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]
Super Talent has launched a new series of co-branded Toshiba SSDs, the UltraDrive DX. Coming in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities, these 2.5-inch drives provide a reading speed up to 230MB/s and a writing speed up to 180MB/s. They also feature MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash memory chips, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface and a MTBF of over 1 million hours. The UltraDrive DX will start shipping this week for $219 (64GB), $439 (128GB), $719 (256GB) and $1649 (512GB), respectively. [TechConnect]
QNAP today launched their new low cost NAS that is designed for home and office users. Dubbed as the QNAP TS-410, the NAS is powered by a 800MHz Marvell processor with a 256MB RAM and support for up to four of 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard drives, a full range of RAID options, four USB ports and two e-SATA ports for future expansion purposes. If you are interested, you can buy the QNAP TS-410 NAS for $449 (without a hard drive). [Press Release]
Active Media Products has announced a new series of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 external SSDs, the Aviator 312. Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, these pocket-sized SSDs are based on MLC NAND flash memory and provide read and write speeds of 240MB/s and 160MB/s, respectively. These drives are also backwards-compatible and will work in any USB 2.0 or 1.1 port. The Aviator 312 SSDs will start shipping later this quarter for $89 (16GB), $119 (32GB) and $209 (64GB), respectively. More
A-DATA has announced its new waterproof and shock resistant portable HDD ‘SH93′ for the mass market. Coming in 250GB, 320GB, 500GB and 640GB capacities, these external HDDs feature a molded rubber-plastic case and special cushion materials making them both waterproof and shock resistant. In addition, these drives also meet the military’s MIL-STD-810F standard for drop resistance and can withstand being submerged in one meter of water for half an hour. Sadly, there’s no word on pricing and availability yet. More
Other World Computing (OWC) will release the new Mercury On-The-Go Pro portable hard drive that comes in a 1TB of storage capacity. It is enough to store up to 1,000,000 JPEG photos, 500 DVD movies, 76-hours of digital video, or 350,000 MP3 songs. Weighing at just 1.1kg, the new model also comes with an 8MB caches and a data transfer speeds up to 100MB/s. The OWC 1TB Mercury On-The-Go Pro will be released on October 15th 2009 in three versions. The price ranges from $300 to $360, depending on the connectivity option that you choose. [TCMagazine]
After releasing the DriveStation HD-HXU3 USB 3.0 external HDD, Buffalo also announced a new line-up of Class10 SDHC cards that will be released in October 2009. Available in up to 32GB capacity, the Buffalo RSDC-C10 series Class 10 SDHC memory card boasts up to 10MB/s transfer rate, which is ideal of use with HD camcorders or Full Frame DSLR cameras. The 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB models are priced at 3,700 Yen ($41), 6,000 Yen ($67), 16,000 Yen ($178), and 40,000 Yen ($447), respectively. [Buffalo]
South Korean Manufacturer, Cowon has recently introduced a new series of USB flash drives, the UM1. Coming in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities, these drives feature a decorated metal enclosure with an inscription ‘Don’t Forget Me’ and measure only 31mm x 12mm x 3mm. What’s more, these drives are also water and dust proof, and come in two color options: dark silver and gold. Sadly, there’s no word on pricing and availability yet. More
Buffalo has just announced its new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 external HDD, the DriveStation HD-HXU3. Coming in a slick, black glossy design, the drive is available in either 1.0TB, 1.5TB or 2.0TB capacity and provides transfer speeds of up to 125MB/s. The drive is also backwards-compatible and will work seamlessly with USB 2.0-enabled computers, notebooks and netbooks. The Buffalo DriveStation HD-HXU3 will start shipping in Q4 for unannounced price yet. [INPAI]
Touted as the world’s first USB 3.0 HDD, Freecom’s newly announced XS 3.0 adopts SuperSpeed technology to provide users with very high data transfer rates. Coming in 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB capacities, these compact 3.5-inch external HDDs offer transfer speeds of approximately 130 MB/s enabling users to back up and upload information in a matter of seconds. In addition, these HDDs also support backward-compatibility and work with all USB 2.0 enabled computers and notebooks. The Freecom XS 3.0 will start shipping in Europe from mid-November with a starting price of €119 (about $175) for 1TB version. [PCLaunches]
