Earlier this week, Iomega introduced a "camo" version of its eGo portable hard drive. Along with a woodland camouflage pattern, the drive features 250GB of storage as well as a Power Grip band which allows it to survive drops of up to 60".
Whether you're someone with an adventuresome style and spirit, an avid participant in tough travel environments, or just want to be different from the crowd, the new Iomega eGo Camo Portable Hard Drive is a fast and fun notebook hard drive that delivers on form and function. Iomega's new eGo Camo Drive has a curved chassis covered by a woodland camouflage pattern that also comes with a black Iomega Power Grip band that not only looks cool but also provides extra durability.
The new eGo Camo Portable Hard Drive also packs a lot of storage capability - the 250GB* 2.5-inch drive is USB-powered for simple operation (no power supply required), and it comes with EMC® Retrospect® HD software for automatic backups, scheduled backups, or on-demand backups. With Iomega's new 250GB eGo Camo Portable Hard Drive, users can carry up to 1,000,000 photos, over 4,625 hours of music or 375 hours of video** with confidence and a look that no other portable hard drive offers today.
Iomega's 250GB eGo Camo Portable Hard Drive is available now for $149.95. Full details can be found Full details can be found here.
Hitachi announced this week that it has begun shipments of its fourth-generation 7,200 RPM mobile hard drive, the Travelstar 7K320. According to Hitachi's claims, this new 320GB hard drive is not only 12% faster than its predecessor, it uses 22% less power.
Continuing its longstanding tradition of delivering superior performance with no sacrifices required, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today began shipment of its fourth-generation 7,200 RPM mobile hard drive, the Travelstar™ 7K320. The new drive delivers 60 percent higher capacity than its predecessor, while improving application performance by 12 percent and power consumption by 22 percent. The drive’s quiet acoustics improve the experience of watching movies or listening to music on a notebook PC. The 2.5-inch drive is offered with optional Bulk Data Encryption for users wanting increased data security. Hitachi also plans to ship enhanced-availability (EA) models, designed to provide high-capacity storage for low-duty-cycle, 24x7 applications.
The performance attributes of the Travelstar 7K320 allow consumers to opt for a full-featured notebook or compact desktop model, while still achieving all the capacity and performance typically associated with a more traditional desktop PC. The new drives bring forth a number of essential features that are in strong demand from manufacturers of notebooks, compact desktops, gaming systems, blade servers and video surveillance systems. Some of these attributes include best-in-class operating shock protection of 400Gs, 5,400 RPM-equivalent power consumption and quiet acoustics.
The Travelstar 7K320 is shipping now and is expected to cost around $220. If you'd like to read more, Hitachi's entire press release can be found here.
With LG and Samsung launching 22x DVD writers, the rest of the industry has been scrambling to catch up. According to DigiTimes, both Sony and BenQ plan to launch their own drives later this year.
With Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics having already launched 22x DVD burners, Sony and BenQ plan to launch competing products in July and the third quarter of 2008, respectively, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
BenQ will have Lite-On IT, the largest Taiwan-based maker of half-height optical disc drives, undertake ODM production of its 22x DVD burners, while Sony's will be produced by either Sony NEC Optiarc, a joint venture of Sony and NEC, or an ODM/OEM maker in Taiwan or South Korea, the sources indicated.
If history repeats itself, Sony's 22x DVD writer will most likely be based on a Samsung design. As far as the BenQ drive goes, this is probably a good indication that Lite-On will be introducing their own 22x DVD writer later this year. If you'd like to read more, the entire article is available at DigiTimes.
Pioneer Electronics has announced two new BonusView (Profile 1.1) Blu-ray Disc players. Along with picture-in-picture interactivity, the BDP-05FD and BDP-51FD offer 1080p video output and onboard decoding of advanced audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and (with a firmware update) DTS-HD Master Audio. The BDP-05FD ups the ante even further with an aluminum front panel, gold plated connectors and a 2 year warranty.
Elevating the high definition experience in home theaters, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today announces the Elite® BDP-05FD and Pioneer® BDP-51FD BonusView Blu-ray Disc® players that exceed the capabilities of current players in the market with support of next generation high resolution audio and video formats that fulfill the emotional experience of high end entertainment. Featuring picture-in-picture interactivity and a redesigned platform that significantly improves overall performance, the new players work in tandem with Pioneer’s KURO displays and A/V receivers to provide film enthusiasts the most true-to-life reproduction of HD feature films.
“Our new Blu-ray Disc players continue to demonstrate Pioneer’s unwavering commitment to delivering an immersive seeing and hearing experience for those who want the absolute best in form and function,” said Chris Walker, senior manager of marketing and product planning for Blu-ray Disc at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. “In offering a full line of players, we are solidifying Pioneer’s reputation as a brand that is continually meeting the needs of consumers who are designing or upgrading their home theaters.”
The BDP-05FD and BDP-51FD will begin shipping this summer for suggested prices of $799 and $599, respectively. Let's hope that at these prices, the players can be upgraded to support BD-Live (Profile 2.0). If you'd like to read more, Pioneer's entire press release can be found here.
Lite-On Europe has announced the launch of its new 4x Blu-ray Disc writer, the DH-4B1S. The drive features 4x BD-R and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and, according to Lite-On's claims, is faster than 6x BD writers when using 75-80% of a disc's capacity.
The DH-4B1S can write BD-R media at 4X, a 50% speed increase and time saving compared to its predecessor. The DH-4B1S uses a Constant Linear Velocity (CLV) writing strategy for writing BD-R media, which means that the data transfer rate is constant at 4X (18 MB per second) during the whole writing session. Another common writing strategy, used by some 6X BD writers on the market, is Constant Angular Velocity (CAV). This writing strategy starts at a lower speed and gradually speeds up to a maximum of 6X only at the end of the writing session.
Many users don’t use the full capacity of a disc when they make a back-up. “If you use only 75-80% of the disc capacity, a 4X CLV writing strategy will be a quicker solution then a 6X CAV strategy,” says Marketing Manager Jelmer Veldman. “We see a growing market acceptance for Blu-ray as the format of choice for High Definition content playback and for high volume archiving. With this 4X BD writer Lite-On delivers a faster solution for backing-up data on Blu-ray Discs.”
No word yet on price. However, the DH-4B1S will be available across Europe at the end of May. If you'd like to read more, Lite-On's entire press release can be found here.
Prodisc and Philips are at it again. According to DigiTimes, Prodisc has failed to fulfill the licensing for CD-R disc patents owned by Philips. As a result, Philips has asked a local court in Taipei for the provisional seizure of bank deposits worth up to $3.28 million.
Prodisc Technology, a second-tier Taiwan-based maker of blank optical discs, on May 6 announced that a local court in the Taipei area has approved a request by Royal Philips Electronics for the provisional seizure of bank deposits worth up to NT$100 million (US$3.28 million) in total due to its failure to fulfill licensing for CD-R disc patents owned by Philips, according to Prodisc's filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). Prodisc emphasized that its business operation has not been substantially affected by the event and it will protect its rights by launching an interlocutory appeal.
The Taiwan office of Philips Intellectual Property & Standards filed the request with the local court in April 2008 in order to protect Philips' CD-R patents and secure fairness to Taiwan-based licensees in terms of market competition, the office explained.
This legal action is expected to put considerable pressure on CMC Magenetics and Ritek. Both companies are currently negotiating with Philips to renew their own licensing contracts. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes.
