There are many reasons to be excited about Windows Phone 7, but a bleak spot has been Microsoft’s message — or lack thereof — on user-expandable storage, and the situation finally came to a head last week when AT&T told Samsung Focus owners to hold off on buying microSD cards altogether until Microsoft had a chance to certify some for use with the platform. How did it get to this point? Why wasn’t it communicated to users that this was such a problem before the phones ever went on sale? And if it really is such a problem, why did Samsung dare to make the microSD slot user-accessible in the Focus the first place? All good questions — and in talking with a number of sources the past few days, we’ve pieced together some of the answers. Read on.
We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to external hard drives, and given a large number of people base their decision primarily on price-per-gigabyte, a manufacturer has to offer something compelling if they want to stand out from the crowd. Iomega’s latest eGo drive offers both 1TB and USB 3.0, complete with a semi-ruggedized chassis. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
There’s not much to say about the eGo’s design that you can’t see in the photos. The 1TB eGo is available in black, silver or the eye-catching red of our review unit, while drive protection is a combination of the rubbery cross and Iomega Drop Guard for locking the drive-heads down should it fall. That red brace looks distinctive but does add bulk.
Ports are limited to a single USB 3.0 – backward compatible with USB 2.0 – and Iomega include a double-headed cable should just one port not supply enough power. There’s no AC adapter option. Iomega supply the drive formatted for PCs, so OS X users will have to reformat first.
In fact, the drive as a whole feels PC-centric. Plug in the eGo 1TB and a virtual CD drive is loaded, offering the 256-bit encryption software. The annoyance factor of that will depend on whether you leave auto-run turned on in Windows, since there’s no apparent way to delete it; it’s also worth remembering that, while the software works, it’s PC-only and so you won’t be able to access it on a Mac. Oddly, while the virtual CD seems intended to ensure the Iomega software is never deleted, the company doesn’t bundle their Iomega Protection Suite on there. Instead, you have to download that separately; you get a single license, and it’s also PC-only.
In use, the drive was fast though fell short of the rates we observed from the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5TB we reviewed back in September. Over USB 3.0, the Iomega managed around 81.6 MB/s average read rates and 72.1 MB/s average write rates. With no FireWire option – unlike the modular Seagate – it’s not best suited to Mac users, but at $159.99 RRP (with street prices more like $128) it’s a reasonable option for PC owners on the move. Still, we wish Iomega would sort out their software situation, and opt for either downloads or virtual drives rather than both.
OWC has been offering external storage solutions in its On-the-Go Pro family for a while now. The thing that all of the drives have in common is that they all get the power they need to operate directly from the USB port so the user needs no AC adapter to use the drives for data storage on the go.
The company has added a new version to all three different OTG Pro class of drives. The new 1TB solution spins at 5400 rpm and can be had in four versions right now. The four versions include the triple interface unit with FireWire 400/800 and USB 2.0, the FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 combo interface version, and the USB 2.0 only version.
OWC also offers a USB 3.0 only version of the drives. The Triple interface 1TB solution is $179.99, the combo interface is $159.99, and USB 2.0 only is $144.99 and the USB 3.0 only is $159.99. A 750GB capacity with 7200RPM speed is also available.
LaCie has outed its latest external hard-drive, and rather than use regular designer Neil Poulton, they’ve handed the crayons over to Philippe Starck. The LaCie Starck Mobile USB 3.0 is, as the name suggests, a USB 3.0 drive, with 500GB capacity and a 2mm-thick aluminum shell.
It comes with a copy of LaCie Backup Assistant and a year’s subscription to 10GB of online storage. The LaCie Starck Mobile USB 3.0 drive will be priced at $109.99 in the US or £89.99 in the UK.
Press Release:
LaCie Brings Industry-Leading Speeds to High Design: LaCie Starck Mobile Drive USB 3.0
LONDON, UK (9TH November, 2010) – LaCie announced today the latest addition to its USB 3.0 portfolio, bringing the fastest interface on the market to the award-winning design of Philippe Starck – LaCie Starck Mobile USB 3.0.
USB 3.0 Technology
Reaching speeds up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0*, the Starck Mobile USB 3.0 is an ideal gift for technology enthusiasts who demand stylish aesthetics with leading technology.
Ensuring connectivity is never an issue, the LaCie Starck Mobile USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0 – simply connect it into any PC or Mac for a seamless plug-and-play experience.
Strength of Metal
Encased in 2mm of sturdy aluminium, the LaCie Starck Mobile USB 3.0 is one the most resistant choices for consumer hard drives on the market. The aluminium offers resilience from blunders, improved heat dissipation, and is fully recyclable.
User-Friendly Software Suite
The LaCie Starck Mobile USB 3.0 comes with LaCie Setup Assistant software to easily install your drive on PC and Mac. It also includes LaCie Backup Assistant, which helps make automatic backup a snap. In addition, you get 10GB of Wuala Online Storage included for one year to securely store, share and sync your data online.
Availability
The LaCie Starck Mobile USB 3.0 will be available in a 500GB capacity through LaCie Online Store, LaCie Corner, LaCie Reseller+ and LaCie Storage Partner starting at the suggested retail price of £89.90 (Incl.VAT). For more information, visit www.lacie.com/uk.
*Based on theoretical rate given by USB-IF. More information visit www.usb.org.
When it comes to external storage that you will take with you on the road most of us want the drive to offer good storage capacity, but to be compact as well so it’s easy to carry. A company called G-Technology has unveiled a new external storage solution called the G-Drive that is very thin at only 128.6mm L x 82mm W x 9.9mm H.
Inside the slick looking little enclosure hides a new Hitachi GST 7mm Travelstar Z5K320 HDD. That thin Hitachi drive makes the G-Drive the thinnest 2.5-inch external storage device in the world. The drive is also quiet and rugged.
The G-Drive is formatted for Mac computers right out of the box and is Time machine ready for backing up Mac data. Power for the drive comes from the USB port and the 320GB HDD sells for $99.99. You should be able to reformat and use the G-Drive on a Windows machine if needed.
LaCie has never shied away from fat external hard-drives, and now they’re pumped up the volume with the new LaCie d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0. On offer is a claimed 20-percent speed increase in the dual-drive 2big USB 3.0, together with a new 6TB model pairing two 3TB HDDs in a RAID setup.
In fact, LaCie is quoting 306MB/s transfers for the 2big, making good use of that USB 3.0 connection. Meanwhile, the single-drive d2 USB 3.0 also gets a speed increase – up to 156MB/s – along with a 3TB model.
Each is clad in LaCie’s usual, eye-catching aluminum housing. No word on pricing at this stage, but LaCie tells us they should have official numbers in November; the current 4TB 2big USB 3.0 is $579.99, so we’re not expecting the 6TB version to be cheap.
Press Release:
LaCie 2Big USB 3.0 Breaks 300MB/s Barrier with 3TB Hard Drives
Today, LaCie demonstrates technology leadership with the availability of 3TB hard drives and the demonstration of record speeds in two of its professional storage solutions – LaCie d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0.
Thanks to the inclusion of 3TB hard drives and the performance of USB 3.0, LaCie’s 2big USB 3.0, now available in 6TB, achieves a dramatic 20% speed boost by reaching 306MB/s–the fastest performance of any 2-bay RAID solution to-date. The d2 USB 3.0 also demonstrates a significant speed increase of 156MB/s with the inclusion of a 3TB hard drive.
“There is no question heavy data users continue to demand higher capacities, and in turn faster transfer speeds,” said Erwan Girard, Business Unit Manager for Professional Products. “Today, LaCie answered this challenge by introducing the largest available capacity and fastest transfer speeds in a single solution, providing users with increased backup efficiency and reduced risk for backup interruption.”
Availability
The LaCie 2big USB 3.0 6TB and LaCie d2 USB 3.0 3TB will be available worldwide, at the beginning of November. For more information, visit www.lacie.com.
Apricorn has been offering its Aegis Padlock portable HDD for a while now. The drive is notable for the keypad on the front that secures the drive preventing access to the drive unless the correct PIN is typed in. The company has announced a new version of the drive that is the highest capacity encrypted HDD on the market.
The drive now has 750GB of storage and sells for right under $200. It connects to your computer with an integrated USB cable and in addition to the PIN keypad on the front the data on the HDD is encrypted. The data encryption is military grade FIPS PUB 197 validated.
That means that it can secure even the most sensitive data for the user. The drive has a brute force self-destruct feature where when the drive senses a hacking attempt it will delete the encryption key and lock the drive. The keypad is also wear resistant to hide the use patterns from pushing the same keys repeatedly.
USB 3.0 is here in force and for users looking to take advantage of USB 3.0 gear on machines that don’t have native USB 3.0 ports new add-in cards are needed before you can move up to the faster speeds the new interface offers. Edge Tech Corp has announced a new complete line of USB [...]
Western Digital has announced updates to three of its external storage solutions including the My Passport Essential, My Passport Essential SE, and the My Book Essential external hard drive. All three of the products have USB 3.0 to allow for faster data transfers of up to 5Gb/s when used with USB 3.0, but are also compatible with USB 2.0 ports.
The most significant update for the three drives comes to the My Book Essential, which now comes in a 3TB capacity along with the previously available 1TB and 2TB capacity drives. The My Passport Essential is the smallest portable drive offered by WD and can be had in up to 500GB and comes in five colors.
The My Passport Essential SE comes in black, silver, red, blue, and white colors with 750GB and 1TB capacities offered. All of the drives also ship with WD SmartWare software for automatic and continuous backups. Pricing is $99.99 for the My Passport Essential, the Essential SE ranges from $129.99 to $169.99 and the My Book Essential is up to $249.99 for the new 3TB offering.
Toshiba is the latest firm to jump into the USB 3.0 external storage market, introducing the Toshiba Canvio 3.0 with capacities ranging from 500GB to 1TB. As we’ve seen with rival models, there’s not a huge amount differentiating the Canvio 3.0 from previous USB 2.0 versions, beyond the faster, SuperSpeed interface.
Still, if you’re storing big chunks of data and your computer has a USB 3.0 port, you may as well shuffle those gigabytes at a faster rate. Toshiba also preload NTI BackupNow EZ, which offers PC owners (though not those with Macs) various backup options, together with 256-bit encryption and various shock sensors and other monitoring tools.
So far, so speedy and capacious. The Toshiba Canvio 3.0 range is available now, priced at $119.99 for the 500GB, $129.99 for the 750GB and $179.99 for the 1TB. That’s pretty much in line with Iomega’s USB 3.0 HDD range.
Press Release:
TOSHIBA UNVEILS CANVIO™ 3.0 PORTABLE HARD DRIVES WITH SUPERSPEED USB 3.0 INTERFACE
Canvio™ 3.0 Delivers Up to 10x the Speed for the Same Price as USB 2.0 Drives
IRVINE, Calif., September 28, 2010 – With the ever-increasing demands of digital media, Toshiba introduces the Canvio™ 3.0 portable hard disk drive (HDD) featuring a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface. For the same price as competing USB 2.0 drives, Canvio 3.0 drives offer blazing fast file transfers at up to 10 times the speed of USB 2.0 drives. Available in storage capacities of 500 gigabytes (GB1), 750GB or one terabyte (TB1), Canvio 3.0 drives feature simple plug-and-play operation, pre-loaded backup software, and backward compatibility with personal computers and other devices equipped with USB 2.0 ports.
“Power digital consumers, and even typical PC users, are storing high definition video content, high resolution digital images, and multi-gigabyte music collections. When you consider that a single HD video can easily be three times the size of the same video in standard definition, it’s easy to see why file transfer speeds are just as important as storage capacity,” said Manuel Camarena, product manager for consumer storage at Toshiba Storage Device Division. “With the integration of the USB 3.0 interface, Canvio 3.0 drives significantly improve file transfer performance for large media files and dramatically minimize the wait time for backup and recovery processes.”
Building on the success of its current Canvio Portable Hard Drive product family, Canvio 3.0 drives feature the same easy-to-use features users have come to expect from Toshiba portable hard drives. Windows™-based NTI® BackupNow EZ™ software provides step-by-step and fully-customizable backup capabilities, including the option to backup specific folders, certain file types, and conduct a system backup. The software can also restore the entire system if Windows is unable to start. In addition, complete password-protection with up to 256-bit data encryption prevents unauthorized access to data and a special Drive Space Alert monitor sends an onscreen update when storage space is running low. On the inside, an Internal Shock Sensor and Ramp Loading Technology keep data safe during day-to-day movement from a desk, pocket, bag, or beyond.
The stylish Canvio 3.0 product line also continues Toshiba’s high quality industrial design, including its pocket-sized, rounded rectangular form factor with rubberized edges and high gloss black finish with red, green, blue, white, or silver graphical accents. The focus on design extends even to Toshiba’s environmental efforts. The Canvio 3.0 product maintains the same dimensions as previous Canvio products which are 25 percent smaller2, reduce the quantity of materials used in production, and feature product packaging using 100 percent recyclable materials.
Toshiba’s Canvio 3.0 Portable Hard Drives and the complete lineup of Canvio Portable Hard Drives may be found at major retailers within North America and online outlets. For a full list of retailers, please visit www.wheretobuy.toshibastorage.com.
Estimated Single Unit Prices (USD) by capacities are:
