If that description doesn't make sense, here's what the structure looks like. The catch is that if you wanna use this new hard drive format, it requires you performing a clean install of your OS. Other drive manufacturers are looking at this up, so everybody might get to benefit from Advanced Formatting and the extra space. Hoo-ray. [WD, WD (PDF) via PC Perspective via Electronista, Image via Wikipedia]

The five here considered are MRAM (using two thin layers of magnetic material), FeRAM (which creates polarization through ferroelectrics), PCRAM (using lasers, sort of like with CDs and DVDs), RRAM (a variation on PCRAM that uses electrochemical reactions instead of heat-induced changes), and Racetrack (which, frankly, I understand even less than the other four, hard as that is to believe). If you're not a sciencey type, descriptions of these technologies may sound like adults in Charlie Brown's world, but they could be the next revolution in data storage—so read up. [New Scientist]

The Pulsar drives are all 3Gb/s SATA compatible, offering top read/write speeds of 240MB/s and 220MB/s, respectively. For comparison, the current market champ, Intel's X25-M, hits 250MB/s read but only 100MB/s write, and the X25-M tops out at 160GB capacity. These new Seagate drives have a lifespan of about five years, which is about average for current-gen SSDs. The Pulsars began shipping to OEMs in September, so we should start seeing them pretty soon—right now, we don't have individual prices for them, although if Intel's X25-M's prices are any indication, they won't be cheap. [Seagate]

The C300 SSDs, available in 128GB and 256GB capacities when they're released sometime early next year, whups the current top dogs in read/write speeds. It's also the first to take advantage of the new SATA 3.0, which allows 6Gb/s throughput, twice that of SATA 2.0—but regardless of whether it's using 2.0 or 3.0, it's still blazingly fast. It's rated at 355MB/s read and 215MB/s write—for comparison, the champ, OCZ's Agility EX, gets 255MB/s and 195MB/s read and write speeds, respectively. You can see it compared with "a market leader" (probably either the OCZ or maybe Intel's X25-M) here:

By using the new ONFI 2.1 specification, it's also got nearly five times the data speed per transfer, which is basically means you'll be seeing improved performance while multitasking.

The C300 series is expensive, obviously, at about $350 for the 128GB and $715 for the 256GB (and then only when bought in bulk), but it's a pretty incredible performer—hopefully we'll be seeing it in some equally impressive laptops when it's released next year. [Micron]

It has a new pin for high speed data transfer, which is why it's nearly three times faster than current top end of 104MB a second. But it's the same size as current SD cards, and it'll be backward compatible with current card readers. The spec for SD card 4.0's supposed to be done this spring, though there's no telling how long it'll take to actually see these on shelves. Until then, CF card it is. [Tech On Image via Tc7/Flickr]

Reader Drew just noticed that the artist updated the graphic. I've replaced the image. Looks like the guide inconsistencies you all noticed have been fixed, at least for the most part.

Update 2: Curtiss just wrote to tell me that version 4.0 is up, and that he's taken your feedback into account. The new image is above. [Curtiss Spontelli via fellow Gizmodian Kyle. Thanks dude!]

Imation argues that, by providing a one-to-one connection over the air, the Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive "limits the possibility of signal interception." That's a pretty vague claim to me. They also argue that it works like any other USB drive, although it only transfers data at 15 megabytes per second. That's not too fast compared to a Network Attached Storage drive over Wi-Fi.

And then, even while you don't have to connect it to the computer with a cable, you have to plug in a USB key. So why not just leave a regular drive on the desk, and plug the cable for a better transfer rate at a much cheaper price? And if you want wireless, why don't get a drive that is Wi-Fi enabled?

The only good argument for the Pro WX is simplicity: You don't need to connect to a server using the network, the drive just pops up in your desktop. But then again, connect to a networked drive is not that difficult. Certainly, not difficult enough to pay the $500 that this 1.5TB drive costs. [Press Release]

Unfortunately, in addition to the expense, it can't be used as a bootable drive quite yet, although Fusion-io claims that feature is coming. And we probably shouldn't gloss over the expense—yeah, it's a "consumer drive," and it's cheap compared to similar drives, but it's still $900 for 80GB. But it's a cool look at where storage could be headed, and if you've got enough money to snag one (available at Amazon), well, I hate you lots. [HotHardware via Engadget]

[ActiveMP via jkOnTheRun]

Google Cuts Price of Online Storage by 800%

You know how sometimes the new version of a product will offer 50% more, for the same price? And how you think that's such a great deal? Well, Google just stomped all over your puny 50% upgrade by bumping their online storage to a ridiculous extent. Now you get twice the amount of storage for a quarter of the old price. That's right, that's eight times more for the same amount of money. For those that are having trouble with math, that means the storage now costs $5 a year for 20GB of space, and you can buy up to 16TB at that rate. If you're looking to store stuff in the cloud, this is a pretty killer deal. [Google]

Apple Updates Genius Bar Reservation System

Apple's Genius Bar is a pretty good system, although the first time I went they told me to arrive 15 minutes before my appointment, like the fact that their 6-week-old, $1500 product spontaneously broke was somehow my fault and not something for which they should accommodate my schedule. They're tech support guys, not doctors, right? ANYWAY, they've redesigned their online reservation system, and while I have screenshots of the new version, I never cared enough about the system to be able to notice what's different. It's in Remainders for pretty obvious reasons, I think. [Thanks, Grant!]

Gold-Dipped PS3 Slim: The Hot Holiday Gift (in Donald Trump's House)

The dudes at Computer Choppers have dipped a PS3 Slim in 24kt gold (along with two controllers) and will be selling them for an undisclosed price in a limited run of 5. To the only person reading this: Hey, Mr. Trump! More photos and price will be coming soon, so if you just toss me your email I'll be sure to let you know when you can finally get the current-gen gaming console to match your skyscraper. [Geeky Gadgets]

Sanyo's "Stick Booster" Looks and Sounds Far Dirtier Than It Is

Sanyo's "Stick Booster" name sounds like the kind of product you hear about in spam emails, and it looks mostly like a vibrator. But it's actually a pretty nice-looking gadget charger, once you realize what it's for, taking two AA batteries (rechargeables, of course; it's in Sanyo's green initiative line) and offering a USB port to charge your phone, camera, or whatever for about 90 minutes. It's available now for about $35. It winds up here in Remainders because it's definitely not the first AA-USB charger we've seen, although it might be the prettiest. [CrunchGear]

Of course, you need a computer running one of these motherboards or cards, since Intel's dragging ass on a standard it helped developed. And you might as well pick up one of these hard drives too, while you're at it. [Register]

There are a thousand gigabytes in a terabyte, a thousand terabytes in a petabyte, a thousand petabytes in an exabyte, a thousand exabytes in a zettabyte, and a thousand zettabytes in a yottabyte. In other words, a yottabyte is 1,000,000,000,000,000GB.

In terms of data on current human scales, a yottabyte is nearly infinite (though I'm sure the NSA will manage to fill the thing in like 2 weeks, and iPods will come with yottabytes in just a few months).

To be fair, the yottabyte figure is just one estimate generated by a Pentagon think tank. The facility could hold a mere hundreds of petabytes. But either way, the prospect is as unsustainable as it is frightening. This one facility will burn through as much electricity as the entirety of Salt Lake City.

All of this data comes from the book The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency by Matthew M. Aid. And while the paranoid among you may read it, I, MARK WILSON, HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR THE NSA'S INVOLVEMENT IN MY LIFE OR INFORMATION AT ALL. [NYBooks via CrunchGear]

The Price:

1TB for $270, 2TB for $370 and 4TB for $700

The Verdict:

It does a lot, and it does it pretty well, for not a lot of cash.

Here's a list of the exciting bits on the Ix2-200's feature list:

• Automated backup and restore: Full Time Machine support for Macs as well as Retrospect, a different backup scheme, for PCs and Macs.
• Automated copy jobs, which can automatically and incrementally copy (either with Windows file sharing or rsync) files off of network shares and dump it onto its own storage, or the other way around. Perfect for backing up other network shares for double data security
• RAID1
• DLNA, iTunes Servers
• Quiet running
• SMB features like email notifications, event logs, iSCSI, automated video surveillance (provided you have a compatible camera) and USB printer support
• A load of networking support, like Apple File Sharing, Bluetooth, FTP, NFS, Rsync, SNMP and standard Windows File Sharing (CIFS)
• Torrent downloading
• Remote access

Instead of building a Windows Home Server, like so many others have done, Iomega decided to build their own system from their own technology, and came out pretty feature-rich because of it.

The setup process is slightly finicky—you install the Iomega Solutions CD and wait while it searches your network for the server. This can actually take a few hours (we thought the Mac version was malfunctioning until it completed its setup and discovery process), but once you're up, you're up.

You control the server with a web interface, which works with a local app to provide integration into your file system. It's pretty simple to use, and there aren't too many tabs or options to confuse users with.

Backup and file storage

Time Machine works as well as if you were just shoving in a USB hard drive, and there's little difference compared to running your backups over the network as if it were a Time Capsule. Iomega tells us that they've learned from HP's first Windows Home Servers, the ones who weren't able to run a complete Time Machine restore in the event of a total drive failure, so Mac users shouldn't need to worry.

Retrospect, another backup software, can also configure backup plans on a schedule and automatically execute them without any input from you. Just choose which drives and folders you want to back up—it even backs up your network folders—and pick your schedule. If you don't have a Windows Home Server on your network to handle your Windows backups, this is a pretty good substitute. And of course you can use Retrospect to restore your backups to your machine, in case of data failure.

Automated copy jobs is another feature that's especially sweet for me, since I have a lot of network storage and I always worry about what would happen if one fails. This way, the Ix2-200 can maintain up-to-date copies of whatever's sitting on other network drives, and act as the schoolmarm for all your data.

Networking and other features

Some of the other features are pretty much evaluated on a yes/no basis in terms of whether or not they work. The fan is very quiet even when transferring a mass load of files—although the hard drive is not, so that's kind of moot—but is virtually silent otherwise. RAID1 works, and comes set up by default. The DLNA and iTunes streaming works in their respective clients, and Xbox 360/PS3 has no problem streaming files off of the server.

BitTorrent download works, but the server gets confused if you give it a URL to download a .torrent file from, so to play it safe you should just go ahead and download the .torrent yourself and feed that instead. Download speeds are decent, and you can configure what the maximum upload/download speeds are so as to not saturate your internet connection. You should also change your default port as well, since ISPS throttle that 6881 port hard.

All the networking stuff works as expected, as do the email notifications and event logs. The rest of the higher end stuff, like video surveillance integration and iSCSI we didn't test, so we can't say if there are any issues with them or not. It's more than likely that they do work, but we don't know if there are any quirks you should watch out for.

It's a pretty good deal

Iomega's aiming this at both the prosumer and the SMB market, which means that for most people, it's going to have a lot of features that they don't need. But that doesn't matter! The Ix2-200 is so packed with stuff that it should satisfy the needs of just about any user who's hurting for a network storage solution. And at a starting price of only $270 for the 1TB version, it's a cheaper alternative than Windows Home Servers, and can do just about all the same things. Plus with its user-replaceable drives and three USB ports, you can easily upgrade the storage yourself and expand your storage after the fact. [Iomega]

Great backup options including Time Machine and Retrospect

Small, quiet and fast

Feature loaded

Fairly cheap for what you get

Setup process isn't as easy as it could be

German-based design group Brinell has developed a line of Purestorage USB drives housed in materials including wood, stainless steel, leather and carbon. Ranging from 160-500GB and $284-$344, of course you can get a hard drive cheaper. But chances are it'll look that way, too. [openpr via Newlaunches]

• Western Digital's TV HD Live got a slight update today. Besides the revamped casing, the biggest news here is the addition of DLNA and Bonjour support. Just like the previous generation, there's no onboard storage to speak of, but the better streaming support makes that much less of an issue. You can grab one at Best Buy now for $120. [Electronista]

It looks kinda chubby and short, but the StorCenter ix2-200's full of features to appeal to the movie-downloading, home-server-building, tofu-eating, lazy ass in you. The entire device seems to revolve around making its feature set as easy to use as humanly possible while keeping up with the "green" gadget trend.

We've shown you what you can use a NAS for, but it all seems like it'll be easier with the ix2-200: You don't even need to have a PC attached to download torrents, you can grab files from your Bluetooth-capable phone, and the Apple lovers can use it for Time Machine backups.

The ix2-200 starts at $270 for the 1TB version, $370 for the 2TB, and $700 for the 4TB version.

Iomega Announces Next Generation "Green" Desktop Network Storage Appliance With Powerful Enterprise and Consumer Features

***

Compact StorCenter ix2-200 Features:

* Easy Push Button Appliance-to-Appliance Copy and Backup
* Disk Spin Down for Energy Efficiency
* User Replaceable Disk Drives and More

SAN DIEGO, October 8, 2009 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the next generation of its popular double-drive desktop NAS appliance with the worldwide launch of the new Iomega® StorCenter™ ix2-200. Based on industry-leading enterprise-class EMC® storage technologies, the versatile yet affordable StorCenter ix2-200 wraps ease-of-use around big business data management functionality and advanced media serving and other consumer features that make it the ideal NAS appliance for small business users and home users.

Available in 1TB*, 2TB and 4TB capacities, the new ix2-200 utilizes a very simple four-step setup to be operational in a matter of minutes – be it in a business setting or in the digital home.

Starting at less than $270.00, the ix2-200 employs an easy-to-understand interface to provide robust data management and protection for the serious business user, as well as the latest in multimedia serving and remote access features that makes it a breeze to access your own data, whether in the office, the home, or anywhere else in the world.**

Among the standout business features of the new StorCenter ix2-200:

* Device-to-device replication for business continuity and file recovery
* iSCSI block-level access for efficient storage utilization
* RAID 1 configurations for optimized data protection
* Windows® Active Directory support
* A new front panel QuikTransfer button for easy copying of selected files
* User replaceable hard drives
* Multiple IP security camera support
* And for the forward-thinking small business, VMware® certification for virtualization installations.

The new StorCenter ix2-200 also has a treasure trove of features for the digital home, including:

* A DLNA® certified UPnP® AV Media Server that makes the ix2-200 the central repository for serving up all your movies, pictures, music and other files to any compatible device on your network
* Serves as a Time Machine® target for Apple® computer backups
* Built-in torrent support for file-sharing without the need for a dedicated PC
* Bluetooth® capability for uploading all kinds of digital content from a smart phone
* Cooliris™ slide show plug-in allows for easy photo viewing
* And remote access to the ix2-200 from anywhere in the world

"The new StorCenter ix2-200 is definitely the easiest to use small office and consumer network storage appliance in the marketplace today," said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. "Combining EMC's world class enterprise storage and security technologies with advanced media serving features makes the ix2-200 a versatile and affordable NAS appliance that gives smaller organizations, work groups and home users not only cost-effective and robust network storage but some of the same sophisticated data management capabilities as a Fortune 100 corporation – but without any need for IT experience."

The new Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 NAS appliance is now available in the Americas and Europe from retailers, VARs and IT resellers, including valued Iomega partner CDW.

"When it comes to managing and protecting digital content, small businesses today face many of the same challenges as much larger organizations," said Matt Troka, vice president, Product & Partner Management, CDW Corporation. "Iomega's new StorCenter ix2-200 delivers cost-effective network storage with advanced enterprise features at extremely affordable prices. For the budget conscious small business with a need for dependable network storage that is easy to setup and maintain without any internal IT expertise, the compact StorCenter ix2-200 offers a great value proposition, which makes it a viable data storage and back-up solution for our customers."

The Little Compact Desktop NAS Appliance with Lots of Capabilities

The new StorCenter ix2-200 NAS desktop appliance utilizes the acclaimed EMC LifeLine™ software, a fully-developed Linux operating environment and suite of applications that is designed for cross-platform support with Windows®, Mac® and Linux computers.

The LifeLine operating system presents a simple-to-use graphical interface that makes it easy to perform valuable business tasks while remaining confident that your data is securely stored, protected, and accessible whenever and wherever you need it.

Small office users will enjoy the ix2-200's fast Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and high-performance embedded architecture, which boosts productivity by making data readily accessible and secure over a local network at the office or in the home. The ix2-200 also boasts the versatility of three USB 2.0 ports for adding printers or additional storage capacity with external USB drives.

Key Features of the StorCenter ix2-200 NAS Appliance

The new ix2-200 NAS appliance's many features make it one of the most advanced, innovative and easy-to-use double-drive network storage devices available today. Among the features:

* Device-to-Device Replication (copy jobs): Copy or backup files to and from the ix2-200 to any other NAS or USB-attached storage device without the need for a client computer. Jobs can be set to run at pre-determined schedule or at the touch of the ix2-200's new QuikTransfer button. The ix2-200 uses either the rsync or Windows File Sharing protocol to transfer data between itself and another network storage device.
* iSCSI Support: Provides block-level access for the most efficient storage utilization, especially for database, email and backup application performance. This feature also allows host-based operating systems and virtualization software to use the full capabilities of their native file systems, such as enabling VMFS for VMware utilization.
* VMware® Ready Certification: The ix2-200 is certified as both NAS (NFS) and iSCSI storage for VMware ESX Server 3.5 and 4.0 vSphere. The ix2-200 is listed on the VMware hardware compatibility list, enabling small offices and work groups to affordably take advantage of the benefits and advanced features offered by shared storage in a VMware environment. The ix2-200 is the ideal storage match for smaller virtualization deployments that use the new VMware vSphere Essentials and vSphere Essentials Plus software packages.
* Remote Access: Set up remote access and remotely manage and access pictures, videos, work files and other digital data on the ix2-200 from anywhere in the world. Just enter a personalized web address into any browser for easy downloading and uploading of files securely.
* RAID Support: RAID 1 with automatic RAID rebuild for data redundancy and protection. Single volume (JBOD) mode also available.
* Multiple Network Protocols: Works in Windows, Linux and Mac environments with network protocol support including CIFS/SMB/Rally, NFS, and AFP/Bonjour. The ix2-200 also supports advanced protocols such as HTTP, FTP and SNMP.
* Time Machine® Support: Lets Apple® users easily backup to the ix2-200 with Mac computers running OS X (10.5 or later) using Time Machine.
* Windows® Active Directory Support: Allows the ix2-200 to function as a client member in an Active Directory domain, giving users and groups access to the ix2-200.
* Uninterruptible Power Supply Support: Enables unattended system shutdown without data loss in the case of power failure.
* Gigabit Ethernet: high speed connectivity with jumbo frame support
* Video Surveillance: Connect up to five Axis® Network video cameras for real-time monitoring and video capture, without the need of a dedicated computer (dependent upon system workload and network conditions). The ix2-200 can be used as a storage target for other network surveillance cameras as well.
* Print Server: Supports intelligent print sharing capability for up to three USB printers directly connected to the ix2-200.
* UPnP AV/DLNA Certified Media Server: Compatible with UPnP and DLNA certified media players, the ix2-200 streams photos, audio content and videos to not only laptops and computers but a variety of media devices, including game consoles (Xbox® 360, Sony PlayStation® 3), audio bridges, iTunes™ players, networked digital picture frames and other compatible devices.
* Bluetooth capability: Allows users to upload contacts, photos and more from a cell phone, pocket PC or Blackberry® phone (Bluetooth USB adapter required, sold separately).
* Photo Slideshow: Integrated utility based on Cooliris™ technology for quick browsing and sharing of pictures stored on the ix2-200 to both local and remote users.
* Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP): Supports no touch, automatic transfer of photos from digital cameras via one of the four USB 2.0 ports on the ix2-200.
* Versatility: Supports read and write on various formats, including Fat32, NTFS or ext2/ext3 formatted hard disks; also supports HFS+ (ready only).

Backup and Security Software for a Complete Solution

The StorCenter ix2-200 provides data backup and protection for any number of desktops and laptops with integrated EMC Retrospect® Express backup software. During the set-up process, users choose files and folders for scheduled automatic backups. After that, any changes or additions are updated and saved automatically.

For data security, the ix2-200 also includes RSA® BSAFE® encryption security technology for protecting installs and upgrades from viruses or malware. RSA is the security division of EMC that protects digital data at many of the world's largest banks.

A Power Saving "Green" NAS Appliance

The StorCenter ix2-200 utilizes such power saving features as automatic hard drive spin down when the ix2-200 isn't copying or serving up data, power consumption "green" hard disk drives, and an Energy Star® certified power supply. All of these features ensure the most efficient or minimal power consumption.

Compatibility

The StorCenter ix2-200 is compatible with Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux® PCs. The interface is localized in 11 supported languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, German, and Russian).

Price and Availability and Warranty

The new 1TB StorCenter ix2-200 NAS appliance is now available in the Americas and Europe for $269.99, the 2TB model is now available for $369.99, and the 4TB model, which will be available later this month, is $699.99. (All prices are U.S. suggested retail.) All three capacities of the new StorCenter ix2-200 will be available in Asia in November. The StorCenter ix2-200 is backed by a three-year warranty (with product registration).

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

About Iomega

Iomega Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC Corporation headquartered in San Diego, is a worldwide leader in innovative storage and network security solutions for small businesses, home offices, consumers and others. The Company has sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks since its inception in 1980. Today, Iomega's product portfolio includes one of the industry's broadest selection of direct-attached external hard drives; industry leading network attached storage products for the home and small business; and the ScreenPlay family of multimedia drives that makes it easy to move video, pictures and other digital files from the computer room to the livingroom. To learn about all of Iomega's digital storage products and managed services solutions, please go to the Web at www.iomega.com. Resellers can visit Iomega at www.iomega.com/ipartner.

NOTE: This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) our ability to protect our proprietary technology; (iv) risks associated with managing the growth of our business, including risks associated with acquisitions and investments and the challenges and costs of integration, restructuring and achieving anticipated synergies; (v) fluctuations in VMware, Inc.'s operating results and risks associated with trading of VMware stock; (vi) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product introductions; (vii) the relative and varying rates of product price and component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and services revenues; (viii) component and product quality and availability; (ix) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market change; (x) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (xi) war or acts of terrorism; (xii) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (xiii) fluctuating currency exchange rates; and (xiv) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EMC disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

# # #

* 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes.

** Requires an Internet connection.

[Iomega]