Seagate has introduced GoFlex Slim, its slimmest external hard drive, which works with a Mac or Windows PC. The GoFlex Slim, originally announced at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics show in January, is roughly the width of a pencil. Like previous GoSlim drives, the USB 3.0 interface is changeable, so the drive can support other interconnect technologies like Thunderbolt, eSATA, and FireWire.

The GoFlex Slim is actually a two-part device. There’s the drive itself and a detachable GoFlex USB 3.0 adapter with a white LED power/activity light which is compatible with USB 2.0, but can transfer data 10 times faster when connected to another USB 3.0 port.. The LED is always illuminated by default and lightly throbs when you access the disk. Remove the adapter and you can plug the GoFlex Slim into any other GoFlex compatible device. Seagate has also opened up the GoFlex standard so other manufacturers can build and ship GoFlex compatible devices royalty-free.

The internal hard drive is also quick at 7,200 revolutions per minute. The Slim is formatted as a FAT32 file system, so files can be transferred from either a Mac or Windows PC. The drive comes with backup software and the ability to encrypt files.The drive comes pre-formatted with a single NTFS partition and a copy of Memeo backup software. For the Mac users Seagate also includes a Paragon NTFS driver as well as a Mac version of Memeo Backup.

Seagate says that it will release in May a Mac version of the drive that is preformatted using HFS+ and comes with software drivers that enable Windows-based computers to have full access. The Mac version will be in white.

The GoFlex Slim 320GB comes with an 18-inch USB 3.0 cable and a three-year warranty. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $100.

Via Information week