Last month Verbatim announced their latest gadgets in portable disk storage the Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive range (320GB and 500GB). I’ve been playing around with it for the last couple of days and I really wish I could keep it for myself – I like its stylish black finish, ease-of-setup and of course portability. Check out it’s size compared to my iPhone 3GS above.

The Turbo USB technology that comes packaged with the Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive is very handy especially when transferring large amounts of data. You’ll notice around a 25% increase compared to normal USB 2.0 transfer speeds which is mainly attributed to Quality Of Service that the software executes on the connection.

Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive 320GB Giveaway Details

* COMPETITION NOW CLOSED. JUDGES WILL CONFIRM WINNER THIS WEEK *

Yes, as promised in the title of this blog post, we’re giving away ONE Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive 320GB to one of our beloved readers. All you have to do is comment below on what you like best about the Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive 320GB and how it would improve your work life. This giveaway is open to all readers across the world (because it’s cheap to ship). We’ll select the best comment and winner at the end of this month (February 2010). Go for it!

Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive (320GB) Press Release
Melbourne, 22 January 2010 – Verbatim are adding to their
Portable Hard Drive line-up with the launch of the Mobile Hard
Drive, a portable 2.5″ Hard Drive in a stylish piano black
casing. The new hard drives are available in 320GB and 500GB
capacities and are Verbatim’s most compact and lightweight 2.5″
drives yet.

External Power: USB Port
Interface: One USB Mini-B port
Data Transfer Rate: USB 2.0: 480 Mbit/s (max)
Software: Turbo Speed 2.0 (Windows only)
System Requirements: USB Port, Windows 2000, XP, Vista or
Windows7, PowerPC G5 or Intel Mac,
Pre-Formatted HDD: FAT 32
Unit Dimensions: 11.5 x 7.6 x 1.2cm
Unit Weight: 140g
Warranty: 2-Year Limited Warranty
Package Includes: Hard Drive, USB 2.0 cable
Capacities: 320GB & 500GB
Part Numbers: 320GB – 62872, 500GB – 62873

The Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive features USB Turbo Speed improving
transfer speeds by up to 25% via the USB 2.0 interface. Palm
sized and lightweight, the Mobile Hard Drive is easy to carry
with you weighing only 140grams and with an ultra compact size of
only 11.5 x 7.6 x 1.2cm making it remarkably smaller than other
2.5″ drives on offer. The Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive is USB 2.0
bus powered (1x USB 2.0 interface) and requires no external power
for operation, simply plug’n'play.

USB turbo software
The increase in data transfer speeds of up to 25%* via “Turbo
USB” is realised by a special filter driver. TurboUSB creates a
QOS (Quality of Service) to let USB devices work more
efficiently. USB protocol is changed from single task to multi
task. Data packet size is increased which reduces the USB
overhead. Therefore, equipped with TurboUSB the Verbatim Mobile
Hard Drive can save more time by shortening the data transfer
time.

The Mobile Hard Drive is compatible with the Windows 7, Vista and
XP operating systems. A reassuring LED light on the front of the
drive is illuminated when data is being transferred.

*Actual performance may vary and will depend upon the hardware /
software specifications / settings of the device in which the
item is used.

Pricing and Availability
The Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive is available now with a
recommended retail price of $119.00 for 320GB and $159.95 for
500GB.

About Verbatim
Since 1969, Verbatim has been shaping the development of data
storage technology – from Floppy Disks and Magneto-Optical
storage media, CD and DVD formats to the latest High Definition
media Blu-ray. Moreover, Verbatim offers high quality products in
the field of Portable USB Drives, Flash Memory Cards, SSD and
External Hard Drives as well as a broad variety of computer
Accessories. Verbatim is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical
Group and benefits from the outstanding research and development
department. With these innovations Verbatim has played a key role
in shaping the storage media market. Ultra-strict quality
controls during the manufacturing process ensure the high quality
of Verbatim’s products, which have been the winners of numerous
international comparative tests. The company is the worldwide
leader for Optical Media.

Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive Product Page

Things are getting out of control. I’m finding that I’m getting closer and closer to reaching data capacity on my laptop with all the digital photos and videos that I have been taking lately. It doesn’t help that I’m using a 21 MegaPixel camera that records HD Video – files can be huge! So in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been scouring newsagent PC sections and the web for the best possible network data storage solution.

Network Access Storage (NAS) Requirements

Here are some my requirements for a NAS device:

• Fast data upload and download
• Compatible with PC and MAC (I’m aiming to replace my Windows Laptop with a MacBook Pro soon)
• Able to share data with other computers on home network
• Wireless connectivity
• User friendly interface
• Able to remotely access data remotely
• Dual drive bay
• Automated backup ability

Today I received an email from NETGEAR’s promotional team with a couple of new products and one of these was the new Netgear Stora. It seems to meet all the above requirements so I’ll definitely check it out in more details in the next couple of days. Here’s some more information on the NETGEAR Stora below:

NETGEAR Stora – 1TB Home Media Network Storage (MS2110)

A home media hub with remote access, even from a phone!

• Centralize all your digital media (videos, music, photos) in a single, safe location
• One 1TB drive included
• Works with PCs, Macs and web-enabled phones
• Two hot-swap drive bays
• Mirroring option (add a second drive and automatically duplicate the first)
• Integrates with online services like Facebook, iTunes®, Flickr™

NETGEAR Stora puts music, photos, videos and other important data at the heart of your home network.

NETGEAR Stora Demonstration Video

SAN JOSE, Calif. — September 21, 2009 — NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically innovative, branded networking solutions, and network storage leader in the business and prosumer market with its ReadyNAS® line, today announced NETGEAR Stora, a new, easy-to-use network attached storage (NAS) device for home media. Stora enables consumers to easily centralize photos, music, movies and files and use them on nearly any network device. With a smooth user interface designed for non-technical users, Stora lets consumers easily share their photos and videos with friends without the time-consuming process of uploading them to Internet sites or transferring them over email. Through an intuitive and graphical user interface on www.MyStora.com, users and their designated friends and relatives can remotely access their media files from any Internet-connected device, such as laptops, PCs and smartphones.

“We strongly feel that Stora exemplifies the next-generation of consumer storage devices,” said Drew Meyer, director of marketing for NETGEAR’s Network Storage Business Unit. “NETGEAR has already made its mark in the business and prosumer market with our ReadyNAS line, but Stora is most definitely a platform for everyone. Stora gives users the features they need today with a consumer-friendly user interface and price point, making their media available to them and their designated friends and families anytime, anywhere—even on mobile smartphones. It truly sets a new bar for the consumer network storage market.”

Store: Compatible with Mac, PC and Linux systems, NETGEAR’s Stora puts music, movies, photos, and files at the heart of the home network, centralized in a single, safe location.

Share: With remote access via www.MyStora.com, Stora enables cross-platform file sharing, music listening, movie watching and photo sharing from any Internet-connected device. In addition to sharing files over the web, users can also share photos, videos and files between home computers and home media players. Stora can centralize music collections and play music through iTunes®. It can also automatically integrate content with remote photo frames and social networking sites such as Facebook. Stora can also serve content to other networked devices such as Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-enabled photo frames, XBox 360® and PlayStation® 3 game consoles, and iPhone® and Blackberry® mobile phones.

Protect: With two standard drive bays that automatically mirror data, Stora offers plug-and-play protection that safeguards valuable data. Users can simply add a second drive, on the fly, without any tools. Stora also comes with automatic backup utilities for PCs and Macs, so individual system content is backed up regularly.

“Today’s consumers face a conundrum when trying to manage newly acquired or created digital content among various computing devices inside and outside the home,” said David Reinsel, group vice president of IDC’s storage and semiconductor research groups. “Historically, personal storage devices have proven competent at providing reliable storage capacity and data protection within the home, but not always accessible from outside the home or across multiple devices. With this new product, NETGEAR looks to solve these common problems for consumers.”

NETGEAR Stora (MS2110) comes with a 1 TB disk and one extra drive bay that can be used to insert an optional disk for mirroring. The product is immediately available through selected North American retail and e-commerce stores. Stora will be available from leading European and Asia Pacific retail locations in approximately two weeks. Stora is backed by a three-year warranty and 24/7 technical support and the Stora (MS2110) model has an MSRP in the U.S. of $229. An optional yearly premium service that supports additional remote access and third-party service integration such as Flickr, Picasa, YouTube and mobile phones, is available for $19.99 after an initial 30-day trial period.

Product details, instructional videos and other information are at http://www.netgear.com/stora.
Product photos can be downloaded from: http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage/Stora/MS2110.aspx.

Nokia has eliminated the monthly subscription for anytime files on their Ovi Files service! The pricing used to be a monthly fee, with the option for either a 10GB or 30GB bucket of online storage. Nokia Ovi Files provides 10GB of complementary service, which is certainly much appreciated.

Ovi Files is the result of Nokia’s purchase of Avvenu. Basically, there is a PC-based (Windows only, unfortunately) Ovi Files Agent that runs on your connected computers, constantly synchronizing files with the online server. Initially, the free version required that your home computer be on and connected in order for you to access your files. The ‘Anytime Files’ were ones that were copied onto Nokia’s server in your Ovi Files account, so that you could access them, well, anytime.

You can use Ovi Files for various purposes, usually installing things to various phones. There is a helpful widget that you can download, though it does not really do much, aside from automatically logging you in to the mobile site. We recently thought of a host of ways that Nokia could add some real value to the Ovi Files product, and I really hope that they were listening, because, especially now that it is free, they could really gain some attention with it.

Sign up for free Ovi Files service.

Not only does the  Iomega Prestige Desktop 1TB Hard Drive USB 2.0 provide a simple and affordable solution for all your storage needs, it also makes a swish gadget addition to one’s desktop.

Ideal for adding capacity to your system, this stylish drive offers a sturdy aluminum construction and included stand. Available in 500GB, 1TB and 1.5TB capacities, the Iomega Prestige Desktop 1TB Hard Drive is the easiest way to save photos, music, videos and more, plus the Prestige Desktop Hard Drive is powered by an Energy Star® qualified adapter for a better environment! EMC® Retrospect HD (PC) software license is included for easy file backup (software via download).

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Toshiba have added a 500GB version to their line of 2.5″ portable USB 2.0 External drives. That’s a lot of data storage in a small space!

Colors now available in Frost White, Electric Blue, Hot Rod Red and Carbon Grey.

Toshiba Portable USB External Hard Drive Description
Hassle-free, simple and easy, Toshiba’s external hard drives are the solution to your backup needs. The included NTI Shadow backup software eliminates the need to push a button or click an icon to activate a backup. Plug in the drive, load the software and you’ll have peace of mind in knowing that all of your important digital photos, music, movies and documents are backed up, protected and portable. The software runs in the background capturing updates to files and automatically saving them to the external drive.

Compatible with both Macs and PCs, it’s USB powered and ready to go wherever you need your data.

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