WD SmartWare Pro automates backups to both Dropbox and external drives

WD SmartWare Pro streamlines backups to both external drives and Dropbox

We're used to external hard drive makers offering some kind of backup software to add value, although it's usually forgettable for the experienced users among us -- what we erase while we're busy setting up Windows 8 File History, Time Machine or a cloud service. Western Digital thinks some cloud integration of its own will get us looking at its new, standalone WD SmartWare Pro app. While the client can automatically back up file changes to a local drive as they happen, it can also schedule backups to both the drive and a Dropbox account. The extra-cautious can backup that Dropbox account to the external disk, and the whole affair isn't limited to the company's MyBook drives, either; just about any old USB storage will do. It will cost a minimum of $30 ($20 on sale) for a three-computer SmartWare Pro license, but those who want both physical and cloud-based safety nets might consider the money well-spent.

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Source: Western Digital

Toshiba unveils 2TB Canvio Basics and Special Edition portable drives

Toshiba unveils 2TB Canvio Basics and Special Edition portable drives

It's still not all that easy to track down a 2TB portable drive. Thankfully, Toshiba is making that extra-large capacity more ubiquitous by shipping an upgrade to its Canvio line of USB 3.0 disks. Both the no-frills Canvio Basics 3.0 and a Canvio Special Edition with a backup software bundle now carry 2TB inside, up from 1.5TB half a year ago. Not satisfied with just the storage boost? You might be with the price: the 2TB Canvio Basics' $190 starting point is lower than what its WD competition reached when new, and the $220 official price for a Special Edition (we're already seeing $190 at Best Buy) isn't that much of a stretch.

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Toshiba Expands Canvio Basics 3.0 Line And Introduces Canvio Special Edition Portable Hard Drive

Canvio Basics 3.0 Portable Hard Drives Now Offer Up to 2TB of Storage; Canvio Special Edition Portable Hard Drive Now Available

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the addition of new two terabyte offerings to its Canvio storage lineup, including a 2TB Canvio(R) Basics 3.0 portable hard drive and a 2TB Canvio Special Edition portable hard drive.

"We understand that consumers have varying capacity needs and we strive to provide solutions that match differing requirements," said Maciek Brzeski , vice president of product marketing and development of branded storage products, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Our new 2TB solutions now provide our customers that are looking for basic functionality with an increased storage capacity, as the most basic users are continuing to grow an expansive digital library."

Canvio Basics 3.0: Storage in a Box

Toshiba's simplest storage solution, the Canvio Basics 3.0, is now available in a 2TB capacity, which can store up to 571,000 digital photos, 526,000 digital music files or 1,640 downloaded digital movies. As with the rest of the offerings within the Canvio Basics 3.0 line, software setup is not necessary.

Consumers are able to use this solution right out of the box and begin saving their digital files by simply connecting it to their PC. The Canvio Basics 3.0 supports USB 3.0 for rapid transfer speeds, is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and is also equipped with a special internal shock sensor and ramp loading technology to keep consumers' digital files safe against accidental drops.

Canvio Special Edition Portable Hard Drive

Toshiba's Canvio Special Edition Portable Hard Drive provides users with spacious storage capacity and a complete, yet simple-to-use backup solution. The included NTI(R) Backup Now EZ[TM] software makes backing up systems fast and simple, and provides users with the option of backing up their digital files to the cloud, backing up their files and folders to their Canvio portable hard drive, backing up everything saved on their PC, or doing all three for the most comprehensive coverage.
Pricing and Availability

The 2TB Toshiba Canvio Basics 3.0 portable hard drive is available for purchase for $189.99 MSRP[4] in select retail locations and on ToshibaDirect.com.

The 2TB Toshiba Canvio Special Edition portable hard drive is available for $219.99 MSRP exclusively at Best Buy and BestBuy.com.

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Source: Toshiba, Best Buy

Rocstor unveils three ruggedized pocket drives at CES: Amphibious X5, Hawker HX and Lancer LX

Rocstor unveils three ruggedized pocket drives at CES Amphibous X5, Hawker HX and Lancer LX to arrive later this month

We've seen quite a few external enclosures trotted out at CES already and now Rocstor's looking to reveal its cards. The company has announced three ruggedized pocket drives: the Amphibious X5, Hawker HX and Lancer LX. Following up last year's X7, this year's Amphibious model casts off the Smart Card while keeping the AES-256 encryption and both FIPS and NIST Cryptographic Engine validation with single-factor authentication. USB and FireWire connections return for the key-code unlocking unit in 64GB to 512GB SSD options and HDD varieties ranging from 250GB to 1TB. The Hawker HX keeps all of the above listed specs except for the FireWire connections and the pass code access. Finally, the Lancer LX scraps the super secure internals, but brings back FireWire -- adding a second port to boot -- and touts 64GB to 256GB SDD and 500GB to 1TB HDD models. All three offerings sport aluminum-clad, shock-absorbing ruggedized frames and will arrive this month. No word on pricing for any of the trio yet, though.

Continue reading Rocstor unveils three ruggedized pocket drives at CES: Amphibious X5, Hawker HX and Lancer LX

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Source: Rocstor (1), (2), (3)

HGST outs Touro Mobile Pro external hard drive and Travelstar 2.5-inch HDD

Hitachi Storage HGST outs Touro Mobile Pro external hard drive and Travelstar 25inch HDD

Here at CES, HGST (Hitachi Storage) has announced two storage options that look to immediately get cozy in your workflow. First, the "industry's first" 1TB 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch Travelstar HDD measures 9.5mm and looks to boost performance over 5,400 RPM models for $100. If an external storage solution is more your style, the Touro Mobile Pro houses one of the aforementioned 1TB hard drives with USB 3.0 connectivity, two-level protection and 3GB of could storage. The Touro will set you back $109 and like the Travelstar, is available now. Need to check the fine print before committing? Consult the full announcement that follows after the break.

(We're waiting on official images from HGST and will update this post as soon as they arrive.)

Continue reading HGST outs Touro Mobile Pro external hard drive and Travelstar 2.5-inch HDD

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Source: HGST

G-Technology updates G-Drive mini and G-Raid mini with 1TB HGST Travelstar hard drives

GTechnology updates GDrive mini and GRaid mini with 1TB Hitachi Travelstar hard drives

G-Technology's G-Drive mini and G-Raid mini have been around for a bit, but the storage brand is taking the opportunity at CES to update the duo with Hitachi's (HGST) Travelstar hard drives. Both external storage repositories are set to get the 1TB 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch components that notch the measuring tape 9.5mm. The G-Drive mini is now available for $200 sporting one of the drives, USB 3.0 and Firewire 800 connections. Dual-wielding the Travelstar, the G-Raid mini touts 2TB capacity while remaining Firewire bus powered during USB 3.0 transfers, RAID configurability and is scheduled to arrive in Q1 for $450. A few more details about each model awaits in the full PR below.

Continue reading G-Technology updates G-Drive mini and G-Raid mini with 1TB HGST Travelstar hard drives

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Source: G-Technology

LaCie d2 upgrade melds Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 in one external desktop drive

LaCie d2 upgrade melds Thunderbolt and USB 30 in one external drive

We have Thunderbolt drives, and we have USB 3.0 drives. They've usually had to remain separate on full-size drives, however, which could make a refresh of LaCie's d2 something of a milestone -- it's purportedly the first desktop external drive with both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces (as well as the matching cables) in the same box. The upgrade should give Mac and Windows users alike the full 180MB/s average transfer rate without having to sweat over port choices. The new dual-interface d2s are available today, but be prepared to pay for absolute flexibility: the aluminum, fanless drives start at a hefty $300 for a 3TB version and scale up to $400 for a 4TB model, roughly $100 or more beyond some of their single-interface brethren.

Continue reading LaCie d2 upgrade melds Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 in one external desktop drive

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Source: LaCie

VMultra bundles USB hub, DVD drive, SD slot and 500GB HDD to form ultimate laptop peripheral

Fourinone VMultra bundles USB hub, DVD drive, SD slot and 500GB, promises to be ultimate laptop peripheral

While Velocity Micro announced the VMultra earlier this year at CES, it's only now ready for primetime. The VMultra combines a USB hub, an SD card slot, a DVD±RW drive and 500GB of storage into a surprisingly slim package that connects to any computer via USB 3.0. If you like, you can even fit your own 2.5-inch hard drive in the SATA III bay. You'll have to take out the included 500GB HDD first of course. The company intends this to be a "perfect all-in-one peripheral," especially for notebook travelers looking to lighten their luggage; perhaps to make room for things like "clothes." Each VMultra will cost you $199.99 and will ship starting November 12th.

For those who prefer desktops, Velocity Micro also announced a $599 holiday edition of its Vector PC that runs on a dual-core AMD A6-5400k processor and 8GB of DDR3 RAM in the same press release, which you can peek at after the break.

Continue reading VMultra bundles USB hub, DVD drive, SD slot and 500GB HDD to form ultimate laptop peripheral

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VMultra bundles USB hub, DVD drive, SD slot and 500GB HDD to form ultimate laptop peripheral originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LaCie intros Porsche Design drive for Macs with SSD and USB 3.0, helps the speed match the name

LaCie intros Porsche Design drive for Macs with SSD and USB 30, helps the speed match the name

Porsche Design may not be directly involved in building German supercars, but there are certain expectations to be met, aren't there? LaCie is rolling out a new version of its Porsche Design hard drive skewed towards Mac owners that should offer more of the performance you'd associate with the automotive brand. The P'9223 Slim SSD is a third thinner than its ancestor but carries the option of a 120GB SSD that makes the most of the USB 3.0 port. If all runs well, nearly any Mac launched in 2012 can shuttle data along at a brisk 400MB per second. Demanding Mac fans will need to pay $150 for the flash-based edition to have the P'9223 feel truly Porsche-like; others only have to spend $100 if they're content with the Volkswagen pace of a 500GB spinning drive.

Continue reading LaCie intros Porsche Design drive for Macs with SSD and USB 3.0, helps the speed match the name

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LaCie intros Porsche Design drive for Macs with SSD and USB 3.0, helps the speed match the name originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital bumps My Book Thunderbolt Duo to 8TB, consoles regular My Book buyers with 4TB

Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo at Macworld 2012

Many of us may have liked the prospect of Western Digital's My Book Thunderbolt Duo, but there's no doubt some of us who discovered that even 6TB just wouldn't cut it. If that digital pack rat mentality describes you, the solution is here: the company has taken advantage of larger 4TB hard disks to stuff a total 8TB of storage into the Duo's enclosure. The extra capacity hikes the price to $850, although the company notes that it's including the often expensive Thunderbolt cable to avoid any surprise trips to the store. Those without the ports or budget for the Duo can still reap some of the benefits through an updated, 4TB version of the regular My Book that hums along on USB 3.0 at a more reasonable $250 price. Either of the new drives should be lurking in stores if you're hurting for space as we write this.

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Western Digital bumps My Book Thunderbolt Duo to 8TB, consoles regular My Book buyers with 4TB originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWestern Digital (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

LaCie’s Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt: fast portable storage that can take a beating

LaCie's Rugged USB 30 Thunderbolt fast portable storage that can take a beating

LaCie's no stranger to kicking out portable HDDs that are a-okay with getting kicked around, and the Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt Series is no exception. As the extended title implies, this one is equipped to transfer files via USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt, and it'll play nice with Mac and Windows platforms. The LaCie Rugged SSD offers up transfer rates as high as 380MB/sec -- a feat we came darn close to hitting ourselves in testing -- and the HDD variants claim up to 110MB/sec. The bantam drive is entirely bus-powered, and it's engineered to shake off drops of up to four feet. Interesting? Both models should be shipping shortly, with the 1TB HDD edition going for $249.99 and the 120GB SSDer for $199.99.

Continue reading LaCie's Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt: fast portable storage that can take a beating

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LaCie's Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt: fast portable storage that can take a beating originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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