'The smaller and sleeker design of WD's redesigned My Passport drives, combined with the intuitive visual back-up experience of WD SmartWare software, makes this drive a smart and secure, travel-friendly storage choice,' said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group.

The encryption acts as a virtual padlock to keep users' data secure.

My Passport Essential and My Passport for Mac drives also feature user-selected password protection combined with military-grade 256-bit hardware encryption, which scrambles files before they are stored. After the first back-up, users' files are backed up automatically every time they change or add a file. The real-time visual interface of WD SmartWare software gives users a reassuring view of their back-up as it happens. When the My Passport Essential drive is plugged in for the first time, the simple and intuitive first back-up process launches automatically. Available now at select retailers and the WD online store, the new My Passport Essential and My Passport for Mac drives are offered in capacities ranging from 320 GB to 1 TB and come in a range of colours including Pacific Blue, Real Red, Cool Silver and Midnight Black. The new portable drives with WD SmartWare software visually present consumers' data in a control centre, providing them peace of mind that their photos, videos and files are securely protected. The new My Passport drives are more than 20 percent smaller than the previous generation My Passport. WD, a provider of external storage solutions, has introduced its smaller, smarter and more secure My Passport Essential and My Passport for Mac portable external hard drives featuring the company’s new SmartWare software and equipped with hardware-based encryption.

My wd smartware app is gone