Western Digital (cont)
New research from Parks Associates indicates that the average home with broadband in America currently has over 120GB of files and data, and this is expected to increase to over 1TB by 2013. This has come about as more people move to digital mediums for their photos, music and movies with the consequent increase in storage capacity required.
According to the research some 70 percent of users back up their data but a majority of these do so to CDs or DVD. Only 18 percent use software that will automatically perform this task and as a result many risk their precious content from being corrupted or lost due to internal drive failure.
When the My Book Essential is initially connected the first backup process will launch automatically. The Smartwire software gives the user a visual indication of the backup taking place and in future files are backed up as they are added or amended.
My Book Essential and My Book for Mac drives also include user selected password protection in combination with military-grade 256-bit hardware encryption, which scrambles files before they are stored. This process is usually only found on more expensive drives.
Prices are expected to be in the £60 to £150 range depending on the model.
- WD SmartWare software features:
Visual backup displays files in categories and the progress of backup;
Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or amend a file;
Retrieve important data to its original location even if it is lost data or the file has been overwritten;
Customizable data backup that allows user to set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.
The new WD My Book Essential and My Book for Mac drives with WD SmartWare software feature:
Smaller, sleeker, and more streamlined design with a book-like shape that takes up very little space;
256-bit hardware encryption and password protection against unauthorized access;
Illuminated capacity gauge lets user see at a glance how much space is available on the drive;
USB 2.0 interface - for convenience and compatibility among multiple computers;
WD GreenPower Technology™ lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30 percent, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer;
Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PCs; and,
2-year limited warranty.
Freecom has released the ‘Hard Drive Secure’, a smallish portable external hard drive that lets users lock their data with the use of a swipe card. This type of drive is the first for Freecom making it suitable for both businesses and security conscious home users who are concerned about protecting their data
Freecom also announced the new ‘Hard Drive Quattro’, which is the latest in the company’s line of aluminium external hard drives that are suited for AV use.
Access to data on the Hard Drive Secure is by way of a keycard that uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Passing the keycard over the reader on the hard drive either locks or unlocks the system, giving users access to their data in seconds while ensuring that their files remain secure at all times. The Hard Drive Secure comes with two keycards in case the first is lost. Designed in a credit card format that is convenient and discrete to carry around, the keycards can be easily slotted into a purse or wallet so they are always at hand when needed. The cards eliminate the need for passwords and are AES encrypted to provide ultimate data protection – even if the drive is stolen, other users would have no way of accessing the files stored on it.
The Hard Drive Quattro is perfect for storing and editing large photo, music and video files and is ideal for graphics and audio professionals who regularly work with uncompressed data. Featuring four different interfaces, the Hard Drive Quattro provides reliable and fast data transfer no matter what type of computer is being used. And the FireWire 800 & 400 interfaces are compatible with Macs – often the preferred choice for graphics designers, sounds engineers and many other creative industries. Furthermore, when connected to eSATA, the drive performs up to six times faster than a standard USB 2.0 hard drive – the fastest data transfer speed to date for a single external hard drive.
Both the Hard Drive Secure and the Hard Drive Quattro offer storage capacity of up to 2TB. Housed in durable aluminium cases, they feature a compact design so that users can easily share and synchronise files wherever they go. By simply plugging either drive into a USB 2.0 port on a computer, users can back up important data and store office work, digital photos, music and movies in one central location. Optimal airflow management ensures they do not overheat internally and replaces the need for cooling fan so vibration is kept to a minimum and the drives run almost silently.
There are now so many external hard drives to choose from that manufacturers want to try different styles to gain your attention. The latest is Verbatim who have an Always On small screen display providing you with information about your storage.
The drives are called InSight and come in 320GB and 500GB capacities. The startling black case is styled as a piano and is curved with a small 32 x 128 pixel LCD display that remains “always on”, even if there is no power being sent to the unit. The information showing displays how much free space is left and the 
customisable title of the drive.
Other than the unique style the drives are fairly standard. Each contains a 5,400rpm drive with 8MB cache, a USB 2.0 connection, and compatibility for both Mac and PC. They should retail around £75 for the 320GB capacity and £90 for the 500GB model. A nice touch means that each drive comes with a copy of Nero BackitUp Essentials to help keep your important information secure.
Hewlett-Packard has entered the market for external hard drives with SimpleSave, which combines HP's software expertise with drives produced by Western Digital.
HP will sell four SimpleSave models: a 320-Gbyte and a 500-Gbyte 2.5-inch portable drive
The SimpleSave hard drive products are part of the same SimpleSave family that was launched last year with the SimpleSave Photo, a software package that scanned a user's PC for images and then backed them up to a DVD.
"These are also complimentary to our MediaSmart Server products," Pat Kinley, an HP spokeswoman, said in an email. "The SimpleSave family is designed the mainstream population that wants to protect their valuable digital content but needs the solution to be an easy-to-use, plug-and-play solution. The MediaSmart solution is for the connected family that want to serve up content to all PCs and Macs in the home. The strategy is that all of these products should complement one another and work together seamlessly.
"
HP designed the software, while the drives are sourced from Western Digital, Kinley said.
The external drive market is extremely crowded, with a number of smaller OEMs and the hard drive makers themselves all supplying external drives. But few, if any, PC OEMs have launched external hard drives.
The SimpleSave drives automatically scan the hard drives of the PCs and back up most files, with hundreds of file formats supported, including the popular .JPG image files, but also .TAX documents, .PDFs, and QDF files, among others. Backups are performed every time the PC goes idle for five minutes, and the drives only make incremental changes over time. The SimpleSafe drives will back up every PC in a home, grouping files by PC, HP said.
The portable SimpleSave drive is bus-powered, HP said. All of the models just use a simple USB connection.
Toshiba has just announced the release of a new 3.5-inch external hard drive, the first of this size for the company. It has been designed as an alternative to other 3.5-inch drives with dual connectivity, some great software features and 1TB capacity.
With USB and eSATA connections, it will also be available in a 640GB capacity. Disk speed is 5400 RPM and the drives have been styled to match the company's line of laptop computers.
The LaCie LaCinema Rugged HD
LaCie is has the mobile film enthusiast in its sights with its new drive.
The LaCie LaCinema Rugged HD is an external hard drive designed for rough handling With it's scratch-resistant aluminium casing. The inside of the drive is surrounded by shock absorbers and it comes in a 500GB capacity.
The drive is very attractive for people who want to watch movies and in HD. It has an HDMI connection meaning so you can plug it directly into the back of a TV and start watching at 1080p. It can playback anything in H.264, MKV, WMV9, or MPEG-4 formats and LaCie says the drive will hold about 700 movies.
The drive allows easy access to media through a TV and it also comes with a useful remote to control playback.
The LaCie LaCinema Rugged HD is available to buy at Microwarehouse for £163.40.
Western Digital 4TB
Western Digital has announced that it will be selling the world's first 4TB external hard drive. However, the My Book Studio Edition II dual-drive storage system seems to be designed for Macs, not PCs.
Two RAID 0 striped disks combine to provide a high-speed interface for digital content. There are four options for connection - eSATA, Firewire 400, Firewire 800 and USB 2.0. There's also Western Digital's "GreenPower" tech that ensures that the device doesn't drink up power like a thirsty cowboy entering a bar after two weeks in the hills. It keeps it quiet, too. A capacity gauge shows how much space is left at a glance, and the drive is user-servicable, so when we're all downloading 20TB files fifty times a day, you can swap out the drive and it'll still be useful. The My Book Studio Edition II costs £600, comes formatted for Macs, not PCs, and is available now.
Iomega announced their latest lineup of portable eGo external hard drives. Coming in capacities of up to 500GB, the eGo drives all feature USB 2.0 power/data interface and come in different capacities depending on color. For example, the Ruby Red version is available in 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB capacities, but the Silver and Midnight Blue models are 320GB only.
Iomega also claims that these versions of the eGo drives are much more rugged and have increased performance over their previous drives. According to the press release:
Inside an anodized aluminum shell little more than a half-inch thick (16mm) and weighing less than 7 ounces (200 grams) is a state-of-the-art 2.5-inch portable hard drive. Iomega’s Drop GuardT feature protects data on the new eGo drive from drops of up to 51 inches, or 40% above the industry average! The new 500GB Iomega eGoT BlackBelt Portable Hard Drive USB 2.0, available in June, comes complete with a black eGo Power Grip Belt and Iomega’s Drop GuardT Xtreme, which provides unparalleled protection for the drive from drops of up to 7 feet (2.1 mm) - over twice the industry average!
The drives come with a three year warranty which should last you long enough since the drive is bundled with an Iomega Protection Suite that includes McAfee VirusScan Plus (for PC only), Iomega QuikProtect, EMC Retrospect Express or Express HD and MozyHome Online