Verbatim, the storage media specialist, is 40 this year, and to mark the occasion the company is releasing a limited edition gold portable external hard drive.  The resplendent gold UV coating of the “Anniversary Edition” houses a 500 GB 2.5” hard drive and includes easy-to-use backup and synchronization software.  The drive is compatible for PCs and Macs and is available in shops for a limited period.

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The Dmailer backup software loaded on the drive is PC- and Mac-compatible. As it is an executable file, no installation is needed, which makes backing up very quick and easy for professionals and novices alike.

The Verbatim Sync software, which is also pre-loaded, supports users with reliable synchronisation of files and folders, from Microsoft Outlook or Windows mail contacts and calendar entries to documents, photos and videos.  This enables users to take the content of their PCs wherever they may go and to continue to work with it on other devices while away.  The Verbatim Sync software then synchronises it on their return, ensuring that the content is fully up to date.

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Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, today announced it has signed a partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s leading music company, to jointly promote the Smart Video Card as a new music distribution channel. Smart Video Card is a Gemalto innovation that embeds a DVD-compliant optical disc into the card body of a regular SIM card.

The Smart Video Card disc can be preloaded with 120MB of content which can be played in a standard DVD player. The disc pre-mastering can include audio and video encoding, and adding menus and navigation features providing the user with a full multimedia experience. This combined technology provides a unique medium for distribution of exclusive media content that can be enjoyed on the digital music player of choice, such as a PC, handset or MP3 player.

Through this partnership for the world outside North America, Gemalto will be able to exclusively offer UMG content along with its SIM card products, while Universal Music Group International will promote Smart Video Card towards operators that the music group is already working with to deliver online content.

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QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced a ground-breaking upgrade to the NAS management software that powers its Turbo NAS lineup of ultra-high performance NAS servers. Version 3.1 of the NAS management software, embedded as firmware, adds significant new features including virtual disk support (up to 8 virtual disks via iSCSI expansion over the network), exclusive QNAP RAID Recovery that can recover a degraded or inactive RAID 1, 5, or 6 due to unintentional removal of drives. Network Discovery Services are enhanced with new Bonjour support offering zero-configuration networking for HTTP, SAMBA, FTP, AFP, and SSH based networks, and full UPnP support. Other new features of the 3.1 firmware include EXT4 support for very large volumes and file sizes, SNMP support, and bitmap support for faster rebuilding of RAID volume after a crash or adding/removing a drive.

The new 3.1 NAS management firmware ushers in a completely new AJAX based User Interface that allows easy NAS configuration via a Web interface allowing less technical-savvy users to easily install the NAS server on the network with simple wizards for adding new users, and setting up services. The new UI supports Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari (version 3 & 4), FireFox 3, and Google's Chrome web browsers. Administrators can choose from 3 different color themes, 15 languages, and even enable a QNAP RSS feed that will keep them up to date with important product news and updates.

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Dedicated to fulfilling the demanding requirements of performance-conscious photographers, Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend), a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, proudly releases its Extreme Plus 600X CompactFlash cards with Turbo MLC technology. These new 600X CF cards raise the bar with blazing fast transfer speeds of up to 92MB/s read and 87MB/s write, which makes them as ideal choice for professional photographers and enthusiasts who use digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras.

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Transcend’s Extreme Plus 600X CompactFlash cards operate in quad-channel mode using Ultra DMA (UDMA) 6, the fastest speed available for flash cards. In comparison with 300X CF cards, this new version offers nearly double the read write speeds for unparalleled file transfer performance. Taking full advantage of the UDMA interface, Transcend’s 600X CF cards are able to instantly store extremely high-resolution image data, which makes consecutive shooting and non-stop video recording easier than ever. With impressive transfer speeds and enormous storage capacity, users are guaranteed to get the very best performance results from their digital cameras and share their digital artwork with the world!

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Strengthening its line up of portable 1.8” hard drives for external storage markets, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced its 250 Gigabyte (GB) 1.8 inch hard disk drive, the Spinpoint N3U which incorporates a native USB controller on its printed circuit board. This optimized design results in a smaller foot print, less power consumption and optimized performance, which is ideal for portable external storage devices. The Spinpoint N3U stores up to 125 Gigabytes per platter for a total 250GB data storage capacity.

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Most external hard drives require the addition of a bridge circuit board to convert the hard drive’s PATA interface into a USB interface. Samsung’s N3U drive, however, uses a native USB interface and as such does not require this bridge board.

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Freecom, an award-winning manufacturer of external hard drives and portable storage devices, today launched the ‘Hard Drive Secure’, a compact, portable external hard drive that allows users to lock their data with a simple swipe of a keycard. The drive is the first in the Freecom range to offer this feature, making it perfect for both businesses that want to expand their external storage space without the risk of data breaches, and security conscious home users. Freecom also announced the launch of the new ‘Hard Drive Quattro’, which is the latest in the company’s line of aluminium external hard drives and ideally suited for AV professionals. 

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Access to data on the Hard Drive Secure is controlled with a keycard that uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Passing the keycard over the reader on the hard drive either locks or unlocks the system, giving users access to their data in seconds while ensuring that their files remain secure at all times. The Hard Drive Secure comes with two keycards, one of which can be stored away safely in case the first is lost. Designed in a credit card format that is convenient and discrete to carry around, the keycards can be easily slotted into a purse or wallet so they are always at hand when needed. The cards eliminate the need for passwords and are AES encrypted to provide ultimate data protection – even if the drive is stolen, unauthorised users would have no way of accessing the files stored on it.

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Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their Torqx M28 Series with capacities in 128GB and 256GB, backed by a new industry leading 10 year warranty for all Torqx SSD products.

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The Torqx M28 SSD has been specifically designed with cutting-edge technology by increasing the DRAM cache from 64MB to 128MB of cache in conjunction with its current NAND flash technology. The ultimate result is an SSD that allows faster transfer rates between the controller and the host device. Compared to today’s hard drives, the Torqx SSD provides for better stability, faster access times, and lower power consumption. Consumers will also find added value with Patriot's included SSD bracket which makes using SSDs universal across all platforms; desktop or mobile.

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LaCie announced today its LaCinema Rugged multimedia hard drive is now available in High Definition – LaCinema Rugged HD. The LaCinema Rugged product range has the most compact, reliable, and mobile multimedia players on the market. Now, with enhanced HD capability, the LaCinema Rugged HD is the first multimedia player in its class, to allow users to store and play High Definition content – on any HDTV in Full-HD 1080p resolution.

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The LaCinema Rugged HD comes with 500GB* of built-in storage capacity, allowing users to store and instantly watch their favorite television shows and movies, listen to music, and display photo slideshows with their family and friends. Compatible with any HDMI supported display, the LaCinema Rugged HD brings multimedia functionality to users while in the home or on-the-go.

Compatible with both Windows and Mac environments, the LaCinema Rugged HD requires a single USB 2.0 cable, connected to the computer for easy, bus-powered multimedia loading. Once the media content is transferred to the LaCinema Rugged HD, it is ready to be viewed on any display with an HDMI connection. The HDMI cable is included for user convenience. For optimized viewing, the LaCinema Rugged HD supports most of standard and high-definition video codecs (H.264, MKV, WMV9, MPEG-4) to ensure easy High Definition playback.

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A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the worldwide leader in DRAM modules and Flash application products, recently launched its 500 series 2.5” SATA II S592 SSD, a highly anticipated product that is compatible with Microsoft® Windows® 7.

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Taking advantage of the latest technical breakthrough, the S592 adopts new controller design and utilizes mobile SDRAM as cache to decrease data access time, enables the SSD to quickly access and seek the data. In terms of performance, S592 achieves a sustained read rate at 230MB/sec and write rate at 170MB/sec with an impressive performance of 6,740 IOPS at sequential read and 2,851 IOPS at write.

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From the Sea of Eternal Kingdom, Mia, Eike and their loving and trustworthy pet whale, “Jing-Bao” venture to the dry lands in search of the “Memory Seal” that has been long lost and forgotten! Their adventures begin here. Silicon Power releases Unique 520, a cute eastern style figurine USB flash drive. Figurines are based on the characters Mia and Eike that can be used as storage devices or as decoration accessories.

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Silicon Power’s Unique 520 is a product based on the new chain-hook design concept. Showing off creativity, it was sought after by buyers who attended the 2009 Computex. The chain-hook design allows users to use the product as a decoration accessory to their purse, clothing, keychain, etc. The ID design outline is of a whale shape with a cheerful look figurine design. The words whale and cheerful in Chinese are abbreviated and pronounced as “Jing-Xi”, phonetically identical to “surprise” in Chinese. This is the feeling Silicon Power wants to bring to their customers, a chain-reaction of cheerful surprises every time! Another design concept is that Unique 520 offers couple matching ID design. Users can choose according to their preferences.

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