Acer announces Aspire ZS600 all-in-one with multitouch display

Acer has announced the Apsire ZS600, a new all-in-one desktop computer focused on media and entertainment. Offering a 23-inch Full HD LED display with 10-point multitouch, the ZS600 also includes inbuilt speakers with Dolby Home Theatre v4.0 audio enhancement, a TV tuner, and an optional Blu-ray drive — it sits on an adjustable stand with a tilt range of roughly 20 degrees.

Acer has not yet released specific details of the ZS600's processor, RAM, or graphics, though a press release mentions a "3rd generation Intel iCore processor." The company is billing the ZS600 as "the hub of your digital life," an adaptable device which can be used for work as much as entertainment.

[Source: The Verge]

Mac 101: Battery not charging? Recalibration may be the answer

If your MacBook (any model) is not charging to 100%, it may need to be recalibrated. Apple explains how to do this, but basically it comes down to three steps:

1. Fully charge your MacBook (and leave it charged for about 2 hours)
2. Fully drain your MacBook (by using it on battery until it turns off)
3. Fully recharge your MacBook again.

That should help the battery indicator recalibrate so that it shows the correct information. If it doesn't, you might need to reset the System Management Controller (SMC), but in most case I've found that a simple recalibration will work.

[Source: To read the full article visit Tuaw]

LaCie's eSATA Thunderbolt Hub pushes data transfer to the max

The move from traditional I/O options toward Thunderbolt across the Mac line (with the notable exception of the Mac Pro) has meant some headscratching moments for users of high-end storage. Buying all-new Thunderbolt-ready RAIDs isn't an option for those on a budget, especially when there may be big investments already in eSATA-connected equipment.

As more Thunderbolt peripherals and accessories have made it to market, this conundrum is beginning to clear. LaCie's eSATA hub Thunderbolt Series, at $199, delivers eSATA performance and convenience for high-end video and graphics users at a price that's not out of balance.

[Source: TUAW - Read the full story]

Dell's new 27-inch UltraSharp monitor, its first with AH-IPS

Following 2010’s highly-regarded U2711 monitor, Dell is releasing its next iteration on the 27-inch 2560x1440 IPS LCD panel. Announced on Dell’s Japanese site, the UltraSharp branded U2713HM is the company’s first display to use AH-IPS (advanced high-performance IPS), which it claims offers improved color and clarity over other IPS technologies.  While Dell’s offering doesn’t have the Thunderbolt interface of Apple’s similarly-sized display (also a 2560x1440 IPS panel), it does offer four USB 3.0 ports, and its DisplayPort, HDMI, dual-link DVI, and even VGA inputs mean it should be compatible with whatever computer you want to throw at it. The U2713HM hasn’t yet been announced in the US, but the Japanese price of ¥49,980 (about $637) is a drop of ¥20,000 (about $255) from Dell's last generation.

[Source: The Verge]

ADATA Raises the Bar on Solid State Drive Reliability

Launching Ultimate Performance XPG SX910

Taipei, Taiwan – June 28, 2012 – ADATA™ Technology launches the XPG SX910 solid state drive, a significant broadening of the popular and powerful XPG line of storage products. The SX910 features a 7% capacity increase over common SSDs that use a SandForce controller, delivering a powerful combination of capacity and high performance with a five-year warranty. The ADATA XPG SX910 uses new optimized firmware to maximize utilization of the NAND Flash components, allowing for full use of the available storage capacity. This zero percent over-provisioning in the design and engineering of the SX910 is implemented with no loss to performance: maximum 4k random read/write speeds are 50,000 and 85,000 IOPS respectively, with sequential read and write speeds reaching 550 and 530MB/sec. In addition, the SX910 undergoes an improved screening process for the Flash IC chip selection. This results in improved stability and performance, that is demonstrated by the five-year warranty that comes as standard for this SSD. With capacities of 128, 256 & 512 gigabytes, the SX910 is positioned to meet the rigorous standards of the world’s most serious gamers and professionals. Availability The ADATA XPG SX910 is now available through selected distributors and resellers in the Europe. More information can be found on ADATA's website at http://www.adata-group.com/index.php?action=product_feature&cid=3&piid=183&lan=en

Drobo 5D & Drobo Mini Launched with Thunderbolt Goodness

Drobo, maker of award-winning data storage products for businesses and professionals, today announced a wide range of industry-firsts with innovations in a new generation of storage devices for personal and professional users.  The Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini – the world’s smallest and most portable full-featured storage array - are designed to accelerate workflows for creative professionals managing data-intensive files; home media enthusiasts looking to consolidate and accelerate video, photo, and music files; and small businesses that need fast, portable backup to protect large amounts of data. Drobo, widely recognized as the maker of the easiest-to-use storage device, has added advanced performance to the new systems with Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, automated SSD acceleration and greatly enhanced hardware and software architectures. 

“In my 30 years covering the technology industry, I have not seen something as portable, scalable and powerful as the Drobo Mini,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst for The Enderle Group. “The SMB and prosumer market is clamoring for a plug-and-play storage product because it lacks the technical expertise and resources to manage complex storage systems.  With the new Drobo products, there is no question that this enigma is solved.”   

New Era of Performance and Flexibility

Both the Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini include industry-first SSD acceleration – utilizing the performance benefits of solid state drives (SSDs) and the capacity benefits of hard disk drives (HDDs) to deliver an automated, no-compromise system.  In addition to supporting SSDs in any of their drive bays, both units include an additional bay that will accommodate a small-form-factor SSD to achieve significant performance boosts while making all drive bays available for high-capacity HDDs.  

The products also support both lightning-fast Thunderbolt (2 ports) and USB 3.0 connectivity, an industry first for storage arrays, that will provide flexibility to both Mac and Windows users.  The two Thunderbolt ports allow customers to easily daisy-chain devices to accommodate massive growth, and the USB 3.0 port ensures compatibility to millions of USB systems. 

Along with SSD acceleration and Thunderbolt / USB 3.0 interfaces, the new Drobo products have been completely redesigned from the ground up with new hardware and software architectures. These enhancements provide a significant increase in processing capability and several optimizations to BeyondRAID™ that will increase baseline performance by at least five times – prior to the addition of SSDs – easily making the new Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini the fastest storage arrays in their class.

Save and Protect

All Drobos are based on patented BeyondRAID technology, which automates sophisticated data-protection algorithms so users can enjoy the peace-of-mind of safe data protection without having to be a storage expert. The new Drobo arrays add an advanced safety feature that also protects user data during and after power outages, another industry-first for professional storage and a feature that has traditionally been reserved for more expensive, enterprise-grade storage.  

“Our customers love Drobo’s ease of use, but they want it all – the easiest, the fastest, the safest for their data, plus the smallest and quietest,” said Tom Buiocchi, Drobo CEO.  “That’s why we're here – our new Drobos will deliver on our promise of the best storage experience ever.”

Drobo 5D: Capacity and Speed with No Compromise

The Drobo 5D is the most modern and complete storage system for creative professionals including photographers, videographers, graphic designers and individuals creating and working with large amounts of rich media. In particular, professionals who are power users of Adobe and Apple applications including After Effects, Aperture, Final Cut Pro, Lightroom, Photoshop and Premier Pro are a great fit for the new product, which is ideal for editing, storing catalogs and backing up files of all types. 

With up to five drives with an additional SSD bay, the 5D can support up to 16 terabytes of protected, SSD-accelerated data.  This is the equivalent of 32 million photographs, 4 million songs, 1 million HD movies, or 48 hours of uncompressed HD video – all accessible through lightning-fast Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 interfaces.

Drobo Mini: The Smallest, Most Powerful Storage Array

Drobo Mini is a technical marvel that redefines personal, professional, and portable digital storage.  It combines a unique blend of the most advanced storage technologies with unrivaled ease-of-use, all in a sleek, world’s-smallest package, measuring seven inches square by less than two inches tall and weighing less than three pounds.  Drobo invented a patent-pending “carrierless” design, which allows up to four 2.5” drives to be easily inserted into a Drobo Mini without the need for any additional drive carriers or screws. The benefit to the customer is not only the ease of drive insertion and removal, but also flexibility; because the design accommodates a common industry drive size, customers are free to choose the drive vendor, type (HDD or SSD), capacity, speed and price that best meets their needs. 

Since the Drobo Mini is portable, it features a ruggedized design that allows users to transport it with drives inside. In addition to being the first Drobo to offer this capability, the Drobo Mini features a custom miniature power supply and an optional carrying case, making it the ideal storage for professionals who travel extensively.

“I will shoot thousands of images per day at the Olympics, and having fast, protected storage is critical to my workflow,” said Jeff Cable, one of the few photographers representing Team USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. “The new Drobo Mini provides Thunderbolt performance and RAID protection in a compact package that is not much larger than a single external drive. I can’t wait to get my hands on one.”

Additional Resources

Visit www.drobo.com/5D or www.drobo.com/mini to learn more about the new products. Ordering and availability information will be announced in July.  Pricing – including a Thunderbolt cable – is expected to start at under $650.

Here at Geekanoids we are super excited about these new products, expect to see reviews on the Geekanoids Channel in due course.

Thunderbolt Goody from Elgato

Thunderbolt has revealed something that will make many a Mac user very happy indeed. We ALL want Thunderbolt devices and the first offering from Lacie was met with some complaints about noise. However, Elgato have released a new Thunderbolt SSD which will be available from next month in 120GB and 240GB capacities - wooooohooooo! [Source: Engadget]

Pogoplug Introduces New Hardware - Pogoplug Mobile™

Cloud Engines, Inc., creators of the Pogoplug multi-media streaming service, today unveiled their first mobile-focused hardware product with a sleek new design. Pogoplug Mobile serves as a mobile cloud companion, freeing devices from storage limits by allowing users to stream entire libraries of photos, music and movies from their homes to their mobile phones or tablets. The device also enables users to share unlimited amounts of photos, videos and other content from mobile devices with friends and family—instantly and privately.  

Pogoplug Mobile’s extreme multi-media capabilities are optimized for iOS and Android devices. Pogoplug Mobile offers Android users a unified streaming and sharing service and enables automatic home backup of all photos, movies, music and other documents.  Pogoplug provides iOS users with unlimited, instant streaming of entire media libraries.

“People today have an almost unlimited need to create and consume multimedia content on their mobile devices,” said Daniel Putterman, CEO and Founder of Cloud Engines. “Unfortunately, their devices just can’t keep up; mobile storage remains too expensive.  Pogoplug Mobile solves this problem by providing an incredible streaming and at-home backup solution that turns any mobile device into an limitless media library.”

 

Pogoplug Mobile includes a number of key features:

• Stream entire libraries of music, movies and photos to an iPhone, iPad, or Android device

• No storage limits  

• No need to re-download the same content to multiple devices

• Permanent storage and backup of all photos and videos taken using the mobile device

– On Android, automatically back up photos and movies from your hand-held device to your Pogoplug Mobile wirelessly. Content trickles back to Pogoplug Mobile in the background with no action required by the user

• Pogoplug Mobile device works seamlessly with the Pogoplug desktop software and Pogoplug mobile apps (iPhone, iPad and Android 2.2 and later) 

Pogoplug Mobile provides users with a streamlined interface for viewing and managing content on their device, while maintaining all of the great sharing and data access solutions provided by the original Pogoplug hardware and software solutions. 

Using Pogoplug desktop software, Pogoplug mobile apps, or the browser-based my.pogoplug.com account, users can access and stream files from anywhere in the world, to anyone in the world. All of these features come packaged with Pogoplug Mobile. 

“With iCloud on the horizon, the timing for Pogoplug Mobile couldn’t be better,” continued Putterman. “If you’re an iOS user, Pogoplug Mobile will be a perfect at-home iCloud companion. For Android users, it’s at-home iCloud for Android.”  

Pricing and Availability

Pogoplug Mobile will be available in October 2011 for a suggested retail price of $79.99 USD. Pre-orders are currently being accepted on the Pogoplug website. Pogoplug’s iOS and Android apps are FREE and available for download in the iTunes and Android app stores, respectively.

A message from Paul Hunter, Head of HP PSG UK and Ireland

There’s no denying that it’s been a strange week at HP. I’ve spent 16 years with HP in the UK and I certainly can’t remember a time like it. But change happens, and I fundamentally believe that HP and PSG are stronger following the announcements surrounding webOS and PSG.

 

I’d like to firstly clear up any misunderstanding that has arisen from the earnings announcement around the future of the Personal Systems Group. There have been a number of incorrect stories saying that HP is quitting the PC business.

 

Let me be absolutely clear in saying that at no stage has HP said it is quitting the PC business. Three options are being investigated, and whether the company is spun off, sold or kept in the HP portfolio, the team in the UK remains committed to creating and supporting great products and services.

 

I’d also like to reaffirm our commitment to our UK customers regarding both PC products and those that bought webOS devices. HP is the world’s largest PC manufacturer. We are the number one PC manufacturer in UK and Ireland. HP PSG UK is only going in one direction, forwards and that means customers can have confidence that existing HP products will be supported under the terms of their warranties as will any future purchases. Likewise, all webOS products will be supported and HP fully intends to support the future development of the webOS platform, though again how that will be managed is still under discussion.

 

Obviously the announcement has raised a number of questions outside those mentioned above. We are still working through some of these, but I wanted to try and address as many as I could.

 

Regarding PSG activity in the UK, it’s very much business as usual. Actually, it’s more than business as usual. PSG is a $40B annual business. We operate in 170 countries and have more than 180,000 channel partners. Whatever the future strategy, we have a mission and responsibility to all of our employees, customers and partners to continue to deliver fantastic products. To that end, you will see a ramping up of marketing and advertising activity in the UK as we look to raise awareness of our great products ranges like ENVY and TouchSmart for consumer and Elite and ProBooks for business users.

 

Another obvious question is why has HP decided to stop supporting webOS hardware devices. Due to market dynamics, significant competition and a rapidly changing environment, continuing to execute our former device approach was not in the best interest of HP and HP shareholders. HP is fully committed to the ongoing support and service of customers who purchased webOS devices.

 

I know that questions will remain, and I will do my very best to answer these as and when they arise. I apologize that we have been slow to answer some of the questions around webOS. The sheer scale of interest in the discounted products took us a little by surprise. We are now working on ensuring everyone that owns a webOS device has a positive experience.

 

And that is my focus now; to ensure each and every interaction with the PSG UK business, be that from a customer, reseller, partner or journalist is a positive one. These are changing but exciting times. My UK team and I are fully committed to leading this world class business to a new and prosperous future.

 

Very best regards

 

Paul Hunter on behalf of the UK and Ireland PSG management team

Synology Launch USB Station 2

Synology® Inc. today launched the new USB Station 2, an affordable and easy to use NAS server, featuring plug-and-play file sharing, multimedia content streaming, download without a PC and low power consumption of only 4W in operation, making it prefect for home to small office networks running multiplatform.

“USB Station 2 is the most affordable Synology’s NAS server ever. Almost everyone can afford it and experience the rich features of file sharing and multimedia enjoyment that delivered by its legendary Synology DiskStation Manager 3.0 (DSM 3.0) operating system,” said Chad Cheng, product specialist of Synology Inc.

By simply plugging in any USB storage devices, USB Station 2 is ready to share files and multimedia content among Windows®, Mac and Linux, vastly increasing users’ work efficiency, yet decreasing IT administration cost. Synology’s groundbreaking File Browser feature delivers effortless and intuitive file sharing with the ease of file navigation in a web browser. The USB printer sharing capability further minimizes users’ expenses by sharing printing resources throughout the working environment.

USB Station 2 boasts versatile multimedia features that are available right out of the box. One of them is Audio Station 2 application that supports music, Internet radio stations, and iPod® playback with optional speakers. Streaming mode allows music to be shared with multiple users over the Intranet or Internet. Furthermore, DS audio smartphone application allows users to stream terabyte of music stored on USB Station 2 to iPhone®, iPod touch® or Andriod phone whenever Internet access is available.

Other key multimedia applications are Download Station 2 that functions as a 24/7 download center without a PC; iTunes Server that allows users to share music and video with other iTunes clients over the network; and the DLNA certified media server that allows users to stream multimedia files to a DLNA/UPnP compatible devices, including DMA, TV-set, Sony® PS3 or Microsoft® Xbox360.

“USB Station 2 lives up to our principle of being environmental friendly. It consumes only 4W in operation and enables the connected external hard drives hibernate,” added Cheng. “Together with its fan-less design, USB Station 2 not only reduces users’ carbon footprints but also brings them noiseless environments.”

This product interests me a great deal, expect to see a review on the Geekanoids Channel very soon.

The Two Techies Podcast

The Two Techies is a weekly podcast, hosted by Jamie Bunting and Aaron Fisher they discuss the latest and most interesting technology news with the occasional guest on every few episodes. On today's show the guys invited me along to share my views on the tech news of the week. It certainly was a pleasant experience, with a very relaxed format and I am sure you will enjoy a listen. There is some great coverage on this podcast, so I urge you to check it out and subscribe in iTunes. You can also find more information here.

Crucial Solid State Drives now with Data Transfer Kits

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the Crucial RealSSD C300 with Data Transfer Kit available with the 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB C300 drives. This convenient product bundle includes a Crucial RealSSD C300 solid-state drive, a SATA-to-USB data cable, and cloning software. 

Migrating from a traditional hard drive to a solid-state drive offers improved boot up and application load times. In addition, SSDs run cooler, quieter, and with more durability when compared to a traditional hard drive. However, transferring data from an existing hard drive to a new SSD can prove a daunting task to many notebook or desktop computer users.

In three easy steps, the Crucial Data Transfer Kit provides users with a simple solution for copying everything on an existing hard drive and transferring it to a Crucial RealSSD C300 drive – including the operating system, data, email settings, applications, and more. This new Crucial kit makes it as simple as connecting the SATA-to-USB cable to the RealSSD and the USB port on a notebook, running the cloning software, and swapping out the old drive with the new Crucial RealSSD.

 “After pushing SSD performance to new levels with technical innovations, we turned our attention to simplifying the upgrade process for users. We succeeded in creating a convenient, start-to-finish solution,” said Rob Wheadon, Lexar Media senior worldwide SSD product manager. “We’re pleased to offer a solution that enables users to get their Crucial RealSSD C300 products up and running in three easy steps.”

All capacities of the Crucial RealSSD C300 drives are available through select resellers worldwide and online at www.crucial.com/ssd, www.crucial.com/uk/ssd, or www.crucial.com/eu/ssd.