Hammer Storage has introduced morespace Portable, a compact, lightweight portable hard drive that allows users to instantly add more space to both PCs and Macs.

With a skinnable face and compact design, morespace Portable features a 2.5 inch drive with capacities ranging from 160GB to 750GB. The USB 2.0 device weighs just 5 ounces and is small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, allowing consumers to take data with them wherever they go.

Morespace Portable sets itself apart by the use of customizable skins - which also protect it from scratches. One skin is included with the morespace Portable unit to get consumers started.

"Morespace Portable is the perfect answer for the consumer that needs more storage capacity immediately, and needs to be able to take it with them and access it in multiple locations. Hammer Storage is able to break down cost barriers by utilizing Bell Micro's market leadership in hard disk drives and storage, giving us the ability to offer morespace Portable at the extremely competitive price point of less than 26 cents per GB of storage," said Andy Dorian, retail value add manager for Bell Microproducts.

While the price has not been revealed, Morespace Portable is expected to be available in early 2009.

Link: Engadget

LaCie has announced the LaCinema Rugged, the latest generation in multimedia products to provide high quality movie viewing with the compact and acclaimed reliability of LaCie’s trusted mobile enclosure.

The Rugged features a unique scratch-resistant aluminum shell, internal anti-shock absorbers, and a shock-resistant rubber bumper to better protect media files against everyday blunders.

The LaCinema Rugged allows users to enjoy their collections on the go or at home and also provides the convenience of a centralized media library with graphic menus and an easy-to-use remote control.

It is compatible with both Mac and Windows environments. Once the data is transferred to the portable drive it is ready to be viewed on any display, an HDMI connection or legacy composite video connection. It also functions as an external hard drive.

Offered in the capacities of 250GB, 320GB and 500GB, it will be available worldwide in November at the retail price starting at 199USD.

Link: Lacie

SanDisk has announced SanDisk Cruzer Enterprise with anti-malware protection from McAfee. The solution includes the McAfee Scan Engine, which offers advanced heuristic analysis for comprehensive detection of both known and unknown threats. It also protects corporate USB flash drive users from data leaks. The “always on” safeguard blocks malware from entering the secure USB flash drive even when the device is used outside of the firewall.

McAfee Anti-Malware Technology in Cruzer Enterprise protects users from infection with an automatic anti-malware scan that prohibits file transfers to the secure USB drive when it detects infection on a host PC. The scan engine examines every file saved or copied to the USB flash drive.

Cruzer Enterprise safeguards all files stored on the drive with advanced hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption. Users are required to create a complex password during the set-up process. The combination of encryption and password protection makes it extremely difficult for unauthorized users to access data should the drive be lost or stolen.

“The McAfee Scan Engine has been battle-tested over many years and is the foundation of McAfee’s anti-malware solutions. SanDisk Enterprise Cruzer customers can rest assured that they have reliable and accurate detection from malicious code,” said Christopher Bolin, executive vice president and chief technology officer, McAfee.

Link: SanDisk

Super Talent Technology has announced two new ultra-small solid-state drives (SSDs) developed using Intel technology for use in UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) and DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) devices.

Available as 1.0-inch and 0.85-inch SSD models, these employ a parallel ATA (PATA/IDE) interface with a ZIF connector. According to Super Talent, these SSDs are designed to be smaller, faster, lighter and cheaper than the smallest hard disk drives.

These new SSDs are based on the Intel Z-P140 Solid-State Drive, a NAND-based solution that combines a controller with single level cell NAND Flash Memory.

“The Intel Z-P140 Solid-State Drive provides a flexible solution for a company like Super Talent to customize, using their in-house design and manufacturing capabilities, to meet additional market requirements for ultra small form-factor products,” said Don Larson, product line marketing manager, Intel NAND Products Group.

Link: Super Talent

Super Talent Technology has launched a new family of high performance, feature rich Luxio USB drives in capacities up to 64GB.

Measuring 21 x 76 x 10 mm, Luxio drives are housed in a sleek UV coated ABS/PC case with chrome plated zinc trim.

Available in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities, all models include advanced AES-256 hardware encryption as a standard feature for fast, convenient data security. Super Talent also claims extremely fast 200x-plus transfer rates.

“We designed the Luxio to be elegant yet simple, huge in storage capacity yet small in stature, loaded with features and accessories yet sleek enough to put on a keychain. The Luxio is much more than just a high capacity USB drive”, commented Super Talent Director of Marketing, Joe James.

Offered in three colors, black, silver and wood grain, 64GB Luxio drives are expected to retail for around $149.

Link: Super Talent

Intel has rolled out high performing solid-state drive (SSD), the Intel X-25E Extreme SATA Solid-State Drive, aimed at server, workstation and storage systems. The SSDs contain no moving parts and instead feature 50nm single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory technology.

Key technical performance specifications of the 32 GB Intel X-25E SATA SSD include 35,000 IOPS (4KB Random Read), 3,300 IOPS (4KB Random Write) and 75 microsecond read latency. The product also achieves up to 250 megabytes per second (MB/s) sequential read speeds and up to 170 MB/s sequential write speeds, all in a compact 2.5-inch form factor.

"Intel's high-performance SSDs unleash the full performance of the latest Intel Xeon processor-based systems while increasing reliability and lowering the total cost of ownership for a broad range of server and storage workloads." said Kirk Skaugen, general manager, Intel Server Platforms group.

Intel says the 32GB X25-E is capable of writing up to 4 petabytes (PB) of data over three-year period (3.7 TB/day). The new 32 GB SSD is available for $695.

Link: Intel
 

Transcend has introduced a new ultra-tiny USB flash drive, the JetFlash T5. The incredibly compact T5 Measures just 29.9mm x 15.3mm x 6.1mm (L x W x D), and only weighs a mere 2g.

The T5 is constructed with non-breakable plastic and is rugged enough to resist bending, stress, vibration, shock, and even full water submersion. Its retractable connector design and eye-catching two-tone color give it a unique fashion accessory look.

High-Speed USB 2.0 compliant T5 allows users to transfer, store, and share their files quickly and easily.

With its convenient attachment loop, the ultra-light T5 can be used as a mobile phone dongle or a keychain fob, making it easy to carry and store in places where ordinary flash drives just do not fit.

The JetFlash T5 USB flash drive is now available in 2GB (Orange/Black) and 4GB (White/Black) capacities.

Link: Transcend

Corsair is expanding its best selling Flash Voyager USB family lines with a new 64GB capacity offering. The new 64GB USB Flash Voyager has enough capacity for a library of DVD-length movies and tens of thousands of high-resolution digital images.

Claimed to be water resistant, the 64GB USB Flash Voyager offers solution for storing, transporting and backing up large amounts of personal and professional data. These can also be used as portable back-up devices for critical or sensitive information. In addition, Corsair 64GB USB Flash Voyager drives are bootable, thus can be used to store full versions of operating systems and applications in order to quickly “re-create” the necessary software environments to troubleshoot system problems.

"Corsair is always developing new and exciting flash products, and the 64GB USB Flash Voyager is no exception," said John Beekley, Vice President of Applications at Corsair. "With more storage space than most laptops, we can offer a full suite of features - whether it be backing up data, building a portable media library, or simply transporting huge amounts of data." added Beekley.

Corsair 64GB USB Flash Voyager drive is available at MSRP of $249.99, backed by a 10-year Limited Warranty.

Link: Corsair

Western Digital forays into the small-office network storage market with WD ShareSpace, a high-speed network storage systems that provide cost-effective, centralized storage for small office and home networks.

The 4-bay storage systems with Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interface provide up to 4 TB of storage capacity and multiple RAID configurations. The RAID 5 mode, only available on the 4 TB system, is the recommended mode to achieve both high performance and data protection through redundancy. The small-footprint storage system takes up very little space and provides plenty of storage to go around

WD ShareSpace network-attached storage systems make it simple for small offices and workgroups to centralize storage for easy accessibility - both within the network and through remote Web access service. The download manager supports scheduled downloads through FTP and HTTP

Home users can easily connect the WD ShareSpace system to their home network to centralize their media collections and access them from anywhere in their home. The included iTunes server capability allows users to play their music on any Mac or PC using iTunes software.

With its efficient cooling architecture and power saving mode, this system consumes up to 33 percent less power and is reliably cool and quiet

WD ShareSpace network storage systems are available in capacities of 2 TB ($699.99) and 4 TB ($999.99).

Link: Western Digital
 

Backed by four major music labels, Sandisk has announced a versatile new physical music format, dubbed “slotMusic.”

SlotMusic is essentially a microSD card pre-loaded, high quality, DRM-free MP3 music of top artists from EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group.

A selection of slotMusic cards would first be available at Best Buy and Wal-Mart throughout the U.S., with Europe to follow.

SlotMusic cards enable consumers to instantly and easily enjoy music from their favorite artists without being dependent on a PC or internet connection. Users simply insert the slotMusic card into their microSD-enabled mobile phone or MP3 player to hear the music - without passwords, downloading or digital-rights-management interfering with their personal use.

"SlotMusic offers consumers an immediate, tangible, and high quality alternative to CDs and digital delivery," said Danielle Levitas, vice president, Consumer, Broadband & New Media, IDC. "This year, more than 1.2 billion mobile phones will ship globally, outstripping portable media players by nearly an order of magnitude - and this trend is accelerating."

SlotMusic cards will be bundled with a tiny USB sleeve ensuring seamless interoperability with all computers.

There is no word on albums to be made available or pricing yet.

Link: SanDisk