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Filed under: Storage

Samsung was pretty boastful about its high-capacity SpinPoint N2 1.8-inch drives when they launched back in June of 2007, and now the company’s decided to show them off a bit — check out this hot new credit-card-sized external model in glossy black with a flip-out USB connector. Specs are the same as before — 4200rpm, 27MB/s read and 23MB/s read — but sadly the most important spec is that it’s China-only for now and pricing is in the stratosphere, with the 120GB version clocking in at RMB1999 ($293). Yeah, we’ll stick with saving our pennies for an SSD.

[Via Everything USB]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Gaming

This one isn’t quite as dodgy as they come, but the very notable limitations really keep this from being the whiz-bang hack that it appears to be on the surface. Hacker StreetskaterFU had no trouble getting confirmation from others that his method of running Blu-ray games from the PlayStation 3’s hard drive was indeed legitimate, but it is only confirmed to work with select “older titles” including Warhawk, MotorStorm and Call of Duty 3. To make matters worse, instructions are sketchy at best, but at least there’s a video of the process working after the break. Let us know how things go should you give this a whirl.

Continue reading Hacked PlayStation 3 reportedly runs Blu-ray games from HDD

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

Oh sure, you’re pretty 1337 if you can say you’ve got an SSD within your laptop, but if you’ve a need to store more than, say, 8GB of files, a bit more room may be desired. tnkgrl’s Aspire One mods began earlier this week with the addition of Bluetooth and extra RAM, and today she’s showing the world how to swap the built-in SSD with a 1.8-inch 60GB PATA drive. As expected, this one’s remarkably easy to complete once you’ve torn the thing open, but she also explains how to best put it all back together once you’re done. But you’re not, because she’ll be producing a how-to for adding internal 3G in the coming days / weeks.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

We’ve already seen walkthroughs of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard, but this is the first look we’ve had at a feature we’re sort of stoked on: the ability to install games to the internal hard drive from DVD. From the looks of things, it’s an extremely simple process to get the data moved over (despite the long waits for multiple GB files being copied), though it looks like you’ll still need the DVD on hand to actually play the game. Don’t believe a word we’re saying? Take a look at the video after the break and see for yourself!

[Via Xbox-Scene News]

Continue reading Xbox 360’s new Dashboard game install demoed on video

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Storage

It’s hard to say if we’ve ever laid eyes on a family of portable hard drives with less vigor and pizazz, but Memorex isn’t kidding around when it calls these things “essential.” Boasting nothing more than the bare necessities, the new line of TravelDrives arrives with 2.5-inch HDDs that pack 160GB, 250GB or 320GB of space. You’ll find a USB 2.0 port and a flashing LED to keep you from dozing off, and there’s even a few color options to choose from in case you’re partial to Spring Blossom, Tropic Green, Caribbean Blue or Cool Silver. At least they start at just $89.99, right?

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

Hitachi sure does love some perpendicular recording, and in between making trippy videos about the tech, it seems like it’s busy improving it — the company just announced that it’s increased the max storage density of magnetic recording to 610Gb per square inch. That’s far denser than current techniques, and it could lead to a 2.5x increase in capacity for hard drives — and what’s more, Hitachi says it shows that hard drive capacities have the ability to increase at a rate of 40 percent annually for the foreseeable future. Looks like the Tera Era might actually be here, eh?

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage

Brando’s SATA HDD Stage Rack doesn’t stay the same for very long, as it seems a new iteration keeps popping up every month or so. The latest (and greatest, might we add) is the SATA HDD Multimedia Dock, which enables users to slap in any ole 2.5- / 3.5-inch SATA hard drive and access it via USB. That’s not all, though. This one also provides an SD card slot, S-Video / composite / component outputs and a bundled remote — what for, you ask? So you can play back MPEG1/2/4, XviD and DivX (among others) files, of course. This takes multifaceted to an entirely different platform, huh?

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

While it seems inevitable that external 2.5-inch hard drives can only get so small, right now manufacturers look to be intent on doing their best to shave off every last excess millimeter to lay claim to the elusive title of world’s smallest. That designation now appears to have fallen on Freecom’s new Mobile Drive XXS which, according to the company, is not only 27% smaller than its nearest competitor but, at just 155 grams, the lightest drive of its kind around as well. You’ll still get the usual choices of 160GB, 250GB, or 320GB sizes though, along with the requisite bus-powered connectivity, and a handy form-fitting rubber sleeve to ensure the thing stays where you want it. Look for this one to hit the UK any day now for £45, £60, or £80 (or $90 to $160), depending on the capacity.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Storage

Toshiba — clearly feeling the heat from other fashionable external hard drive makers — has introduced a new line of disks guaranteed to bring on a neon flashback from your disco days (or Eurotrash nightmares). The three new models come decked out in the 160GB “Gecko Green,” 250GB “Hot Rod Red,” and 320GB “Carbon Grey” variations, with USB 2.0 ports and 8MB buffers on-board. The drives are Mac and PC compatible, no word on price or release date — but with looks like this, who cares how much it costs? Right? Yeah, no.

[Via Pocket Lint]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Storage

Not that we haven’t seen bamboo-based gizmos before, but there’s something about SimpleTech’s [re]drive that just screams upscale. This elegant, smooth looking external HDD was crafted to be easy on the eyes and Mother Earth alike, with the outfit utilizing “renewable, naturally grown bamboo and recyclable aluminum” along with an Energy Star power adapter and eco-friendly packaging. You’ll also find a USB 2.0 jack, automatic power up / down and 500GB of internal storage space. Not too shabby for an estimated $150.

[Via Wired]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless, Storage

Okay, so there’s clearly a tube that dispenses marshmallows to the ASUS marketing department whenever it comes up with another product to slap the Eee brand on, because this just getting silly. In addition to the countless Eee laptops, Eee Box desktop, Eee monitor, Eee televisions, and other Eee-branded crap, we’re hearing the company is working on a line of accessories, including an external hard drive, optical drive, and WWAN card. None of this is official quite yet, but knowing ASUS, it’ll be out in 30 different varieties by the end of the month.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Storage

Western Digital has been flaunting its VelociRaptor for some time now, but the drive you’ve been slamming into towers is now available for low-power, high-performance blade server applications. The 2.5-inch, 10,000RPM enterprise SATA drive (WD3000BLFS) is specially designed to fit snugly within 1U and 2U rack servers, and aside from consuming 35% less power than the previous Raptor drive, this one is available with up to 300GB of capacity. You’ll also find 16MB of cache and a 1.4 million mean time before failure rating, though you won’t be able to procure one until later this month for an undisclosed price.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

Although Western Digital seems to have the portable hard drive sector all wrapped up, LG’s looking to snag a bit of that market share by introducing a new line of stylish alternatives. Each member of the XD1 family possesses a 2.5-inch HDD with a SATA II interface and a USB 2.0 port, and just in case black isn’t your bag, you can expect a red wine colored version as well. For now, we’ll have to live without a price or release date, but you can look forward to units arriving in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB sizes sometime in the future.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Considering that Samsung’s YP-P2 just might be the most updated PMP of all time, we’re guessing that a lot of things that users would have changed just months ago have already been done by the powers that be. That being said, we critical gadget owners are never truly satisfied at heart, so we’re curious to know how you’d spin the forthcoming firmware update(s). Or would you focus your attention on external matters, instead? We know you’ve had ample time to fool around with one of Sammy’s most prized media players ever, so don’t be shy down there in comments, alright? Who knows — your recommendations could be front and center in the next Blue Wave.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

It’s already hit Korea, but it looks like those of us that don’t live in the land of Samsung can now finally get our hands on the official, non beta Blue Wave 3 firmware update for the company’s fan-favorite YP-P2 PMP as well. Otherwise known as version 4.13, the update brings a whole host of improvements, including a decent batch of new GUI themes, a new fullscreen playback mode, a calculator, and some additional brightness and speed controls for video playback, among other things. Of course, as Samsung is wont to do, it’s already teasing us with its Blue Wave 4 update, which promises to take the player to even greater heights with customizable skins, Bluetooth-based games, subway maps, and voice recording, to name just a few improvements. No word on a release for that just yet, however, so in the meantime you’ll have to make do with the next best thing available at the link below.

[Thanks, Xepol]

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Original post by Donald Melanson