Nothing beats the feeling of carrying a hard drive in your pocket, right? Well, maybe not. But you must admit the announcement of Western Digital offering pocket sized hard drives in 40 and 80 gigabyte sizes is pretty cool news.

Something that we can all get excited about, these new pocket sized drives are most likely going to be much more than a simple fad. I predict that we will be seeing these little turkeys popping up all over.

Western Digital has introduced two new portable storage devices: 40GB and 80GB Passport hard drives that feature USB 2.0 connectivity and bus-powered operation, eliminating the need for a separate power supply. Their interiors contain 5400RPM 2.5-inch Scorpio EIDE drives and Data Lifeguard protection against data loss, while their exteriors offer shock-absorbing cases. Western Digital expects to ship them next month for US$199 (40GB) and $249 (80GB). Mac OS X v10.1.5 is required.