In addition to the new 1TB model, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini is available in nine other “Quad Interface” models offering a variety of speed, capacity, and drive type options:
5200/5400RPM
250GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $119.99
320GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $129.99
500GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $154.99
640GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $189.00
1.0TB 5200RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $299.99
7200RPM
320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $144.99
500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $189.99
Solid State Drive featuring the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD
50GB SSD FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $299.99
100GB SSD FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $469.99
200GB SSD FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $849.99
All OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini models, including the new 1TB model, are available for immediate ordering from Other World Computing at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB and are compatible with Apple OS 8.6 and later including the latest 10.6 “Snow Leopard”; and Windows 98SE or later operating systems; and come ready for Plug and Play ease of use with all supported interface connecting cables, a $200 retail value disk utility software bundle, and an industry leading three year complete solution warranty.
For more information on the complete OWC Storage Solution line, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/
Portable & Bus Powered For Mobile Lifestyles
Measuring a compact 3.8″ W x 5.5″ L x 1.1″ H, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini offers storage capacity up to 1TB – enough space for up to 1,000,000 JPEG photos, 500 DVD movies, 76 hours of digital video, or 350,000 MP3 songs – in its fanless, aircraft grade brushed aluminum enclosure. Because it’s bus-powered, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini doesn’t require an AC adapter, which makes it ideal for in-the-field business professionals, creative/entertainment professionals, students, and anyone else needing to back up data, transport large files between computers, gain additional storage capacity, and even perform video editing and live music recording.
Built For Performance & Flexibility
Designed to emulate the award winning history of the larger desktop sized Mercury Elite-AL Pro, the new Elite-AL Pro mini portable storage solution features the fastest 2.5″ SATA hard drive mechanisms up to 7200RPM as well as OWC’s Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD for demanding A/V, digital photography, professional music, graphics, general data, and Time Machine ready storage needs. With two FireWire 800 ports, users can “daisy chain” multiple devices, connect legacy FireWire 400 devices via the included 800 to 400 connecting cable, and can even utilize the fastest data transfer interface, eSATA, while bus powering via FireWire. The Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini can also be used with storage capable digital cameras and camcorders with FireWire and/or USB data ports for fast, on-location backups of images and video.
“We’re very pleased to have our renowned Mercury storage line achieve another industry first,” said Larry O’Connor, CEO, Other World Computing. “With the highest capacity and most interfaces in a portable design, our ‘mini’ delivers massive, professional grade data storage/backup to the modern mobile computing society.”
WD®, the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its fastest My Book® external hard drive ever — the new My Book 3.0 desktop external drives are among the first devices certified with the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface. With an interface that’s up to 10 times faster than the previous-generation USB 2.0 interface, the high-performance My Book 3.0 drive significantly reduces the time it takes to open and save large files.
Offered standalone, or in a kit that includes a USB 3.0 PCIe (gen2) adapter card, the 1 TB My Book 3.0 drive is available now at select retailers and shopwd.com. The 2 TB model is expected later this week.
The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface on My Book 3.0 drives provides transfer rates(1) of up to 5 gigabits-per-second, allowing users to open and save files up to 4.7 times faster than USB 2.0. The new My Book 3.0 drive is compliant with the USB-IF SuperSpeed USB 3.0 standard to provide compatibility with other USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 products. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1.
Market research firm In-Stat expects the worldwide market for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 to reach over 1 billion units in 2013, representing over 25 percent of the market by 2013 (Sept. 2009).
“Consumers no longer have to wait for technology to keep up with their ideas. With the new super speed My Book 3.0 drives, consumers have the speed they need for resource-intensive video editing, animation, and graphic design applications,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group.
Price and Availability
The new My Book 3.0 drives have 1 TB capacity and a 2-year limited warranty. My Book 3.0 drives are available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. MSRP for the My Book 3.0 drive 1 TB is $179.99 USD. MSRP for the My Book 3.0 drive in a kit that includes a USB 3.0 PCIe (gen2) adapter card is $199.99 USD. The 2 TB My Book 3.0 drive is expected later this week.
My Book 3.0
The new My Book 3.0 drives feature:
- SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface with transfer speeds up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0 to accelerate data transfers with the fastest available interface;
- Ideas accelerated – resource-intensive video editing, animation, graphic design, and large media files can be saved so quickly that you no longer have to wait for the technology to keep up with your ideas;
- Sleek, streamlined design features a premium finish that will look great sitting on your shelf;
- Compatible(2) with USB 2.0 ports – USB 3.0 interface is backward compatible with USB 2.0 with no additional hardware needed;
- WD quality inside and out – designed with the same commitment to quality that has made My Book external hard drives the number one selling drives in the world;
- Planet-friendly, small retail recyclable box made from recycled materials to minimize waste;
- Ready to plug-and-play with Windows® PCs; and,
- Two-year limited warranty.
“Television service providers are constantly looking for ways to deliver new and exciting services to satisfy existing customers and attract new customers,” said John M. Paul, executive vice president of Products at Sling Media. “The surprisingly small, easy-to-install Slingbox 700U delivers ‘TV Everywhere’ services at a low acquisition and installation cost because it connects via USB on the existing set-top box and self-configures.”
The Slingbox 700U eliminates the need for television service providers to invest in the development of their own placeshifting set-top boxes in order to offer “TV Everywhere” services. The newest Slingbox is easy to set up and can help television service providers reduce training and installation costs. The Slingbox 700U can significantly reduce time-to-market for television service providers wanting to add “TV Everywhere” services to their portfolio.
“The Slingbox 700U is an ideal device to implement our ‘TV Everywhere’ strategy for existing customers with ViP series satellite TV receivers,” said Ira Bahr, chief marketing officer for DISH Network. “Sling Media has developed an easy-to-install Slingbox that greatly expands the number of customers who can enjoy ‘TV Everywhere’ around the house, or anywhere outside the home, on their laptops or mobile smart phones.”
How It Works
The Slingbox 700U’s sleek, modern and ultra-slim enclosure only hints at the technical sophistication inside. It is powered through a USB connection which removes the need for any other wires or connectors. In real time, the Slingbox 700U decrypts incoming video, transcodes it and then re-encrypts it for secure transmission over the Internet.
The Slingbox 700U is one in a suite of products and services that EchoStar Technologies L.L.C and its affiliate Sling Media are making available to television service providers to help them attract new subscribers, retain current customers, and bring placeshifting to the largest audience possible.
After coming off a heavy Thanksgiving and Christmas of well to do meals, you probably made the most common New Years Resolution to lose some weight. If so, ION may be able to assist you with tracking it along with your body mass with its USB Body Mass Scale to be unveiled at CES this week. ION will include software that will allow users to monitor, “Weight, body mass index and even body composition.”
SvenOnTech has requested more information as well as a review unit. Keep posted here for upcoming deets.
LaCie gets the key USB drives. It made them into keys. No bulk on your key ring and no hassles plugging it into crowded USB ports. Now LaCie has introduced some new keys, CooKey and WhizKey, with some great features, namely Wuala online storage and fast transfer speeds of up to 30MB/s with USB 2.0 or higher. Add waterproof and a sturdy metal design and you have some pretty sweet keys, er, USB memory sticks.
Availability
The LaCie CooKey and WhizKey will be available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller+, and LaCie Corner, starting at the suggested retail price of $19.99 (excluding VAT). For more information, visit www.lacie.com.
Turtle Beach, a pioneer in digital audio and gaming headphone technology, today announced the latest addition to its Audio Advantage product line, the Amigo II and Micro II USB audio adapters. Designed for Mac and PC, the Amigo II and Micro II are inexpensive, easy to use and deliver a rich audio experience in a package that’s about the size of a USB memory stick.
The Amigo II USB sound card adds a stereo output and mic input to a Mac or PC. Because it uses a USB digital connection, the Amigo isolates the audio signal from the noisy electronics inside a PC or laptop to provide higher-quality sound. The stereo output can be used for connecting powered speakers, headphones or an external recording device and the microphone input can be used for connecting an external microphone or the boom mic on a headset. This makes Amigo ideal for converting a standard analog headset into is USB headset for voice communications programs such as Ventrilo™ and Skype™.
The Micro II USB sound card adds a stereo line output and an optical digital audio output to a Mac or PC. The stereo output can be used for connecting powered speakers, headphones or an external recording device. The S/PDIF digital optical output connects a notebook or desktop PC to home theater systems, allowing pass through of 5.1 channel Dolby® Digital or DTS surround sound. This makes it ideal for enjoying DVD or streaming digital movies on your notebook while listening to immersive Dolby surround sound on your home theater system.
“The Amigo II and Micro II each offer significant benefits for PC and laptop users who want improved sound quality without a lot of hassle, at a price that’s hard to beat. They’re both incredibly simple to use. Just plug them into a USB port and you’re ready to go.” said Peter Ronick, Director of Marketing.
Both the Amigo II and Micro II work with Mac or Windows PCs without the need for external power adapters, special drivers or software. The devices will be available in January from major US retailers as well as the Turtle Beach web site at www.turtlebeach.com. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for each model is $24.95. Turtle Beach products are distributed in Europe by Mad Catz® Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ www.madcatz.com.)
Turtle Beach (www.turtlebeach.com) designs and markets high-quality audio peripherals for PC and video game platforms, including its growing line of Ear Force gaming headphones and headsets for XBOX, PS3™ and Nintendo® game consoles and for personal computer games. Turtle Beach, with headquarters in Elmsford, New York, is a brand of Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc., which has been at the forefront of music and audio technology for more than three decades and is recognized as a pioneer of today’s PC audio industry.
NAD Electronics, the highly regarded manufacturer of high-performance audio/video components, introduces the PP-3 Digital Phono Preamplifier, a sophisticated USB-friendly accessory that integrates turntables into today’s stereo systems and allows LPs and other audio sources to be copied directly to a PC, a Mac, or an iPod or other MP3 player.
Compact and cost-effective, the PP-3 Phono Preamp offers superb audiophile performance in a clean, simple package only 5.3 inches long by 1.38 inches high by 2.75 inches deep. It combines the design of its predecessor, NAD’s award-winning PP-2 MM/MC Phono Preamp, with a high-quality analog-to-digital converter, a USB interface, and CD-R VinylStudio(TM) Lite software. The program, supplied on a disc, lets users copy LPs directly to a PC in Wav or Mp3 file formats. Once in a PC, the digitized music can be burned onto discs, transferred to portable music players or otherwise manipulated.
Today’s digital components often overlook the needs of analog music fans, as expressed in LP records, an immense source of superb audio performances. Many A/V receivers, amplifiers, and preamp/processors simply omit phonograph inputs and phono-preamp circuitry. In many others, the phono section is an afterthought designed for the most basic functionality. In NAD’s view, this state of affairs creates a clear opportunity. The PP-3 has been designed to serve as serve as a high-quality upgrade or addition to existing line-level system.
An additional Line Input allows other analog sources — such as FM radio, audiotape, even a CD player’s analog output — to be converted to the digital USB format. It also adds back the input on an amplifier or receiver used by the PP-3.
The PP-3 Digital Phono Preamplifier is available now from authorized NAD dealers at a suggested price of $199.
My biggest complaint for USB “thumb” drives is the difficulty getting them on my key ring. Some just don’t give you any good way to get them on the ring where others eventually fall off. The former is useless and the later is scary for security reasons. So why has taken so long for any one to get a clue on this? Thankfully, LaCie gets it and has just announced the “Keys” for what it calls “Handy portable storage”.
The passKey, iamaKey, and the itsaKey all look like common keys. With a nice little eyelet on a key “head”, sliding it on a ring should be a piece of cake. The ultra-mobile and lightweight USB thumb drives are hot-pluggable and is cross-platform compatible with full support for USB 2.0 providing fast transfer rates. The slick “keys” are designed by 5.5 Designers putting up to 8 GB of storage in the itsaKey and imaKey. PassKey has a built-in micoSD card reader allowing for more possibilities for your traveling storage needs. With transfer rates up to 30 MB/s, these could be the keys to your portable storage needs. Starting at $9.99, LaCie gets a huge round of applause from SvenOnTech for these practical beauties!
launch2net is a mobile Internet connection wizard which allows to establish
mobile Internet connections worldwide. The software supports many mobile
phones, most USB modems and datacards and already includes drivers and
network access information for a hassle free online experience.
“Modems by ZTE are offered by mobile network providers around the world. But
in many cases there is no Macintosh compatible software or tech support
available.” states jan Fuellemann, PR spokesperson at nova media.
“launch2net already includes drivers and connection settings for most mobile
network providers around the world as well as advanced statistic information
of the time and data volume spent online.”
launch2net 1.8.8 supports in addition the ZTE USB modems MF628 and MF622 as
well as Vodafone USB modems Vodafone K3565-Z and Vodafone K3520-Z.
launch2net is available online at http://www.novamedia.de for Euro 75.00
plus VAT (US-$ 75.00 plus VAT for residents in the US and Canada). System
requirement is Mac OS X 10.4.11 or higher.
Easy & Convenient To Use
Using Voyager is so simple: just insert any standard 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA I/II hard drive (up to 2.0TB) into Voyager’s compact docking base and select the fastest of the four interfaces supported by your computer for read/write data speeds of up to 3.0Gb/s. There’s nothing else to install or configure. Voyager saves users the time and inconvenience of installing a hard drive into a computer or using an external hard drive enclosure with limited interfaces and slower speeds.
Plug and Play Hot-Swap Ready
With the most interfaces available on the market, Voyager provides Plug and Play ease of use for a fast external hard drive solution that works with both Macs and PCs. In fact, Voyager is so easy to use, that combined with today’s low cost of hard drive storage, users can think of a bare SATA I/II drive as being as convenient to use as a flash memory card, with the same instant access benefits and the addition of huge storage capacity gains. In addition, Voyager is completely hot-swappable for consumers wanting to move multiple drives at will while their computer is on and running. Its unique design and drive eject button makes inserting, using, and removing SATA I/II hard drives a safe and effortless procedure.
Ideal Solution for Storage Archives
The ideal solution for storage archives, professional photographers, videographers, and other hard drive storage archivers will no longer need multiple drive enclosures and power supplies for every archived hard drive. “Whether consumers want to re-task an older swapped-out hard drive, need to access multiple drives, or want to add big capacity, low cost external storage capacity to their desktop, Voyager is able to travel any computer user’s data universe needs with ease,” said Grant Dahlke, NewerTech’s Product Manager. “Its design and ‘Quad Interface’ functionality offer high speed ‘slide and swap’ hard drive read/write performance and convenience never before available.”
NewerTech Voyager Features:
• Supports all 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA I/II hard drives up to 2.0TB
• “Quad Interface” for maximum system compatibility and data transfer rates
• Data transfer rates up to 3.0Gb/s (300MB/s)
• Push button drive eject for safe hard drive removal
• Hot-Swap functionality for fast access of multiple hard drives
• Weighted base and non skid rubber feet for stable operation
• 2-Color Status LED: left side blue for power on, right side flashing red for disk activity
• Compact design: measures 5.28″ x 3.70″ x 2.68″ inches and weighs 1.35lbs without drive
• Whisper Quiet operation – no cooling fan needed
• Plug and Play with Macs and PCs
• All interface connection cables included
• RoHS Compliant
• One year warranty
NewerTech Voyager is priced at $99.95 MSRP and is available immediately from NewerTech’s exclusive distributor, Other World Computing (OWC®), at www.macsales.com, as well as through the retail channel. Voyager includes all its supported interface connector cables and an auto-switching power supply for worldwide compatibility. For more information, visit: http://www.newertech.com/products/voyager.php Additionally, OWC has created five Voyager/Hard Drive Bundles priced starting at $157.99 to offer consumers the ultimate in convenience and economy. For details, visit http://eshop.macsales.com/search/Voyager