Seagate, the world leader in computer hard disk design and manufacturing, revealed on Thursday the world’s first 1.5-terabyte desktop, named Barracuda 7200.11. This is a remarkable breakthrough, considering that the previous highest capacity was of 1TB.

The huge capacity-jump was possible with the help of the perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology capable of delivering more reliable storage for desktop computers, workstations, desktop RAID, gaming and high-end PCs, and USB/FireWire/eSATA external storage.

The Barracuda 720.11 hard drive came as a response to increasing demand for desktop and notebook computers with unprecedented storage capacity, as Seagate executive vice president and general manager Personal Compute Business Michael Wingert said.

Speaking of notebook computers, Seagate also brought to light Momentus 5400.6 and Momentus 7200.4, two new 2.5-inch half-terabyte 5400- and 7200-rpm drives which combine capacity and mobility with durability for mainstream and high-performance notebook computers, external storage solutions, PCs and industrial applications that require small form factor, the company explained.

The two Momentus are part of the fourth generation of Seagate laptop components to use the PRM technology. Momentus 5400.5 combines a Serial ATA 3GB/second interface and capacities from 120GB to 500GB, with 8Mb cache, while Momentus 7200.4 combines a Serial ATA 3 GB/second interface with maximized battery life and capacities ranging from 250GB to 500GB, with 16MB.

According to Seagate, both Momentus come with G-Force Protection, free-fall sensor technology to prevent drive damage and data loss in case of impact, favor longer work sessions between battery charges and are inaudible, thanks to the Soft-Sonic fluid-dynamic bearing motors and Quiet Step ramp load technology.

Seagate announced the availability of Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB drive in August this year, while the two Momentus should be released in the fourth quarter of 2008.