By using updated hard disk drive technology, Toshiba has launched the INDUSTRY’S most advanced 2.5-inch hard disk drive to date. The MK1031GAS is the world’s first 100GB 2.5-inch HDD with an areal density of 80 gigabits of data per square inch. The key to achieving this was replacing the Pico Sliders attached to the drive’s heads, and which maintain the appropriate distance from the disk during read and write operations, with Femto Sliders that are 35 percent smaller and much lighter. Advances were also achieved in the thin-film technology for both the head and media.