Kingston has just increased its USB flash memory line-up with the launch of a 32 GB model, the largest capacity within Kingston’s DataTraveler family. This new product measures 3.06" x 0.9" x 0.47" (77.9 mm x 22 mm x 12.05 mm), is compatible with Windows Vista (Windows ReadyBoost not supported), Windows XP (SP1, SP2), Windows 2000 (SP4), Mac OS X v.10.3.x and higher, Linux v.2.6.x and higher operating systems, and its MSRP is of USD 139.
Imation has announced the launch of Apollo Pro WX external hard drive compatible with WUSB technology. The goal of wireless USB (WUSB) is to connect peripherals such as printers, external hard disk drives, sound cards, media players and even video monitors to the PC wirelessly. Wireless USB works on the UWB frequency range (Ultra Wide Band, from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz), while Bluetooth technology works on 2.4 GHz frequency, the same used by IEEE 802.11 wireless networks (Wi-Fi) and its maximum theoretical transfer rate is the same as USB 2.0: 480 Mbps (60 MB/s) if the device is within 3 meters (9.84 feet) from the PC or 110 Mbps (13.75 MB/s) if the device is within 10 meters (32.8 feet) from the PC. Apollo Pro WX will reach the market in Q4 2008 in capacities ranging from 250 GB to 1.5 TB. No word on pricing.
Corsair has increased its Flash Voyager USB drive product line with the launch of a new 64 GB model. This model provides read and write speeds of 24 MB/s and 10 MB/s, respectively, has the same specs of others Flash Voyager models, including water- and shock-resistance, ten-year warranty and TrueCrypt program. Its MSRP is of US$ 205.65.
Western Digital has increased its My Passport portable hard drives line-up with the launch of 400 GB and 500 GB models. These drives are available in several colors, have USB 2.0 interface and weight 6.35 oz (180 g). My Passport 400 and 500 GB drives are priced at US$ 179.99 and US$ 219.99, respectively. With this launch Western Digital My Passport portable drives are now available in the following capacities: 160 GB, 250 GB, 320 GB, 400 GB and 500 GB.
Lexar has just unveiled JumpDrive FireFly flash memory with 16 GB capacity. This product comes with a free 30-day trial of Dmailer V7 software, which enables users to easily backup and synchronize files, including Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. Its MSRP is of USD 99. Lexar also offers JumpDrive FireFly flash memory models with 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB capacities.
Thermaltake has increased its BlacX line-up with the launch of BlacX A (ST0001) HDD docking station. This product has USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces, allows both 3.5” and 2.5” SATA hard disk drives up to 1 TB and supports hot swap, so you can add and remove hard disk drives with your computer turned on. Information about price and availability wasn’t disclosed.
Kingmax has just increased its U-Drive product line with the launch of PD07 USB flash memories. Available in 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB capacities, these new flash drives feature an error correction code mechanism (ECC) that ensure a higher data integrity, besides supporting Microsoft ReadyBoost technology. Information about price and availability wasn’t disclosed.
OCZ has announced its latest SATA-300 2.5" SSD series called Core. Available in 32 GB (USD 169), 64 GB (USD 259), 128 GB (USD 479) capacities, disks from this series deliver up to 143 MB/s read speeds and up to 93 MB/s write speeds, measure 3 15/16" x 2 3/4" x 3/8" (100.2 x 70 x 9.5 mm), weight 2.7 oz (77 g) and have a two-year warranty.
Western Digital has just launched a new hard disk drives series called Black Caviar. Hard disk drives from this series are 7,200 rpm SATA-300 units with 32MB of cache, two controller chips and are available in 750 GB (WD7501AALS, US$ 199) and 1 TB (WD1001FALS, US$ 249) capacities.
OCZ expands its flash memory lineup with the new Spyder USB 2.0 flash drive, available in 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8 GB capacities. Spyder comes with a very interesting design: instead of using a typical removable cap that may get lost and leave the connector plug exposed to possible damage, it uses a sliding cap, as you can see on the picture below.
Silicon-Power releases its latest high-capacity USB flash drive – Ultima 150. With soft touch feel by full body aluminum brush surface, the non-scratch design comes in two colors, sapphire blue and mysterious purple. It bundles with the advanced security software-the SmartKit, to help users to compress the data and in return to save more storage space on the remaining capacity. Ultima 150 series is now available in 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB.
Transcend introduced a 8GB version of its JetFlash 110 USB 2.0 Flash Drive, with a capless design that includes a retractable USB connector with lock-switch.
It supports Windows Vista ReadyBoost technology, which allows using flash drives as extra memory to improve computer performance. JetFlash elite includes seven functions: Website AutoLogin, PC-Lock, Mobile Favorites with NoTrace browsing, Secret-Zip encryption, Mobile E-mail, DataBackup and Online Update. It is now available in 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities.
Transcend introduces StoreJet 35 Ultra, an eSATA/USB 2.0 external storage device. The device measures 197.5mm x 127.5mm x 48mm and features an aluminum case designed for 3.5-inch SATA hard drives. With two convenient connection options, the StoreJet 35 Ultra not only guarantees the fastest possible hard drive speeds with its 3.0Gb/s eSATA interface, but also assures maximum compatibility with all types of computers via its 480Mb/s USB 2.0 connection interface.
It comes with StoreJet elite software that offers backup scheduling, security, and file compression functions. Transcend's StoreJet 35 Ultra supports all commonly used operating systems, including Windows 2000 / XP / Vista, Mac and Linux. Now available with either a pre-installed 500GB SATA hard drive, or without a drive for installing your own 3.5" SATA hard drive.
HighPoint Technologies releases the RocketRAID 2640X4, with a PCI-Express x4 SAS RAID 5 controller. It supports RAID levels (0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD) and offers the flexibility to be able to support either 15,000 RPM SAS hard drives for performance or low cost SATA hard drives for capacity. Performance bottlenecks occur with PCI-Express x1 bus speeds limiting SAS performance throughput to SATA speeds.
Disks with SAS interfaces are designed to meet the performance and reliability characteristics required for enterprise-class server arrays and RAID systems, says the manufacturer. The ability to deploy either type of drives allows the computer system to be optimized for specific application and cost requirements.
Silicon-Power launches its 128 GB 2.5-inch SATA/ IDE Solid State Disk. It delivers higher data transfer rate than traditional hard drives and ensures better performance when installing in notebook or desktop computers.
It has built-in Error Correction Code (ECC) and carries shockproof, anti-vibration and noiseless features. The 2.5-inch SATA/ IDE SSD is currently available in 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB capacities. The disk has dimensions of 100 mm x 69.85 mm x 9.1 mm and weights 110 g.
