This solution for businesses includes such enterprise features as RAID 1 and video surveillance IP camera support. You can replace your hard drives for disaster recovery on your own with this newest move by Iomega, and there’s an app called Iomega Link that’ll allow you to manage your network on your iPhone or iPad remotely. This product has VMWare and XenServer certification for virtual desktop implementation, and the ix2 NAS works with your Windows Active Directory Service as well – iSCSI storage is also included here.

There are one whole heck of a lot of options when it comes to purchasing different components for this solution. There’s first a $199.99 completely diskless model. That’s as inexpensive you can get for starting this environment up for yourself. Then there’s partially-populated (with one drive) models available at $249.99 for 1TB, $349.99 for 2TB, and $449.99 for 3TB. For a completely populated (two drive) model, you’ll be dropping $419.99 for 2TB, $579.99 for 4TB, and $769.99 for 6TB. This setup is also planned for late February for a general release.

This solution works with Iomega’s QuikProtect software, this working with a built-in iTunes server, the ability to work with your files through Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr. In addition, you can work instantly with your new mac’s Time Machine feature to do instant storage with no effort at all. Torrent support is included as well, this for your soon to be gigantic collection of downloads that are, again, available to access from any of your home-based machines.

The Iomega EZ Media & Backup Center comes DLNA certified for you to be streaming video, audio, and photos across your network. You can stream to multimedia players, digital picture frames, game consoles, and of course mobile devices and your desktop and laptop machines. The models this device will be coming in will be 1TB will cost SRP $219.99, 2TB will be $299.99, and the 3TB will cost $399.99, and all of this should be available in February of 2012. Sound like the solution for you?

The eGo Mac Edition features secure 256-bit AES encryption and comes with Iomega’s Protection Suite to ensure your data stays safe. It has two FireWire 800 ports and one USB 2.0 port and even comes with three cables, one for each port, giving you fast and versatile connections. The device also doesn’t require an external power supply.

In addition to the eGo, Iomega will be offering the Helium Portable Hard Drive that will also come in 500GB and 1TB capacities, but features one USB 2.0 port and is housed in an aluminum case. A desktop hard drive alternative would be Iomega’s Mac Companion Hard Drive, which comes in 2TB and 3TB capacities and packs a fast 7200RPM 3.5-inch hard drive.

The Helium Portable Hard Drive and the Mac Companion Hard Drive are already available at Apple stores, but the eGo Mac Edition Portable Hard Drive will not be available until later this month. The 500GB model is priced at $179.99 and the 1TB model is $229.99.

[via Iomega]

This lovely device was out for us to take a look at inside Pepcom’s end of summer 2011 Holiday Spectacular, a digital forest of many wonders. What you’ve got here is an external hard drive available in 2TB and 3TB configurations, both of them working with an ultra-fast 7200 RPM 3.5-inch hard drive formatted HFS+ made ready for Mac computers with no additional fixing up right out of the box. The device is also a 2.1 Amp hookup in addition to holding all your media and whatnot, this making it easy for you to plug in all your peripherals and extra mobile devices without a hassle.

As for what you can actually plug in to this mother, you’ll get two FireWire 800 ports, one USB 2.0 port, a two port integrated 2.0 hub that’ll connect you back up to your Mac device or connect to other external storage devices in a daisy-chain sort of situation. This drive also comes with one FireWire800 wire, one conversion FireWire 400-800, and one single USB 2.0 cable.

Check out what this simple and lovely looking drive is all about:

Notice the lovely LED lights up the center front of the device, four in a row. These lights let you know how much storage you’ve got left in general:

4 LEDs lit white: less than 20% capacity in use
3 LEDs white: 20-40% capacity in use
2 LEDs white: 40-60% capacity in use
1 LED white: 60-80% capacity in use
1 LED red: more than 80% capacity in use

Interesting, yes? Next you should note that this device comes with Iomega Protection Suite, Mac Edition, Iomega QuikProtect, MoxyHome Online Backup, and a free 12 month subscription to Trend Smart Surfing for Mac. The smaller of the two drives, the 2TB model, will run you $239.99, while the 3TB model will cost you $369.99. These prices are suggested US retail – you can find them immediately if not soon in your local Apple store or in various online sources.

ALSO have a crack at the rest of our hands-on videos from the event in our Pepcom Holiday Spectacular 2011 portal!

We got to spend some time with the Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive, Cloud Edition, and have to say the idea is compelling. If you have a large amount of data, you get to quickly store and back it up locally to the Iomega NAS without bandwidth limitations that could make uploading all your data to an actual cloud storage extremely time consuming. But what makes this Iomega “Cloud Edition” hard drive special is that it can be setup as your “personal cloud.” And by this, we mean that the drive can be shared and accessed from anywhere there’s an internet connection, much like you can with a typical cloud solution. So again, the idea is great, but the execution could use some improvement and the entire setup and operation could run smoother.

Hardware

The build of the Iomega Home Media Cloud Edition is fairly basic. The upright case is entirely black with metal all around and a vented front. The front face has the Iomega logo and four LED status lights, a “QuikTransfer” button, and one USB port. The back side offers a smaller vent with a power button, reset button, DC plug, a USB 2.0 port, and a LAN RJ45 ethernet port. The device measures 7.8 x 4.9 x 1.6 inches and weighs 2.5 pounds. Inside is a dual-core processor with one 3.5-inch SATA-II Hard Disk Drive. Overall, the black enclosure isn’t fussy and should blend in well with any home office.

Setup

Software setup is pretty straightforward. After we installed the Storage Manager software, it self-discovered the NAS and took roughly 40 seconds to locate and display folders on the Mac Pro we were using. Next, we were prompted to configure it into a cloud network drive, and that part wasn’t as straightforward. It required a small tweak to our router to establish connection by port forwarding the device’s IP address. Once configured, reapplying the setting again triggered the application to check if the NAS was ready. If you’re unfamiliar with networking, here’s the step-by-step instructions on setting up your router.

For advanced settings, users with an admin role will get access to a huge list of features including security, shares, backups, drive management, social media and many more settings you don’t normally expect from a consumer NAS drive. The “personal cloud” feature of the drive gives you remote access from the internet as well as from mobile apps for the iPad and iPhone. To enable a free one year TZO DNS service you’ll need to turn on Remote Access and enable UPnP on your router. We had a hard time establishing the connection as the Airport Extreme doesn’t support UPnP, so tough luck if you have one of those shiny Mac routers. A 5-year old Linksys came to the rescue eventually, and we were able to place TZO Dynamic DNS in service with UPnP feature turned on.

If you plan on sharing the personal cloud with a friend or just having it setup so that you can have access from your laptop, you will need to setup clients on each computer needing access to the drive. Invitations to join the personal cloud are sent via email with a unique and self-generated key code. The email will contain a link from where to download the client for installation. Upon signing in with the key code, shared drives appear instantly on the desktop or home portal view, which also provides an in-browser photo slide show if you have photos stored. Image content in the slideshow can be changed, removed, or turned off from the admin settings. Your shared folders will appear in a tree-view.

Software

The software interface is fairly intuitive and provides a couple of options when it comes to sharing folders. At the most basic level, sharing is set so that every invited user can access every shared folder. If you need to set different permissions per user, settings can be changed to account-based access where each user will have to enter a username and password.

As for backups, we setup a job to copy a folder from the device onto an attached external hard drive. With a press of the QuikTransfer button located on the front of the device, we were able to trigger the backup job immediately. You can also create more than one backup job and set different schedules for automatic backups.

iPhone/iPad App

We were given a beta version of the iPhone/iPad Universal app for preview called IomegaLink. Much like the Iomega Superhero iPhone app, it’s fairly basic in terms of features. You can back up and restore photos and contacts to and from the drive, but unlike Superhero, connectivity is via WiFi instead of USB. That means there’s no speed restriction by iAP (iPod Access Protocol) but the transfer speed will depend entirely on your WiFi speed. Furthermore, the app supports multitasking, meaning it will be able to run in the background should you need to take a call or access another app.

On first load, it searched for the NAS drive in auto discovery mode. If the server and mobile client are connected within the local WiFi network, auto discovery should pick up the server instantly. However, for remote access, the router must have UPnP feature enabled and you would need to set the server preference manually.

Uploading photos is fast. Unfortunately, there’s no cancel function to abort the long uploading progress. This can be trouble if you have a batch of large images on a slow network. You do have the option to select individual photos for upload, but if you accidentally select uploading an entire album, you won’t be able to abandon the process. Also, images that are transferred to the NAS show up in the Backups folder.

On the iPhone app, we encountered a couple of issues that were quite irritating. On batch upload, the task wouldn’t complete even though all images were successfully residing on the server. As mentioned above, since there’s no cancel button to terminate the progress, to get back to the app, you will be forced to reboot your phone to restart the app. Unfortunately, this is a common issue for iOS apps with a resume feature. It was fine on selective single images though. Also, video streaming on big or small files failed to load content, it will stay on loading and then crash after a long wait.

At the time of our testing, the app is still in beta. Iomega told us a much more stable version of the app would address most of the kinks when it’s available on iTunes sometime this month. For Android users, it’s on the roadmap, so be patient.

Performance

Within the local network, we did a test to hard measure file transfer speed. A 4GB chunk of test files were written at the rate of 8.32 MB/s to the NAS while read speed was recorded twice as slow at 3.87MB/s.

On Xbench, we are getting about 7MB/s uncached random and sequential write speed [256K blocks].

Issues

During our tests, we experienced some quirky issues with the device. After we left the device idle for a few days, it would become unresponsive, requiring a hard reset to bring it back to life. We were also unable to connect to the device on a number of occasions. Login failed to authenticate and a soft restart was required.

Most of the hiccups we experienced were easily solved with resetting the NAS, especially if it resulted from the device sitting idle for a few days. Although a system reboot is all that’s needed, it does take slightly over 6 minutes and 30 seconds to come back online. Also, TZO DNS service was hit and miss. The system would indicate router-connecting problem and then come back to life on a good day.

One incident that was truly frustrating was not being able to launch the Storage Manager software. It would shut off on boot, despite reinstating the software. A closer look revealed “IomegaStorageManager-[user]” user preference file was created on the root of the user folder and we were able to get things running again by dumping the file in the trash bin.

If the device malfunctions, such as shutting down improperly, it sends out an email notification accordingly. That part did work correctly; we have had to hard reset a number of times.

Again, Iomega informed us an updated version of the Storage Manager 3.1.2 for HMNHD-CE should be around July, and could bring some new improvements.

Wrap-Up

Overall, the Iomega Home Media Hard Drive, Cloud Edition is a promising NAS for personal use that is feature-rich, but still has several kinks to be worked out. The buggy issues we experienced with the device becoming unresponsive after a period of idle time should be resolved by a software update to version 3.1.2 scheduled for release in July. The iPhone and iPad apps will also be getting an update that should fix most of the issues we’ve raised. Otherwise, the device is very easy to use and can be simple to setup if you don’t run into similar router issues as we did, and the pricing is very affordable. The 1TB model is listed at $169.99 while the 3TB is at $349.99. However, a quick search around the web reveals that the 1TB model is being listed as low as $130.

Hardware

The Iomega SuperHero has a sleek brushed aluminum base in tune with your iPhone’s form factor measuring about 3.5 x 3.5 inches and roughly three-quarters of an inch tall. The power supply port and a SD card slot are on the back, a black padding material covers the bottom, and the docking cradle sits on top towards the front.

The dock is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 3G, and the iPod Touch. A 4GB SD card is included with the device along with the basic power supply cable and a Quick Start Guide. Hardware-wise, there’s not too much to talk about and it visually satisfies the minimalist aesthetic. Note that the instructional sticker was not peeled off in our product shots.

Software

For the software, you will be prompted to download the free SuperHero Backup app from the iTunes Store. The app features are straightforward—back up and restore Contacts, Photos, or both. Unfortunately, contacts and photos are the only things that can be backed up using the Iomega SuperHero. Music and videos must still be backed up using iTunes.

When you are ready to use the device, make sure to unlock your phone prior to setting it on the dock. However, it is not necessary to turn on the SuperHero Backup app because your phone will automatically launch the app after 30 seconds when it detects the dock.

The problem with the Iomega SuperHero is with its slow transfer speed. Backing up four photos from my iPhone 4, took nearly 20 minutes, and about twice as long when I tried to restore them. The app also does not support multi-tasking, meaning any backup or restore sessions will be interrupted without the ability to resume if a call comes in or if you exit the app accidentally. Only music can run in the background while a backup is in progress.

When contacted about the crawling backup speeds, Iomega explained that the problem has to do with Apple and its iAP protocol. Apple’s iAP (iPod Access Protocol) limits the current speed to about 6KB/sec. This protocol is needed for any access to the phone without iTunes and a computer. Apple has recently allowed a significant boost in performance but the change won’t happen until later this year. When implemented, performance is expected to increase about 10x the current speed.

Wrap-up

For the backup-challenged, the Iomega SuperHero may be a good hassle-free way to ensure regular backing up of your contacts and photos. There’s no need to turn on or connect to a computer, you simply set the phone on the dock and the process begins. However, the current backup and restore speeds really cripple the device. If you truly cannot force yourself to regularly backup via iTunes, then paying $70 for this device may be worthwhile to ensure that at least your contacts and photos are protected from loss. But even then, you will be faced with a long painful wait when backing up photos. And if you expect the device to backup other things such as music, videos, apps, or notes, and do it quickly, this device will leave you sorely disappointed. The Iomega SuperHero as it is right now with its limited speed and file types can only supplement but not replace a traditional backup via iTunes.

According to the ScreenPlay DX HD Media Player product page, the box has a 2TB hard-drive inside and comes with a WiFi USB dongle for wireless network connectivity. There’s also up to 1080p Full HD playback, DLNA support and an optical digital output. Supported file types include H.264, WMV, RMVB, MPEG-1/2/4 (part 2, ASP), DivX, DivX Plus HD (MKV),  XviD, AVI(Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), ISO, VOB, MP4, MOV and MKV.

We can’t spot a product page for the ScreenPlay TV Link DX HD Media Player, but it has fewer output options and no USB device port; we’re guessing that means it lacks onboard storage. Iomega will likely make these two media players official any time now, so we’ll update when we known more.

The new cloud-edition drives get iTunes server and UPnP DLNA support, along with automatic posting of photos and video to Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. It’s also possible to do device-to-device copying, either locally or remotely, and there are two USB 2.0 ports for adding external drives. If you have a Mozy or Amazon S3 cloud storage account, you can link those in too.

Iomega’s Boxee-based Iomega TV also uses the same system, and can also link in with the Personal Cloud Technology setup. The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition drives will arrive later in January 2011, priced at $169.99 for the 1TB and $229.99 for the 2TB.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces Exciting New Personal Cloud Technology And New Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition

Iomega Personal Cloud turns your Iomega NAS into a Cloud Server that:
Enables you to backup remotely to your own Personal Cloud
Host your own Cloud to share with friends, family or for business
Free remote access
All this and more with every Iomega NAS Drive in 2011

SAN DIEGO, January 4, 2011 – — Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the new Iomega® Personal Cloud technology, the ultimate data protection and remote access solution for small businesses and consumers that gives you the control of your own Personal Cloud without complexities and extra costs.

Iomega’s Personal Cloud is a revolutionary web-based computing architecture that connects your Iomega network storage device to other individuals and/or devices via the Internet. Unlike most public and private cloud applications, Iomega’s Personal Cloud technology is completely self-owned – the content and accessibility is always under your control. Best of all, there are never any usage fees or subscription charges; instead, Iomega gives small businesses and consumers a great value for cloud access and protection.

“Iomega’s new Personal Cloud is an innovative technology that separates our network storage products from the competition,” said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega. “Utilizing the expertise of EMC, the world’s leader in cloud technology, we have transformed our next generation NAS devices into cloud servers that users can access anywhere, anytime. In addition, by buying two or more of our NAS products, you can remotely backup your onsite data to an alternate location – be it your office, home or some other location – giving consumers and small businesses the ideal disaster recovery plan that’s easy to implement and economical, too. You’re not going to find this level of innovation or value from any of our competitors.”

Iomega Personal Cloud will be available worldwide beginning this month with the launch of the new single-drive Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition.

Iomega Personal Cloud is also a built-in feature in the new Iomega TV with Boxee, launching in February.

“There are tremendous opportunities in 2011 for NAS device OEMs to refine easy-to-use basic features as well as integrate innovative technologies”, said Benjamin S. Woo, Program Vice President, WW Storage Systems, IDC. “Iomega’s new Personal Cloud technology brings news and innovation to the consumer and small business NAS markets that will differentiate from competing NAS devices. The Personal Cloud functionality will accelerate the adoption and growth of the consumer and small business NAS markets.”

Iomega is unveiling its new Personal Cloud technology for the first time this week, January 6-9, 2011, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Iomega’s tradeshow booth is located in the South Hall 3 (booth # 31553).

How the Iomega Personal Cloud Works
Users of Iomega’s new NAS devices can create their own Personal Cloud in just minutes. The onscreen Personal Cloud setup page asks you to name your Personal Cloud and then confirms creation of your Personal Cloud. You can invite up to 250 members (devices) into your Personal Cloud, giving your business contacts, co-workers or personal friends and family around the globe the ability – determined by you – to copy and share files directly between computers as though they were all together on a local network.

Benefits and Features of the using the Iomega Personal Cloud
Simple. No IT expertise is needed to set up and manage your Personal Cloud. Set up in minutes! When you invite others into your Personal Cloud, they receive an email with a link and an authorization code that automatically installs the Iomega Storage Manager which creates a shared drive letter on their desktop. Simply click on the drive letter for access to the Personal Cloud.

Affordable. For zero additional investment outside purchasing an Iomega StorCenter network storage device, Iomega’s Personal Cloud is the most economical way for a small- to medium-sized business to protect and share their data, and for consumers to share their digital life with family and friends.

Synchronization. Users around the globe can sync files directly between computers as though they were on a local network. Many SMBs still keep key files on local hard drives; Iomega’s Personal Cloud means no more sneaker-net or emailing files around the office.

Collaboration. Business users can view and edit documents (such as spreadsheets, presentations and word processing documents), which helps geographically dispersed workers collaborate in real time. Consumers can immediately share their family photos, videos and other digital files.

Secure transfer of large or confidential files. Large video, audio, and graphic art files can quickly choke a small company’s e-mail system. E-mailing sensitive files can raise security concerns. Iomega Personal Cloud offers drag-and-drop functionality that makes it easy to securely transfer large or confidential files.

Security and a Disaster Recovery Plan. At smaller companies, locally stored files are at risk from theft, fire, software problems, and hardware failure. The Iomega Personal Cloud offers built in redundancy at every level: hard drive, server, and datacenter. Should disaster strike, with two Iomega StorCenter devices and the Personal Cloud backing up your company storage offsite, you have a disaster recovery plan that allows easy copying of files so that you are up and running in no time.

Secure Access. Data is accessible only on the Personal Cloud by those who have the appropriate permissions to access it. Safeguards, such as AES 128-bit encryption, can be enabled to protect your data while in transit on the Internet. Secure logins also protect your data stored in the personal cloud from being accessed by the unintended recipients and hackers while in transit on the Internet.

Low Maintenance. Once the system is set up there is almost no maintenance. You still have to manage user accounts, but jobs like array maintenance and monitoring the health of your data storage are no longer needed.

Archiving. Archiving older files to a remote StorCenter frees up space on your primary StorCenter device for day-to-day business needs. Less capacity required for primary storage saves you money.

New Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition
Launching worldwide this month in 1TB* and 2TB capacities, the new single-drive Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition is the latest generation of the award-winning original that makes it easy for home users and small businesses to share work files, photo slideshows, music libraries and other files with co-workers, friends and families anywhere in the world (with an Internet connection).

With improved performance, easy menus and settings, and lots of new features over the previous generation of the product, the new model is the ideal centerpiece of any home or small office network that also can benefit from having its own economical cloud. Iomega’s new Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition is so simple to use that even those who have never used network storage will find it a breeze to set up and impossible to do without.

Benefits and Features of the new Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition
The new Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition utilizes the acclaimed EMC LifeLine™ software, a fully-developed Linux operating environment and suite of applications designed for seamless cross-platform support with Windows®, Mac® and Linux computers.

Among the many features of the new Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition:

Gigabit Ethernet connecting directly to your router
Remote access from anywhere in the world
Built-in iTunes® server for easy playback
UPnP™ DLNA Certified AV Media Server provides the ability to stream photos, audio content and videos to a variety of media devices, such as game consoles (Microsoft Xbox® 360, Sony PlayStation® 3), audio bridges, iTunes® players, networked TVs and digital picture frames, Iomega® ScreenPlay™ products and more.
Automatically post files to your Facebook®, YouTube® & Flickr® accounts
Device-to-device Copy Jobs for data protection allows you to define a job to copy and/or synchronize files to and from the connected USB drives or any other shared storage on your network.
One-touch copying with the QuikTransfer button on the front panel.
Low power, fan-less design, with drive spin-down feature
Public cloud connections to Mozy and Amazon S3 online storage
Two USB 2.0 ports to add storage capacity connecting external USB drives
Device-to-device replication for data protection allows you to define a job to copy and/or synchronize files to and from the connected USB drives or any other shared storage on your network. Print Serving with intelligent print sharing capability for up to two USB printers.
Time Machine support allows Apple users to easily backup any Mac computers running OS X (10.5 or later) using Time Machine.
Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) provides no touch, automatic transfer of photos from digital cameras via one of the two USB ports.
Availability and Warranty
Iomega Personal Cloud technology will be available worldwide beginning this month with the launch of the Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition. Iomega Personal Cloud is also a built-in feature in the new Iomega TV with Boxee, launching in February.

The new Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition will be available worldwide later this month in two capacities: a 1TB model for $169.99, and a 2TB model for $229.99. (All pricing is U.S. suggested retail.)

For more information on the new Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive Cloud Edition, please go to www.iomega-personal-cloud.com/.

As with the D-Link, the Iomega TV will be powered by Intel’ Atom CE4100, which means 1080P HD video support along with Adobe Flash 10.1. Three hardware SKUs will be on offer, either diskless ($229) or with a 1TB ($299) or 2TB ($349) drive pre-installed. Ports include HDMI and a digital audio output.

Of course, you can also access cloud-based storage, as well as use the Iomega TV as a NAS on your network with either wired or WiFi b/g/n connections and DLNA streaming. A dual-sided remote control with a QWERTY keyboard is also included, and Boxee expect the Iomega TV to hit retail in February 2011.

SlashINTERNETS There are two really rock and roll amazing things about the internet. One, is the the fact that it changed the world and keeps me in the technologically neato news publishing business. Two, is the fact that it does things like give little kids back their stolen backpacks. Just the other day, the internet (including, importantly, Gizmodo and Reddit,) got word of this little man getting his backpack (full of Halloween candy and a PSP) stolen! So what did they do? Like all good communities, they called out for help. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel got wind of it, and like a good talk show host, he did a special on the situation and sent the kid a new backpack with new candy, a new PSP, and a bonus NERF gun. Win! I love you, internet. Watch the Jimmy Kimmel clip here:

R3 Media Network

Android Community
Droid 2 OS Images Surface [DROID 2]
Droid 2 Global Introduced on Video [DROID 2]
myTouch 4G Gets Permaroot and s=off [HAX]
iPhone Users Now Require No Computer to Install Android 2.2.1 Froyo [HAX]
Sharp ISO1 Pocketables Unboxing [FIRST LOOK]
T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab on Sale Now [RELEASE TODAY!]
Hustler Offers Up Its First Android App [NUDEZ]
Sprint 4G Coverage Coming to the Los Angeles Area by December 1st [FOUR GEEZ]
Fox Joins GoogleTV Protest, Blocks Their Website on All Google TVs [WAR]

SlashGear
Apple Tops Consumer Electronics Holiday Top 10 Lists [MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE]
Nintendo 3ds Seeing More Interest from Developers than Original DS, Hollywood Included [DEVELOPERS]
Nintendo Files for “It’s On Like Donkey Kong” Trademark [LAW LOL]
SlashGear Pad and Quill iPad Case Giveaway Winner Announced! [WINNER]
Why A Game Console Is All You Need to Be Entertained [COLUMN]
Iomega eGo 1TB USB 3.0 HDD Review [REVIEW]
Gartner: Android second largest smartphone OS worldwide; iOS share down but not out [WAR]
Windows Phone 7 Marketplace transaction fees doubling app prices for some users [COSTLY]
Leaked Sony Ericsson ANZU is 4.3-inch replacement to XPERIA X10? [Updated] [ANZU XPERIENCED?]
New Hitachi touchscreen tech could make gloves iPad-compatible [WINTERTIME IN TECHLAND]
Notion Ink Adam manufacturing samples outed: we want a Ferrari Red one [VROOM]
Only 40,000 Windows Phone 7 devices sold at US launch? [WTF?]
Sub-$500 BlackBerry PlayBook confirms RIM with iPad in sights [WAR]
Samsung’s 7-inch Super AMOLED get Galaxy Tab style outing [FANCY!]

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash]

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.

That’s obviously considerably more expensive than a regular external drive, but then again regular portable drives can’t generally withstand 10-foot drops.  The Iomegas also offer twice the performance of a 7,200rpm HDD drive using a USB 3.0 interface, or ten-times the performance of a USB 2.0 drive.

Iomega also throws in a copy of v.Clone, Roxio Retrospect Express, MozyHome and their own QuikProtect, along with a twelve month subscription to Trend Micro.  Whether they’re enough to counter the high prices when the drives drop in November remains to be seen.

Press Release:

Iomega and EMC Bring External SSD Flash Drives To the Consumer and SMB Markets

Iomega’s Compact External USB 3.0 SSD Drives Provide Ultra Fast, Ultra Rugged Performance and Encryption For Creative Professionals, Mobile Users, Early Adopters and Others

SAN DIEGO, October 15, 2010 – Iomega Corporation, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a leading innovator in digital storage and protection solutions for consumers and small and medium businesses, today announced new host-powered Iomega® External USB 3.0 SSD Flash Drives, rugged solid state drives utilizing the blazing fast speed of the USB 3.0 interface and the security of built-in encryption – the perfect portable storage device for high-end users, creative professionals and others who demand the best in performance, security and portability.

Leveraging EMC’s world class solid state expertise and implementation in enterprise network storage solutions, Iomega’s new pocket-sized 1.8-inch external USB 3.0 SSD Flash drives will be available in early November in 64GB*, 128GB and 256GB capacities.

Encased in a sleek metal enclosure that not only looks great but delivers added protection from drops up to 10 feet, Iomega’s new SSD Flash Drives feature 256-bit hardware encryption for security, bundled anti-virus and backup software, a three-year warranty and the superior performance of solid state drives that users expect in state-of-the-art storage from Iomega.

“When time is money and you need the latest technology in portable storage, Iomega’s new high performance external solid state Flash drives are the ideal solution,” said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega Corporation. “Iomega’s new external USB 3.0 SSD Flash drives are compact, rugged portable storage devices that deliver data transfer speeds considerably faster than any standard rotating disk drives, as well as the confidence that comes with a solid industrial design, hardware encryption and the complete Iomega Protection Suite to protect users’ important files, all of which makes Iomega’s new SSD Flash Drives the storage of choice for high-end users who demand the ultimate in performance and portability.”

Anatomy of the New Iomega USB 3.0 External SSD Flash Drive
The Iomega USB 3.0 External SSD Flash Drive is a solid state drive that has no moving parts, resulting in a more durable drive with fast application loading and top transfer speeds for high definition video, digital images, graphics and music. Professional videographers, photographers and other creative professionals will find the Iomega USB 3.0 SSD Drive a perfect match for their deadlines and digital storage needs.

Utilizing the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, the Iomega External SSD Flash Drive boasts up to 10 times the speed of USB 2.0 drives. Iomega’s new external SSD Drive also performs twice as fast as a 7200 RPM SATA hard drives utilizing the same USB 3.0 interface.

Cool-to-the-touch, the new Iomega SSD Flash drives require no external power supply and are completely backward compatible with personal computers and other devices that only have USB 2.0 ports. Iomega also offers USB 3.0 adapter cards (sold separately) to insert into USB 2.0 laptop and desktop computers so users of the new Iomega SSD Flash Drive can experience native USB 3.0 transfer speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second.

A Creative Professional’s Take on the Iomega USB 3.0 External SSD Flash Drive
Kevin T Gilbert, an award-winning photojournalist, teacher and entrepreneur based in Annapolis, Maryland, is CEO and founder of Blue Pixel, a leading digital creative group that consults for major companies in retail, computers, software and camera manufacturing. A pioneer digital photographer who as photographed four sitting U.S. Presidents, as well as two fictional U.S. Presidents during a stint shooting on The West Wing television series, Gilbert can’t say enough about Iomega’s new external SSD Drive and the virtues of utilizing solid state flash as a professional photojournalist.

“I travel to 20 countries a year and the new Iomega SSD drive keeps me solidly backed up and within the airline weight limits! I love that,” said Gilbert, elected six times as president of the White House News Photographers Association. “Size, speed and portability matter to me as I travel the world. At a time when the international airlines continue to limit size and weight on gear, the Iomega external SSD drive is a lifesaver! This drive gets a big thumbs up from me and should from anyone who spends a lot of time shooting on the go.”

Value Add Software Package That Saves Money and Protects Your Files
Included free of charge with Iomega’s new External SSD Flash Drives is the Iomega Protection Suite, a one-stop portfolio of backup and anti-virus software giving users added protection for their photos, videos, music and other files.

The Iomega Protection Suite includes:

• v.Clone™ software, an Iomega exclusive, captures a complete virtual image of your PC — including the operating system, all applications, your settings, and all your files to your Iomega hard drive. Access the cloned copy and use it seamlessly on another computer, just as if you’re working from your own PC. When you reconnect, automatically sync your data to your primary PC, so that files are always up to date**.
• A complementary 1-year subscription to Trend Micro™ Internet Security for the PC, or Trend Micro™ Smart Surfing software for Mac.
• Iomega QuikProtect: backup software for simple scheduled file-level backup of data to hard drives and network-attached storage devices (for Windows and Mac desktops and notebooks).
• Roxio® Retrospect® Express software: backup all of your data plus applications and settings (for Windows and Mac desktops and notebooks).
• MozyHome™ Online Backup service: Convenient online backup service with 2GB of online capacity for free (unlimited online storage for $4.95/month). MozyHome Online service allows Windows and Mac users to restore their most important data from any computer with internet access, at any location in the world.

All of the software elements in the Iomega Protection Suite are accessible via easy download to owners of the Iomega External SSD Flash Drive.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty
The new Iomega® External SSD Flash Drive USB 3.0 will be available worldwide in early November in three capacities: 64GB for $229.00, 128GB for $399.00, and 256GB for $749.00. (All pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) Iomega’s new External SSD Flash Drives will be available in the channel from distributors, systems integrators and others, as well as etailers and at www.iomega.com.

For more information on all of Iomega’s products, including direct-attached portable and desktop HDDs, multimedia and network storage solutions, please go to www.iomega.com.

All Iomega products include a 3-year limited warranty (with registration).

They’ll also be bundled with Iomega’s QuikProtect and v.Clone apps, together with a 12-month license for Trend Micro’s Internet Security suite.  Since USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0, owners with an eye on future upgrades will still be able to use the drives with their existing machines.

We asked Iomega’s Jonathan Huberman why the company had seemingly bypassed eSATA and gone straight to USB 3.0, and he blamed industry-wide low sales of drives using the eSATA interface for the decision.  Iomega does offer dual-interface USB 2.0/eSATA models, but with the faster port generally not supplying enough power for portable external drives, consumer take-up has been poor.

Our other question regarded Apple, and the company’s apparent reluctance to step up to USB 3.0 even in their most recent desktop model refresh.  All Huberman would say was that the Cupertino company’s delay was “interesting”, and that he wouldn’t be surprised if they moved to USB 3.0 in Q1 2011; however, he also pointed out that Apple tend to keep their roadmap cards close to their chest.  Right now, Iomega offer various Mac-centric USB 2.0/FireWire combo drives, but they plan to update these to USB 3.0/FireWire so that, when Apple starts selling machines with the faster port, owners will be ready.

Currently the Iomega eGo drives have MRSPs of $114 for the 500GB model and $189 for the 1TB model (though street prices are less).

Press Release:

Iomega Sets the Market Standard for Portable Hard Drives – First to Offer New SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Models at USB 2.0 Prices!

Award-Winning Premium eGo Portable Hard Drive Line First to Feature All USB 3.0 Models with Hardware Encryption And Industry-Leading Ruggedness, Too

SAN DIEGO, August 24, 2010 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a leading innovator in digital protection solutions for consumers and small and medium businesses, is excited to announce that it is moving to the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface for all Iomega USB 2.0 portable hard drives, beginning with the award-winning line of Iomega® eGo™ Portable Hard Drives. The new all-USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives will feature hardware encryption and super toughness, too, thanks to a drop spec twice the industry average – all at USB 2.0 product prices. This market-leading move continues Iomega’s tradition of technology leadership.

“As a market leader in external hard drive solutions, Iomega is proud to be the first to move towards an all USB 3.0 portable hard drive lineup – and at no extra price premium to our customers,” said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega Corporation and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “With a super fast USB 3.0 interface delivering speeds of up to 10 times that of USB 2.0, super tough with a 7-foot drop spec that’s twice the industry average and super secure with AES 256 hardware encryption, Iomega’s eGo Portable Hard Drives will be the premium must-have portable storage product. Factor in our bundled software Protection Suite with popular titles such as Iomega’s QuikProtect, v.Clone and Trend Micro’s Internet Security, and that makes Iomega’s USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives an exceptional premium solution at the same price as most entry level basic USB 2.0 products.”

USB 3.0 Transition Timeline for Iomega Portable Hard Drives
Iomega plans to move all eGo Portable Hard Drives in 500GB* and 1TB** capacities to the new USB 3.0 interface by early October. Totally compatible will all USB 2.0 computers, the new USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives will include Iomega’s industry-leading Drop Guard™ Xtreme, which provides added protection from drops of nearly seven feet or twice the industry average***.

In the first quarter of 2011, Iomega plans to move the Iomega® Prestige Compact Portable Hard Drive line to USB 3.0 on all models. Shortly thereafter, Iomega will move the rest of its portable external hard drive models to the USB 3.0 interface.

Perfect for slipping into a laptop bag or pocket, all of Iomega’s 2.5-inch portable hard drives are host powered, requiring no external power supply beyond the power provided through the USB bus on a personal computer, laptop or netbook. Iomega’s new USB 3.0 portable hard drives are completely backward compatible with personal computers and other devices that only have USB 2.0 ports. Iomega offers USB 3.0 adapter cards (sold separately) to insert into USB 2.0 laptop and desktop computers so users can experience native USB 3.0 transfer speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second.

More Than Just a Portable Hard Drive – A Total Solution
Iomega prides itself on providing total solutions, which is why all of the new Iomega USB 3.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives come complete out of the box with 256-bit hardware encryption built-in (PC only), as well as the cables required to enjoy your drive right away, whether your desktop or laptop has USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 ports. The Prestige family of portable hard drives will also feature 256-bit hardware encryption built-in (PC only) with the transition to USB 3.0 models in the first quarter of 2011.

Best Software Package Bundled With Portable Hard Drives Today
Included free of charge with all of Iomega’s eGo and Prestige Portable Hard Drives is the Iomega Protection Suite, a one-stop portfolio of backup and anti-virus software giving users added protection for their photos, videos, music and other files.

The Iomega Protection Suite includes:

v.Clone™ software, an Iomega exclusive, captures a complete virtual image of your PC — including the operating system, all applications, your settings, and all your files to your Iomega hard drive. Access the cloned copy and use it seamlessly on another computer, just as if you’re working from your own PC. When you reconnect, automatically sync your data to your primary PC, so that files are always up to date****.
A complementary 12 month subscription to Trend Micro™ Internet Security for the PC, or Trend Micro™ Smart Surfing software for Mac.
Iomega QuikProtect: backup software for simple scheduled file-level backup of data to hard drives and network-attached storage devices (for Windows and Mac desktops and notebooks).
Roxio® Retrospect® Express software: backup all of your data plus applications and settings (for Windows and Mac desktops and notebooks).
MozyHome™ Online Backup service: Convenient online backup service with 2GB of online capacity for free (unlimited online storage for $4.95/month). MozyHome Online service allows Windows and Mac users to restore their most important data from any computer with internet access, at any location in the world.

All of the software elements in the Iomega Protection Suite are accessible via easy download to owners of Iomega eGo and Prestige Drives.

Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drives – Beauty and the Beast
Not only are Iomega’s award-winning eGo Portable Hard Drives super fast and super rugged, they’re head-turners, too. Sporting a sleek, smaller enclosure than the previous generation of eGo portable hard drives, eGo Portable Hard Drives are among the smallest 2.5-inch HDD portable hard drives in the market today. Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drives are available in a variety of colors that include Ruby Red, Midnight Blue and Silver.

To appreciate how much data can be stored on a high capacity 2.5-inch drive, an Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive with 1TB of capacity can hold up to 400,000 photos, over 250,000 songs or 385 hours of video*****.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty
For more information on Iomega’s complete line of portable hard drives, including current pricing, please go to www.iomega.com. Also be sure to see Iomega’s new USB 3.0 product video at YouTube.

The Iomega USB 3.0 Adapter for USB 2.0 laptops is available for $39.99, and the Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express Adaptor for PC desktops is $39.99. (Pricing is U.S. suggested retail.)

All Iomega portable hard drives include a 3-year limited warranty (with registration). Iomega-branded portable hard drives are available from online retailers, VARs, resellers and select retailers, as well as at www.iomega.com.

About EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world’s leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC’s products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

About Iomega
Iomega Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC Corporation headquartered in San Diego, is a worldwide leader in innovative storage solutions for small businesses, home offices, consumers and others. The Company has sold more than 425 million digital storage drives and disks since its inception in 1980. Today, Iomega’s product portfolio includes industry leading network attached storage products for the home and small business; one of the industry’s broadest selections of direct-attached portable and desktop external hard drives; and the ScreenPlay™ family of multimedia drives that makes it easy to move video, pictures and other files from the computer room to the livingroom. To learn about all of Iomega’s digital storage products and network storage solutions, please go to the Web at www.iomega.com. Resellers can visit Iomega at www.iomega.com/ipartner.

If you’ve seen one portable hard-drive then you’ve pretty much seen them all; the eGo has the usual curved edges and chrome accents of Iomega’s latest design language. The only connection is a USB 3.0 port – backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1, of course, though at significantly lower speeds – and happily Iomega don’t clutter up the drive with unnecessary apps. A copy of the user guide is saved to the eGo, but if you want Iomega’s Protection Suite or the year’s license for Trend Micro Internet Security then they’re available for download.

Build quality seems high and there’s no flex in the casing. Iomega also say that software will automatically lock down the drive should you accidentally drop it. We tested the eGo by moving several 2GB files from our desktop computer to the drive via a USB 3.0 connection, and saw transfer speeds of on average 86.2 MB/sec.

As for the Iomega Skin Hard Drive, with a USB 2.0 interface it’s obviously not going to reach the same sort of data transfer rates as its 3.0 brethren. It too gets the software downloads and Drop Guard protection, together with an eye-catching text patterned finish. We’re not especially enamoured by the design, but at least it would make your portable drive stand out and we suppose that could mean there would be less chance of you losing it. Transfer speeds were in line with the eGo when used with a USB 2.0 connection, around 30 MB/sec depending on the size of the files.

The bizarre part, though, is Iomega’s pricing. The 500GB eGo USB 3.0 has an MRSP of $129.99, while the 500GB Skin USB 2.0 drive has an MRSP of $119.99. With just $10 between the two, we’d definitely opt for the eGo HDD. While you may not have USB 3.0 ports on your current machine it’s highly likely that the next computer you pick up will, and with backup and multimedia storage demands continuing to expand that fatter pipe will significantly cut down on data transfer delay.

The Skin series come in three different styles. The Radical drive is branded with the Skin logo with a black top and a yellow base. The Red Hot drive has the Skin logo along with a red top and a black base. The Knock Out has a silver top and black base.

The drives all start at $119.99 and are preformatted for PCs. The drives can be used with Mac computers, but a reformat will be needed. The drives measure 4.9″ x 3.3″ x 0.7″ and weigh .36 pounds.

The Iomega SuperSpeed USB 3.0 eGo portable Hard Drive uses USB 3.0 connectivity and comes in 500GB capacity for $129.99. Iomega also has a new USB 2.0 compact Edition eGo portable HDD that uses a 2.5-inch drive inside the external housing and if offered in 320GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacity. Pricing for the line is $94.99, $114.99, and $199.99 respectively.

New desktop external hard drives include the Iomega USB 3.0 eGo Desktop Hard Drive with 1TB or 2TB versions available for $149.99 and $229.99 respectively. The Iomega Mac Edition eGo Desktop Hard Drive is a 3.5-inch HDD using a pair of FireWire 800 ports, USB 2.0, and preformatted for Mac machines in 1TB and 2TB capacity. The drives sell for $159.99 and $249.99 respectively.

The device has 12 drive bays and can be filled with up to 24TB of storage. The device supports iSCSI block-level access and allows for simultaneous multi-protocol file access. The device is aimed at use in email, database apps, and a backup target.

The StorCenter ships with EMC Lifeline software and is compatible with video cameras for surveillance systems. JBOD and RAID6/1/10 are supported as well. The device is available with 4TB of storage for $4999.99.

The iConnect resembles a small USB hub, measuring 6.3 x 1.1 x 5.2 inches. Ports include a single gigabit ethernet along with four USB 2.0 sockets and a power supply input; inside, meanwhile, there’s WiFi b/g/n connectivity and a 1GHz Marvell 6281 processor paired with 256MB of RAM. Iomega reckon it’ll suck just 5W while active. In the box you get the iConnect itself, an ethernet cable to hook it up to your router (if you’re not going with the wireless option), the PSU, a Quick Start guide and a CD with the full user manual and the Iomega Storage Manager app.

As a concept it’s pretty straightforward. Rather than buy a dedicated NAS (Network-Attached Storage) you plump for the iConnect and hook up cheaper USB hard-drives and thumb-drives for your shared storage. The iConnect acts as a middle-man, making the drives visible not only to computers on your local network but, assuming you have an internet connection, to remote access via a secure webpage.

It’s not just drives that you can attach, however. Up to two of the iConnect’s ports can be used to host regular USB printers, sharing them over the network too. It’s also a DLNA certified UPnP media server, and can stream content from the drives to compatible media players, whether they be computers, consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3, standalone audio/video streamers and other devices. As we’ve seen on some of the more advanced NAS units, there’s a BitTorrent download client (which means you can leave a file downloading without having to have your computer turned on), while a one-touch QuikTransfer button can be programmed to replicate a common task.

Setup is reasonably straightforward, but you have to complete the initial steps with a wired ethernet connection even if you plan to switch to wireless later on. The Iomega Storage Manager app automatically locates the iConnect (and leaves a shortcut – which opens a browser admin page – in the PC system tray or Mac menu bar) at which point you use the web interface to setup via a wizard. By way of bare minimum you have to give the iConnect a name by which it will be known on the network, fill in at least one email address (to which status updates will be sent) and set the clock. At this point you can go to the Network Settings tab and search for your wireless network, then pull the ethernet cord if you so desire.

Unsurprisingly, though, given the amount of things the iConnect will do there are plenty more settings panes you can work through. On a Windows PC the basic setup will have already triggered the assignment of drive letters so you can start accessing files on whatever storage you’ve plugged in. The most common request is likely to be setting up different users, and that’s easy enough to do; if you’ve chosen to make one or more shared folders limited-access, you’ll then be able to pick which that user has access to. That can include read/write, read-only or none. There’s also administrator privileges, which are distinct from all-folder-access privileges.

Iomega include a copy of Retrospect Express (with versions for PC and Mac) for performing regular backups, but as long as your backup app can see a networked drive then it should be able to use the iConnect. Iomega have also made it Time Machine compatible, so Mac owners can use their in-built backup functionality instead if they so desire. Since you can have more than one drive plugged in at any one time, you can set up Copy Jobs – basically macros that copy data from one volume to another – and these can be manually initiated or set to run at scheduled times. There’s also the option to have files copied from volumes discovered on the same network subnet as the iConnect, and you can assign a Copy Job to the QuikTransfer button on the front panel which will act as a one-press trigger to suck files over from a USB thumb-drive or similar to a preset folder. Finally, there’s Picture Transfer Protocol support which will automatically copy images on a connected digital camera to a preset folder, optionally deleting them from the camera in the process.

Does it work? Yes, and slickly at that. In no short order we had several users set up, each with varying levels of access to multiple folders on different drives. On the client machines the Iomega setup app made it simple to map drive letters, or of course you can do so manually. There’s obviously more lag involved in navigation and opening files than when they’re on a local drive, but both the wired and wireless connections were fast enough for everyday use.

Using the iConnect as a media server is also simple; once turned on it automatically scans all drives for videos, music and pictures and then makes them available to UPnP clients across the local network. You can choose to deselect various storage volumes you don’t want to share, as well as use it to host a shared iTunes library by dragging and dropping over your existing media. Like other media-sharing NAS, scans are performed periodically rather than continuously, so it’s worth remembering to hit “Scan Now” if you’ve just copied music across and are wondering why it doesn’t show up on your PS3.

Like the Pogoplug, you can access files through the iConnect remotely, though it’s not set up by default. It’s an easy enough process, however, and you get free 12 months of basic subscription access with your iConnect purchase, then $9.95/year after that. That allows you to pick a sub-domain address to which you’ll go whenever you want to log-in (like yourname.iomegalink.com) from Iomega’s existing selection. Alternatively there’s a premium version which allows you to choose your own domain or use one you already own. Once that’s done, visiting that URL and punching in your username and password will allow you to browse the volumes attached to the iConnect, presuming you have user-level access.

There’s plenty more flexibility with the Iomega iConnect, but the good news is it does the basics – and more – very well. Setup is reasonably simple, as is user management, and with some forethought the Copy Jobs functionality can really speed up daily chores such as drive mirroring. Your system can be as basic as a single USB drive or as complex as a row of USB RAID arrays, and Iomega’s web interface is clean and clear.

It’s also cheaper than the Pogoplug – $99.99 versus $129 – though on the flip side the rival system doesn’t involve any subscription fees; after 12 months of basic remote access you’ll have to stump up for another year’s worth of service. Still, the Pogoplug lacks integrated WiFi – it’s ethernet-only – as well as DLNA streaming support, though we’re told that’s on its way in a future firmware update. There’s plenty to like here about Iomega’s system, and the ability to simply add in extra storage (either permanently or temporarily) is great. Best of all, your setup can be as complex or as basic as you prefer, rather than the outlay for a huge, prebuilt NAS (or a cheaper, smaller one you may later regret opting for). There are frustrations – the subscription for remote access being the biggest – but of course if you don’t want to check your files from afar then you don’t need to pay for it. Generally, then, the Iomega iConnect comes highly recommended.

An instant improvement over the Pogoplug is the fact that Iomega have integrated WiFi b/g/n into the iConnect, as well as its gigabit ethernet port and four USB 2.0 ports, so you have a choice of wired or wireless connectivity.  It’ll also turn any attached storage into a media server, supporting both DLNA and iTunes server standards, as well as sharing any printer plugged in across the network.

The copy button – just to the right of the thumb drive in the above image – is also pretty flexible, since you can set it up to automatically move data from a newly-inserted drive either to another local volume or to a point anywhere else on the network.  Alternatively, you can set up a transfer macro in the other direction, say if you want a daily copy of your documents folder to be automatically transferred to your memory stick.

Like the Pogoplug, there’s also password-protected remote access via a dedicated site.  Pricing isn’t done any harm by Iomega’s economy of scale, and the iConnect will come in at $99.99 when it goes on sale in February 2010.  We’re looking forward to trying the iConnect out when our review unit arrives.

It supports up to 1080p HD 24fps video playback in H.264, WMV and MKV formats (among others) in addition to streaming YouTube, Shoutcast radio, RSS feeds and podcasts.  The Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD will arrive in the US later in January 2010, priced at $249.

As for the Iomega ScreenPlay Plus HD, it drops the network connection and supports either 720p or 1080i HD via HDMI; there’s also a single USB 2.0 port.  Onboard storage is either 1TB or 500GB (the 500GB model is already available now, priced at $169 in the US) and it can handle MP3, AC3, WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI-VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX/XViD) and JPEG formats.

Finally, the Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link Director lacks internal storage and instead supports either USB 2.0 connected hard-drives or DLNA streaming content across a network.  Otherwise all the specifications are the same as the ScreenPlay Director HD.  It will go on sale later in Q1 2010, priced at $129.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces New ScreenPlay HD Media Player Products That Deliver Online Premium Content as well as Your Digital Videos, Photos and Music Directly to the TV

New “ScreenPlay Director” from World’s Leader in HD Media Players Features Full 1080p High Definition, Network Connectivity, Increased CODEC And File Support, 1TB Capacity and Much More

SAN DIEGO, January 5, 2010 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the launch of a new generation of ScreenPlay™ HD Media Products, including the top of the line Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Director HD Media Player, a feature-rich HD media player that makes it easy to browse your home network for content to watch on the TV, and also incorporates the Roxio CinemaNow™ entertainment platform from Sonic Solutions® (NASDAQ: SNIC), giving consumers instant access to buy or rent movies and other premium entertainment from the Internet to view on your TV.

The new family of Iomega ScreenPlay HD Media Player products, on display at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, represents the most versatile multimedia product offerings in the market today: three different products with different features at different prices – something for everyone that wants to enjoy their videos, photos, music and all of their digital content on the TV, as well as renting or purchasing premium content from the Internet – all without being connected to the computer.

Roxio CinemaNow
The Roxio CinemaNow entertainment platform incorporated into the new ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player products (available only to U.S. consumers), gives users instant access to buy or rent movies and other premium content via the Internet to watch on standard and high definition televisions.*

“With Roxio CinemaNow, consumers will be able to access premium content directly from Iomega’s ScreenPlay HD Media devices,” said Huberman. “Now U.S. consumers can rent or buy movies over the Internet without needing their computer or ever leaving the livingroom. We are excited to partner with Sonic Solutions to add this functionality to our industry leading ScreenPlay line up and further differentiate our products from others in the marketplace.”

Top of the Line: The New ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player
The new ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player boasts full 1080p high definition playback (24fps) and 1TB** of space to save all your multimedia files. The ScreenPlay Director is DivX® Home Theatre certified to play popular DivX video, and supports many of today’s popular CODECs and file types, including H.264, WMV and MKV, as well as plenty of others. (For a comprehensive list of supported video, audio and photo files, please go to www.iomega.com.)

The ScreenPlay Director is compatible with PCs and Macs, and has an Ethernet connection so you can store, access and share videos, photos and music across your home network or store all the files in one convenient location on the ScreenPlay Director. The new ScreenPlay Director is DLNA compatible to interact with other compatible devices on your home network, and is WiFi ready so you can connect to your network wirelessly, if desired. (USB WiFi adaptor sold separately.)

The ScreenPlay Director also includes a selection of popular online media pre-configured for easy access, including YouTube, Flickr, Shoutcast Internet radio, RSS feeds and podcasts. You can also configure the ScreenPlay Director to add other RSS feeds and podcasts, making it a snap to customize the player with your choice of online content. With three USB 2.0 ports, you can attach other external storage devices, a camera, flash drives, or a WiFi adapter.

The ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player, available later this month in the U.S., can hold up to 4 million photos, 18,500 hours of music, or 1,500 hours of video***.

The New Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Plus HD Media Player
Another new product in the ScreenPlay product family is the new entry-level HD media player, the ScreenPlay Plus, which acts as both a high definition multimedia player as well a high capacity storage device for your media library. Available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, the affordable new ScreenPlay Plus supports native high definition 720p and 1080i video playback, and is DivX® Home Theatre certified to play DivX video, too.

The ScreenPlay Plus is compatible with such media formats as MP3, AC3 (Dolby® Digital Encoding), WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI-VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX/XViD) and JPEG. The ScreenPlay Plus includes an HDMI connection and a USB 2.0 port for accessing additional storage from a portable hard drive or a USB Flash drive.

The New ScreenPlay TV Link Director
The Iomega® ScreenPlay™ TV Link Director provides all the capabilities of the ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player but at a fraction of the cost. A small, compact device with no onboard hard drive, the ScreenPlay TV Link Director gives users the flexibility to bring their content to the device using their own USB drives and USB 2.0 Flash drives or by browsing their home network. The ScreenPlay TV Link Director is DLNA compatible and is an ideal companion to Iomega’s Home Media Network Drive. The ScreenPlay TV Link Director is perfect for users with plenty of storage capacity in existing USB drives.

All of the new Iomega ScreenPlay HD Media Player products come with an improved remote control that makes it easy to view movies and photos, listen to music and access the Internet without leaving your seat.

Premium Software from Iomega
The Iomega Protection Suite of software is bundled free of charge with many Iomega products, including the new ScreenPlay HD Director and ScreenPlay Plus Media Player products. Available via download, the Iomega Protection Suite includes Iomega QuikProtect for simple scheduled file-level backup; a choice between EMC® Retrospect® Express or Express HD to back up your data, plus applications and settings; and a free subscription to a market-leading software that protects your PC with anti-virus, anti-spyware, and web security protection.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty
The new 1TB Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Director HD Media Player will be available in the U.S. later this month for $249.00. The new 500GB Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Plus HD Media Player is available now for $169.00, and the new ScreenPlay TV Link Director is expected be available in the U.S. later this quarter for $129.00. (All pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) All of the new ScreenPlay HD Media Player Products are backed by a three-year warranty (with product registration).

To see all of the current ScreenPlay HD Media Player products, simply go to www.iomega.com.

Iomega give owners a personalized web address through which they can access content on any drive plugged in, whether they’re doing so from a Mac, PC or Linux machine.  From that UI it’s also possible to remotely administer the iConnect, establishing BitTorrent downloads or triggering backups from networked machines.

In addition to remote access, it’s also possible to duplicate the contents of one drive to another (complete with a one-touch QuikTransfer button on the front panel) and share up to two printers.  It also offers UPnP DLNA media streaming, simple photo slideshows and Iomega throw in some backup apps too.

The Iomega iConnect will go on sale worldwide later in January 2010, priced at $99.99 with no ongoing subscription fees.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces New iConnect Wireless Data Station

Save Costs and Bring Your Own Desktop and Portable USB Storage into Your Network With New Iomega HDD-Less NAS Device

SAN DIEGO, January 5, 2010 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the worldwide launch of the Iomega® iConnect Wireless Data Station, an economical NAS device that provides a simple way to bring all of your USB storage into your network, allowing you to connect, share and access files anywhere, even over the Internet.

On display at the Iomega booth at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the iConnect Wireless Data Station has no onboard storage, instead allowing users to bring all of their desktop and portable USB storage into their network. Connect the Iomega iConnect device to your router in either a wired or wireless configuration*, and it’s as easy as plugging external USB drives or USB Flash drives (any brand) into any of the four USB ports on the Iomega iConnect device, making the drives automatically connected to and accessible from any computer on your network or remotely via the web.

Benefits and Features of the new iConnect Wireless Data Station
With the new iConnect Wireless Data Station, users interact with an easy-to-understand interface that provides all the latest in multimedia serving as well as remote access features that makes it a breeze to access your own data, whether in the office, the home, or anywhere else in the world.**

Among the many value-add features of the iConnect Wireless Data Station:

• Easy file sharing, data backup and print serving from any networked Windows® PC, Mac® or Linux workstation.
• Gigabit Ethernet and wireless connectivity by connecting directly to your router in either a wired or wireless (802.11b/g/n wireless protocol) configuration.
• Remote access allows you to connect securely from anywhere in the world and get full access to pictures, videos, files – everything stored on the connected USB drives. An added bonus: remotely access and administer the iConnect device through a personalized web address.
• Simple expandability means you can add storage capacity by simply connecting more or larger external USB drives.
• Device-to-device replication for data protection allows you to define a job to copy and/or synchronize files to and from the connected USB drives or any other shared storage on your network. Iomega makes it easy with one-touch copying with the QuikTransfer button on the front of the iConnect device.
• Print Serving with intelligent print sharing capability for up to two USB printers.
• Time Machine® support allows Apple® users to easily backup any Mac computers running OS X (10.5 or later) using Time Machine.
• UPnP™ DLNA Certified AV Media Server provides the ability to stream photos, audio content and videos to a variety of media devices, such as game consoles (Microsoft Xbox® 360, Sony PlayStation® 3), audio bridges, iTunes® players, networked digital picture frames, Iomega® ScreenPlay™ products and more.
• Photo slideshow capabilities with an integrated utility based on the Cooliris™ technology for quick browsing and sharing of pictures stored on the connected USB drives.
• Torrent download manager allows the iConnect device to manage peer-to-peer file transfers without the need of a dedicated PC.
• Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) provides no touch, automatic transfer of photos from digital cameras via one of the four USB ports on the iConnect device.

Backup and Security Software for a Total Data Protection Solution
The new Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station comes complete with a portfolio of backup and security software, including native security support with robust username and password authorized access. RSA® BSAFE® encryption security technology for protecting installs and upgrades from viruses or malware is included, too. RSA is the security division of EMC that protects digital data at many of the world’s largest banks.

Also included with the iConnect Wireless Data Station is the Iomega Protection Suite of software. Available via download, the Iomega Protection Suite includes Iomega QuikProtect for simple scheduled file-level backup; a choice between EMC® Retrospect® Express or Express HD to back up your data, plus applications and settings; and a free subscription to a market-leading software that protects your PC with anti-virus, anti-spyware, and web security protection.

Compatibility
The iConnect Wireless Data Station is compatible with Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux® PCs. The interface is localized for 18 languages (including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, German, and Russian).

Price and Availability and Warranty
The new Iomega® iConnect Wireless Data Station, on demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show (Booth # 31823, South Hall 3), January 7-10, in Las Vegas, will available worldwide later this month for $99.99. (Pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) The iConnect Wireless Data Station is backed by a three-year warranty (with product registration).

Any changes made to files, settings, media or anything else are then re-synchronized back to the original PC when the drive is plugged back in, and no data is left on the temporary host.  Iomega reckon it’ll be useful for netbook users wanting more storage than their budget ultraportables can offer, together with those upgrading a machine and cautious about losing data, as well as people bringing work home from the office.

Iomega v.Clone will be available for free download to the company’s eGo, eGo BlackBelt, eGo Encrypt Plus, and Prestige Compact Edition USB portable hard-drives, together with their eGo Desktop and Prestige Desktop Hard Drives.

The new StorCenter is generally similar to the old model, a compact box with two 3.5-inch SATA-II hard-drives, but the design is far slicker and more suited to home use. Where the ix2 had no front-mounted ports, the ix2-200 gets a USB port, quick-transfer button (that automatically sucks the contents of a drive hooked up to that USB port onto the internal storage) and useful indicator lights. Round the back there are a further two USB 2.0 ports – which can be used to plug in further hard-drives, printers for network sharing, or Iomega’s optional Bluetooth dongle for wireless transfers from cellphones and the like – and a gigabit ethernet port, along with the power input and a Kensington lock slot. You can also see the two drive bays, now user-accessible.

One of our key criticisms about the original ix2 was that, should a drive fail – and you can set up S.M.A.R.T. drive alerts which will email you should that be predicted imminent – you needed to send the whole NAS to Iomega in order for them to switch to a replacement drive. Attempting to replace it yourself, or upgrade the stock drives for faster or larger versions, voided the NAS warranty.

The ix2-200, however, makes replacing the drives yourself more straightforward. Two screws (on the underside of the NAS) hold each in place, and once removed the caddies pull straight out. There’s no support for hot-swapping, unfortunately, but the ix2-200 will automatically rebuild the standard RAID-1 array; more concerning, though, is the fact that Iomega insist you use their own replacement drives rather than any generic SATA-II 3.5-inch hard-drive. Not doing so will void the ix2-200′s three-year warranty, and we’re disappointed that Iomega seemingly bury this tidbit in the user manual rather than making it clear on their product pages (which only say that the drives are user-replaceable).

Setup is reasonably easy, especially if you’re content with the default settings (which most home users should be). A single network connection and power connection gets the ix2-200 running, while a setup CD loaded in one of the networked computers locates the NAS and opens up the webserver-based UI. While you’d think this would be a reasonably speedy process, it took longer than you’d expect for the Iomega Solutions CD to grab the ix2-200′s IP address; however, subsequent tweaks to the settings are easily done by punching in that IP directly, rather than reaching for the setup CD.

The UI is reasonably unchanged from the first-gen model, about which you’ll hear no complaints from us. Seeing as the ix2-200 gets all the ix2′s skills and more, that means you have a choice of UPnP DLNA and iTunes media server functionality, standalone BitTorrent downloads (complete with bandwidth throttling), folder quotas, Remote Access and Active Directory support. Apple users will find the ix2-200 compatible with Time Machine for straightforward integration, while Windows users get EMC Retrospect Express Backup (with unlimited client licenses) to handle automated backups. We’re also glad to see scheduling support, which means you can copy files to and from the StorCenter at preset times to other NAS or USB drives (using rsync or CIFS). Since we’ll be the first to advocate having a regular, offsite backup of your data, scheduling can make doing that all the more straightforward.

New and notable to the ix2-200 is iSCSI support, borrowed from its bigger ix4-200d sibling, and automatic drive power management. The former is unlikely to be much use to most home users, but small offices might find its ready integration with Microsoft Server useful. As for the latter, that’s much more appealing; the ix2-200′s drives automatically spin down when not in use, and the NAS is paired with an Energy Star certified PSU. Iomega have picked a pair of Seagate low-power HDDs, which are reasonably quiet but still louder than the StorCenter’s fan.

There’s plenty of functionality on offer, and certainly, and much of it – like iSCSI – seems of limited use to the sort of home buyers who’ll be drawn in by the ix2-200′s reasonable pricing. The NAS can work with up to five IP webcams, for instance, supporting recording and monitoring without a client PC; useful, but we’d rather Iomega had made Bluetooth support standard and integrated the Bluetooth chip, rather than demanding a separate USB adapter be used.

As for pricing, the new range starts at $269.99 for the 1TB model (which, in standard RAID-1 setup, will offer 500GB of storage), then $269.99 for the 2TB model, and finally $699.99 for the 4TB NAS. Of the three, we’d plump for the 2TB, balancing space versus pricing. Compared to the ix2, the ix2-200 is a significant improvement, not least for the native Time Machine support for OS X users and the power saving functionality. The enterprise functionality may mean relatively little for the StorCenter ix2-200′s target audience, but drive redundancy and the flexibility of print and media servers, backup and cost-efficient pricing make this a successful improvement on the first-gen NAS.

According to a former Apple employee who came forward early this week, the computer maker has been working on that much rumored tablet since 2003. The first prototype was abandoned because of construction costs and poor battery life. Kempler & Strauss unveiled a cool watch phone called the W PhoneWatch this week that also includes a Bluetooth communicator. The thing reminded me a lot of the LG GD910.

Microsoft pulled several prototype mice of the future out of its hidden R&D stock this week to show off what the future of the pointing device would be like. The mice all looked a bit different, but sported similar touch technology inside. The Motorola DEXT is set to hit Orange in the UK on October 7. The DEXT is the European version of the Motorola CLIQ.

Tuesday we posted up a review of the HTC Touch2 Windows smartphone. We liked the device despite the reduced specs compared to some of the other Windows mobile handsets that hit the market at the same time thanks in part to its smaller form factor. The same day we looked at the Touch2 we also posted up a full review of Windows Mobile 6.5, which left us looking forward to Windows Mobile 7.

Western Digital unveiled a new external hard drive called the My Passport Elite this week that has a docking station and an illuminated capacity gage. That means you can tell at a glance if you have space left on the drive. Super Talent pulled the wraps off a new branded Toshiba SSD called the UltraDrive DX. The SSD has two levels of data security and the price isn’t too bad for the smaller capacity versions.

The TI OMAP-DM5x coprocessor was unveiled this week promising 20MP and 720p camera phones soon. How great would it be for the next iPhone to have a decent camera? Microsoft may be sleeping with the enemy soon with rumors of Zune and Zune Pass compatibility for Apple devices. I would love to get a working subscription service for my iPhone.

Acer’s forthcoming Timeline 1820p multitouch windows 7 tablet computer leaked this week. The little notebook looks pretty cool and has a very portable form factor. Rumors that Dell was bringing its Mini 3i Android phone to the US popped up this week. The device is already available in China and word is that it may be hitting AT&T.

AT&T finally opened its 3G network up to VoIP applications this week. The move opened the door for Skype and Google Voice users to take advantage of VoIP away from Wi-Fi networks. Amazon debuted its popular Kindle eReader internationally this week. The device even has 3G capability globally and at home, the device got a price cut to $259.

Dell teased us again with its Adamo XPS this week. We still don’t know what’s inside that thin case, but the profile sure makes me want one. I am afraid to find out what the thing will cost. Kempler & Strauss unveiled its Billionair 7 GSM quad-band phone this week. The name is curious since the handset is actually pretty cheap.

The Sony Vaio CW notebook debuted this week starting at $799. That is actually pretty cheap for a Vaio machine and it can be had with some nice specs, though the options will drive the price up considerably. Sony also offered up the official specs on its Vaio X notebook this week. The notebook is tiny and has a 2GHz Intel CPU and more.

Psystar may be in the middle of a bankruptcy and getting sued into oblivion by Apple, but that hasn’t stopped the Mac clone maker from offering its Mac cloning tech to other companies. I seriously doubt anyone steps up until the suit is final, Apple will fight this with all they have. Kohjinsha unveiled a slick dual display netbook at CEATEC this week. The two 10.1-inch screens stack on top of each other for storage and more portability.

Iomega unveiled an updated StorCenter ix2-200 this week with larger HDDs that are swappable. The device sells for $699.99 for the 4TB and a 1TB is $369.99. KDDI unveiled a prototype methanol fuel cell for mobile phones this week that provides 320 hours of run time for the device. That is a lot of run time; I can’t wait for this to hit the market — several years from now.

Photos and specs for a couple upcoming, cheap, video cards from ATI leaked this week. The HD 5750 and HD 5770 should offer good performance for well under $200 each. Barnes & Noble announced that it is working on a new eReader with Plastic Logic that will have a color screen due to hit in the Spring of 2010. I wonder how Amazon will respond.

Mad Catz showed off a new distressed Rock Band wireless guitar controller for the Xbox this week. The thing looks like it needs to be replaced as soon as you get it; I guess that is the point. We love it when geeks mode two already cool things into one really cool device. One enterprising geek has taken a NES console and modded it into a HTPC computer complete with NVIDIA Ion graphics. Yeah, it’s cool and I want one. We heard grumblings from inside the Microsoft Pink project that things are not well and the entire project is in jeopardy. If the rumor is to be believed the entire Pink project could fail and possibly take Windows Mobile with it. Friday saw the confirmation that NVIDIA Ion 2 was set to launch this year. You can bet machines running it will be on the market in time for holiday shopping.

Well there you have it, another week in review! If the storms stay gone and my junk rural electric co-op can keep my lights on, I will see you next week!

Unlike the ix2, the ix2-200 has twin user-accessible drive bays, and they’re filled with low-power drives that are automatically spun-down when not in use.  The StorCenter also has DLNA media streaming, RAID 1 drive spanning for improved data security, three USB ports for plugging in external drives or webcams, and optional Bluetooth for wirelessly transferring files from mobile devices.

It’s worth noting that those two bays aren’t hot-swappable, so you’ll need to power-down and whip out your screwdriver to switch them out.  Still, most of Iomega’s target audience are unlikely to be looking for that sort of capability anyway; they’ll be more pleased with the straightforward remote access, Apple Time Machine compatibility and one-touch photo transfers.

All three versions are available in the US and Europe now, priced at $269.99 for the 1TB, $369.99 for the 2TB, and $699.99 for the 4TB.  They’ll drop in Asia come November.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces Next Generation “Green” Desktop Network Storage Appliance With Powerful Enterprise and Consumer Features

Compact StorCenter ix2-200 Features:
Easy Push Button Appliance-to-Appliance Copy and Backup
Disk Spin Down for Energy Efficiency
User Replaceable Disk Drives and More

San Diego, October 8, 2009 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the next generation of its popular double-drive desktop NAS appliance with the worldwide launch of the new Iomega® StorCenter™ ix2-200. Based on industry-leading enterprise-class EMC® storage technologies, the versatile yet affordable StorCenter ix2-200 wraps ease-of-use around big business data management functionality and advanced media serving and other consumer features that make it the ideal NAS appliance for small business users and home users.

Available in 1TB*, 2TB and 4TB capacities, the new ix2-200 utilizes a very simple four-step setup to be operational in a matter of minutes – be it in a business setting or in the digital home. Starting at less than $270.00, the ix2-200 employs an easy-to-understand interface to provide robust data management and protection for the serious business user, as well as the latest in multimedia serving and remote access features that makes it a breeze to access your own data, whether in the office, the home, or anywhere else in the world.**

Among the standout business features of the new StorCenter ix2-200:

Device-to-device replication for business continuity and file recovery
iSCSI block-level access for efficient storage utilization
RAID 1 configurations for optimized data protection
Windows® Active Directory support
A new front panel QuikTransfer button for easy copying of selected files
User replaceable hard drives
Multiple IP security camera support
And for the forward-thinking small business, VMware® certification for virtualization installations.
The new StorCenter ix2-200 also has a treasure trove of features for the digital home, including:

A DLNA® certified UPnP® AV Media Server that makes the ix2-200 the central repository for serving up all your movies, pictures, music and other files to any compatible device on your network
Serves as a Time Machine® target for Apple® computer backups
Built-in torrent support for file-sharing without the need for a dedicated PC
Bluetooth® capability for uploading all kinds of digital content from a smart phone
Cooliris™ slide show plug-in allows for easy photo viewing
And remote access to the ix2-200 from anywhere in the world
“The new StorCenter ix2-200 is definitely the easiest to use small office and consumer network storage appliance in the marketplace today,” said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “Combining EMC’s world class enterprise storage and security technologies with advanced media serving features makes the ix2-200 a versatile and affordable NAS appliance that gives smaller organizations, work groups and home users not only cost-effective and robust network storage but some of the same sophisticated data management capabilities as a Fortune 100 corporation – but without any need for IT experience.”

The new Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 NAS appliance is now available in the Americas and Europe from retailers, VARs and IT resellers, including valued Iomega partner CDW.

“When it comes to managing and protecting digital content, small businesses today face many of the same challenges as much larger organizations,” said Matt Troka, vice president, Product & Partner Management, CDW Corporation. “Iomega’s new StorCenter ix2-200 delivers cost-effective network storage with advanced enterprise features at extremely affordable prices. For the budget conscious small business with a need for dependable network storage that is easy to setup and maintain without any internal IT expertise, the compact StorCenter ix2-200 offers a great value proposition, which makes it a viable data storage and back-up solution for our customers.”

The Little Compact Desktop NAS Appliance with Lots of Capabilities
The new StorCenter ix2-200 NAS desktop appliance utilizes the acclaimed EMC LifeLine™ software, a fully-developed Linux operating environment and suite of applications that is designed for cross-platform support with Windows®, Mac® and Linux computers. The LifeLine operating system presents a simple-to-use graphical interface that makes it easy to perform valuable business tasks while remaining confident that your data is securely stored, protected, and accessible whenever and wherever you need it.

Small office users will enjoy the ix2-200′s fast Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and high-performance embedded architecture, which boosts productivity by making data readily accessible and secure over a local network at the office or in the home. The ix2-200 also boasts the versatility of three USB 2.0 ports for adding printers or additional storage capacity with external USB drives.

Key Features of the StorCenter ix2-200 NAS Appliance
The new ix2-200 NAS appliance’s many features make it one of the most advanced, innovative and easy-to-use double-drive network storage devices available today. Among the features:

Device-to-Device Replication (copy jobs): Copy or backup files to and from the ix2-200 to any other NAS or USB-attached storage device without the need for a client computer. Jobs can be set to run at pre-determined schedule or at the touch of the ix2-200′s new QuikTransfer button. The ix2-200 uses either the rsync or Windows File Sharing protocol to transfer data between itself and another network storage device.
iSCSI Support: Provides block-level access for the most efficient storage utilization, especially for database, email and backup application performance. This feature also allows host-based operating systems and virtualization software to use the full capabilities of their native file systems, such as enabling VMFS for VMware utilization.
VMware® Ready Certification: The ix2-200 is certified as both NAS (NFS) and iSCSI storage for VMware ESX Server 3.5 and 4.0 vSphere. The ix2-200 is listed on the VMware hardware compatibility list, enabling small offices and work groups to affordably take advantage of the benefits and advanced features offered by shared storage in a VMware environment. The ix2-200 is the ideal storage match for smaller virtualization deployments that use the new VMware vSphere Essentials and vSphere Essentials Plus software packages.
Remote Access: Set up remote access and remotely manage and access pictures, videos, work files and other digital data on the ix2-200 from anywhere in the world. Just enter a personalized web address into any browser for easy downloading and uploading of files securely.
RAID Support: RAID 1 with automatic RAID rebuild for data redundancy and protection. Single volume (JBOD) mode also available.
Multiple Network Protocols: Works in Windows, Linux and Mac environments with network protocol support including CIFS/SMB/Rally, NFS, and AFP/Bonjour. The ix2-200 also supports advanced protocols such as HTTP, FTP and SNMP.
Time Machine® Support: Lets Apple® users easily backup to the ix2-200 with Mac computers running OS X (10.5 or later) using Time Machine.
Windows® Active Directory Support: Allows the ix2-200 to function as a client member in an Active Directory domain, giving users and groups access to the ix2-200.
Uninterruptible Power Supply Support: Enables unattended system shutdown without data loss in the case of power failure.
Gigabit Ethernet: high speed connectivity with jumbo frame support
Video Surveillance: Connect up to five Axis® Network video cameras for real-time monitoring and video capture, without the need of a dedicated computer (dependent upon system workload and network conditions). The ix2-200 can be used as a storage target for other network surveillance cameras as well.
Print Server: Supports intelligent print sharing capability for up to three USB printers directly connected to the ix2-200.
UPnP AV/DLNA Certified Media Server: Compatible with UPnP and DLNA certified media players, the ix2-200 streams photos, audio content and videos to not only laptops and computers but a variety of media devices, including game consoles (Xbox® 360, Sony PlayStation® 3), audio bridges, iTunes™ players, networked digital picture frames and other compatible devices.
Bluetooth capability: Allows users to upload contacts, photos and more from a cell phone, pocket PC or Blackberry® phone (Bluetooth USB adapter required, sold separately).
Photo Slideshow: Integrated utility based on Cooliris™ technology for quick browsing and sharing of pictures stored on the ix2-200 to both local and remote users.
Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP): Supports no touch, automatic transfer of photos from digital cameras via one of the three USB 2.0 ports on the ix2-200.
Versatility: Supports read and write on various formats, including Fat32, NTFS or ext2/ext3 formatted hard disks; also supports HFS+ (ready only).
Backup and Security Software for a Complete Solution
The StorCenter ix2-200 provides data backup and protection for any number of desktops and laptops with integrated EMC Retrospect® Express backup software. During the set-up process, users choose files and folders for scheduled automatic backups. After that, any changes or additions are updated and saved automatically.

For data security, the ix2-200 also includes RSA® BSAFE® encryption security technology for protecting installs and upgrades from viruses or malware. RSA is the security division of EMC that protects digital data at many of the world’s largest banks.

A Power Saving “Green” NAS Appliance
The StorCenter ix2-200 utilizes such power saving features as automatic hard drive spin down when the ix2-200 isn’t copying or serving up data, power consumption “green” hard disk drives, and an Energy Star® certified power supply. All of these features ensure the most efficient or minimal power consumption.

Compatibility
The StorCenter ix2-200 is compatible with Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux® PCs. The interface is localized in 11 supported languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, German, and Russian).

Price, Availability and Warranty
The new 1TB StorCenter ix2-200 NAS appliance is now available in the Americas and Europe for $269.99, the 2TB model is now available for $369.99, and the 4TB model, which will be available later this month, is $699.99. (All prices are U.S. suggested retail.) All three capacities of the new StorCenter ix2-200 will be available in Asia in November. The StorCenter ix2-200 is backed by a three-year warranty (with product registration).

About EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world’s leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC’s products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

About Iomega
Iomega Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC Corporation headquartered in San Diego, is a worldwide leader in innovative storage and network security solutions for small businesses, home offices, consumers and others. The Company has sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks since its inception in 1980. Today, Iomega’s product portfolio includes one of the industry’s broadest selection of direct-attached external hard drives; industry leading network attached storage products for the home and small business; and the ScreenPlay family of multimedia drives that makes it easy to move video, pictures and other digital files from the computer room to the livingroom. To learn about all of Iomega’s digital storage products and managed services solutions, please go to the Web at www.iomega.com. Resellers can visit Iomega at www.iomega.com/ipartner.

NOTE: This release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) our ability to protect our proprietary technology; (iv) risks associated with managing the growth of our business, including risks associated with acquisitions and investments and the challenges and costs of integration, restructuring and achieving anticipated synergies; (v) fluctuations in VMware, Inc.’s operating results and risks associated with trading of VMware stock; (vi) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product introductions; (vii) the relative and varying rates of product price and component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and services revenues; (viii) component and product quality and availability; (ix) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market change; (x) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (xi) war or acts of terrorism; (xii) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (xiii) fluctuating currency exchange rates; and (xiv) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EMC disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

###

* 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes.

** Requires an Internet connection.

In fact three models are on offer – 2TB, 4TB and 8TB – each with automatic RAID rebuild and iSCSI block-level access.  There are also two gigabit ethernet ports, three USB 2.0 ports – which support external storage or printers – and a one-touch transfer button that lets you navigate to a specific file via the StorCenter ix4-200d’s LCD display and then copy just that document.

Despite really being aimed at small businesses, the NAS also supports UPnP media streaming and an optional USB Bluetooth dongle that lets you shoot files straight onto the drive from a phone, PDA or laptop.  There’s also Time Machine support, Active Directories, and Video Surveillance with Axis network cameras.

All three models are available now, priced from $699.99 for the 2TB, $899.99 for the 4TB and $1,899.99 for the 8TB.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces High Performance yet Affordable Four-Drive NAS Appliance
With Innovative Features for Small Businesses and Distributed Offices
***
Virtualization, RSA Security, Data Protection, Replication, and Video Surveillance Technologies from EMC Enterprise Arsenal – No Dedicated IT Staff Required!

SAN DIEGO, August 27, 2009 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the next generation of its quad-drive desktop NAS appliance with the worldwide launch of the new Iomega® StorCenter™ ix4-200d. Based on industry-leading enterprise-class EMC® storage technologies, the affordable ix4-200d is the ideal NAS appliance for small businesses, distributed offices and home office networks that require advanced data storage and protection features without the need for a dedicated IT staff.

Up and running in a matter of four mouse clicks and a few minutes, the ix4-200d NAS appliance provides up to 8TB* of networked storage that easily integrates with existing infrastructure for expanded storage, file-sharing and backup of critical business data. The ix4-200d delivers advanced features such as:

· iSCSI block-level access for efficient storage utilization
· Device-to-device replication to network targets for business continuity and file recovery
· Multiple RAID configurations for the highest level of data protection
· Windows® Active Directory support
· Remote access and management
· IP security camera support
· A new front panel LCD and QuikTransfer button for easy one-touch copying of selected files
· And unique to this category of products VMware® certification for virtualization installations – all at a starting price of less than $700.00.

Affordably priced for small businesses and home office use, the new Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d NAS appliance is now available to IT resellers worldwide via select distribution channels, and will be on display next week in the EMC booth at the VMworld 2009 tradeshow in San Francisco at the Moscone Center, Aug. 31 – Sept. 3.

EMC is also pleased to announce that as part of its Academic Alliance Program with more than 300 participating universities and colleges around the world, a StorCenter ix4-200d NAS appliance will be made available under special terms to each institution.

“The new StorCenter ix4-200d delivers the unquestionable advantages of EMC’s world class enterprise storage technologies to small businesses and distributed enterprises in an affordable and easy to use solution,” said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “From device-to-device replication and iSCSI support to dual Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, VMware certification and other innovative and user-friendly features, the ix4-200d is an excellent yet affordable NAS appliance that gives smaller organizations and work groups not only cost-effective powerful network storage but many of the same sophisticated data management capabilities as a Fortune 100 corporation that no competitor can match.”

Scott Zahl, vice president, vendor management for Ingram Micro U.S., one of Iomega’s largest IT distribution partners, said, “Small business and consumer demand for efficient and affordable data protection, storage and backup solutions continues to grow as more people recognize the value in proactively protecting and being able to quickly recover their data. The functionality and overall performance found within the new StorCenter ix4-200d will enable our channel partners to deliver world class enterprise storage technology solutions at an affordable price and in a form factor that is easily managed. That’s a great value proposition, especially in today’s budget conscious marketplace.”

Powerful, Versatile and Dependable to Meet Today’s Data Management Challenges
Available in 2TB, 4TB and 8TB capacities, the new Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d NAS desktop appliance utilizes the acclaimed EMC LifeLine™ software, a fully-developed Linux operating environment and suite of applications that protects your data and performs valuable business tasks above and beyond simple storage, all designed to make it easy to securely store, protect and serve up data when you need it and where you want it. EMC LifeLine software is designed for cross-platform support with PC, Mac and Linux computers.
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The ix4-200d can be configured with different levels of RAID support: RAID 5 (pre-configured) and RAID 10 (both with automatic RAID rebuild), as well as JBOD. The four drives in the ix4 are user replaceable SATA II hard drives that minimize downtime.

With dual Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and a high-performance embedded architecture, the ix4-200d boosts small business productivity by making data readily accessible and secure over a local network. The ix4-200d also has three USB 2.0 ports for adding printers or additional storage capacity with external USB drives.

In the home office, users also benefit from the ix4-200d’s advanced media features, listed below.

Key Features of the StorCenter ix4-200d NAS Appliance
The new ix4-200d NAS appliance offers an array of additional features that make it one of the most advanced, innovative and easy-to-use network storage device for small businesses today:

Device-to-Device Replication (D2D): Copy or backup files to and from the ix4-200d to any other NAS device without the need for a client computer. Jobs can be set to run at pre-determined schedule or at the touch of the ix4-200d’s QuikTransfer button. The ix4-200d uses either the rsync or Windows File Sharing protocol to transfer data between itself and another network storage device.
iSCSI Support: Provides block-level access for the most efficient storage utilization, especially for database, email and backup application performance. This feature also allows host-based operating systems and virtualization software to use the full capabilities of their native file systems, such as enabling VMFS for VMware utilization.
VMware® Ready Certification: The ix4-200d is certified as both NAS (NFS) and iSCSI storage for VMware vSphere. The ix4-200d is listed on the VMware hardware compatibility list, enabling small businesses and other work groups to affordably take advantage of the benefits and advanced features offered by shared storage in a VMware environment. The ix4-200d is the ideal storage match for smaller virtualization deployments that use the new VMware vSphere Essentials and vSphere Essentials Plus software packages.
Remote Access: Set up remote access and remotely manage and access data on the ix4-200d from anywhere in the world.
Multiple Network Protocols: Works in Windows, Linux and Mac environments with network protocol support including CIFS/SMB/Rally, NFS, and AFP/Bonjour. The ix4-200d also supports advanced protocols such as HTTP, FTP and SNMP.
Time Machine® Support: Lets Apple® users easily backup any Mac computers running OS X (10.5 or later) using Time Machine.
Windows® Active Directory Support: Allows the ix4-200d to function as a client member in an Active Directory domain, giving users and groups access to the ix4-200d.
UPS Support: Enables unattended system shutdown without data loss in the case of power failure.
Video Surveillance: Supports up to five Axis® Network video cameras, for real-time monitoring and video capture directly to the ix4-200d, without the need of a dedicated computer (dependent upon system workload and network conditions). The ix4-200d can be used as a storage target for other network surveillance cameras as well.
Print Server: Supports intelligent print sharing capability for up to three USB printers directly connected to the ix4-200d.
UPnP AV Media Server: Compatible with UPnP and DLNA certified media players, the ix4-200d streams photos, audio content and videos to not only laptops and computers but a variety of media devices, including game consoles (Xbox® 360, Sony PlayStation® 3), audio bridges, iTunes™ players, networked digital picture frames and other compatible devices.
Bluetooth® capability: Allows users to upload contacts, photos and more from a cell phone, pocket PC or Blackberry® phone (Bluetooth USB adapter required, sold separately).
Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP): Supports no touch, automatic transfer of photos from digital cameras via one of the four USB 2.0 ports on the ix4-200d.
Versatility: Supports read and write on various formats, including Fat32, HFS+, NTFS or ext2/ext3 formatted hard disks, .
Alerts: Provides email and SNMP notification for quick system status.
System Dashboard: Provides easy-to-understand status information on space utilization, device, peripheral and backup status.

Backup and Security Software for a Complete Solution
The StorCenter ix4-200d NAS appliance provides data backup and protection for any number of desktops and laptops with integrated EMC Retrospect® backup software. During the set-up process, users choose files and folders for scheduled automatic backups. After that, any changes or additions are updated and saved automatically.

The ix4-200d also comes with Iomega QuikProtect™ backup software for simple scheduled file-level backup of data to hard drives and network-attached storage devices.

For data security, the ix4-200d also includes RSA® BSAFE® encryption security technology for protecting installs and upgrades from viruses or malware. RSA is the security division of EMC that protects digital data at many of the world’s largest banks.

Compatibility
The StorCenter ix4-200d NAS appliance is compatible with Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux® PCs. The interface is localized in 11 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, German, and Russian).

Price and Availability
The 2TB StorCenter ix4-200d NAS appliance is now available worldwide for $699.99, the 4TB model is $899.99, and the 8TB model is $1,899.99. (All prices are U.S. suggested retail.)

Meanwhile the eGo BlackBelt model – which will follow on in June – uses the same Power Grip Belt and Drop Guard Xtreme as the original version, for resilience from drops of up to 7 feet.  All of the eGo drives are bus powered, with Y-cables provided in case a single USB port doesn’t supply sufficient current.

Iomega also include six month’s subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus, their own QuikProtect scheduled backup software, EMC Retrospect Express or Express HD to back up software settings and applications, and 2GB of online backup through MozyHome.  The eGo drives are compatible with Windows and Mac systems.

The 250GB Ruby Red eGo model is priced at $84.99; the 320GB Ruby Red, Midnight Blue and Silver eGo models are $94.99; the 500GB Ruby Red is $134.99; and the 500GB BlackBelt eGo model is $139.99. Next month Iomega will add to the range with multiple-interface models, likely introducing eSATA among other connections.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces New Generation of Award-Winning Ultra-Stylish eGo Portable Hard Drives

Industry-Leading Protection Suite (Including McAfee VirusScan Plus) And Drop Guard Ruggedness Redefine Portable Hard Drives

SAN DIEGO, May 18, 2009 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the worldwide availability of a new generation of the exciting Iomega® eGo™ Portable Hard Drive, featuring new look USB 2.0-powered models with superior ruggedness and the broadest suite of bundled data protection software in the industry, and all backed with a three-year limited warranty. Available in four different colors and up to 500GB* in capacity, the new Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive is the ultimate embodiment of style and function in portable drives today.

“The new Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drives are the perfect companions for home users and professionals that want to take their files anywhere with the assurance of a superior rugged portable drive that has style to spare and a compact form with flair,” said Jonathan Huberman, President of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “After two very successful years with the previous model, the new eGo drive sports a compact, sleek new aluminum enclosure in eye-catching colors and comes complete with a suite of backup and anti-virus software to protect your data and your laptop, netbook or personal computer. Top it all off with the best drop spec in the industry and the new eGo drive is the portable hard drive this summer for dads and grads and everyone else.”

A key element of the Iomega Protection Suite is McAfee® VirusScan Plus, the market-leading anti-virus, anti-spyware software.

“In today’s world of increasing attacks on consumers’ data by the bad guys, it’s as important to protect your external hard drive data as it is to protect your PC’s local data,” said Todd Gebhart, President, Consumer Products, McAfee, Inc. “Iomega is the first to recognize this fact and we’re pleased to be partnering with them in this fight.”

Cool Hardware with Superior Functionality

The new USB 2.0-powered eGo Portable Hard Drive comes in variety of colors and capacities: the bright Ruby Red model is available in 250GB, 320GB and 500GB capacities; the sparkling Silver model comes in 320GB; and the deep Midnight Blue model is available in 320GB. (Color and capacity combinations vary in international markets.)

Inside an anodized aluminum shell little more than a half-inch thick (16 mm) and weighing less than 7 ounces (200 grams) is a state-of-the-art 2.5-inch portable hard drive. Iomega’s Drop Guard™ feature protects data on the new eGo drive from drops of up to 51 inches, or 40% above the industry average! The new 500GB Iomega® eGo™ BlackBelt Portable Hard Drive USB 2.0, available in June, comes complete with a black eGo Power Grip Belt and Iomega’s Drop Guard™ Xtreme, which provides unparalleled protection for the drive from drops of up to 7 feet (2.1 mm) – over twice the industry average!

All of the new USB 2.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives receive power from a laptop or computer’s USB port so there’s no power supply to carry around. And unlike other portable hard drives, the new USB 2.0 eGo Portable Hard Drives ship with a “Y” cable which gives users the flexibility to use two USB ports to power the drive, if needed. And with up to 500GB of capacity, the new eGo drive can store up to 2,000,000 photos, over 9,250 hours of music or 750 hours of video**.

Most Powerful Software Package Bundle with a Portable Hard Drive Today

Bundled free of charge with the new USB-powered eGo Portable Hard Drives is the new Iomega Protection Suite, a one-stop portfolio of backup and anti-virus software giving users added protection for their photos, videos, music and other files.

The Iomega Protection Suite includes:

McAfee® VirusScan Plus: a free six-month subscription to this market-leading software that protects your PC with anti-virus, anti-spyware, 2-way firewall, and web security protection (PC only).
Iomega QuikProtect: backup software for simple scheduled file-level backup of data to hard drives and network-attached storage devices (for Windows and Macintosh desktops and notebooks).
EMC® Retrospect® Express or Express HD: backup all of your data plus applications and settings (for Windows and Macintosh desktops and notebooks).
MozyHome™ Online Backup: Convenient online backup service with 2GB of online capacity for free (unlimited online storage for $4.95/month). MozyHome Online service allows you to restore your most important data from any computer with internet access, at any location in the world.

All of the software elements in the Iomega Protection Suite are accessible via easy download to new eGo Portable Hard Drive owners.

Compatibility

The new Iomega® eGo Portable Hard Drive USB 2.0 models are compatible with Microsoft® Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP, and Windows Vista™, and Mac OS X 10.4 or above. MozyHome software is available for Windows XP and Windows Vista, along with Mac OS X 10.4 and above. EMC Retrospect software is available for both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.

New eGo Portable Hard Drive Accessories

Available for purchase at www.iomega.com are two new accessories for the new USB-powered eGo Portable Hard Drive: a durable black carry case, and the Iomega Power Grip Belt (like the one on the eGo BlackBelt Drive), available in black and translucent colors.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty

The Iomega® eGo™ Portable Hard Drive USB 2.0 family of drives are available today, except for the new Iomega® BlackBelt Portable Hard Drive 500GB USB 2.0, which will be available in June. The 250GB Ruby Red eGo model is priced at $84.99; the 320GB Ruby Red, Midnight Blue and Silver eGo models are $94.99; the 500GB Ruby Red is $134.99; and the 500GB BlackBelt eGo model is $139.99. (All pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) All of the new USB-powered eGo models include a 3-year limited warranty, and are available from online retailers, VARs, resellers and select retailers, as well as at www.iomega.com.

In June, Iomega will announce additional new eGo Portable Hard Drive models with multiple interface combinations.

I reviewed Samsung’s new Impression featuring an AMOLED display. Check out the article for my impressions (no pun intended), as well as a walk-through of the device’s overall quality.

We unboxed the Hantech Siso Tablo, a handy device that turns your laptop into a tablet PC. At $99 MSRP, the Tablo offers some great features that will please many business-types and visual artists as well.

RIM confirmed rumors of a successor to the BlackBerry Storm, and has suggested a 2009 launch date, as well as an updated text input method. This news is consistent with the rumor that the Storm 2 would be coming in September.

We took a look at the 500GB Iomega Home Network hard drive and Daniel Lim gives you his opinion and critique (as well as some amazing photos. Who knew an external hard drive was so pretty?).

We thought about it long and hard, but we finally came up with our Best of CTIA ’09 list, and gave you a look at what we did all week long in Las Vegas (aside from staying up until 3AM writing articles).

SlashGear got a hold of an Apple 17″ MacBook Pro, fully decked out in 8GB’s of RAM and matte screen glory. The powerhouse is the thinnest and lightest 17″ portable around, and we put it through its paces.

The Palm Pre has been rumored to launch on the 17th of May. This news comes after reports of Sprint employee training in April, and freezes on employee vacation time for the month of May. However, if demand is greater than supply, Palm may delay until  Hopefully we’ll see Palm’s contender in the Smartphone market released sooner rather than later.

Speaking of the Pre, isn’t it interesting how so many devices are trying to copy the same successful features? It seems that phones like the Pre and iPhone are changing the demand for such Pro-sumer devices, and have caused a market-wide flood of “feature phones” that try to offer consumers the same sort of functionality, and have caused the endangerment of so-called “dumb phones.” Grandma’s clamshell isn’t what it used to be.

Bluetooth 3.0 has been given a launch date. March 21st will see Bluetooth 3.0 launched from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a portable power source for all those gadgets in your backpack? We took a look at the V-Dimension Helius Solar Backpack and tested it out. A boon to traveling techies everywhere.

And finally, I tested out the Sound ID 200 Bluetooth headset. This earpiece amazed me with its comfort and style, and performed admirably during phone calls.


Physically the device is wider than the Iomega DVR Expander we reviewed not too long ago. The unit is well ventilated with air holes in the plastic front cover, an aluminum case, and a small fan helping to cool the eco-green series Samsung HD502Hi 500GB hard-drive (16MB cache; 5,400RPM). We had no problems with heat at any time, but the drive does have a noticeable whine even when idle. In a busy environment you wouldn’t be able to hear it, especially if it’s next to the jet-engine PS3, but in a quiet atmosphere it could be distracting for some users, even up to 4-5 feet away.


Set-up
 


Getting the Home Media Network drive to work is fairly straightforward: plug the drive into your network hub or router, install the Manager Console from the included CD and it’s ready to serve. In a nutshell, the software utility installs shared folders to your systems – mounting essential folders from movies, music, photos to public – making it easy to drag and drop your media files from any workstation to the media drive.

The manager console worked flawlessly on windows XP SP2 Pro and Vista, shared folders were quickly mounted upon installation, but it was slightly challenged by OS X when we first set it up. The app was unable to locate the drive across the network, whether connected to either our Linksys WRT54GX2 or WRT610N test routers. Kudos to Iomega support, they went out and bought their own WRT610N to try to replicate the problems we were having, and the issues were swiftly resolved. If you are experiencing some router issues with the Iomega Media Network drive on your Mac, try the new discovery tool here.


The web interface has a clean and simple layout. In the left panel there are Home, Folders and System tabs, with sub categories listed in right panel. Changes made to the settings are handled in an ajax-like way, and the whole thing is intuitive and very user friendly. 
 


The Home tab shows information about the multimedia NAS drive from capacity, status, and space occupied to its current IP address. It also has disk format and repair functions if needed. After loading around 50GB of data onto the disk, we formatted it; that didn’t take more than 15 seconds to complete. 
 


The System tab allows you change the admin login, network settings, drive name, workgroup name for your home network and reset all settings back to factory defaults.  It’s also where you can apply firmware updates, and shut-down or restart the drive. Under System is where you’ll find the “Reset iTunes and DLNA” button; according to Iomega, after adding new files to your DLNA server, you must reset it to see the changes. Basically, a click of the button disconnects and reconnects the drive from the DLNA server, which took just a few seconds of reconnection; we’d prefer to see this automated or at least have a schedule option, though.



Files and sharing settings are addressed in the Folders tab. Folder access can be switched between “Everyone” – where there are no limitations – or “Secure”. For the latter, users can be individually assigned using the checkbox list next to it. Iomega have also added out-of-the-box compatibility with common DLNA clients such as games consoles, TV, multimedia players and digital photo frames. To enable multimedia content streaming to DLNA devices or iTunes, it’s a case of simply hitting a button and you’re good to go.
 


In our tests, folder security worked just ok. You can assign, delete and edit users, and once created the new user will be added to all folders.  All folders are visible to guests within the network but they only have access to content when they’ve been assigned it.  We’d prefer a slightly more pleasant and descriptive message when access is denied, though; throwing up an unexpected error code or “Folder cannot be found” is hardly informative.


It’s also worth noting that turning the DLNA service off doesn’t block the access immediately: content previously indexed is still accessible, but new files added to the folders are not visible. We reset the DLNA settings after each change in the System tab, but still had no luck. Deleting content, on the other hand, worked just fine. In summary, accessing the content is not the problem here, it’s just that preventing it is somewhat tricky. 
 


Extras 



Iomega bundle the NAS with EMC Retrospect Express, an automated and schedulable backup app for your Pc and Mac, together with 2GB of free Mozy online backup.  There’s also a USB port on the back of the unit which can either take an external hard-drive to augment capacity or let the Home Media Drive act as a print server. 
 


Performance
 


The Iomega doesn’t come equipped with WiFi connectivity, just a gigabit Ethernet socket for network connection. We’re not too concerned with the lack of wireless, though; in our experience the patchy performance and relatively low throughput of WiFi means you’re far better off going for a wired link between router and NAS.   
 


To test the NAS’ performance we ran several backups to the drive, first with a large number of small files and then with a single large file, all over the Linksys WRT54GX2 router. The small file package contained digital images range from 15MB to 25MB, for a total of 4.45GB, while the large file was a single 4.36GB DMG image. 
 


Using a wireless connection between our test computer and the router, the smaller files were copied at 1.37MB/s; this improved slightly with a hardwire connection, up to 3.59MB/s, but still pretty disappointing.  The large file transfer managed a far more cheerful 14.53MB/s write and 28.34MB/s read rates respectively.
 


Streaming video over wireless is manageable for compressed files, but you can forget about viewing the 5D Mark II’s Full HD capture; with a bit rate of 42.32Mbps (or 5.29MB/s), more than the average 40Mbps Blu-ray video, it’s just not happening! Wired connections had no stutter issues, though, and we were able to stream the same HD video to two locations with ease. Note that with a read speed of 28.34 MB/s, I should be able to stream up to five high bit rate 5D Mark II videos simultaneously.
 


Conclusion
 


Anybody particularly serious about either backup or home media servers, especially the Mac users, may find the Iomega Home Media Network Drive underkill; it’s a typical NAS device with average transfer speed, and the DLNA server, while functional, lacks finesse and is occasionally buggy.  Also, there’s room for improvement in managing the file-sharing. At $160 for the 500GB and $230 for the 1TB versions it’s reasonably priced, though, for a single-drive system with no hardware redundancy.  For home users looking to double up on their everyday files, together with serve some content around the house, it’s a decent choice.

Remote access is free for the first year, and then costs $9.95 per year thereafter.  Any web-enabled device can access files and allowed folders through a password protected interface.  Torrent downloads, meanwhile, allow users to switch off their PC and rely on the ix2 managing the download and storage.  Iomega have also included jumbo frame support for improved data flow across the network.

We reviewed the original Iomega StorCenter ix2 NAS back in October 2008, and were so impressed that it ended up in our holiday gift guide that year.  The 1TB StorCenter ix2 NAS is available for $299.95; meanwhile the 2TB version is priced at $479.95.  Optional extras include a USB Bluetooth dongle, which permits file transfers direct to the ix2 from a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone.  You can also plug in a USB hard-drive or printer and share them across the network.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces New Features for StorCenter ix2 NAS Appliance For Home and Small Business Users

Remote Access, Torrent Download and Many More New Features Without Compromising Heralded Ease-Of-Use

SAN DIEGO, March 17, 2009 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced exciting new features for the Iomega® StorCenter™ ix2 Network Drive, including remote access and peer-to-peer file sharing, as well as ease-of-use enhancements that make the ix2 NAS appliance one of the most versatile home and small business network storage drives available today.

“With the simplest set-up process in the industry, the ix2 not only provides home and small business network storage users with such important features as media serving, Bluetooth and video surveillance capabilities, now we’ve added remote access so users can connect to their files from anywhere in the world, as well as the new standard in peer-to-peer file sharing and much more,” said Jonathan Huberman, President of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “That’s the power of network computing with Iomega and EMC.”

The “New and Improved” StorCenter ix2 NAS Appliance

Here is rundown of some of the new features incorporated into the 1TB* and 2TB StorCenter ix2 NAS:

Remote Access: ix2 users can now connect to their pictures, videos and other files from anywhere in the world – as though they were sitting at their workstation or home computer. The process is simple: enter a personalized web address into any browser and the user will be easily and securely downloading and uploading their files. Users can change the settings on the ix2, such as adding users and folders from any web-enabled device. The first year of remote access is free; the cost is $9.95 for every year thereafter. Custom domain names, such as www.yourfamilyname.com, are also available for an additional charge.
Torrent Download: Considered by many as the new standard in peer-to-peer file sharing, this technology facilitates download management directly to the StorCenter ix2, making it easier and faster to download large media files. With direct file transfer to the ix2, users can say “Goodbye!” to frustrating unfinished downloads and having to leave your PC on all the time.
Folder Quotas: With all the digital content available today, storage space can disappear a lot faster than you think. Quotas allow users to set a maximum capacity for shared storage folders on the StorCenter ix2 to prevent any of the folders from consuming too much space. If a folder exceeds 90% of its capacity, the ix2 sends a message so the folder size can be adjusted, if desired.
Jumbo Frame Support: This new feature increases data flow for larger files when network traffic increases, allowing more efficient computing.
Apple® File Protocol (AFP): To simplify file-sharing for Mac users, the ix2 now includes native support of the Apple File Protocol (AFP) file system to facilitate copying files and networking from a Macintosh computer.

StorCenter ix2 – General Capabilities

With just four mouse clicks, users of the StorCenter ix2 can configure up to two terabytes of storage and advanced information management, protection and sharing capabilities that can be connected to multiple devices – including wirelessly with Bluetooth – to manage all their digital files.

For home users, built-in support for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance™ (DLNA) certified devices means the recently DLNA certified StorCenter ix2 can save, store, and play back all kinds of multimedia files – music, photos, videos and other digital content – using not only laptops and desktop computers but any compatible device on a home network, including the popular Sony PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

For business users, the StorCenter ix2 offers unique applications to boost office productivity. In addition to speed, centralized storage capacity and the onboard security to protect all the files on a network, the ix2 delivers optional Bluetooth connectivity, which allows users to send pictures, files and address book contacts directly from cell phones to the StorCenter ix2 for network sharing and data protection. The StorCenter ix2 also has a unique digital video surveillance capability using a compatible Axis™ video surveillance camera for inexpensive real-time viewing and recording of activity inside or outside the office.

Fast network performance at the office or in the home is delivered through a Gigabit Ethernet connection, and data is stored on two high-performance SATA-II drives. Up to two USB devices can be connected to the ix2, including USB printers for network print sharing, a USB Bluetooth dongle for direct uploads, or external USB drives to add incremental storage capacity.

The ix2 includes encryption technology from RSA, the security division of EMC that protects digital data at many of the world’s largest banks and now shields the StorCenter ix2 from viruses or malware. This is another example of EMC technology integrated into the StorCenter ix2 to help protect users’ data.

The StorCenter ix2 provides data backup and protection with integrated EMC Retrospect® Express backup product. During the set-up process, users choose files and folders for scheduled automatic backups from all the PCs and Macs on their network. After that, any changes or additions are updated and saved automatically. The ix2 also includes MozyHome® online backup, which provides 2GB of free online storage for connected PC and Mac computers with the option to upgrade to unlimited online backup storage for $4.95 per month per computer.

EMC® LifeLine™ technology integrated into the StorCenter ix2 manages all of the appliance’s potent network-based storage functionality, along with out-of-the-box data protection, file management and media-serving capabilities.

Availability of New Features

The new features are now shipping with new StorCenter ix2 units.

Compatibility

The StorCenter ix2 Network Storage appliance is compatible with Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux® PCs and supports up to two printers or external hard drives. The interface is localized in 11 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simple Chinese, German, and Russian). Other supported devices include uPnP AV devices, digital media adapters, iTunes™, and PTP (e.g., digital cameras and frames). BlueTooth compatibility requires an optional adapter.

Price and Availability

The 1TB StorCenter ix2 Network Storage appliance is available worldwide for $299.95; the 2TB model is available for $479.95. (All prices are U.S. suggested retail.)

The Home Media Network Hard Drive is designed to serve as both a backup drive and a streaming media server, meaning music, videos and pictures can all be easily streamed to desktops, laptops, game consoles and many other devices.  On top of its media streaming capabilities, the device also includes a USB port for sharing a printer on the network or adding another drive.

The drive should be available this month and will come in two flavors – a 500 GB version for $159.99 and a 1 TB version for $229.99.

[via Engadget]

The eGo Leather has all the features you’d ever want in such a device. It’s from a trusted brand, number one, and it can easily store your backup data or media with its 250GB capacity. Like many other mobile 2.5-inch external drive, with USB 2.0 connection – no external power supply is needed and it’s super easy to connect to your computer and start transferring files.

Often times we think of these portable drives has the equivalent of bringing a briefcase of information around with you, but much, much more, of course. For the professionals among us, why not bring your data with you in style? This portable drive is wrapped in a rich brown leather, making it look like a portfolio rather than a piece of tech equipment. Plus, the chrome end caps add an exquisite finishing touch.

The small device can easily fit in your pocket or purse and is something you can be proud of when bringing it into a meeting. And the Drop Guard technology means you don’t have to worry about babying this device. As an added bonus, an EMC Retrospect HD software license is included, meaning you can download this software for free, and ensure your data is always safe and secure. The drive is compatible with both PC and Mac; the Iomega eGo Leather Portable Hard Drive is available now for $104.49.

The Rugged Patriots eGo is 40 percent tougher than most industry-average portable hard drives. It can sustain drops of four feet (up to 51-inches) with the help from Iomega industry-leading Drop Guard(TM) technology. Hey, Tom Brady could have stayed healthy if the New England Offensive line-man is as rugged and offers utmost protection as the Drop Guard.

The Patriots branded eGo Portable Hard Drive comes with EMC Retrospect and MozyHome online back up included. It is available now for $129.99 at participating Staples retailers in the Greater New England area, as well as at the Patriots ProShop at Patriot Place and online

If we’ve been having fun, then it’s perhaps almost as much of a good time as ASUS must be having this week.  Impressive financial performance for the last quarter was in no small part aided by the Eee PC series, and ASUS took the opportunity to reveal their plans for a $200 netbook in 2009.  They’ll also concentrate on their 10-inch models – such as the new 10002HA – as well as giving the touchscreen desktop Eee Top a battery and wireless peripherals.

They won’t have it all their own way, though, not if rivals have anything to say about it.  Samsung’s NC10 has finally seen its first major review and come out smelling of roses, while the upcoming Dell Inspiron Mini 12 looks like to storm the sales charts.  Meanwhile, the HP Mini 1000 – sequel to the highly-esteemed Mini-Note 2133 – has arrived and is turning out to be equally as impressive.

Elsewhere, Microsoft’s Windows 7 pre-beta has been released – check out the overview here and the preliminary netbook build here – and the company’s research arm has been showing off their SecondLight dual-display modification of the multitouch Surface.  Meanwhile Google has released Google Earth for the iPhone and, some judicious investigation has revealed, is planning Street View functionality come firmware v2.2.  In fact it’s been a good week for iPhone software: Sonos released a controller app that lets you remotely operate their multi-room audio system.

Finally, we’ve seen a great mod in the shape of an Eee PC based carputer, the launch of Mitsubishi’s incredible LASERVUE HDTV, and the first confirmed unlocking solution for the T-Mobile G1 (complete with an opportunity to win a few codes of your own).  Oh, and we tested out Iomega’s StorCenter ix2, 1TB of RAID-1 storage with super-simple setup. 

Keep reading SlashGear for the full HTC Touch HD review, the BlackBerry Bold review and one or two more developments we’re not allowed to tell you about yet…

In the box there’s an ethernet cable, PSU, printed quick-install guide and software CD which also has the full user manual, as well as the ix2 itself. Connections include a gigabit ethernet port, two USB 2.0 host ports for adding external drives or printers, and power; plug in one of a list of supported Bluetooth adapters and you’ll be able to transfer files wirelessly, too.

Setup is straightforward; the ix2 ships as a RAID 1 array, mirroring the two hard-drives, although it can be set to JBOD for the total combined capacity (and no data redundancy or protection). Two versions are avialable, 1TB (offering 500GB in RAID-1) and 2TB (offering 1TB in RAID-1). Iomega recommend a DHCP configured network, but the StorCenter ix2 can be given its own IP address; we plugged it straight into our router, with the included four-step installation CD, had it showing up on a networked PC within minutes. Also on the CD is a copy of EMC’s Retrospect Backup software that works on both PCs and Macs and can be used to schedule automatic backups of specific files and folders. Unlike some NAS products we’ve seen, there doesn’t appear to be a limit on how many computers you can install Retrospect on.

At it’s most basic, the ix2 works as a simple central backup server. Transfer speeds are limited more by the network connection from your computer to the drive, together with your machine’s specs, than the NAS itself. Load a folder full of audio and video files, however, and the ix2 becomes a DLNA media server; all manner of digital media adapters are supported, with UPnP, PTP (for digital cameras and photo frames) and iTunes streaming all possible. We had no problems streaming multiple files to different computers simultaneously; we only wish that there was the possibilty of loading third-party apps such as Logitech’s SqueezeCenter to use with their range of media streamers.

The two USB ports can either hook up external hard-drives, boosting storage (though it won’t be mirrored on the RAID-1 array, unless you plug in a dual-disc external drive) or printers. Two printers can be connected simultaneously, offering say a choice between monochrome laser for text and color inkjet for photos. We tried a number of different models from the usual big brands and had no issue with printing to them; however sometimes the monitoring software included (to give instant updates on ink levels and paper status) complained at the absence of a direct connection.

So far, nothing too different from other NAS models on the market. Bluetooth, though, is a less common inclusion: plug in a compatible wireless dongle and you can send photos, video, files and address book contacts directly to the ix2. It’s a one-way transfer – there’s no easy way to copy files on the NAS back over to the phone – but for impromtu backups (or merely to free up space on a memory card) it’s useful. Not integrating the Bluetooth receiver feels like a cost-cut too far, however.

Perhaps less useful to home buyers, but of interest to small businesses, the ix2 can be connected directly to an Axis CCTV camera. That allows both for real-time recording direct to the hard-drive and viewing the footage across the network.

Unsurprisingly the StorCenter ix2 uses a web-based administration system, accessible from any computer on the network and password secured. Here you can set up individual accounts and groups, limit access to certain directories and give different levels of read/write priviledge. One feature notable by its absence is space quota management, where users are permitted a limited amount of storage on the NAS; Iomega tell us that this, together with remote file access and seemless links to online storage, are planned for future software updates. Nonetheless, the setup GUI is clear and straightforward, and it’s simple to establish user groups and identify which folders contain media and as such should be monitored by the UPnP/DLNA streamer.

While setup is quick, recovery and decommissioning isn’t. Although a RAID-1 array means that, in the case of one of the 7,200rpm, 16MB-cache SATA-II hard-drives failing, your data isn’t lost, Iomega tell us that replacing the broken drive yourself will void the manufacturer warranty (one year standard, two years costs $149.95). That basically means that, if you get an email from the NAS saying a disc is either going or gone, you have to send the whole thing to Iomega to have it repaired. It also prevents you from adding capacity as hard-drive prices come down and your storage needs increase.

It’s a bizarre state of affairs, and it undermines one of the main points of a RAID system: that data is still accessible even with hardware failure. Iomega deserve credit for streamlining the install and ongoing use of the StorCenter – after all, too complex and it won’t be used – but it’s a step too far locking up that data from home or office recovery by threatening the warranty status.

As for decommissioning, we were surprised by how long the ix2 takes to reformat (almost an hour). Thankfully it’s a hands-off procedure once started. Similarly hands-off is the optional encryption, using RSA technology, which secures as files are transferred.

Overall, we’re in two minds about the Iomega StorCenter ix2. For small business users, unless particularly tech-phobic, the potential for downtime as you send your part-broken or failing NAS in for drive repair is probably unacceptable. The lack of space quota management is another issue, as could be remote file access if you have field workers, and while Iomega is promising such functionality in future updates there’s no known timescale for that.

For a home user, however, the ix2 makes much more sense. The StorCenter is a capacious, fast and affordable way to centralize backup and, with the included software, pretty much automate the whole process. Being able to use it as a media server and to share printers is icing on the cake. Yes, the same downtime issue applies, but its impact is likely less serious in a home environment. Given the competitive starting price – $299.99 for the 1TB, $479.99 for the 2TB – they’re flaws that are more easily overlooked.

In fact, the new NAS server can only really be described as “Bluetooth-friendly,” which means it will support some USB Bluetooth dongles. You would have to pay extra for the dongle, though it would allow you to send files and such from your mobile devices straight to the server for backing up or for sharing with others.

Other notables include that there is no RAID 0 option, JBODconfiguration on the hard drive with the option of changing it to RAID 1, UPnP, DLNA, EMC Retrospect Express backup software, two USB ports and more. The NAS server can also be used to support an Axis video surveillance camera. The iOmega StorCenter ix2 NAS server is available now in two models, the 1TB and 2TB versions, which cost $300 and $480, respectively.  

[via Crave at CNET]

Encased in anodized aluminum is a 320GB hard drive that provides more than enough space for most people’s needs. However, you can combine the drive with an online backup service as well, bringing “cloud computing” to the table.

The hard drive is less than an inch thick and weighs just 7 ounces, making it the perfect companion for your on-the-go computing. The Iomega eGo hard drive costs $149.99 and seems like the perfect option for MacBook Air owners that need a little extra storage room for backup. And really, the price isn’t too bad, either.

[via Boing Boing Gadgets]

A little more compact, Dell launched their fourth generation Latitude E-series models, and SlashGear was in San Francisco to bring you live images.  Dell’s attempt for the headlines included 19hr battery life (on one particular model) and Instant On functionality.  All well and good, but Gateway perhaps just eases ahead in the bargain stakes with their new P-7811FX Centrino 2 gaming notebook.

As for rumors, Dell figured again with the suggestion that their upcoming ‘E’ netbook will actually be called the Inspiron 910 and launch as early as this coming Friday.  Apple also got a mention, their MacBook Air tipped for an imminent Penryn upgrade.

Chalk & cheese for NVIDIA and ATI this week, as the latter announced a top-spec new graphics card and the former some disappointing financial figures.  The ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 already has gamers salivating (and at least two companies promising liquid-cooling kits), while NVIDIA’s investors are probably less enthusiastic at the company’s first loss in five years.

It’s a similar contrast with Intel and VIA; one has a new processor announcement and the other a chipset withdrawal.  Intel’s news was to confirm the Core i7 name for their upcoming Nehalem processor, while VIA decided the motherboard chipset market is no longer for them.  They did manage to push out a new product, though; the EPIA N700 is the company’s lowest-profile Nano-ITX board yet.

Cellphone news normally gets left to our mobile sibling sites, but a few stories were too good to miss this week.  Android hit the headlines again, with the rumor that T-Mobile would be launching the first HTC handset, called the G1, in September.  Meanwhile Apple continues its vow of silence on the iPhone 3G reception issue, while blamed chipmaker Infineon denies its hardware is to blame and AT&T coyly point out that their network is running fine.

We also had a few mobile reviews and a surprise, with Sprint’s AIRAVE femtocell and Samsung’s Omnia i900 both landing on the test bench while news of the Palm Treo Pro leaked.

In other reviews, we looked at Mitsubishi’s 46-inch LCD HDTV (and came away square-eyed but impressed) as well as Iomega’s 500GB DVR Expander.  It’s billed by the company as the easiest way to add storage to your DVR, and for once the claims look to be true.  Finally, Bose’s noise-cancelling headphones got a challenge from Monster Cable’s Beats by Dr. Dre; we loved them.

Having just settled my electricity bill, however, and sobbed over every digit on the check, my favorite piece of news from the week is that IKEA are planning to sell cheap solar panels and other eco-technology.  We’ll have to wait anything from two to four years to see flat-pack, low-cost solar cells on their shelves; with power prices continuing to rise, it won’t be a moment too soon.

First announced back in June, Iomega’s version comes with 500GB of storage space, offering up to 300 hours of standard definition TV or 60 hours of High Definition TV on top of what your DVR can store. The sleek looking aluminum case and the front air vent deliver good heat dissipation to cool down the internal hard drive. If you are wondering, the expander uses what’s arguably the industry’s best DVR hard drive, Seagate’s DB35 Series ST3500830SCE. It offers better durability for 24/7 multi-streaming with reduced physical acoustic noise.

The Expander, likes its competitors, is targeting consumers with eSATA-enabled Scientific Atlanta’s DVR. The manufacturer claimed compatibility with the SA-8300 as well as the SA-8300HD DVRs, unfortunately I have neither of those on hand for testing. However I do have an alternate candidate for the task.
Like Scientific Atlanta, TivoHD and Tivo S3 support plug-n-play add-on storage via eSATA. Many Tivo fans have been successful getting add-on storage to work on both HD and S3 models with verified or non-verified eSATA drives. The non-modified S3 allows practically any eSATA drive to work (with a few exceptions) while TivoHD requires a minor hack. If you have an S3, just plug in the Iomega expander, enable the extra storage at External Storage Menu and reboot. Iomega told SlashGear that certification on both Tivo models should be completed in early Fall.

Since I have a previously modified internal 750GB TiVo S3, I had to go though some minor hacking with WinMFS. For more information on this subject, please visit tivocommunity and hack at your own risk!

As soon as it was up and running, I set to work filling up the Expander with NBC’s Olympic Games live-cast. Even when simultaneously using the dual-tuners for live recordings, playback of recorded files was smooth and with no sign of jerking or tearing. Seek noise is audible but at a reasonable level, much quieter than my PS3 and Motorola DTC 6416 DVR. My only complaint is the LED light, which is way too bright in a light controlled Home Theater room. It literally lit up my projector screen in the dark, but fear not, 3M masking tape came to the rescue.

The Iomega DVR Expander come with an eSATA cable, energy efficient power adapter and cable, stand, quick start guide and one year warranty for $189.99. The question is, would I buy it if I can get an external enclosure, add a hard drive for the less or same price? Yes I would, the price is reasonable for a DB35 series storage device, I like the polished aluminum and it’s quiet. More importantly, I could give it to a non-tech-aware family member, with minimal guidance, and they could “magically” see their DVR capacity jump with very little hassle.

Rating:

4 out of 5 gears

The system will offer home and SMB users the same remote access and transparent off-site backup currently available to enterprise clients.  Describing the sort of entry-level user who might ordinarily not consider alternative forms of backup, Huberman told SlashGear about the multiple versions of Retrospect Express on offer: Retrospect Express HD combines control of local and remote storage in the same, straightforward GUI, and is intended for beginners, while EMC will also make Retrospect Express 7.6, which has more complex settings, available for proficient users. 

Thanks to high-speed USB connections, local backups will take place instantly.  When I asked about users with relatively slow internet connections, and how they would be served by the Mozy online storage, Huberman outlined the “trickle” upload that throttles back data transfer according to what bandwidth is available.  Online files can then be accessed from any internet-connected computer.

Huberman also revealed that Iomega is working on a new Linux stack that will debut on external storage devices at the end of the Summer.  While the software will include further enterprise-style functionality, including disk distribution and remote access, it will also add multimedia streaming and other consumer features.  While it’s too early for pricing details, we do know that the new drives will fall within the range of current consumer and SMB products.  Interestingly, remote access will not solely be aimed at desktop and laptop users, and will instead cater for mobile devices such as smartphones.

Drives that include Retrospect Express and Mozy licences will be available this month in the U.S. while international customers will have to wait until later in the Summer.  While the Mozy subscription is capped at 2GB, users can choose to upgrade to unlimited storage for $4.95 a month, per computer.

Press Release

Iomega Extends Leadership in External Portable Storage with New EMC Backup Bundle Integrating Local and Online Backup

Industry-Leading Iomega Hard Drives Integrate MozyHome Backup Service with EMC Retrospect Backup Software

SAN DIEGO, July 16, 2008 – Iomega Corporation, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in consumer and small business data protection, today announced an industry first in integrating local and remote backup in a single product offering. Iomega external hard drives are now rolling out with a new downloadable software bundle that integrates EMC® Retrospect® Express software with Mozy™ online backup service, vastly improving the convenience of securely storing, protecting and accessing important files.

Today’s announcement marks the first time that EMC-owned brands and market leaders Iomega, Retrospect and Mozy have united to offer consumers a single integrated hardware and software solution for nearline and online backup. EMC acquired Iomega in June, having previously purchased Dantz Development Corporation, makers of Retrospect backup software; and Berkeley Data Systems, the developers of MozyHome™ and MozyPro™ online backup software.

“The combination of Iomega external HDDs with Retrospect backup software integrated with Mozy online backup service means storing, protecting and accessing digital files is now easier than ever before,” said Jonathan Huberman, President of the Consumer and Small Business Products Group at EMC Corporation. “Computer users now have a seamless backup system for local backup of every file, as well as backup to the cloud for files that warrant another copy. This bundled solution provides the versatility of any time, anywhere access.

“Industry-leading Iomega storage devices provide tremendous capacity and dependability for storing all of a user’s files while Mozy and Retrospect Express work seamlessly with each other so the user has both regular local backups of all files as well as an extra level of security and remote access for files stored online,” continued Huberman. “This integrated product combination is the first example of EMC’s consumer and small business product division bringing computer users an unparalleled combination of the best hardware, software and services in the market today.”

Iomega Hard Drive Owners Get a Total Storage Solution Right Out of the Box

Today, buyers of Iomega external hard drives can now choose the version of Retrospect Express backup software that is right for their needs, as well as the easy-to-use added bonus of 2 GB* of MozyHome online backup for free or unlimited MozyHome online backup storage for $4.95 a month**.

EMC® MozyHome is a consumer service that enables Windows and Mac users to securely back up important files – such as photos, music, videos, financial documents and more – over the Internet to world-class EMC data centers. By automatically sending copies of these files to a safe, remote location, MozyHome provides protection against fire, theft, natural disaster, and all the other unexpected events from which a local backup provides little or no relief. And because MozyHome backs up throughout the day and night, it provides an additional layer of protection from hardware failure and accidental deletion. With 2GB of free storage, MozyHome makes it easy to try online backup.

New buyers of Iomega hard drives will receive in the product box details on how to download the free license of the Retrospect Express software of their choice (for Windows or Macintosh platforms) and the MozyHome Free 2GB, as well as the offer of unlimited MozyHome online storage for $4.95 a month. Owners of Iomega hard drives that have previously downloaded Retrospect can update to these latest versions free of charge either through automatic product updates or by proactively going to the Help Menu within the Retrospect user interface and clicking on “Update”. Registered Iomega customers with product still under warranty*** will be sent emails giving them information on how they can participate in this program as well.

There are three free download options of Retrospect software available to new owners of Iomega hard drives:

Retrospect Express HD 2.5 for Windows (includes MozyHome integration)MozyMoasdfFor works seamlessly to enable simple, reliable backups. The two programs can share setup information and send backups to either nearline storage (an external hard drive or network drive) or online storage (the internet), or both. Retrospect Express HD protects the contents of a PC by regularly making a backup copy and storing the backup on a second local hard drive or one on the network. It’s easy, fast and reliable, and even backs up open files so that a computer does not have to be shut down to initiate a back up. A setup wizard guides the user through three quick steps: choose what to protect, select a hard drive to hold the backups, and set a schedule.

Retrospect Express 7.6 for Windows (with integrated launch into MozyHome or MozyPro) is more configurable for advanced users, protecting a single Windows desktop or notebook computer by backing up to internal and external hard drives, NAS devices, CD/DVDs and removable drives such as Iomega’s award-winning removable HDD technology, the REV Backup Drive. Retrospect Express 7.6 delivers proven data protection capabilities in an easy-to-use software package that includes built-in open-file support. A launch button for MozyHome and MozyPro online backup software is built into Retrospect Express 7.6.

Retrospect Express for Macintosh 6.1 protects a single Macintosh desktop or notebook computer by backing up to internal and external hard drives, NAS devices, CD/DVDs and removable drives such as REV. Retrospect Express delivers proven data protection capabilities in an easy-to-use software package. MozyHome online backup service has not yet been integrated into Retrospect Express for Macintosh 6.1, but the MozyHome software available on the Iomega download site and supports Mac OS X 10.4 and above.

Iomega Portable and Desktop Hard Drives

Iomega has one of the broadest lines of portable and external desktop hard drives in the market today. Iomega 2.5-inch portable hard drives range in capacity from 80GB to 320GB, including the popular eGo™ portable hard drive, available in 160GB, 250GB and 320 GB models. Iomega portable hard drives are available as USB-powered models that require no external power supply, as well as dual interface models that incorporate USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 interfaces. Iomega’s line of 3.5-inch desktop hard drives range in capacity from 500GB to 1.5TB, including the recently announced 1TB Iomega eGo Desktop Hard Drive, available in several personalized colors. Iomega desktop hard drives are available as USB 2.0 only, dual interface (USB 2.0 and Firewire 400, or USB 2.0 and eSATA), triple interface (USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and Firewire800), and tetra interface models (USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800 and eSATA).

Availability

Iomega external hard drives with the new downloadable software bundle that integrates EMC® Retrospect® Express software with Mozy online backup service will be available this month in the U.S. at retail, online, catalogue and other channels; the integrated product offering will be available in international markets later this summer.

Users of EMC Retrospect Express can upgrade for a fee to EMC Retrospect Professional for Windows or Desktop for Macintosh to add increased functionality with computing environments that have more then one computer and/or mixed operating systems (Windows, Macintosh and Linux). Retrospect Professional and Windows or Desktop for Macintosh each comes with two additional heterogeneous clients so that users can backup three computers on a network. Users can also purchase more clients as needed. These Retrospect upgrades can be purchased through a channel partner such as a reseller for a significant cost savings.

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world’s leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC’s products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

About Mozy

Mozy is the leader in online data backup for consumers and businesses. With more than 750,000 users and 20,000 business customers, Mozy offers a simple, automatic and secure service for backing up data over the Internet. Mozy was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2007 and operates as part of the EMC Cloud Infrastructure and Services Division. Information can be found at www.mozy.com.

About Iomega
Iomega Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC Corporation headquartered in San Diego, is a worldwide leader in innovative storage and network security solutions for small and mid-sized businesses, consumers and others. The Company has sold more than 400 million digital storage drives and disks since its inception in 1980. Today, Iomega’s product portfolio includes industry leading network attached storage products, external hard drives, and our award-winning removable storage technology, the REV® Backup Drive. OfficeScreen®, Iomega’s managed security services, available in the U.S. and select markets in Europe, provides enterprise quality perimeter security and secure remote network access for SMBs, which help protect small enterprises from data theft and liability. To learn about all of Iomega’s digital storage products and managed services solutions, please go to the Web at www.iomega.com. Resellers can visit Iomega at www.iomega.com/ipartner.

* 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes.

** $4.95 per month for unlimited MozyHome online storage is limited to one desktop computer and may not be combined for use with more than one computer per Mozy Home account.

*** Iomega external hard drives have a one-year warranty in the U.S. and a two-year warranty in Europe and Asia.

Copyright© 2008 Iomega Corporation. All rights reserved. Iomega, REV, eGo, and OfficeScreen are registered trademarks of the Iomega Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. EMC, Mozy and Retrospect are registered trademarks of EMC Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holder