Hard drives aren't the most exciting thing on the planet, but they are when it is a 12Gb 1 inch hard drive from Seagate that could spell the demise of MP3 players over music players on mobile phones.

Seagate has announced the Seagate ST1.3 Series 12GB 1-inch hard drive at 3GSM in Barcelona, Spain making Sony Ericsson's announcement of a 4Gb storage facility in its new W950i handset look decidedly diminutive.

"As the demand for portable digital music and video grows, mobile device manufacturers will need ample storage capacities," said John Rydning, IDC's research manager for Hard Disk Drives. "Small form factor drives such as Seagate's ST1.3 provide a cost effective, high capacity storage solution for these device manufacturers compared to other storage alternatives."

The new ST1.3 Series hard drive delivers new features specifically targeted at mobile media consumers and measures a tiny 40x30x5 mm.

The Seagate ST1.3 Series will begin shipping in the third calendar quarter of 2006, however the company hasn't announced whether and mobile phone manufacturer are going to be using the drive in the near future.

>> Seagate - Official website of Seagate