Jun 10

The Engineer Guy Explains What Really Goes On Inside Hard Drives

Posted in: storage, Today's Chili

Ever wondered how a hard drive works? I mean, we know it has something to do with frikkin’ magnets, but how do they work? Luckily, the Engineer Guy is here to explain, and also to help you spend five minutes not working on a Friday afternoon. Learn about arms, actuators, heads and Lorentz forces. And learn how on Earth you store ones and zeros on a spinning magnetic disk.

What amazes me is the combination of extremely simple principles, along with insanely difficult engineering to make it actually happen. It also makes me much less likely to pick up my laptop and plunk it back down without putting it to sleep first. I love, you, HDD, but cheap SSDs can’t come soon enough.

Hard drive teardown [The Engineer Guy / YouTube]

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Jun 08

Samsung’s 2.5-inch Spinpoint M8 1TB drive fits in your laptop, no cramming necessary

Posted in: hard drive, HardDrive, samsung, storage, Today's Chili
Samsung Spinpoint M8

The trouble with high capacity hard drives is that they’re about the size and weight of a brick, and just as bad for throwing in glass houses or ultrathin laptops. Samsung is slimming up the beastliest of disks though, with the just announced Spinpoint M8. Inside this 1TB drive are a pair of 500GB storage platters, instead of the three 334GB ones found in most storage solutions of this size. By using AFT, Advanced format technology, Sammy was able to up the storage density and trim its latest Spinpoint to a svelte 9.5mm thick (your average 1TB drive is 12.5mm). As an added bonus, the increased density also boosts performance and power efficiency since the drives heads need to move less. If you want to slap one in your notebook you can pick one up for $129, and we’re sure a few of these will find a home those skinny “ultrabooks” that Intel has been talking up. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Samsung’s 2.5-inch Spinpoint M8 1TB drive fits in your laptop, no cramming necessary

Samsung’s 2.5-inch Spinpoint M8 1TB drive fits in your laptop, no cramming necessary originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 03

Micron RealSSD P320h can read 3GBps, write 2GBps, impress millions of geeks per second

Posted in: flash, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili, video

Speed may be a relative thing, but whatever you choose to compare Micron’s new RealSSD P320h series to, you’ll probably find them pretty competitive. Coming in 350GB and 700GB capacities, these PCI Express solid state drives can process data at a rate of 3GB per second and write it at a no less impressive 2GBps. If you’re more interested in input / output operations per second, the P320h clocks in at 750,000 IOPS when running Linux or 650,000 with Windows Server as the OS. You don’t need us to tell you that both numbers represent screaming-fast performance. Such mighty feats are achieved with the use of 34nm SLC NAND flash memory and Micron’s own controller chip. Samples of the P320h are trickling out now and mass production is coming in the third quarter of 2011, and while no pricing info has been offered yet, it’s safe to say you’ll be needing your company CFO’s blessing before making any P320h purchases. Video and full PR after the break.

Continue reading Micron RealSSD P320h can read 3GBps, write 2GBps, impress millions of geeks per second

Micron RealSSD P320h can read 3GBps, write 2GBps, impress millions of geeks per second originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 01

Cart-Swapping Case For Nintendo DS Range

Posted in: Retro, storage, Today's Chili, Toys and Games

Memorex eases the absurd, old-fashioned pain of carrying around games on removable cartridges

Memorex, once famous for making audio cassettes and video tapes, has just announced a clever accessory for Nintendo’s DS lineup. The Universal Game Selector Case snuggles up to the back the handheld console and extends an appendage into its game-cartridge hole. You then slot three game carts into the slots on the back and you can swap between them instantly at the flick of a switch.

You know how you can quickly change between games on your iPhone or iPod Touch without swapping in hardware? It’s just like that! (Only with just three games).

The case/dongle fits any DS — the DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL and the new 3DS — and requires no battery. It’s a clever solution for carrying around your spare games, with a very convenient twist. And it costs just $20, which might be worth it just to stop the kids from losing their $25 carts.

Universal Game Selector press release [Memorex]

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May 20

PSA: New Nook Color partitioning only leaves 1GB for music, other sideloaded content

Posted in: Android, barnes and noble, BarnesAndNoble, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, ebooks, storage, Today's Chili


If you’re planning to pick up a Nook Color, keep an eye out for a little blue dot on the box — no, they’re not defective, but new models with the dot have been tweaked to make sure Barnes & Noble retains control of most of that (already limited) internal storage. Updated partitioning leaves just 1GB of internal storage for sideloaded content, such as music and movies, with the remaining 4GB reserved for content purchased from the book and app stores. Previous models allowed sideloaded content to utilize all 5GB of available storage, but the change was made “to ensure ample space for a customer’s Nook Library and Nook Apps,” according to B&N. We’re sure you could figure out how to reclaim those extra gigs, but you won’t be able to transfer your entire music library out of the box. Luckily, the Nook still has its microSD slot, allowing you to add up to 32GB of storage for music, movies, and whatever other content you need to keep yourself from using your e-reader to actually read.

[Thanks, Mark]

PSA: New Nook Color partitioning only leaves 1GB for music, other sideloaded content originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 16

500-GB SeaGate Wi-Fi Hard Drive Streams to iPad

Posted in: ipad, storage, Today's Chili, wi-fi

Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite comes with iPad software to browse its 500GB content

How does 500GB storage for your iPad sound? That’s kinda what Seagate is offering with its new GoFlex Satellite, an external hard drive with iOS-friendly Wi-Fi built in.

The drive is much like Seagate’s other GoFlex drives, and you can hook it up to any computer via USB2 or USB3. The difference is the wireless (802.11n) radio. This supports up to three connections and lets you access any media on the drive through a web browser.

However, if you have an iPad you can use a companion app — GoFlex Media — to browse the drive. This will let you view and play back any iOS compatible file, be it music, video, a document, or a photo.

You can’t send the content to other apps (yet) but you can at least cache content locally. Also, the drive’s Wi-Fi can’t connect to an existing network, so you’ll have to manually connect to the drive from your device, switching away from your home or work network as you do so.

The drive costs just what you’d expect: $200, or the same as a regular pocket drive and a MiFi wireless router together. It’s not cheap, but it sure is convenient. Available soon.

Seagate GoFlex Satellite review [CNET]

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Apr 28

Toshiba Announces Write-Once SD Card, Film Nerds Rejoice

Posted in: storage, Today's Chili, Toshiba

The write-once SD card could tempt film-loving beardoes over to digital

Thanks to Toshiba, using an SD memory card can be as annoying as burning a CD. The new Write Once Memory Card allows you to write data once and never again, just like burning a non-rewritable CD. The storage size isn’t far off, either, at 1GB against a CD’s 700MB.

Why bother? The card is aimed at governments, police and other entities that need to record tamper-free data. Evidence photos, for example, could be stored on this card and couldn’t subsequently be changed. It could also finally tempt recalcitrant film lovers to come to digital, where they could still enjoy arbitrary and expensive storage limits.

I think its a worrying trend, and I hope desperately that it won’t spread to USB thumb drives. Currently, I have a bowl full of old, branded USB sticks which came loaded with press releases at CES, Mobile World Congress and other shows. I keep it by the door so guests can grab them like candies when they leave. Imagine how useless these would be if you actually had to keep the press blurb on them.

SD memory card with a tamper-proof Write Once [Toshiba via Crunchgear]

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Apr 27

Crucial releases m4 SSDs, prices them between $130 and $1,000

Posted in: availability, available, launch, on sale, OnSale, price, pricing, release, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

Been yearning for more affordable solid state storage built on an even smaller production process? Crucial’s now ready to sate your weirdly specific wants with its 25nm NAND flash-filled m4 SSD, which it has priced at the reasonable level of $130 for a 64GB unit. The company describes it as the fastest drive it has yet introduced, and although early reviews pointed out it’d lost something in read speeds relative to the previous generation, the new m4’s improved write speeds and general performance should certainly make that a compelling entry price. More ambitious archivists will be looking to the 128GB and 256GB models, priced at $250 and $500, respectively, while those without a budget will also be given the option to splash $1,000 on a 512GB m4 SSD. All four varieties come in a standard 2.5-inch form factor, support 6Gbps SATA transfers, and are rated to reach read speeds of 415MBps. Availability is immediate and worldwide, so hit the Crucial link below if you’re keen on getting one for yourself. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Crucial releases m4 SSDs, prices them between $130 and $1,000

Crucial releases m4 SSDs, prices them between $130 and $1,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 19

Notebook Comes with 4GB Storage. No, Not That Kind of Notebook

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Notebooks, storage, Today's Chili

Pinetti’s Quattrogiga journal packs a 4GB thumb drive into its strap

Pinetti’s Quattrogiga Leather Journal is a floppy-covered notebook with a 4GB USB stick contained within its strap.

The name is the first great feature. “Four gigabytes” sounds way cooler in Italian than in English. The strap is the next neat touch. It’s a silicone rubber band which uses the USB stick itself as the closure. The front cover has a female receptacle, and the USB plug is contained within the strap. This plugs in and keeps the book closed. Should you need to do so, you can remove the strap entirely.

The book comes in white, and can be had in two sizes: 5.5 x 7 inches and 6 x 9 inches. Both are actually covers rather than notebooks, which means you can swap-in refills when the book is full. A good thing too, as these handsome notebooks are ridiculously pricy: The small book is $85, and the large one is $105.

Pinetti Quattrogiga [Jenni Bick via Oh Gizmo]

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Apr 19

Samsung sells HDD division to Seagate for $1.375 billion

Posted in: breaking news, business, deal, financial, financials, industry, partnership, plans, roadmap, sale, samsung, storage, Today's Chili

We’re firmly of the belief that SSDs are our future and Samsung would seem to agree. The Korean electronics giant has just announced that it’s selling its hard disk drive-manufacturing arm to Seagate Technology for a neat $1.375 billion in equal measures of cash and stocks. As a result, Samsung Electronics will own approximately 9.6 percent of Seagate and get to nominate one new member to join Seagate’s Board of Directors, while the two companies have further agreed to deepen their strategic relationship with related cross-licensing and supply stipulations. Samsung will provision Seagate’s solid state drives with NAND flash memory, whereas Seagate will furnish Samsung’s PCs and consumer electronics products with hard disk storage. The deal is expected to complete in full by year’s end and you can read all about it in Seagate’s press release after the break.

[Thanks, Pavel]

Continue reading Samsung sells HDD division to Seagate for $1.375 billion

Samsung sells HDD division to Seagate for $1.375 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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