EverythingUSB is mentioning
that Taiwanese OEM Welland has -- at least as far as they know -- the
first USB On-The-Go (OTG) hard drive. It also has a built-in card
reader, USB host (duh), and a rechargeable battery. USB OTG is pretty
simple, and pretty great. By adding a USB host to storage, you can
hook your digital camera or anything else that supports the standard
up to it and transfer data without needing to hook up to a PC. That is
a positive thing.
That being said, I have a hard time believing this is the first USB
OTG hard drive to see the light of day. Read [EverythingUSB]
Oops, I almost forgot about these new cameras
announced from JVC - the ones they've been hyping up to no end as
their big "mystery product." Basically, they're camcorders with hard
drives in them - a 4GB microdrive, to be exact. They look pretty cool
and everything, but they're really most interesting because they are
the first consumer camcorder with a built-in hard drive, not because
they do anything particularly unique. That being said, I fully support
this idea, and think most consumer recording technology should move to
hard drives as soon as possible (I'll be waiting until you can get
something with a bigger hard drive than 4GB for less than $1,500,
though).
Both models (the GZ-MC100 and the GZ-MC200) can record up to 9Mbps
in MPEG2, though, which is DVD quality.
The Vosonic X'S-Drive Pro VP 300 is 40GB external
hard drive that is clunky, cheap-looking, has a crappy text-only
integrated screen, plays MP3s, but not WMA, AAC, or OGG Vorbis, and
can only read from one card from its card reader at a time. So why
would any photographer want it? Because it's cheap, it does the
primary job it was designed to do (act as remote backup for memory
cards), and can accept as many additional 2.5-inch laptop hard drives
as you want to swap into it, meaning that all other things aside, you
can purchase this single $335 drive and continue to upgrade it for
only the price of additional hard drives. Read -
Hard disk: X'S-Drive Pro VP 300 [BIOS]
Console Drive makes hard drive removable or external
Console Drive makes hard drive removable or external06/04/2004 03:52 PM Addonics Technologies announced on Friday the release of its
Console Drive, which turns a standard 3.5-inch hard drive into
either aremovable internal hard drive cartridge or an external hard
drive thatconnects to your Mac via USB 2.0 or 1.1, FireWire, SCSI or a
PCMCIA slot,depending on the model you choose. Internally, the Console
Drive can connectto a Power Mac's Serial ATA slot. In addition, the
Console Drive acceptsAddonics' series of Pocket CD, DVD, CD-RW and
DVD+/-R/RW drives, all ofwhich are Mac compatible.
An Ode To The Hard Drive
An Ode To The Hard Drive05/27/2004 09:35 AM You know it's likely to be a slow news day when the first thing you
turn up is, basically, an ode to the unsung hard drive.
Hard drives are, admittedly, a fairly unsexy business. Then again,
you might think the same thing about semiconductors - and they seem to
get plenty of attention. Either way, storage is very important to
consumers - as the article notes in looking at how quickly people
focus on the size of their iPod hard drives or just
how much space their Gmail account really has. Even the leading
people in the storage business are quite colorful and certainly
unique, which should get them much more attention. However, when it's
all said and done, no matter how important your hard drive is (just
think how people react when their hard drives die), and no matter how
quickly they improve in just how much data they can hold, not too many
people find themselves particularly interested in the "boring" hard
drive business.
Xbox 2: Hard Drive or No?
Xbox 2: Hard Drive or No?03/06/2004 01:57 AM It's getting so complicated. First came the rumors that the Xbox 2 [at
right, in mythical prototype form] wouldn't have a hard drive. Then,
enough...
Triumph Of The Hard Drive
Triumph Of The Hard Drive09/23/2004 11:15 AM The iPod is a triumph for the hard disk over optical storage. By Dana
Blankenhorn, Moore's Lore (via MyAppleMenu)
If terms like 'areal density'
and 'magentoresistive' are a bit much for you, ExtremeTech's piece on
the inner workings of your hard drive is a good read. They explain
what exactly makes up one of the most crucial pieces of hardware in
your machine and how every single bit gets recorded and read. If
you've never taken apart an old drive, toyed with the platters and
flung the heavy magnets towards your friend, you should pick one up
and do just that after reading this piece—it's fascinating
technology, truly.
Tiny new 1-inch 1.5 GB hard drive from Cornice that
costs about half as much as Hitachi's 1GB Microdrive. Apparently this
is the same hard drive that Samsung uses in its "tapeless" digital
camcorder, the DV-4200. Read
Active Imaging Sensor authenticates enrolled fingerprints
and is unaffected by changes in skin condition and moisture content
[...] A composite image of multiple fingerprints is stored during
enrollment which makes the sensor tolerant to varied finger placement
during authentication [...] Sensor can be used with other software
programs designed for fingerprint authentication access
Plans
The Inner World of the Hard Drive03/19/2005 03:03 AM Analyssis: Holy microscopic elements, Batman! Loyd dissects an
ordinary hard drive and finds a tiny universe of components moving
with unbelievable speed.
gizmodo.com/archives/images/new_hard_drive.jpg track this
site | 3 links
HP's new hard drive to go
HP's new hard drive to go06/21/2004 03:40 PM Latest media center PC has docking areas for a camera and a secondary,
portable hard drive. But is the price right?
IO Data Device has come up with another hum-dinger.
If you were to put an enormous hard drive inside a USB 2.0/FireWire
casing, give it some blue LEDs, and add a USB port, you'd end up with
the 400GB "UDH-UEH400." Not only does it connect by USB (or FireWire),
but it has a USB port. If you're like me and have a single
USB port on your computer, you certainly wouldn't want it being taken
up by just a hard drive. Yeah, I know daisy chaining has been around
for years and years with SCSI (and thus FireWire, its distant cousin),
but I think this is one of the first applications of it I've seen in
USB form. Somehow, it can even recognize USB devices if you connect
the drive by FireWire. Don't ask me how that works; I didn't realize
something like that was even possible.
From the 'It Was Bound To Happen' department: Symantec reports that a new virus is making the
rounds that deletes all files on the infected PC:
The malware targets Windows computers, and arrives in an
email bearing the subject "Re" and an attachment that will have an
.asp, .hta, .htm, .htt, .html, .vbe or .vbs extension. Upon infection,
the virus uses Microsoft Outlook to send itself to everyone in the
Microsoft Outlook Address Book. "If the day is the 6th, 13th, 21st, or
28th, the worm will delete all the files from the computer," Symantec
reports. Despite its nasty payload, SANS notes that VBS.Pub "doesn't
possess any earth-shattering characteristics to make it a significant
propagation threat."
If this one did propogate widely, it would be regrettable, but it
would at least help solve the problem of old, unpatched, unprotected
Windows boxes that act as virus sponges.
3 GB Hard Drive on New Cell Phone03/14/2005 04:34 PM During the CeBIT in Germany this week, Motorola is showing
off their new ROKR iTunes cellphone which will sync and carry your
iTunes music in your cell phone. But Samsung is one upping the ROKR
with a 3 GB hard drive cellphone with a Windows Mobile OS. Samsung has
also released a new 7 MP camera phone which resembles a camera more
then it does a phone. The SCH-V770 has a 2 inch TFT display above a
the keypad and gives you manual focus and controllable shutter speeds.
Many of these new products will be altered slightly before they reach
the US.
A look inside an Al-Qaeda hard drive
A look inside an Al-Qaeda hard drive08/15/2004 11:50 AM The find, as it turns out, was astounding, because while other
Al-Qaeda computers had been found before, none were so rich with
information.
Sony's Hard Drive MP3 Player
Sony's Hard Drive MP3 Player01/16/2004 01:05 PM
MacWorld.co.uk reports on Sony's newly announced hard-drive based MP3
player -- the Giga Pavit.
The new player from Sony is the first to use the re...
Tools for a sick Hard-drive05/20/2004 04:03 PM Knocking on wood here as I have not had any major hard-drive issues in
several years but they always seem...
Toshiba's even tinier hard drive12/15/2003 11:41 AM Toshiba is outdoing themselves, topping the one-inch hard drive they
plan to show off at the Consumer Electronics Show next month with
today's announcement that...
I could have sworn we
already mentioned this, but the Oracle of Search says otherwise.
Apparently, Sony's getting into the "mini hard drive masquerading as
USB flash drive" game with their new Pocket Bit Pro USD-2G, a
simple-enough little device that differentiates itself from the crowd
mostly by its automatic data synchronization feature. By pressing the
AutoSync button on the drive (you might want to plug it into the
computer first), the Pocket Bit Pro will back up pre-selected folders
and sub-folders, saving versions (as space allows) up to ten
generations back. Pretty slick stuff, but you'll pay the Sony premium
for the convenience -- the Pocket Bit Pro will retail for over $300
when it ships in July. Read [TheRegisterUK]
Matchbox hard drive packs in 4GB02/12/2004 04:07 AM ZDNet UK Feb 12 2004 8:40AM GMT Grok Description matches for Welland USB On-The-Go Hard Drive GrokA matches for Welland USB On-The-Go Hard Drive
Welland USB On-The-Go Hard Drive
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry:
If terms like 'areal density'
and 'magentoresistive' are a bit much for you, ExtremeTech's piece on
the inner workings of your hard drive is a good read. They explain
what exactly makes up one of the most crucial pieces of hardware in
your machine and how every single bit gets recorded and read. If
you've never taken apart an old drive, toyed with the platters and
flung the heavy magnets towards your friend, you should pick one up
and do just that after reading this piece—it's fascinating
technology, truly. 
