Buffalo Technology demonstrated a collection of new storage and networking products during the CES. These new products are designed to improve the digital lives of consumers, offering new features and increased performance for enhanced usability and convenience.
Scheduled to launch in early 2013, the new LinkStation 400 Series of network storage devices will replace the current LinkStation Pro lineup and includes an array of new features:
Ultra high performance operation with unsurpassable transfer speeds up to 80+ MBps
First Buffalo NAS series to feature the new BuffaloLink remote access and content management service – free for the life of the product
New user-friendly user interface (UI) with intuitive navigation and easy to use mobile UIs for Apple and Android
Attractive new black matte-finish chassis
Available in a single-drive, two-drives and easily scalable external enclosure
LinkStation 410D – Single-drive, fully populated NAS, up to 4 TB
Available in early 2013 at an estimated street price of USD 229 for 2 TB (LS410D0201), USD 269 for 3 TB (LS410D0301) and USD 399 for 4 TB (LS410D0401)
LinkStation 420D – Dual-drive, fully populated NAS, up to 8 TB
Available in early 2013 at an estimated street price of USD 289 for 2 TB (LS420D0202), USD 369 for 4 TB (LS420D0402), USD 469 for 6 TB (LS420D0602) and USD 719 for 8 TB (LS420D0802)
LinkStation 421E – Dual-bay, diskless enclosure
Available in early 2013 at an estimated street price of USD 149 (LS421DE)
Available in Q1 2013, the AirStation brand of wireless routers and adapters will add two new 802.11ac routers and an 11ac USB adapter to its comprehensive lineup:
AirStation AC1750 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router – WZR-1750DHP
Speeds up to 1,300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 450 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band
Dual-core CPU and Beamforming[LHP1] technology provides faster Wi-Fi speeds and enhanced range
New Priority Control Quality of Service (QoS) feature improves network sharing by prioritizing data based on its level of importance and need for bandwidth
o New user friendly user interface (UI) with intuitive navigation and easy to use mobile UIs for smartphones and tablets
USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports for high-speed NAS functionality and printer sharing
Four gigabit Ethernet ports
Available in early 2013 at an estimated street price of USD 179
AirStation AC1166 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router – WZR-1166DHP
Speeds up to 866 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band
Includes the same feature enhancements as WZR-1750DHP
Available in early 2013 at an estimated street price of USD 149
AirStation AC866 Dual Band USB Adapter – WLI-UC-866D
Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter for Windows
2x2 11ac with speeds up to 866 Mbps
11n Dual-Band up to 300 Mbps
Available in early 2013 at an estimated street price of USD 69
DriveStation DDR, available in early 2013, is a high performance external USB 3.0 hard drive with a large 1 GB cache for accelerated file transfer speeds:
Utilizes 1 GB DDR3 RAM cache for significant performance enhancements to outperform standard USB 3.0 hard drives by up to 350%
Features attractive, high-gloss chassis that can be placed vertically or horizontally
Available in early 2013 at an estimated street price of USD 119 for 1 TB (HD-GD1.0U3), USD 149 for 2 TB (HD-GD2.0U3) and USD 189 for 3 TB (HD-GD3.0U3)
Buffalo also demonstrated its new LinkTheater Air, a wireless Miracast compatible adapter that provides users the ability to wirelessly share the display from one supported device to another. Users can easily display content from their Android phone or tablet onto their TV or the conference room projector in real-time. LinkTheater Air is Miracast compatible and its small size promotes easy placement and portability.
At CES 2013, QNAP launched its new business-class Turbo NAS TS-x70U-RP series, a budget friendly 10 GbE-ready NAS, which is capable of reaching over 1,800+ MB/s throughput and over 180,000+ IOPS. This series is powered by a high performance dual-core Intel 2.4 GHz CPU and is equipped with 4 GB DDR3 RAM with an upgradable option up to 16 GB. The 10 GbE- ready capability makes the TS-x70U-RP series the perfect solution for business applications such as iSCSI IP-SAN, server virtualization, high speed backup, video storage, and centralized shared storage. The TS-x70U-RP series is available in 8- and 12-bay versions.
The brand new Crucial M500 SSD family makes use of 20 nanometer (nm) multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash memories and is available in 120 GB, 240 GB, 480 GB and 960 GB capacities with SATA-600, mSATA and M.2 interfaces. The drive’s sequential read and write speeds reach up to 500 MB/s and 400 MB/s, respectively.
M500 drives also incorporate hardware encryption technology, thermal management, and power-loss protection, where data integrity is protected even during unexpected power loss.
During this CES, Kingston announced the DataTraveler HyperX Predator, a USB 3.0 flash memory available in 512 GB and 1 TB. The former is already available for USD 898.08 at Amazon.com (January 13), while the latter will be launched later in Q1 with an unknown price.
DataTraveler HyperX Predator memory offers data transfer speeds of up to 240 MB/s (read) and 160 MB/s (write).
OCZ has demonstrated a pre-production version of its new flagship Vector SSD series for PCI Express (PCIe) interfaces. These drives make use of two Indilinx Barefoot 3 controllers and can achieve speeds of up to 1 GB/s using four PCI Express lanes. They support TRIM and SMART and will be offered in 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB capacities for about USD 1.40 – 1.70 per GB, depending on the storage capacity.
In addition to the Vector PCIe SSD demonstration, OCZ will showcase a wide range of client and enterprise solid-state storage solutions at this year’s CES.
Corsair has launched its first network attached storage (NAS) drive, the Voyager Air. The device is a self-contained streaming media server with a wireless hub built-in, so Voyager Air can wirelessly stream digital content to other playback devices directly, with no Internet connection required. Voyager Air provides 802.11n/b/g Wi-Fi connections for multiple users at ranges up to 90 feet, and can stream high definition video to up to five devices at once. The high-capacity rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to seven hours of video streaming between recharges.
Voyager Air can also function as an NAS server by simply plugging it into a network router via its built-in Gigabit Ethernet interface. It can then be accessed by multiple users on any networked Windows, OS X, or Linux system to stream media or for file storage, media consolidation, and backup. Voyager Air comes ready to use in Windows format (NTFS) but Mac users can easily reformat to HFS+ for Time Machine compatibility. The Voyager Air drive may be partitioned for easier organization of media and user files.
By connecting Voyager Air to a Wi-Fi hotspot and enabling wireless pass-through, users can use Voyager Air as a wireless hub to share Internet access.
Voyager Air will be available beginning in early February from Corsair’s worldwide network of resellers and distributors. They will be available in 500 GB and 1 TB capacities with each being available in glossy red and soft-touch grey. Suggested retail pricing is USD 179.99 for 500 GB models and USD 219.99 for 1 TB models.
HGST (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and now a Western Digital company) announced today what they’re claiming to be the industry’s first 1 TB, 9.5 mm, 2.5-inch, 7,200 rpm hard disk drive (HDD). The new Travelstar hard drive is ideally suited for upgrading notebooks, game consoles, and other high-capacity, high-performance personal storage products. This standard 9.5 mm drive leverages Advanced Format, which increases the physical sector size from 512 bytes to 4,096 (4K) bytes to improve drive capacities and error correction capabilities, as well 7,200 rpm performance, 32 MB cache buffer and SATA-600 interface. Other highlights include shock tolerance, a halogen-free design for an eco-friendly footprint, and low power consumption for sturdy unplugged notebook performance.
The new Travelstar HDD is available in the HGST Hard Drive Retail Kit (USD 99.99) as well as in the award-winning Touro Mobile Pro USB 3.0 external storage solution (USD 109.99) for simple add-on storage and backup.
The Seagate Wireless Plus (STCK1000100) is an external hard disk drive that allows users to store and share their photos, music, and videos via a WiFi connection (IEEE 802.11b/g/n). Available in 1 TB capacity, the Seagate Wireless Plus is a nice solution to extend storage space on devices such as iPhones, smartphones, tablets and notebooks. It supports up to eight connected devices to share and stream media content without the burden of transmission cables. The new Seagate Wireless Plus includes a 10-hour battery life and USB 3.0 interface.
The Seagate Wireless Plus has a suggested retail price of USD 199.99.
Toshiba has announced four enterprise-class store devices (SSDs/HDDs) supporting cryptographic-erase and self-encrypting capabilities. In the table below we’ve listed the models launched and their main specs.
Model
Type
Interface
Capacities
PX02AMU
SSD
SATA
100 GB, 200 GB and 400 GB
PX03ANU
SSD
SATA
55 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB and 480 GB
PX02SMQ/U
SSD
SAS
200 GB, 400 GB, 800 GB and 1.6 TB
MQ01ABU***W
HDD
SATA
250 GB, 320 GB and 500 GB
Sample shipments of the PX02AMU and PX03ANU SSD drives are scheduled for January 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, sample shipments are scheduled to begin for the PX02SMQ/U SSD drives and the MQ01ABU***W hard disk drives.
Super Talent’s UltraDrive MX2 SSD drives feature sequential read and write speeds of up to 240 MB/s and come with a new dual interface that allows users the flexibility for it to function as an internal or external drive. The UltraDrive MX2 also supports the latest garbage collection and Trim features which are designed to keep this SSD running at peak performance, and error correction (ECC) mechanism.
Super Talent’s UltraDrive MX2 SSD drives are available in 60 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB.
Team Group has just launched the Team C126, a new colorful series of USB 2.0 flash drives. Team C126 drives are available in yellow, orange, blue and pink, with capacities of 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB. They feature light weight and high portability. The spin and retractable design eliminates the worry of losing the top cap.
Seagate has announced the Seagate Video 2.5 HDD, a 2.5” hard disk drive specifically designed for use in 24/7 video applications like digital video recorders (DVRs), set-top boxes (STBs), and surveillance applications. Featuring capacities up to 500 GB, the drive has an annual failure rate of approximately 0.55, based on current configurations, enabling it to keep the product in the field longer while reducing the cost of field deployment and maintaining customer retention. It also boasts 24/7 operation capabilities in extended temperature ranges and enhanced acoustics for nearly silent operation.
Maintaining Seagate’s goal of delivering sustainable products, the drive reduces packaging materials by 53 percent and overall freight up to 30 percent over previous 3.5” offerings, by efficiently packing and shipping more units with fewer materials than larger drives. It also contributes to sustainable energy initiatives by achieving a 55 percent improvement in power savings over comparable 3.5” offerings, enabling system integrators to meet aggressive new energy requirements. The Seagate Video 2.5 HDD is built without the use of harmful chemicals like the fire retardant, bromide, and is PVC free.
The mSATA form factor is a standard that allows ultrathin notebook manufacturers to integrate an SSD drive in a space that is about one-third of the size of a standard business card (3 x 5 cm). As the latest addition to Mushkin’s Atlas family of mSATA drives, the company has launched a 480 GB drive.
The new 480 GB Atlas features a SandForce SF-2281 controller, a SATA-600 interface, has support for TRIM and NCQ, and makes use of MLC flash memories. As for speeds, it provides 555 MB/s (read) and 365 MB/s (write).
Mushkin’s Atlas 480 GB mSATA drives (model number MKNSSDAT480GB) are scheduled to be available early January 2013 in the U.S. for a suggested retail price of USD 499.99.
ADATA has announced the release of the DashDrive Durable UD310, a tiny and water resistant USB flash memory. The UD310 is available in 8 GB (USD 7.99), 16 GB (USD 12.99), and 32 GB (USD 21.99) capacities and comes in red and black.
Today, Symantec announced Norton Zone for consumers, a new secure file sharing service that allows users to safely access, sync and share photos, videos and documents from any of their PC, Mac, Android or iOS devices. A free, limited public beta can be accessed at www.nortonzone.com on a first-come, first-served basis. The full-featured version of Norton Zone is slated to be released in the U.S. in 2013.
