100GB
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T-Mobile details its plan to give free internet to 10 million homes
Last year, T-Mobile CEO John Legere promised to provide free internet for 10 million US homes in an effort to eliminate the “homework gap” — provided its merger with Sprint went through. Now that merger has happened, the combined company has opened up applications for its “Project 10Million” plan and revealed how it will work.
Singulus tests 100GB, 4K-ready Blu-ray discs
The Blu-ray Disc Association has teased that a 4K-friendly disc format is coming, but Singulus isn't willing to wait to make some announcements of its own. The German company just finished production tests of a Blu-ray disc that squeezes 100GB into three layers, making it "ideal" for 4K movies. Sounds good, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the company hasn't said much more about the technology -- we don't know if the discs have the BDA's support, whether they're compatible with existing players, or when they enter mass production. We've reached out for more details; in the meantime, we'd advise saving up for the exotic TV you'll need to watch 4K movies in any format. [Image credit: Diego Correa, Flickr]
LaCie's CloudBox 'hybrid HDD' doubles your backups in the cloud (video)
Tempted by the allure of the cloud? Still not quite ready to give up that local backup at home? Fret not, as LaCie's new CloudBox gives you a pinch of both. The gizmo pictured above may look similar to the company's Wireless Space NAS, but it's actually a 100GB "hybrid HDD." The device connects to a router exclusively via its single Ethernet port, enabling it to handle local backups while also automatically mirroring an AES encrypted copy to a cloud server daily -- even if your computer is off. Using LaCie's Online Restore software, the offsite copy is accessible by up to ten previous volumes should the box ever become inoperable. The CloudBox comes with a one year subscription for online backups (mum's the word on future fees), and will be available in July priced at $200. You'll find more details in the PR past the break, as well as a video showcasing a variety of unfortunate -- mostly baby induced -- situations it's intended for. %Gallery-127028%
Panasonic's first rewriteable 100GB BD-RE XL discs launch later this month
For those stuck between the flexibility of HDD storage and the archiving ease of BDXLs Panasonic is finally ready to bridge the gap with its new triple layer BD-RE XL discs, set to arrive April 15th in Japan. Being the first rewriteable BDXL is the LM-BE100J's claim to fame, which works out since the 10,000 yen ($118 US) asking price means buying two is probably out of the question. The latest burners from Pioneer and Buffalo already support the new discs, owners of other hardware may want to double check their spec sheets before ordering.
Pioneer and Buffalo announce first 128GB BDXL optical disc burners for PCs
The dream of burning 128GB of PC data onto a single optical disc just took a step closer to reality with the announcement of this BDXL burner (model BDR-206MBK) from Pioneer. Buffalo will ship it as both an external USB 2.0 model (BRXL-6U2) and internal SATA model (BRXL-6FBS-BK). The drive handles new 4-layer (128GB) and 3-layer (100GB) BD-R XL at 4x speeds in addition to 3-layer BD-RE XL and older BD-R/BD-R DL and BD-RE/BD-RE DL Blu-ray disc media. Pioneer will begin shipping the drive in November for an undisclosed price -- no word on pricing from Buffalo or when it'll have its act together to ship product.
Panasonic launches six new BDXL-compatible DVRs, the media you'll need to feed them
The BDXL format offers 100GB on a single-sided disc, and while that sounds great for archiving content, we're a little leery about Hollywood adopting it to stuff even more deleted scenes on our discs. Why? Because no current Blu-ray players can read the things, and we can't say we're keen to buy another. We're getting a little closer to that kind of support with Panasonic's new Diga-series recorders. There are six in total, all shipping on September 15 and each offering dual tuners used to stuff HDDs ranging from 500GB up to 2TB. From there, content can be dumped onto BDXL discs, so Panny is also announcing availability of its first 100GB, single-sided, write-once media. Naturally BDXLs can also be played back on the things and, in all but the smallest two models, can even be played in 3D. We're still warming up to 3D, Panasonic, don't push too much change too fast.
TDK inflates to BDXL, bringing 100GB writable Blu-ray discs in September
Why, it seems like only yesterday that 50GB was an awful lot of capacity. Now, not so much. BDXL discs are here to rescue your data, and TDK is the latest to roll out triple-decker discs with 100GB of capacity. As with the others, these discs will only work in BDXL-compatible readers and writers, meaning yet another early round of devices is in the process of being obsoleted. (Remember Profile 2.0?) These discs are set to ship in Japan in September, and sometime later will come the quadruple-decker BDXL discs with 128GB. We wonder, though: can a retail offering really be considered a "pack" if it only contains one disc?
Sharp intros first 100GB BDXL discs, Japan gets first dibs on July 30
It took a little while after the BDXL specification was finalized, but here's Sharp busting down the door to expanded storage with the first official products adhering to said spec. The new VR-100BR1 discs will use triple-layer fairy dust to squish 100GB of data inside, and Akihabara News reports that they'll be swiftly followed by quad-layer 128GB variants as well. Of course, every shiny new toy comes at a price, which in this case will be ¥5,000 per disc -- that equates to $57 and makes us wonder why we wouldn't just buy an external HDD with that cash. Perhaps because the slinky new Blu-ray media will be playable in that shiny new Sharp Blu-ray DVR you just bought? You did buy a Sharp DVR, right? Because the BD-HDW700/70 are the only models that will support these, at least for the moment.
128GB BDXL Blu-ray disc specification finalized... and fabulous!
Looks like the Blu-ray Disc Association has published the final specs for the monster BDXL disc, opening the way for manufacturers to start introducing the technology in their optical drives. Not too much here that we don't already know: aimed at institutions and folks who need to archive lots and lots of... stuff, BDXL discs are available in either triple layer 100GB (re-writable or write-once) or 128GB quad layer write-once flavors. Of course, with all these layers (or layuhs in Brooklyn) the laser in the Blu-ray drive you already own won't be able to do the trick, so start saving your change for a hardware upgrade once these things become commercially available. PR after the break.
Toshiba's latest HDDs are automotive-grade, dashboard-bound
We'd like to think that platters are a dying breed; that SSD-based mass storage will rule all our computing devices thanks to its increased durability, performance, and efficiency. Some folks are just stuck on platters, though, including Toshiba, which is introducing a new line of disks intended for in-car infotainment systems. The two current models come in 100 or 200GB capacities and, while they won't win any awards for their 4,200RPM rotational speeds, they will operate at a temperature range of -30 to 85 degrees celsius (that's -22 to 185F) while offering vibration resistance of up to 2Gs and operational shock survivability of up to 300Gs. If you can avoid firing your minivan out of a gauss rifle in Minnesota in February this could be the drive for you.
Blu-ray Discs expand to 128GB under new BDXL spec
This probably isn't a response to the 3D onslaught or even "superbit" releases like the upcoming Avatar 2D disc, but just in case the standard 50GB Blu-ray discs were beginning to feel a bit -- how do you say... cramped? -- the Blu-ray Disc Association's rolling out a new BDXL format capable of holding up to 128GB (write-once) or 100GB (rewriteable). Before you get too excited, you should know that you'll need a new player to access these -- even a firmware update won't save the PS3 this time -- since they go up to three or four layers deep and will likely need a more powerful laser. While our home movies can be compressed just fine, corporations currently still using other mediums for archiving might appreciate the extra space, as well as the new IH-BD discs, designed with one 25GB read-only layer, and one 25GB rewritable layer on the same platter. If you're looking for a place to permanently back up that super high-res "amateur photography," take heart -- a consumer version is in the works, though it will first be aimed at markets where Blu-ray Disc recorders are popular, or available at all (read: maybe Japan, definitely not the US). No word when the new hardware will actually hit the market, but final specs are due "in the next few months." In the meantime, check out the full details after the break.
RunCore's 100GB Pro V solid state drive gets benchmarked, loved
RunCore's had a thing for delivering high-speed, enthusiast-level SSDs, and if you managed to pass right over the Pro IV, you may find the urge linked to the Pro V a bit too much to resist. TweakTown was able to spend some quality time with the device, which includes a SandForce 1500 controller and low(er)-cost MLC flash. Without getting into the dirty-dirty (trust us, you'll find plenty of charts in the source below), we'll pass along the following note: "we feel comfortable saying that the Pro V will be the enthusiast SSD to which all others will be compared to for the first half of 2010." Of course, with the speed worries behind us, the only question remaining is cost -- which always seems to best the case with SSDs. We're told that it'll cost more than the Barefoot-powered Pro IV, but with competition in the market heating up, hopefully the MSRP won't sting too badly.
New Blu-ray laser from Sharp burns triple, quad layer discs but can't cut red tape (yet)
Sharp stepped up at the 70th Autumn Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics to promote its new 500mW Blu-ray laser that is reportedly production ready and waiting to churn out triple and quad layer (100GB) discs at 8x speed. The only thing holding it back from release now is the lack of an official spec from the BDA. Geeking out over details of the aluminum oxynitride film that enabled this breakthrough (pictured above) continues beyond the read link.[Via Blu-ray.com]
Time Warner Cable creates $150 unlimited broadband tier
Amid complaints of price gouging over the new broadband pricing structure its been testing out in select U.S. cities, Time Warner Cable has announced two new tiers for users with varying internet consumption habits. First, for just $15, you can sign yourself up for a 1GB per month contract, which will ... oh, come on. None of you use under 1GB a month. That's ridiculous. It takes more than 1GB to view our front page, due to our extreme high-def JPEGs.The other tier of interest is the 100GB plan, which runs users $75 dollars a month. Each additional gigglebyte over that will cost $1, though Time Warner plans on placing a $75 cap on overage fees. Basically, for $150, you get unlimited high-speed internet. A hundy-and-a-half? Man, that's pocket change for us media maven types. We make $150 for every sentence in our posts. Which is good. Money, we mean. We like it. It's great. (Ka-ching!)
Pretec breaks records, banks with 100GB, 64GB, and ultra-fast 32GB CF cards
Remember the days when 64GB sounded huge for a CompactFlash card? Well, now you can pick up the world's largest CF: a 100GB Pretec 233x operating at a zippy 35MB/sec. And if that's not big enough for you, through some kind of crazy voodoo magic (aka Pretec Q-SATA) four 64GB cards can be transformed into a 256GB SATA drive -- assuming you have $1,596 burning a hole in your pocket. And if speed is your game, Pretec can outfit you with a 333x 32GB CF card running at a record-breaking 50MB/sec for merely $630 -- chump change, right? [Via Business Wire]
Hitachi's 100GB Blu-ray disc drive
Sure, it's just a prototype for now, but we can't help but feel a bit smitten with any drive capable of playing 100GB of data off a single 4-layer optical disc. The BD camp was also touting 200GB, 8-layer discs as they have since 2004 (at least) while showing off the components that will usher in 8x performance (double-that of existing commercial gear) in a more realistic timeframe. When that might be exactly, no one's willing to say.
Sony's 100GB HDR-SR8 AVCHD Handycam: Europe and Canada only?
We're not sure what's going on with Sony, but it looks like they've also loosed a 100GB HDR-SR8 Handycam everywhere but the US. That's 38-hours of LP-mode recording, kids when the camcorder ships in July. Europeans and Canadians at least, will have dibs on the SR8 in addition to the same 1080i goodness loosed in The States: the crazy small HDR-CX7, the 40GB HDR-SR5, and the 60GB HDR-SR7. Other than the bigger disk, the SR8 is feature identical to the SR7. So what gives Sony? Of course, we've seen our Canadian brethren receive special treatment from Sony before. Anyway, next time you cross the Detroit border for smokes and teenage drinking, don't forget to pick up a few US$1670 SR8s for your pals at Engadget. Thanks. [Via LetsGoDigital] Read -- Canada Read -- Europe
Correction: no 100GB 360 HDD, claims Microsoft
Despite clear indication at X06 Korea, Microsoft insists there are no plans to release a 100GB hard drive for Xbox 360 next March. The official statement is as follows:"The reference to a 100GB hard drive in a recent presentation in Korea has been misleading and in fact we have no plans to bring a 100GB hard drive to the market. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused."When questioned, Microsoft reps did concede that a larger (more competitive) drive was still a possibility, but reiterated that such an accessory would not be announced in the near future.
100GB HD at X06 Korea confirmed fake
In a crushing blow to people who believe everything they see on the internet, German-language blog Xbox-Archiv.de reports (crappy English web translation here) that Microsoft Senior Product Manager Boris Schneider-Johne confirmed the 100GB 360 hard drive supposedly pictured at X06 Korea is a photo-shopped fake. According to Boris, there was no such product announcement. Additionally, Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb told our own Richard Mitchell that the 100GB tale "looks like fiction" to him. This should clear up the confusion resulting from conflicting reports on the veracity of this story. [Thanks Ankalagon]
Microsoft sez 100GB Xbox 360 HDD is "not official"
Ok, so we did mention that the oh-so-thrilling "100GB" overlay supposedly seen in the mysterious PowerPoint slide at Korea's X06 seemed a bit out of place, and now we're hearing from Microsoft itself that it's probably too good to be true. Correspondence with the console's creator has elicited comments dubbing the announcement "misleading" and "not reflective of an official announcement of any kind," but it curiously failed to give an outright proclamation citing the photo as burlesquely. Nevertheless, the company claims it has "nothing to announce with regard to a larger hard drive" at this precise moment in time, but it certainly didn't go out of its way to slam this proverbial door shut.
