Thanks to Mike Tedesco for noting that IBM Storage Technology has merged with Hitachi Storage forming the new Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Today HGST has announced that the Microdrive will take a four fold leap in capacity at the end of this year. "The areal density of the 4GB Microdrive is made possible by using a new five-layer version of Hitachi's patented "Pixie Dust" media technology. This data storage breakthrough is achieved by taking a three-atom-thick layer of the element ruthenium, a precious metal similar to platinum, and sandwiching it between three magnetic layers."