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A-Data's Shock Resistant Portable HDD Not Afraid of Water

Paul Lilly — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:25:35 -0500

There's always some jackass at every party who still thinks it's funny to push people into the pool while fully clothed. What if they were carrying around a portable hard drive filled with family photos, work documents, government secrets, and other data that's now drenched in water and chlorine?

Yeah, that's probably never happened to anyone in the history of portable hard drives, but there's always a first. If you're lugging around A-Data's new SH93 mobile drive, you won't have to lose any sleep at night wondering what you'd do in exactly that situation. Heck, you wouldn't even need to get out of the pool right away, because according to A-Data, it's SH93 portable HDD, wrapped in a rubber-plastic mix and special cushion materials, has passed the 1M waterproof test for 30 minutes. Go ahead and practice your backstroke!

You could even drop it out of a second story window for a quick air-dry. After all, the rugged drive also passed the military standard MIL-STD-810F drop test.

Available in 250GB, 320GB, 500GB, and 640GB capacities, you'll probably never subject your portable HDD to the above abuses, but hey, it's good to know you can fumble your beer while watching the Super Bowl and not worry about frying your portable backup.

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: A-Data via Legit Reviews

Time, Inc. Looking to Bump Out Amazon's Kindle

Paul Lilly — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:46:41 -0500

Amazon may not have invented the e-book, but it sure did popularize the genre of electronics with its Kindle reader, and now everyone wants in on the action. The latest with intent to enter the e-book fray is Time, Inc., says Owen Thomas from NBCBayArea.com, who claims to have seen an internal document detailing the company's intention.

According to Thomas, the presentation, titled "New Platforms & Business Models for Publishers," is dated June 25, 2009 and contains handwritten notes updating the paper. Thomas says the presentation was circulated as recently as August, which would indicate that Time, Inc. plans to make a move within the next few months.

"We're speaking with a number of hardware and software companies as well as other content companies about various projects," said Time, Inc. spokeswoman Dawn Bridges when asked about the project. "At this point we don't have anything else to say publicly."

Thomas says the presentation points out Time, Inc.'s awareness of the publishing opportunity presented by the emergence of e-book readers and other portable reading devices, and "whoever defines the interface wins."

Samsung Releases New 250GB 1.8-inch HDD

Andy Salisbury — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:54:26 -0500

In the interest of bolstering their line of portable hard drives, Samsung recently announced their newest 1.8-inch drive, which supports capacities up to 250GB.

The new drive, known as the Spinpoint N3U, will come with a native USB controller instead of a PATA controller, allowing it to work without any data conversion. This also provides fewer potential points of failure. The drive will use up to 40 percent less power than a drive of similar capacity, and can withstand a free fall drop of up to 50 centimeters.

Shipments are slated to begin in mid-July, and the drive is expected to cost $199.

Image Credit: Samsung

Freeware Files: Five Portable Software Suites for your USB Key

David Murphy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:30:00 -0500

If you're like me, your USB key should come with its own flame retardant coating. That's because I tend to use my little four-gigabyte device to great excess on a near-daily basis. It's an easy fix for transferring files from a desktop PC to a laptop, and it's great for carrying batches of files I need to access (especially if I'm without an Internet connection, making Dropbox useless). If I'm heading over to a friend's house, I can slap a movie on the drive for us to watch on an attached PC or home theater device. I can throw down a game or two if I'm going to be travelling and don't feel like reading about overpriced devices that will pet my cat for me. USB keys are more than just a geek's trusty friends. They're uber-tools in their own right.

Application suites for USB keys are another popular way of extending the functionality of your desktop into the portable realm. Install these batches of software and you can take your favorite programs along with you wherever you go--perfect for when you're using a computer that isn't yours, yet you would prefer to be able to access to a better range of apps than Windows' default programs. Better still, you can stick these batches of applications on smaller USB keys to extend the life of these sub-gigabyte devices. The storage might stink, but the functionality will rule.

[Update: Removed one entry due to complaints of GPL violations -- Editor]

PortableApps

What it does: The alpha and omega of portable application suites is conveniently called, "PortableApps." Were there any software suites on this list that you would have already heard of prior to this article, this would be the one. And there's a good reason why. PortableApps packs a great deal of functionality into its three software bundles, which take up space ranging from 1.3MB to 355MB. You get the standard suite of Mozilla applications, a portable antivirus scanner, games, the OpenOffice suite, and more! Check out the full list here.

Download it here!

Lupo PenSuite

What it does: If you thought PortableApps was packed, just wait. The three versions of Lupo PenSuite range from 3MB to 300MB in space. The latter includes a more than 200 apps themed around nine main categories: Internet, Multimedia, Graphics, System, Security, Office, Utility, Extra, and Games. Highlights included a portable version of uTorrent; more audio editing and CD ripping/burning apps then you ever thought you needed; Gimp for photo editing; CPU-Z and JkDefrag Plus for system information and drive cleaning; CCleaner for keeping your system clutter-free; and Notepad++ for adding colorful syntax to your file editing. I tried to say all of those in one breath, but failed. Check out the full list of apps here.

Download it here!

MyApps

What it does: Tired of grabbing application suites in which you only end up using five percent of the listed programs? Think you can do better than your average suite developer when it comes to picking and choosing the top apps that should go in a bundle? Alright, tough person. Hit up the Regional Support Centre Scotland North & East's official Web site and create your own customized MyApps listing. Pick the programs you want to have on your key, and the site will automatically create the single install file for you. It's as easy as that (or, if you're stubborn, grab one of the three pre-built packages: AccessApps, LearnApps, or TeachApps)

Download it here!

Mojopac

What it does: I lied. Mojopac isn't an application suite so much as it is an entire virtualized operating system--sort-of. Load this onto your USB key and you can boot into a separate Windows environment on any Windows XP-based PC. While the program ties into existing files on the system's hard drive to create this second operating system, the contents of said OS remain yours to install programs into, modify, and tweak. When you're done, shut down your personalized OS and it's as if you were never sitting at the attached PC to begin with. Neat, huh?

Download it here!

Install David Murphy on your USB drive by first befriending him @acererak. He's only 35MB, so no need to worry about space concerns.

A-Data Releases Colorful External Notebook Storage

Paul Lilly — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:20:31 -0500

A-Data's newest external hard drives employ you to "enjoy technology with a touch of style." And by that, A-Data means you should decide between rolling with sweet pink, sapphire blue, purple, or a white color scheme for your portable storage needs.

The color selection comes courtesy of A-Data's CH91 external HDD line. Coated in a metal-like paint spray, the new drives are available in capacities up to 500GB (250GB and 320GB also available) and support Microsoft's ReadyBoost technology. The USB powered drives measure 134mm x 82mm x 16.7mm, feature a blinking LED to indicate power and activity, and comes with a USB Y cable, suede pouch, and backup software.

No word yet on price or availability.

Polaroid PoGo

Gordon Mah Ung — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0500

If you still get warm and fuzzy thinking about those James Garner and Mariette Hartley Polaroid commercials, it’s time to let go of the past. Traditional film is barely hanging on, and Polaroid has completely ceased production of instant film.

But Polaroid hasn’t abandoned its interest in prints. The company is trying to rekindle the instant-print picture industry with its new Polaroid PoGo portable printer. This 4.75”x2.75”x1” device is the first to use Zink Imaging’s Zero Ink paper. Instead of shooting dots of ink onto a piece of paper, the PoGo uses a thermal head to heat up tiny crystals embedded in each sheet of paper. Polaroid says standard dpi rules don’t apply, but the resolution is comparable to 300 dpi and each sheet has about 100 billion crystals in it. Each pic will cost about 33 cents to print.

Fun yet flawed, the PoGo tries to recapture the fun of a Polaroid.

The PoGo holds 10 2”x3” borderless sheets of paper. On a full charge, you can get up to 20 prints out of it, if you’re lucky—not enough, in our book. It doesn’t help the PoGo that its power brick is about the same size as the printer itself.

When we connected our camera via the PoGo’s USB type A port, the printer cranked out a photo in 30 seconds. You can also hook up your Bluetooth-enabled camera phone to print pictures. Or maybe not. Three of our phones failed to print via Bluetooth. After browsing Polaroid’s list of approved phones, we came to the conclusion that you have a 50 percent chance of printing from your handset. It’s not Polaroid’s fault, though: Bluetooth is one of the most botched technology rollouts in history, but Polaroid will certainly get the blame.

That’s unfortunate because there’s a lot to be said for the PoGo’s fun factor. Each print has a light adhesive backing, so you can stick your prints anywhere. Image quality is average, but the PoGo isn’t about creating crystal clear photos. It’s about the instantaneous fun of being able to give a picture to someone right after you snap it.

The PoGo is definitely a generation 1.0 product, and as such, we recommend it only for someone willing to overlook its numerous flaws in image quality, battery life, and Bluetooth connectivity. We do, however, look forward to the second-generation PoGo.

Addonics Enclosure Gives You RAID on the Go

Paul Lilly — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:02:25 -0500

Power users who have dreamed of outfitting their portable backup solution in a RAID 0 array can now do so thanks to Addonics' new Portable Dual Drive RAID enclosure (AE25RDESU). Nervous Nellies are covered too, with RAID 1 providing a backup for your backup. The handheld device accepts up to two 2.5-inch SATA drives inside its "heat resistant aluminum" chassis, or pick up the optional SATA-CF hard disk adapter and install up to four CompactFlash cards. Other notable features include:

Easy installation and removal of hard drive
USB 2.0/1.1 and eSATA support
RAID configuration with DIP switch or GUI configuration
Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD, BIG (Concatenation), SAFE50, SAFE33, or GUI mod using built-in hardware RAID
Can be powered by USB port

For backup duties Addonics throws in DriveClone software and the device itself includes a backup button the company claims "can be configured to provide the convenience of one button backup of any critical files or folders."

Pricing has been set to $100 and can be purchased now.

Image Credit: Addonics

MSI Launches New GX620 and GX720 Gaming Notebooks

Paul Lilly — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:41:51 -0500

Laptops built around Intel's Centrino 2 platform are on the verge of marching into the market place en masse, and MSI appears ready to go with a pair of new gaming notebooks. The top-tier motherboard maker has launched the GX620 (15.4" WSXGA+) and GX720 (17" WSXGA+) Centrino 2 notebooks with each one sporting Nvidia's GeForce 9600M GT graphics with 512MB GDDR3. Other features include:

Intel PM45 Chipset
Up to 4GB DDR2
2.0M Webcam
802.11 b/g/n
320GB SATA Hard Drive
Blu-ray DVD Player
HDMI port
Windows Vista Home Premium

Quick launch sensors above the keyboard will give gamers the ability to activate MSI's Turbo Drive Engine Technology, which "overclock the GX620/GX720, increasing the speed of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor by as much as 15 percent." Users can also utilize MSI's ECO Engine and alternate between 5 different operating modes -- Gaming, Movie, Presentation, Office, or Turbo Battery -- to optimize battery life.

No word yet on pricing or availability, but don't be surprised to see more paper Centrino 2 notebook launches in the coming days/weeks.

Image Credit: MSI