Cool Tools archive

SimpleTech offers tiny memory cards
SimpleTech this week announced its miniSD and RS-MMC Flash memory cards, aimed to address the mobile phone and handheld device storage market. The new cards are available in capacities ranging from 128M-bytes to 512M-bytes. The miniSD and RS-MMC media have the same features as a standard-sized memory card, but just... December 17, 2004

IOGEAR launches new hard drives
Just to confuse everyone this week, IOGEAR has launched some new hard drives during the same week as Iomega (see "A hard drive without a power cord"). The IOGEAR models include a 1.8-inch USB 2.0 drive and its Combo External ION hard drives (click to view). The drives are compatible... November 12, 2004

A hard drive without the power cord
It may not look like much, but the Iomega USB 2.0 Mini Hard Drive does something that a lot of other hard drives can't do -- get its power solely off the USB cable. The hard drive is now available, and comes in 20G-byte ($180) and 40G-byte ($280) capacities. The... November 09, 2004

Buffalo expands storage drive options
Buffalo Technology today said it now has several different capacities available for its DriveStation line of external hard drives. The DriveStation is now available in 80G-byte, 120G-byte, 160G-byte and 250G-byte versions. The DriveStation works with Windows and Macintosh systems via USB 2.0 or 1.1 ports, Buffalo says. The box comes... August 23, 2004

Back that Mac up
CMS Products today launched a 100G-byte version of its ABSplus device, a backup and recovery system aimed at Mac OS X users. The $419 device has 100G bytes yet is still small enough to fit into a pocket. The system includes automatic backup and one-button restore features, and comes with... August 12, 2004

2.1GB in your hand
Just when we thought 2G bytes in a small storage factor was cool, along comes Verbatim with its new Store 'n Go 2.1G-byte USB hard drive. According to Verbatim, the drive (about the size of a business card) can store more than two hours of MPEG-1 video, about 500 hours... August 10, 2004

25 functions, one box
Addonics gets the prize today for the "most functions in one device" announcement. The San Jose-based company said its new MFR (stands for Multifunction Recorder) is a 25-in-1 digital media storage appliance that can do almost everything except make toast. The device can read and write 11 different memory card... July 29, 2004

SmartDisk puts 20GB in your hand
SmartDisk today said it was shipping its FireFly USB 2.0 portable hard drive. The FireFly is about the size of a deck of cards and provides 20G bytes of data storage (20 hours or about 5,000 MP3 files, or up to 15,000 digital photos). The FireFly costs $189.99 and is... July 06, 2004

Archos launches portable TV recorder
Archos today launched its Pocket Video Recorder AV400, a portable digital video recorder with TV recording and scheduling features, as well as audio, photo and data storage. The AV400 lets you record TV shows and movies directly from a TV, VCR or cable/satellite receiver through its TV Cradle (basically a... June 30, 2004

HP launches Personal Media Drive
In conjunction with some new Media Center PCs, HP this week launched a new device -- the HP Personal Media Drive -- which lets users add up to 160G bytes of storage space to a Media Center PC without having to open up the PC case or even turn the... June 23, 2004

Iomega ships 160G-byte hard drive
If you really need some storage capacity for all of your photos, videos, music and other data, check this out. Iomega this week said it was shipping its HDD 160G-byte USB 2.0 Desktop Hard Drive, an external 7200 RPM hard drive that includes "touch-free" backup software. The drive costs $199.95... May 19, 2004

New external hard drives
Freecom Technologies this week announced four new USB-based external drive devices that will soon be available in the U.S. market. Freecom will show off the deivces at the upcoming RetailVision 2004 trade show, the company said. Products include Freecom's Classic Hard Drive, a low-noise external USB 2.0 hard drive with... April 08, 2004

A twist on USB flash drives
Imation today announced its new Imation USB 2.0 Swivel Flash Drives, which include a cap that swivels down so users never lose the cap. The devices weigh about 1 oz., and are about the size of a AA battery, Imation says. The devices come in storage capacities of 128M bytes... March 18, 2004

SanDisk launches 4GB CF card
SanDisk today launched a 4G-byte Compact Flash card aimed at digital camera users. The card will be able to store up to 2,000 high-resolution pictures, more than 1,000 digital music files or up to 8 hours of MPEG-4 video, the company said. The card will cost $999, and begin shipping... February 11, 2004

SanDisk ships 1GB SD card
SanDisk today said it is shipping a 1G byte Secure Digital (SD) flash memory card, which it jointly developed with Sharp Corp. of Japan. The company said it was able to double the card's capacity without changing the size of the card. The card will have a suggested retail price... January 27, 2004

Storage and Wi-Fi together
SMC this week announced a USB Flash storage drive that also acts as an 802.11b wireless LAN adapter. The $69.99 EZ Connect Wireless USB Flash Drive (SMCWUSB32) is now available, SMC said. The drive stores 32M bytes of data in addition to being an 802.11b adapter. The adapter can work... December 10, 2003

Don't leave home without your data
Is that a data storage card in your wallet or are you just happy to see me? Freecom Technologies said this week it is shipping its USBCard to North American and South American markets. The USBCard is a data storage device about the same size as a credit card, with... December 03, 2003

Get ready for 40G-byte gizmos
Impressed with all those MP3 players with 20G-byte hard drives? Pish posh. Toshiba’s Storage Device Division (SDD) today announced its 1.8-inch embedded hard disk drives, including one that offers 40G-bytes of storage (dual platter). The company said the 1.8-inch family of hard drives would be available in 5G-, 10G-, 15G-,... November 05, 2003

Wi-Fi and storage in one device
SOYO announced a device that combines a Wi-Fi (802.11b) USB adapter with a 128M-byte Flash memory tool. The Aerielink Wireless Flash Combo (AWUA1211) will cost $119 and will work with Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP computers, the company said. In addition, both 64- and 128-bit WEP security is supported,... October 17, 2003

Lighter and tinier storage
PQI Corp. has released its Intelligent Stick 2.0, an ultra-small USB flash memory device that offers data capacities up to 512M bytes, with a 1G-byte version planned by the end of the year. The Intelligent Stick 2.0 is equal in size and weight to about two pennies laid end-to-end, the... September 24, 2003

Hitatchi touts 4G-byte Microdrive
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies this week announced it is shipping qualification samples of its 4G-byte Microdrive to consumer product manufacturers. The company says its one-inch diameter drive has a 70% faster data transfer rate than previous versions. The hard disk drive weighs over a half-ounce (16 grams) and is about... August 26, 2003

Faster data transfer pitched
Verbatim Corp. today said it is shipping its new Store ‘n’ Go USB 2.0 Drives. The company says the drives support up to 8M bytes/sec. read and 5M bytes/sec. write performance when connected to systems via the USB 2.0 interface. The data transfer rates translates to about 256M bytes in... August 20, 2003

SanDisk readies new Memory Stick Duo cards
SanDisk Corp. today launched new memory cards that are designed to fit into smaller devices, such as mobile phones, digital cameras (see new Sony announcement below), and other consumer electronics. The cards are expected to ship in September. The SanDisk Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo flash memory... August 15, 2003

Storage via FireWire 800
FirewireDirect.com this week launched the Ultra III 800, the newest of its 3.5-inch desktop hard drives that use the FireWire 800 interface. Also known as 1394b, FireWire 800 has data rates up to 800M bit/sec., appealing to digital video and audio enthusiasts, the company said. The Ultra III 800 users... August 08, 2003

Building the smarter mouse
IOGEAR this week launched the Memory Mouse, a miniature mouse that also has a 32M-byte Flash storage drive for storing data files. The $49.95 mouse is available now at retailers and online resellers, IOGEAR says. The device has 800 dpi of resolution for higher mousing accuracy, and supports PCs with... August 07, 2003

Fujifilm announces 1GB USB drive
Fujifilm’s Computer Products Division announced it will begin shipping its Fujifilm USB Drive 2.0, with storage capacities up to 1G bytes, in August. The drive will cost about $499, the company said. The new USB 2.0 Drives will be available in 128M-, 256M- and 512M-bytes as well, the company said.... July 28, 2003

Kanguru ships 2G-byte USB drive
Kanguru Solutions today announced a 2G-byte Flash storage drive that connects via USB 2.0. The KanguruMicroDrive includes an embedded encryption program (KanguruGuard) that lets users create a password protected area of their drive. In addition, the software lets users compress their data, which in essence can double or triple the... May 16, 2003

Kanguru releases 250G-byte external drive
Speaking of Kanguru, the company also recently released a 250G-byte external hard drive that includes USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity options in one unit. The KanguruQuickSilver Combo weighs about 2 lbs., and can transfer data at 700-M to 800M-bytes per minute when connected via USB 2.0 (about 800M- to 900M-bytes...

Company launches 320G-byte hard drives
FirewireDirect.com last week debuted its new 320G-byte FireWire and Combo FireWire USB 2.0 external hard drives. The drives come in a sapphire blue case, and start at $469. The drives include the latest edition of the Oxford 911 FireWire bridge board, the company said. For more details, go to the... May 12, 2003

OWC launches FireWire 800 storage devices
Other World Computing (OWC) this week launched its Mercury Elite Pro FW800 series of storage devices, its first products that support the IEEE 1394b (FireWire 800) standard. The new standard is expected to provide data rates up to 800M bit/sec. OWC says the devices offer data rates of more than... April 18, 2003

Get more storage
Other World Computing today announced a new line of Mercury Elite FireWire + USB 2.0/1.1 Combo storage drives, with storage up to 250G-bytes. The company also reduced prices on some of its other hard drives. The company said the largest drive it had before was 120G-bytes – the new line... April 10, 2003

IOGEAR launches new external USB 2.0 / FireWire hard drive
IOGEAR this week launched a new Hi-Speed USB 2.0 / FireWire combination ION external hard drive. The new hard drive can connect via FireWire (aka iLink or IEEE 1394), USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 ports. The 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch external hard drives can store 20G-bytes or 40G-bytes of information, respectively.... March 28, 2003