PR: Lacie Announces USB 3.0 RAID Storage Solution

Another announcement of a product supporting the USB 3.0 interface format comes from LaCie providing either a 2TB or 4TB solution, $349.99 and $579.99 respectively. The biggest benefit besides the amount of storage capacity is the speed that you can read and write data to the device. It is still compatible with USB 2.0 so if you don’t have a USB 3.0 port on your computer yet you can get this now for when you do. It is compatible with Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7 /Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6 (USB 2.0 only). Windows XP does not support drives greater than 2TB’s.

The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 supports up to 5Gbits/s and the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 supports up to 480Mbits/s. It supports RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD modes through an easy switch-button.

Overview from LaCie:

Developed for professionals looking for high storage capacity and performance, the 2big USB 3.0 is the first RAID storage solution to feature the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, and supports multiple uncompressed HD streams. With three RAID modes for flexibility, you can choose "Fast" (RAID 0) to get speeds of up to 205MB/s, "Safe" (RAID 1) for full data protection, or JBOD for non-stop data access. With its 7200 rpm drives and compatibility with USB 2.0, the LaCie 2big USB 3.0 is the most complete USB 3.0 storage device. The unique fanless aluminum heat sink design is sturdy and features 60% more surface area, providing the most efficient heat dissipation. This keeps it ultra-quiet, and protects the hard disk. The LaCie 2big USB 3.0 helps you to reduce power consumption by letting you program when it switches to idle mode. You can schedule a deep sleep on/off mode according to your needs, and the 2big USB 3.0 can be switched back to operating mode from the client side. For users that need performance and flexibility such as print professionals, recording engineers, and video producers, the 2big USB 3.0 is the ideal storage solution.

For more information about Video Process, please click here

Cute that they are calling these drives the 2big… Hope that is just a typo.

How to add a little more battery life to your devices while on the road and without access to a power outlet…

Every now and again I find myself running down my devices to the very end of their battery limits and need a little extra time to complete the project I am currently working on. Morphie has made a press release on a battery product that you can attach to different USB powered devices. The Juice Pack Powerstation is most obviously targeting heavy iPad users, but the beastly battery pack is quite capable of rejuvenating your PND, PMP or smartphone provided you have the necessary cabling. Most interesting, however, is this unit's ability to automatically switch between desired mAh charges, including 500 mAh, 1A and 2.1A, while a standby toggle switch ensures no drainage when it's idle. There's also a USB pass-through so users can charge a device and the Powerstation simultaneously, and if you're interested, all 3600mAh can be yours starting today at $99.95.

Click to read more ...

How do you keep up with it all?

This is a constant question that I get asked by people that I work with and at times I ask myself as well. There is so much that goes on in our industry that it is a constant battle of how to spend my waking minutes on which project that I want to focus on. It is none stop so one of the things that I am constantly looking for are the tools that I can use to help make me more efficient in the use of my time. My wife asks me why I can’t just sit there and enjoy not doing anything but it makes me nervous to not do anything. I need to be doing something even if it is just watching a football game or playing Madden 11 on my iPad, or both!

So along with working through different RSS Readers until I find one that suits my style (actually I have found two that I flip back and forth on depending on whether I am on Wi-Fi or 3G), I have also started using a program called Calibre that allows me to aggregate news feeds into a eMagazine style that I can sync onto both my iPad and my Kindle so I can read these articles whether I am inside or in a shaded area or outside in the direct sunlight with my feet up at the pool. Now I have extended my reach to more places and times than I had before and can continue enjoying the things around me as well as keeping up with my daily reading.

I had mentioned Calibre a week or so ago as a great product to convert different eText to different formats to work on the many types of devices that we all use. So this is just another reason to get this great product and make it a tool that you can keep in your productivity war chest.