Famous gadget manufacturer LaCie has joined with world-renowned designer Phillippe Starck to design and release the LaCie Starck external hard drive. The cool part of these LaCie Starck hard drives is its intelligent touch-sensitive surface, which responds to your touch. You can even customize the front panel of the LaCie Starck, so that it opens the application of your choosing, depending on whether you use a short tap or a long touch. The LaCie Starck also comes with a sturdy aluminum casing that will protect the device from shock and overheating. Available in desktop and mobile versions, these hard drives also have aluminum casings that will help dissipate heat. The desktop version features a 3-mm thick aluminum casing with a “Starck signature” LED. Meanwhile. the mobile version comes with a 2-mm thick aluminum casing with a built-in retractable USB cable. Sadly, the mobile model has no signature LEDs and touch panels. The 1TB and 2TB desktop hard drives are priced at $130 and $250, respectively. On the other hand, the 320GB mobile version sells for $100 and the 500GB mobile version retails for $140. [technabob]
Chinese manufacturer Spark has rolled out a new hard drive media player that looks like a huge egg. Dubbed as the VTube, the gadget has a 2.5-inch hard drive and plays most of video files including DAT, MPG, VOB, TS, AVI, DIVX and XVID. Measuring 212mm x 150mm x 56mm, the VTube also has a USB2.0 port, an AV port, a HDMI port, and Wi-Fi connectivity. The VTube HD hard drive media player is priced at 899 Yuan or equal to $132. [PCOnline]
LaCie’s new LaCinema Rugged HD is a USB-powered external hard drive that will output 1080p video to a TV via HDMI. The device provides up to 500GB of storage capacity, that is enough to store plenty of 1080p movies. This HD player works with all the major codecs including H.264, WMV9, and MKV. LaCie’s LaCinema Rugged HD also packs some output jacks including HDMI, composite, and optical A/V. The 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB models retail for $170, $200, and $230, respectively. [LaCie via Gizmodo]
The ioSafe Solo external hard drive is claimed to withstand not only extreme heat but also pressure and cold. The hard drive was tested at CES 2009. It was actually burned in flames and submerged up to 10 feet for 24 hours without springing a leak. No word on pricing or availability so far. [CNet]
Hitachi has updated its new CinemaStar line of hard drives by releasing the C5K320 (2.5 inch hard drive) and the 5K500 (3.5 inch hard drive). The C5K320 is able to store up to 320GB of data while the larger 5K500 can store 500GB. Both hard drives feature 8MB data buffer. These hard drive were designed to extend the recording capacity of DVRs in home theater setups. No word on pricing so far. [Electronista]
