Looking for a high speed replacement for that 3.5 inch internal hard drive of yours? You might want to check out OCZ Technology’s new announced Colossus 3.5 inch Solid State Drive (SSD) with storage capacities up to a whopping 1 terabyte. Yup.. 1 terabyte of fast solid state storage.

The Colossus delivers high performance made possible by using an internal RAID 0 architecture. You’ll get read and write speeds up to 260 MB/second with sustained write speeds up to 220 MB/s. Colossus is built using cost-effective multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory which keeps these drives somewhat reasonably priced (at least for enterprises).

The OCZ Colossus will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities and has a 1.5 million hour mean time between failures. Other specs include:

• 128MB cache
• < 1 ms seek time
• lightweight aluminum casing

Amazon has the 500GB model available for $1766.99 and the 250GB model available for $1122.99

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Technorati Tags: OCZ Technology Colossus Solid State Drive

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announces several new 2 terabyte storage drives today including the new SimpleDrive USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive. Features of this new drive include:

• Vertical form factor with a “non-invasive footprint”
• Up to 2TB of storage space
• Plug-and-play support
• Anodized aluminum enclosure keeps the drive cool
• Available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities

The 500GB has an MSRP of $99.99. The 1TB an MSRP of $129.99 and the 2TB an MSRP of $249.99.

In addition to the SimpleDrive USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive, Hitachi also announced 2 terabyte solutions in the form of :

• SimpleTech Pro Drive with four interface options (USB 2.0 FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and eSATA). 500GB available for $119.99, 1TB for $169.99, and $2TB for $299.99
• SimpleTech Duo Pro Drive – two drives in one supporting RAID 0 or RAID 1. Includes eSATA and USB 2.0 interfaces. 1TB goes for $199.99 while the 2TB goes for $499.
• Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kits – available in both 5400 and 7200 RPM speeds with up to 32MB cache buffer. The 2TB 7200RPM HDD has an MSRP of $249.99.

Technorati Tags: Hitachi, SimpleDrive USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive

Although USB 3.0 is technically still in its infancy, this hasn’t stopped Super Talent Technology from announcing a new USB 3.0 compatible portable drive called the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 RAIDDrive. With support for transfer speeds up to 10x faster than USB 2.0 drives, the new RAIDDRIVE can deliver transfer speeds up to 200 MB/sec with USB 3.0 ports. If you use a separate UAS Protocol driver with a USB 3.0 port, the SuperSpeed drive can reach speeds up to 320MB/second/

SuperTalent’s SuperSpeed drive is available in three storage capacities – 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB. The drives measure 95 x 37 x 13.5mm and are fully compatible with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 protocols.

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Technorati Tags: Super Talent Technology, SuperSpeed USB 3.0 RAIDDrive

Looking to seize an opportunity in the ever growing market of portable external hard drives, Speck announces three new line of portable hard drive cases – the SkinPro, TwoZip, and TechStyle. These cases are designed for the recently released Western Digital My Passport hard drive as well as many other smaller portable hard drives and electronic devices currently available in the market.

SkinPro:

• Fits snugly onto the 2009 model of the Western Digital My Passport hard drive
• Integrated cable management system built into the side of the case
• Openings for full access to ports and plugs – no removal is necessary
• MSRP of $19.95

TwoZip:

• Two built-in zippered storage compartments
• Keeps hard drive safe on one side and cords, chargers etc organized on the other side
• Micro-fleece lining
• Available in Restart Greyscale Pixel and Speakeasy Pinstripe
• MSRP of $24.95

TechStyle:

• Hard, lightweight protective zippered case
• Compatible with new and old WD Passport hard drives
• Built-in velcro interior strap helps keep your drive in place
• Available in Speakeasy Grey Pinstripe and solid Charcoal
• MSRP of $19.95

Technorati Tags: Speck SkinPro, Speck TwoZip, Speck TechStyle, Portabl Hard Drive Case

This diminutive device is the new second generation Kingston MobileLite G2 media card reader which allows users to easily transfer data between flash memory cards and PCs/Macs.

The MobileLite G2 supports SD, SDHC, microSD, microSDHC, MemoryStick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, and Memory Stick Micro memory cards and features retractable covers on each side to protect the USB connector and the flash memory cards from damage. Kingston ships the MobileLite G2 with a lanyard and a short USB extension card making it easier to connect the media card reader to hard-to-reach USB slots.

You’ll be able to purchase the MobileLite G2 as a stand-alone reader or as part of memory card bundle (choose from a 4GB or 8GB Class 4 SDHC card).

Specs include:

• Supports USB 2.0 or 1.1
• Measures 2.45 x 1.16 x 0.646 inches
• Weighs 18.9 grams

The standalone MobileLite G2 will be available for $11 dollars. The 4GB SDHC bundle sells for $28.50 while the 8GB bundle goes for $46 dollars.

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Technorati Tags: Kingston, MobileLite G2 media card reader

Samsung announced today their first internal Blu-ray/DVD/CD combo drive called the SH-B083. The new drive supports the following features:

• Reads Blu-ray discs and reads/writes CD/DVDs
• Reads BD-R and BD-ROM discs at up to 8x speeds
• Reads CDs at up to 40x and DVDs at up to 16x
• Average access speed of 350ms
• Comes with two lenses for more stable reading and writing – one lens for BD read and one lens for CD/DVD read/writes
• Spherical Aberration Compensation Technology (SACT) improves reading quality on a BD drive whose protective layer does not have a uniform thickness
• Precision Step Control Technology (PSCT)
• Four point skew adjustment
• Optical lens cooling system reduces heat buildup
• Eco-friendly drive with low power consumption and aerodynamic frame design to lower acoustic noise by preventing pressure concentration in several areas of the bezel and the door
• Bundled Cyberlink Powerproducer software
• Front bezel includes chic mirror front door design and blue LED

The Samsung SH-B083 will be available in November – no word on pricing as of yet.

Technorati Tags: Samsung SH-B083

Fans of the Kingston DataTraveler USB flash drive will be happy to hear that the company has increased read/write speeds to 20MB/s with the Kingston DataTraveler 410. Available in storage capacities up to 32GB, the 410 also comes with password protection to help keep files away from prying eyes. Other storage capacities available for the DataTraveler 410 include 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB with the unit measuring 2.58 x 0.71 x 0.41 inches.

Prices are as follows:

• Data Traveler 410 – 4GB – $26 dollars
• Data Traveler 410 – 8GB – $46 dollars
• Data Traveler 410 – 16GB – $84 dollars
• Data Traveler 410 – 32GB – $134 dollars

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Technorati Tags: Kingston DataTraveler 410 USB Flash Drive

NETGEAR is the latest company to attack the consumer/home network attached storage market with Monday’s introduction of the new NETGEAR Stora. This cube-shaped device with two drive bays allows users to easily centralized all of their digital content without dealing with complicated setup routines or complex user interfaces.

In addition, Stora makes Internet-based file sharing super-easy by providing users and friends remote-access to the device via the website www.MyStora.com. Through MyStora, users will be able to stream music to any Internet-connected device, watch whole movies from the NAS, and of course, retrieve stored digital files.

Here are the features and specs to the NETGEAR Stora:

• Compatible with Mac, PC, and Linux systems
• Centralize digital media in one location
• Share and stream music to friends and family with specific user access controls
• Watch movies directly streamed from home to any Internet-connected device
• DLNA certified
• Windows Media 7 compliance
• Two standard drive bays (SATA)
• Users can add second drive on the fly without any tools
• Gigabit Ethernet support
• USB 2.0 port
• RAID 1 support
• Comes with automatic backup utilities for PCs and Macs
• Integrates with Facebook, iTunes, Flickr and web-enabled phones
• Measures 175.25 x 150 x 146 mm and weighs 1.36kg

The NETGEAR Stora comes with a single 1TB disk although you can add additional storage via the second drive bay.  Available now in North America, the NETGEAR Stora is priced at $229.

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Technorati Tags: NETGEAR Stora, NAS

Corsair adds a new 256GB model to their Extreme Series Solid State Drive family of products today. The Extreme Series SSDs come with the Indilinx Barefoot controller as well as Samsung MLC NAND flash memory resulting in read speeds of up to 240MB/s and write speeds up to 170 MB/s. The drive also comes with 64MB of cache memory.

All Extreme Series SSDs come with user-upgradeable firmware to allow for new features to be added over time (e.g. the upcoming TRIM command for Windows 7). The product line is also available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage capacities.

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Technorati Tags: Corsair 256GB Extreme Series SSD, Solid State Drive

Verbatim announces today their new InSight Portable Hard Drive lineup which has a unqiue always-on display revealing the current amount of free space as well as a customizable drive name. And when they say it’s always on.. the 32 x 128 pixel really is always on – even if it’s not connected to a computer.

The InSight lineup is available in 320GB and 500GB storage capacities and includes Nero BackItUp Essentials data protection software for backing up your PC/data. Other features include a premium black finish, a measurement of 6 x 3.4 x 0.63 inches, a weight of 6 oz, and a 2.5 inch 5400RPM hard drive with 8MB of cache memory. The drive is USB 2.0 bus powered which means there’s no need for an external brick (AC adapter).

The 320GB InSight drive has a suggested price of $119.99 while the 500GB InSight drive has a suggested price of $149.99.

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Technorati Tags: Verbatim, Verbatim InSight Portable Hard Drive