We expected Mobile World Congress next month to be dominated by the Palm Pre, but Microsoft could be planning a few headline-grabbing announcements of their own. According to Neowin, three new Microsoft mobile services are slated for launch, together with the official unveil of Windows Mobile 6.5. They also suggest that the leaked GUI screenshots first spotted last November are authentic concept shots for the new WM6.5 honeycomb web start menu.
SanDisk have announced their latest USB flash memory stick, the Ultra Backup USB, which features both the company’s sliding retractable USB plug and a dedicated backup button. Available in capacities up to 64GB, a press of the backup button triggers an automatic sweep of specified folders for new files, which are also encrypted with password-protected access control and ultra-secure AES hardware-based encryption.
A-DATA have unveiled a RAID enclosure that puts two 2.5-inch SSDs or HDDs into a single 3.5-inch bay. The XPG Dual SSD 3.5-inch RAID Enclosure has a hardware switch on its backplate that lets you quickly select between its seven different RAID modes: RAID0, RAID1, JBOD, Span, SAFE33, SAFE50 and GUI. There’s also a one-button backup option.
HP’s first-generation MediaSmart EX475 was the poster-child for Windows Home Server. Now, HP are back with their second-gen version, the MediaSmart EX487; the hardware looks the same, but what’s under the hood has seen some serious improvements. Is this the best backup option for Windows and Mac users? SlashGear set to finding out.
Digital Foci know how frustrating it is to run out of space on your digital camera, which is obviously why they’re plugging away with version two of their Photo Safe. In effect a battery powered external hard-drive with a multi-format card reader strapped to it, the Photo Safe II allows you to plug in your camera’s (or camcorder’s, or cellphone’s) memory card and instantly backup all the media on it.
Iomega have announced a new hardware and online services bundle that marks their first collaborative release with EMC stablemates Retrospect and Mozy. Buyers of Iomega external hard-drives will be offered both copies of Retrospect Express, for managing local backups, and 2GB of online storage courtesy of MozyHome. In a discussion today, Jonathan Huberman, President of the Consumer and Small Business Products Group at EMC Corporation, described the integration of hardware and software as the first step toward making remote backup and ‘cloud’ storage more accessible to users without the benefit of dedicated technical support teams.
Data Robotics announces the availability of its latest version of its storage robot, Drobo 2. The new version of Drobo features two FireWire 800 Ports and newly upgraded core processor.
Typical, you wait all this time for a straightforward twin-drive RAID array and two turn up on the same day. Well, maybe it’s not something we’ve been actively waiting for, but hot on the heels of Western Digital’s My Book Mirror Edition comes I-O DATA’s HDL2-G. Again, it’s a dual-drive unit offering 1TB or 2TB of storage in RAID-0 Striped format, only this time I-O DATA have done the sensible thing and fitted a gigabit ethernet port as well as USB.
Western Digital’s latest attempt to cash in on our general guilt over not backing up files is the My Book Mirror Edition. Effectively bridging the gap between a traditional standalone USB hard-drive and a full-spec network-attached storage (NAS) device, the Mirror Edition still connects to a single computer via USB but automatically duplicates files across two hard-drives. Both 1TB and 2TB versions are available.
Sure it takes up some of your review mirrors real estate with its LCD screen, but it offers up so much in return. Namely GPS, Bluetooth, and it can even work with your backup camera if you have one.
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