LAKE FOREST, Calif., Feb. 6 — Western Digital Corp. (NYSE:WDC) today announced that its WD Passport(TM) Portable USB Drives are now available with 120 GB capacity. WD Passport Portable USB Drives were recently named one of the “Ten Coolest Products” by USA Today Now: Personal Technology magazine (Nov. 2005). With no need for a separate power supply (for most systems), WD Passport Portable USB Drives are easy to use anywhere — simply plug in and store.
Designed with sleek rounded corners and a textured, non-slip rugged protective case, WD Passport Portable USB Drives are outfitted with high-performance, low power-consuming, cool and quiet-running WD Scorpio(TM) 2.5-inch EIDE hard drives, as well as Data Lifeguard(TM) protection, to provide maximum safeguard from data loss. The ease-of-use and elegant design of WD Passport Portable USB Drives have garnered numerous accolades from media worldwide including: “Best Product” from ComputerBild magazine Germany; “One of the ten coolest gadgets” according to Cosmopolitan magazine Spain; and “Best Buy” from Computershopper in the UK.
Installed on more than 500 million PCs worldwide, the Universal Serial Bus supplies easy connectivity for everything from printers to MP3 players. Now the USB Implementers’ Forum has set the stage for wireless USB.
Last May, the group published the Wireless USB Specification, a document describing how devices could harness the Wireless USB protocol. Everyone from Intel Corp. to start-ups like Alereon Inc. of Austin, Texas, are preparing interoperable Wireless USB components. Expect products carrying the “Certified Wireless USB” logo by this fall, said Jeff Ravencraft, chairman of the USB Implementers Forum.
Here we go again, another claim for the smallest flash drive on the market. This time it’s from Elecom with a 4GB flash drive sized at just 68×30×13 mm – just larger then a quarter and weighing in at only 44g (0.09lbs). Be sure not to have a hole in your pocket – wonder if it’s got Lojack.
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Trust Technology introduced a self standing USB hub. Triangular in shape, it makes for an easy access device for plug-n-play action with your peripherals. This 4 port USB hub has over current protection and is power by the USB port, but also has an external power adaptor for strenuous loads. High Speed 2.0 technology, backward compatible, sexy alloy case and small foot print makes for a nice office addition; however, Trust has not committed to a relase date as of this post.
With computers, handhelds, PDAs and peripherals getting smaller and the file sizes they produce getting bigger, Crucial Memory is promoting their high quality, low priced flash memory and USB thumb drives through a click to win promotion. Here at GetUSBinfo, we’ve used the Crucial website and order processing several times for quick, reliable service. Crucial also provides a very user friendly and intuitive memory questionnaire to insure each visitor gets the exact memory they need for which ever device they are upgrading. We give them an A+. Good luck with the contest.
Well it’s not exactly a rubber hard drive, but the enclosure has a squared pattern made of rubber in either blue or pink. LaCie teamed with a leading designer, Karim Rashid, to create this 3.3 inch storage drive called Skwarim. Capacity ranges from 30GB (pink) to 60GB (blue) and $149/$199 respectively. LaCie’s Senior Product Manager, Olivier Mirloup, saw a market for designer styled storage devices for those looking to stylize their techy look. No word on whether the blue or pink will be the only colors offered moving forward. We wonder if the rubber ads any durability to the HHD – probably not.
The Amigo is USB sound card ideally suited for laptop users. With both analog and digital outputs along with a surround-sound simulator it should bring a rich, full listening experience. Packed with features like built-in mic, volume and mute control, headset and support for extended stereo sound it’s a great amigo for the executive on the go or student not looking to miss a word from his professor. Pricing starts at just $49. Click for device diagram and connector explanations.
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Is the 50’s table top jukebox coming back into style? Seems like Teac has the beat on this trend with their new SL-D900 CD player/Radio/Clock. The retro styled CD player can also read MP3 discs and includes a convenient USB port which you can play MP3 files stored in Flash drives or another portable hard drive device. It has 2.1 channel speaker system with built-in sub woofer and with an output of 15W it could make for a swinging good time at dinner. The unit measures 340 (width) x 259 (depth) x 190mm (height) and weighs 5.4 kg.
Aladin Knowledge Systems launched the eToken which doubles as an authentication device. The eToken provides convenience to users by allowing them to possess their personal data and other information required to open the contents of the system.
GlobeSurfer ICON is a self-contained wireless access device, offering a simple Internet access method. It attaches to any PC through the USB connector and provides instant Internet access at DSL-speed using the latest HSDPA wireless network technology. GlobeSurfer ICON, combines the convenience of high speed wireless connectivity (up to 1.8 Mbps downlink) with extreme ease of use. Automatic drivers installation, built-in control applet, and one-button connect, all contribute to maximum user-friendliness. There is no need for installing SW from discs, connecting DSL wires and filters, setting parameters. It therefore appeals to the broadest market of PC-owners looking for simple access to Internet.
Several weeks ago GetUSB heard that external USB 2.0 devices may cause certain notebook computers to consume power excessively. In the interest of tracking down the source of the problem, Tom’s Hardware Guide worked with engineers from both Intel and Microsoft. Through their extensive collaborative research, they reported that an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) driver in Windows XP Service Pack 2 is the sole cause of the unusually high power drainage observed by all three teams. Today, Microsoft confirmed that it is developing a new patch to fix this particular driver bug, whose nature is somewhat different of those addressed by earlier Microsoft Knowledgebase postings. Source of full story by TGDaily.
Microsoft posts fix for USB power drain plug.
Microsoft has posted a fix for a driver flaw that prevented owners of Windows XP Service Pack 2-based notebooks from taking advantage of power-saving sleep states.
The collaboration between SanDisk and Safend ensures that data stored on corporate laptops and desktop PCs can be securely transferred to SanDisk TrustedFlash(TM) devices. TrustedFlash is a highly secure technology being built into SanDisk mobile flash memory cards and USB flash drives. It combines SanDisk’s 32-bit controller architecture with an embedded high-performance cryptographic engine provided by Safend, providing real-time encryption and tamper-resistant data protection. As a secure platform that is transparent to the consumer, TrustedFlash is ideal for safeguarding information and supporting secure value-added applications.
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