.0 Compact Edition eGo Portable Hard Drive sports a smaller enclosure than the previous generation of eGo portable hard drives, making it one of the smallest 2.5-inch HDD portable hard drives in the market today. Available in durable Ruby Red, Midnight Blue and Silver enclosures, the new Compact Edition eGo Portable Hard Drive is offered in 320GB, 500GB and 1TB capacity sizes.

Iomega has also just announced the new Iomega 1TB eGo BlackBelt Mac Edition Portable Hard Drive (pictured), which features dual FireWire 800 ports and one USB 2.0 port. The new 1TB eGo BlackBelt Mac Edition Portable Hard Drive includes a backward compatible FireWire 800 to 400 cable for those users who only have FireWire 400 ports on their laptop or desktop computers. The new eGo BlackBelt Mac Edition drive also includes Iomega's Drop Guard Xtreme, utilizing the Iomega Power Grip band, which helps protect the BlackBelt eGo drive from accidental drops of up to seven feet. The drive is expected to be available at Apple stores later this month.

The new Iomega eGo portable and desktop hard drives are available now. The new 500GB Iomega SuperSpeed USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drive is available for US$129.99. The new Iomega USB 2.0 Compact Edition eGo Portable Hard Drive is $94.99 for the 320GB model, $114.99 for the 500GB model, and $199.99 for 1TB model. The new Iomega USB 3.0 eGo Desktop Hard Drive is available for $149.99 for the 1TB model, and $229.99 for the 2TB model.

The new Iomega Mac Edition eGo Desktop Hard Drive is available for $159.99 for the 1TB model and $249.99 for the 2TB model; and the new Iomega 1TB BlackBelt eGo Mac Edition Portable Hard Drive is $229.99.

The Iomega USB 3.0 ExpressCard Adapter for USB 2.0 laptops is available for $39.99, and the Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express Adaptor for PC desktops is $39.99.