Hasta La Gadget!

I-O Data’s new hard drive not only hooks up to your computer but connects direct to your camcorder and slurps in any video that might be there, all without an intermediary PC.

The 500GB will work with the JVC Everio, the Sanyo Zakuti Sony’s Handycams, and hooks up via USB. There is also a port for connecting it to a TV via HDMI cable, so you can watch the footage straight back, again without a computer.

Weirdly, the specs say it won’t work with a Mac, but we’d guess that it probably works fine as a hard-drive: You just won’t get any fancy extra features. The HDPN-U500 (it’s clunky name) will be available in “late September” for ¥14,600, or around $170 of your American dollars.

Portable Hard Disk Camcorder [I-O Data via Akihabara News]

See Also:

• I-O Data’s 256MB Hello Kitty USB
• USB to DVI Adapter Supports Aero Glass

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

The Pogoplug is a little box that lets you access your hard drive’s contents over the internet. You plug the drive into the Pogoplug, plug the Pogoplug into your router and you’re done: always-on, use-anywhere access to your files. Now, a new Wi-Fi adapter means you don’t even need to put it near your router.

The dongle costs $29 and plugs into the main unit. It lets the Pogoplug hook up to your network via 802.11 b,g or n instead of Ethernet, so you can stow both the Pogoplug and a stack of USB hard-drives in a closet and forget about them. Best of all, if you already have a Pogoplug, the company will give you a wireless adapter, free.

For accessing your data from outside the home, this should make no difference at all to speed: the limiting factor will be your home connection’s upload rate, likely a lot slower than even the slowest home Wi-Fi network. Even at home on a wireless-n network, you’ll get the best speeds unless your computer is wired direct to the router.

The Pogoplug adapter will ship in three to four weeks in the U.S. only.

Pogoplug Wireless Adapter [Pogoplug]

See Also:

• Pogoplug Update Lets You Print With an E-mail
• Cloud Engines PogoPlug
• Pogoplug Brings External Hard Drives Online

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter..

Seagate and Samsung — not exactly rivals in every facet, but certainly not buddy-buddy in the storage realm. These two have been attempting to one-up each other for as long as platters have been stacked within 3.5-inch HDD enclosures (and before, probably), but they’re putting their differences aside today and announcing a tag-team arrangement meant to jointly develop controller technology for enterprise SSDs. Under the newfangled agreement, the two mega-corps will work hand-in-hand and cross-license related controller technologies for solid state drive devices, with a goal to increase reliability and endurance for use in business environments. Curiously enough, the companies didn’t hand out any press imagery nor any specific details about what future devices would be emerging from the partnership; and yeah, we’re also wondering which logo is going to end up splashed across the packaging. While this may all seem distanced from you and your laptop at the moment, it’s surely just a matter of time before enterprise demands become consumer demands. Right, fellas?

Continue reading Samsung and Seagate to jointly improve SSDs, give each other noogies behind the barn

Samsung and Seagate to jointly improve SSDs, give each other noogies behind the barn originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s nothing really new about the Sprint Battery Boost (yes, that Sprint), but it puts a lot of useful little gadgets into one neat, keychainable package, and it does it for a reasonable $30.

The plastic widget looks like a chunky USB pen-drive, and it kinda is. Inside is a 600-mAh lithium ion battery, and on the outside is a retractable full-sized USB plug and a pop-out micro-USB connector. Pop it into a port on your computer and it’ll charge itself. Plug it into a cellphone or iPod and it will charge that, giving around one extra hour of talk-time.

It doesn’t stop there, either. There is a slot inside the USB-plug for a microSD card, turning this into an actual pen-drive, and also a carabiner-style clip to hook it onto keys or bags. All in all, a very handy piece of plastic. I guess that if you have to put something on your key-chain, it may as well be this.

The Sprint Battery Boost is available now from its maker, Technocel.

Sprint Battery Boost [Technocel. Thanks, Jennifer!]

See Also:

• New Keychain Multi-Tools from Leatherman
• The One-Dollar iPod Keychain Hack
• Ultra Simple Homemade Keychain
• Radiation Detector Keychain

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer is probably dreaming of three screens and a cloud right now, so it makes sense that his company has extended its hand to LG in order to build out the new U+ cloud storage service. Launched over in South Korea, this new service is expected to provide a “seamless connection” between a smorgasbord of connected devices — everything from TVs to digital photo frames to PMPs to tablets (plus a few we’re missing). The goal is to allow any connected device to enjoy the same content, and rather than putting it on each individual consumer to setup their own wireless NAS (or use Air Sync), LG’s taking some of the load off while adding a few nifty extras (streaming VOD, anyone?). The standard U+ box arrives with 1GB of storage, but consumers can opt for a 10GB package as well as the ability to access their material across the country via LG’s U+ WiFi hotspots. Actual costs don’t seem readily apparent, but given that paltry storage maximum, we’re guessing the majority of you won’t even bother to investigate.

Continue reading LG U+ cloud service links connected devices, requires a relocation to South Korea to enjoy

LG U+ cloud service links connected devices, requires a relocation to South Korea to enjoy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  LG  | Email this | Comments