Today Seagate announced the latest salvo in the large drive wars: the Barracuda 7200.10 drive in 200-750GB capacities. This means that heavy downloaders and home video geeks around the world will be able to put 3/4 TB data single drives in their desktops. Using 4GB as the standard measure of a 2 hour DVD movie, that means that the drive can hold almost 200 movies in storage or hundreds of thousands of MP3s or pictures. All I have to say is that you really need to own a camcorder or use your broadband 24/7 to utilize 750GB.
Seagate's 7200.10 drives support 8-16MB caches, Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and up to 3.0Gbps SATA throughput, so they are fast. Seagate uses Perpendicular technology to stuff more data on to the same number of platters as the previous generation 7200.9 drives. They're expected to ship next week, so keep your eyes tuned to the online retailers to see who is first on your block with a 3TB four drive RAID 0 array. The 750GB version will retail for about $590.
Now that nice weather is finally approaching us, I'd like to think that on the weekends everyone is enjoying the outdoors. But, since we're all geeks here, most of us are probably in our homes glued to TV marathons or the latest video game.
So I figure, why not be a comfortable geek? Today, AK Designs launches the AK Rocker 200: the second generation media chair. Just like its predecessor, the Rocker 100 ($69.95), it sports a sleek, Formula1 racing design, an ergonomic bucket seat, and rocks and reclines for your comfort. What more could you ask for?
The only apparent differences between the Rocker 200 and Rocker 100 that I can tell are in the specs. The Rocker 200 is an inch taller and 12 more inches in depth, and weighs 25 lbs. Although the Rocker 200 is designed for both indoor AND outdoor use, I just can't picture myself lugging such a *heavy* thing outside. (Or maybe I'm just a wimp and need to work out more.)
And of course, why not personalize your gaming chair to match your style? No problem. AK Designs is offering new skins of various colors that protect the chair and provide extra padding. Colors include: red/black, blue/black, grey/black, pink/black, and yellow/black. Or if you want to be more rebellious, you can choose graffiti punk or camouflage themes.
Jen DeLeo, Ben Gottesman, and I got a preview demo of an app that will be bundled with Lexar Media's high-end, high-speed USB drives starting in July. PowerToGo, announced at CES this past January and developed by Ceedo Technologies, lets you carry your apps with you and use them on any PC, but also saves your preferences, bookmarks, cookies, history, and even temp files. When you unplug it from the host machine, it leaves nothing behind.
It sounds a lot like U3, but PowerToGo differs in numerous ways, and generally looks like a more flexible platform. First, you can load and use nearly any app you want; you're not limited to those that come loaded on the drive, as you are with U3 drives. Both platforms let you access a continually updated list of "preapproved" apps (Lexar already has about 100), which will load with a click, but you can also load your own apps as long as they are capable of being made portable; some won't be, because they are tied too closely to the host machine. Ceedo appears to be redirecting registry entries and the file system for PowerToGo apps, but we'll have to wait until we've had more time with the drives to see exactly what they're doing.
Lexar left us with a Lightning drive loaded with PowerToGo; it's a preproduction unit but very close to final. When you plug in the drive, an accessible, Windows-like interface opens up. To add Lexar-approved apps, just go to Add Programs and install them. FireFox and Opera browsers are available, as are AIM, Skype, RoboForm (for password management), Picasa (for image management), and lots more. Adding your own app (one that isn't already approved by Lexar) isn't a very intuitive process, but Lexar said that by launch time, it would be bundling a program to assist users in that.
If you already own a Lexar JumpDrive you'll be able to download PowerToGo in July. The basic program with a 90-day trial of Windows standard apps is free; an upgrade to PowerToGo Plus with unlimited use of Windows standard apps will run you $29.99. If you don't have a Lexar drive but still want to try out PowerToGo, you can download Ceedo's version from their web site. Or you can try building a USB key with portable apps from scratch. Check out PC Magazine's article, the Ultimate USB Key.
Nokia will open a flagship retail store on June 21 in Chicago, with a store in the "Fifth Avenue region" of New York to follow, Nokia exec David Watkins let slip to me yesterday. What's better is, the store will sell all sorts of juicy, high-end products that we've been so far unable to stare at and touch in the US, such as the 3-megapixel N80 cameraphone and new N93 camcorder-phone (at right). The store will be staffed by trained Nokia personnel that will actually know the company's entire product line. Obviously, with only a few stores, this isn't going to make a huge difference to Nokia's bottom line, but it's a good way of raising brand awareness and of tweaking the cell-phone carriers who refuse to pick up high-end or innovative models.
This means I'm eating my words about Nokia's high-end phones being "not for you," andI couldn't be happier. While some high-end phones have been available either directly through Nokia's Web site or through potentially shady third-party dealers, this is a huge step forwards in terms of putting actual hardware in front of ordinary people with trained staffers to explain why smartphones are cool.
Read more in my article at PCMag.com. (I have the store address in there and everything.)
Have you ever wanted to put your cell phone on vibrate mode and give yourself a back massage? Well, soon there might be a therapeutic cell phone to help you out.
Motorola submitted a patent application on April 20 for a cell phone (or "wireless device") that can vibrate to alert you of an incoming call and/or "be used for therapeutic stimulation of the various epidermal and subcutaneous areas of the wearer's body."
Why did Motorola think this was a good idea? "Because muscle stimulation is known to have therapeutic effects," the patent says.
You can set the time that your phone will vibrate and choose a pre-programmed vibration pattern. Better yet, program your own pattern, or "alternatively, [a pattern] can be downloaded to the device...from, for example, a doctor's website or in-office computer by a therapist."
But don't think that this invention can only benefit humans. Fido has pain, too. "Other applications, such as training or therapeutic purposes on animals is within the true scope and spirit of the present invention."
[Note: This image is just a regular Motorola PEBL. No therapeutic vibrating yet.]
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