Back for more, eh? Well you've come to the right place -- the Engadget Podcast! Join Josh, Paul, and Nilay as they take you on a magical journey through the trials and tribulations of the BlackBerry Storm, investigate the legal situation of the Apple-cloning operation known as Psystar, dish on the latest Zune and Xbox happenings, and lament the forthcoming death of FireWire as it cedes its high-speed throne to USB 3.0. And just think, access to this treasure-trove of information is yours free of charge!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, and Nilay Patel
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Paranoid

00:02:25 - BlackBerry Storm review
00:32:35 - Psystar's antitrust claims against Apple dismissed
00:53:59 - Microsoft revamps Zune Pass: keep ten tracks per month forever and ever
01:02:43 - Microsoft ratchets down pricing on flash-based Zunes
01:02:39 - NXE hitting 360s with red ring, freezing and sorta-sexy-avatar issues?
01:06:45 - Goodbye, FireWire 400

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Okay, so this adapter doesn't directly convert a FireWire 400 socket into a USB port, but for all intents and purposes here, it does as much. You see, Scosche's Passport was designed to channel the energy from older FireWire-based iPod charging gear into the USB prongs that the newer iPhone / iPods only accept. Macworld was able to get ahold of one for review, and in testing, it found that everything worked well when toying with new iPods, and while it was designed specifically for in-car applications, critics found that it even worked (albeit inelegantly) with dock-cradle accessories. Was it worth $30? Absolutely, so long as you'd rather burn $30 than replace that mess of wires you've got behind the dashboard (and you would).

It's debatable whether or not Apple is losing its touch with FireWire, but you can rest assured that OWC hasn't. Said outfit has just announced the industry's first Blu-ray external drive with a quad interface, meaning you can link it up to your PC or Mac via FireWire 400, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 or eSATA. The Mercury Pro SW-5583 arrives with the capability to toast BD-Rs at a rate of 4x and includes a pair of 25GB BD-R discs for $499.99; the closely related Mercury Pro SW-5583T throws in a full retail version of Roxio Toast 9 Titanium (OS X) and sells for $579.99. Now, if only we could convince Steve that Blu-ray and Macs could indeed get along together, we'd really be satisfied. Full release after the break.

While FireWire 800 gear is still pretty rare and we've only seen one piece of FireWire 1600 kit, the IEEE is still pushing the standard forward -- it's just approved the 1394-2008 spec, which includes both FireWire 1600 and 3200. Interestingly, the spec is fully backwards compatible with both 400 and 800 ports, but it remains to be seen which connector gets used more prevalently. We'll find out in October, when the spec is made available to manufacturers -- looks like that controversial 2010 launch of USB 3.0 just got upstaged a little, huh?

[Via CrunchGear]

For those whose major complaint about the Drobo was its lack of FireWire 800, today's your day. The new version of the virtualized-storage device features the much requested interface (and a second port for daisy-chaining), but despite the fact that it still lacks built-in Ethernet / WiFi, it does come equipped with an upgraded processor to better take advantage of FireWire 800's higher throughput, as well as a much larger, quieter case fan. Data Robotics claims their new model can achieve data transfer speeds of more than 2x over the original model, as well as outperform ReadyNAS and LaCie models (in RAID 1/5) when tested with identical drives.

The price stays the same at $500 for the device itself, and (as before) you can buy it bundled with two 1TB drives (for $900) or four 1TB drives (for $1,300). For those waiting for the price to dip even lower, Data Robotics is also clearing out inventory on its earlier model; until they sell out, first-gen Drobos will be going for $350, or $750 and $1,075 bundled with two and four 1TB drives, respectively.

Alright, so we've harshed a little bit on FireWire recently, but we've got to stop and give the venerable interconnect some love: the 1394 Trade Association says that there are now over a billion FireWire ports out there. That's quite an accomplishment, even if we're not so sure that the group's claim that "every 1394-equipped device sold now has 1 billion opportunities to connect" is the most accurate or useful way of measuring the success of the technology. Even still, growth is always a good thing, and with an estimated 15 percent expansion rate in existing markets and some new applications like in-car networking showing potential, it looks like FireWire is set to hold its own against USB and eSATA for a while longer.

The 1394 Trade Association is already talking up FireWire S3200, but Symwave is taking baby steps, demonstrating a 1.6Gbps system known as S1600 (shocking) that's backwards-compatible with FireWire 800 and 400 this week at a conference in China. That's great and all -- transferring 1000 four megapixel images in five seconds sure sounds like a good time -- but speeds like that probably aren't going to cut it when FireWire 800 devices are already thin on the ground, everyone's looking forward to S3200, and the 4.8Gbps USB 3.0 spec is already making appearances on schedule for a launch in 2010. Not to mention that Wireless USB 1.1's target speed is 1.0Gbps -- you know we'll take a slight speed hit if we can ditch the cables.

[Via PC World; Warning: PDF read link]

Just like fine wine, the HDD Stage Rack keeps getting better with age. On its third iteration now, the latest version of the external HDD cradle not only includes the obligatory USB and eSATA ports, but it also boasts a 6-pin FireWire 400 connector and two FireWire 800 sockets. 'Course, this thing isn't slated to be available for US hands until the end of this month, but that'll give you a few weeks to swallow the lofty $165.33 price tag, at least.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Iomega's svelte portable eGo hard drive lineup got quite a bit of love the first time around, and Iomega is working in new sizes and plugs at this year's Macworld. The 2.5-inch drive now comes in 160GB and 250GB sizes, priced $140 and $210, respectively, for the USB 2.0 versions, while the Dual Interface editions (which toss in FireWire 400) will run you $160 and $230, respectively. Both versions can be powered straight from the data plug. The drives are available now in Cherry Red, Jet Black, Midnight Blue and Alpine White.

USB 3.0 really threw down this September with a theoretical max throughput of 4Gbps, but it looks like FireWire isn't going down without a fight. The latest and greatest FireWire version, dubbed "S3200" by those creatives up in marketing, uses the same ports and cables as FireWire 800, but boosts speeds to 3.2Gbps, which should make it pretty competitive with USB in the real world -- though actual real-life speeds will probably depend on who's adding up the bits. According to the 1394 Trade Association: "The S3200 standard will sustain the position of IEEE 1394 as the absolute performance leader," but we hear they're biased. They are claiming that where current FireWire 800 hard drives can move 90MB per second, S3200 should be able to do 400MB. Speed concerns aside, the power delivery, peer to peer architecture, and handy networking capabilities of 1394 mean that FireWire should hopefully be around for a long time to come.

[Via Slashdot]

Far too many peripheral hubs are cranked out without a single thought given to design, but thankfully, the creators of the Medusa Hub realized that aesthetics do matter. This interesting piece, which is sure to claim a section of prime real estate on your desk, boasts a trendy white finish, four USB 2.0 sockets, a pair of FireWire 400 connectors, a fan and even a light. All of the strands are connected to your PC / Mac via an upstream USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 jack, and the unit is available now for a lofty (but respectable) $79.99. Click on through for a few more snapshots.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

Update: Yeah, look familiar? Seems a lot like these guys swiped LaCie's Huby images or concept to us. You be the judge.

Intel's announced USB 3.0 specification could push throughput beyond 4Gbps (300MBps) at the application level while introducing Quality of Service in support of HD video streams. Besides supplanting Firewire once and for all, a clear goal of the new "SuperSpeed USB" is to keep up with the transfer speeds of flash chips. "We don't want to be the bottleneck in the system," says Intel's Jeff Ravencraft who is overseeing the 3.0 initiative. Intel, HP, Microsoft, NEC, NXP, and TI will present the initial spec for a design review in November with first silicon to be stamped in "early 2009." While the new interconnect (pictured) will remain backward compatible with USB 2.0 and prior devices, new cables laced with an optical link and a max length of 2-meters will be required to take advantage of those high speeds according to a senior engineering manager with NEC. Meanwhile, a 1Gbps throughput is being targeted with Ravencraft's other baby: Wireless USB 1.1. Sounds great, but with existing 480Mbps Wireless USB silicon only achieving about 40Mbps in practice, Intel would be wise to focus on efficiency, not theory. Of course, it's all just a lot of smack-talk 'til they deliver, but with Apple running Intel inside now, Sony putting USB in their camcorders, and eSATA proliferating for external disks... well, Firewire's days sure seem numbered.

[Via EETimes and The Inquirer]

LaCie's 4TB Biggest Quadra certainly isn't the largest drive to rock the LaCie badge, but it does give users four ways to sync it up with their PC or Mac. The four-disk RAID drive touts FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces, supports RAID levels 0, 0+1 and 5, and will automatically shut down if temperates get too high. Reportedly, the device will ship with backup and recovery software and is slated to land in October for $2,199, right alongside the $1,099 2TB and $1,599 3TB versions.

[Via TGDaily]

Those making their ends in the video production biz just might fall head over heels for the V3HD, you know, if you're down with an all-in-one solution for capturing SD / HD video as well as audio on the side. This semi-professional device can handle up to 32-channels of simultaneous audio input and output, touts HDMI output for watching your work on nearly any display, and includes just about every input you could ask for including HD / SD BNC connections, component, composite, S-Video, FireWire 400 / 800, RS-422, and XLR ins / outs for starters. You'll find MOTU's Video Console software bundled in, but both Mac and PC users will have no qualms syncing this up with their favorite editing suite. Expect to see this thing ship sometime in Q3, but as of now, there's no telling how much loot it'll demand.

[Thanks, Kaku]