To commemorate the 10th anniversary of its My Passport line of portable external hard drives, WD (www.wdc.com) is introducing a new design for its external hard drive lines.

The My Passport Ultra – Metal Edition drive and My Passport Ultra – Anniversary Edition drive represent a decade of refinement for WD’s portable drive line, according to Tony Tate, vice president and general manager of WD’s Content Solutions unit. They feature metal exteriors, up to 2TB capacities in smaller enclosures, content protection, including backup, and cloud integration for anywhere access to personal content.

The My Passport Ultra – Metal Edition and Anniversary Edition drives incorporate a unique and innovative radial-spin-design aluminum enclosure, which provides attractive styling and extra protection against the everyday knocks experienced in the hands of today’s mobile consumer, says Tate. In addition, the drive offers users hardware encryption and password protection to prevent unauthorized use of the drive in the event of loss or theft.

The My Passport Ultra — Metal Edition drive includes WD SmartWare Pro software with Dropbox integration, allowing users to back up content from their computer to the drive and from the drive to the cloud, and retrieve content from their Dropbox account to the My Passport drive. My Passport Ultra – Metal Edition drive is available from the WD store at wdstore.com and at select retailers and distributors.

My Passport Ultra – Anniversary Edition drive is anticipated to be available in limited quantities beginning early September. My Passport Ultra – Metal Edition 1TB drive has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $89; the 2TB model has an MSRP of $139.00.  Both drives will offer a regional three-year limited warranty.