TimeCapsule -- Engadget

TimeCapsule posts

2TB Time Capsule in the works?

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 6th 2009 at 3:36PM

Apple just updated the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule last month, so we don't know if the timing is right for a storage bump, but tipster Brandon just noticed that the ClubMac's promo pic of the TC box features an unmistakable 2TB badge. Makes sense to us -- 500GB is laughably small for a device designed to back up multiple machines, and standard-height 2TB drives are now available from Western Digital and soon from Seagate. We'll keep an eye out -- anyone else hear anything?

[Thanks, Brandon]

Screen Grabs: Time Capsule holds all sorts of Life's secrets

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 10th 2009 at 6:08AM

Screen grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.

While Reese got grilled and Crews got one step closer to figuring out who stabbed him in the back decades ago, Robert Stark happened upon what Captain Tidwell thought was a small computer. Clearly, someone failed to tip him off on the fact that a Time Capsule isn't in any way a Mac mini. Ah well, at least some gal finally convinced him to get a haircut.

Gallery: Screen Grabs: Time Capsule holds all sorts of Life's secrets

Apple rumor Monday, late edition: leaked specs, model numbers, announcement tomorrow?

by Nilay Patel, posted Mar 2nd 2009 at 6:52PM

The flood of Apple hardware rumors just won't let up -- not only did commenters dig through those Airport Extreme and Time Capsule FCC filings and find evidence that the new models will indeed support simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation, we've got iMac model numbers and leaked specs for Mac mini and Mac Pro, all of which are said to be arriving as soon as tomorrow. Of course, given the conservative / obvious nature of these updates, all of this information could be coming from some fanboy lair deep in a parents' basement somewhere and still sound plausible, but hey -- we'll find out soon enough, right? Here's what we know so far:

The iMac will apparently come in an entry level MB147 20-inch model, as well as three 24-inch SKUs: MB148 "mass-market," MB149 "high-end," and MB420 "ultimate." All models will go to mini DisplayPort and feature Core 2 Duos up to 3.06GHz.
The Mac mini will indeed feature five USB ports and that funky dual mini-DVI / mini DisplayPort configuration, but it's also apparently going to an NVIDIA chipset like the MacBooks and iMac. The base MB463 model will start with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, and there's also a "high-end" MB464 configuration.
The Mac Pro will come in eight-core configurations from 3.0GHz to 3.6GHz and 16-core configurations in 3.6GHz and 4.0GHz flavors, and it sounds like it's going to be even funkier on the video tip -- our tipster says it has two regular DVI ports and a mini DisplayPort. Sure, okay. It's also apparently a bit lighter than the current model, at 35 pounds instead of 42.
Tipster Tom noted that the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule FCC filings contain direct references to simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation, so that's looking even more probable.

Obviously we'll let you know if all this stuff slips out with no fanfare tomorrow, but with PMA and CeBIT both going on right now, we think that March 24 date is more likely -- Apple does like to hog the attention, after all. Anyone else have any secrets to share? We're all ears.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Apple rumor Monday: Nehalem Mac Pro, new Airport Extreme and Time Capsule in FCC, Mac mini box

by Nilay Patel, posted Mar 2nd 2009 at 2:17PM

Lots of Apple rumors today following the weekend whispers of a March 24 desktop hardware event, and they fall neatly along the plausibility spectrum:

First up, we'd say a bump of the Mac Pro to Intel's upcoming Nehalem-EP Xeon processors is looking quite likely -- famed OS X hacker netkas was poking around in a test build of OS X 10.5.7 and found support files for i7 chips lurking about, as well as drivers for ATI's Radeon 4000-series GPUs. If you're making a chart, this one's right up there with an NVIDIA-powered iMac refresh -- it's a pretty obvious move.
Second, new entries for the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule have popped up in the FCC, and while the listed dimensions are exactly the same as the current editions, there are no model numbers and something internal has to have changed enough to raise ol' Sammy's brows. That could be as simple as a new radio hardware supplier or bigger drives, but if we were placing bets, we'd say both units are getting updated for simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation -- Apple's really high on 5GHz for laptops and Apple TV, but the iPhone and iPod touch are 2.4GHz-only. Let's call this one even odds, shall we?
Lastly, a new picture of that improbable five USB port Mac mini has surfaced, this time purporting to show the outside of the box. Considering the Photoshop wars the last image of this thing set off, we'd say this is the least likely candidate for a Philly Schills reveal, but then again, Apple's been pretty leaky lately.

That's everything we know -- anyone else have something to share with the group?

Read - Ars Technica on the Mac Pro
Read - New Airport Extreme FCC listing
Read - New Time Capsule FCC listing
Read - One More Thing Mac mini image [Via TUAW]

How would you change Apple's Time Capsule?

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 28th 2008 at 7:21PM

Now that Time Machine's all buddy-buddy with AirPort Extreme's AirDisk feature, we can see the demand for Time Capsule sinking considerably. Still, Apple's own NAS drive / WLAN router combo has likely found its way into quite a few households, and now that you've had a chance to back up your life a couple times over, we're interested to see how you'd tweak things. Are you really pleased with the interface? Are transfers snappy enough? Want a little more freedom with how you're able to configure things? Would you rather it not function as a substitute for a portable stove? Let's be honest -- Time Capsule's a pricey piece of kit for what you get, so feel free to let Cupertino know exactly what's keeping you from being absolutely satisfied in every respect.

Quickertek antenna promises to boost Time Capsule's range

by Donald Melanson, posted Mar 17th 2008 at 1:05PM

It won't do much to complement the Time Capsule's minimalist looks, but if you've been itching to get a bit more range of out thing, you now have a new option to consider from Quickertek, which recently introduced its new TriBand Antenna for the device. Available either as a self-install kit or pre-installed on the Time Capsule of your choice, the slightly janky-looking rig promises a 50% increase in range over a standard Time Capsule, with ample coaxial cabling provided to let you position it just right. As if that wasn't enough, Quickertek is also promising that the antenna will let you reach speeds "much closer to the theoretical yield of 300 megabits per second," although it apparently isn't making any firm claims on that matter. If that sounds like the boost you've been looking for, you can grab the self-install kit now for $130, get Quickertek to install the antenna on your existing Time Capsule for $200, or get a 500GB or 1TB Time Capsule with it pre-installed for $500 or $700, respectively.

Time Capsule: everything you wanted to know

by Nilay Patel, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 11:00AM

So we spent the weekend playing with Time Capsule and we've discovered some interesting answers to all your questions, as well as a few accompanying annoyances. Our main takeaway? It's a solid product, but you shouldn't expect it to do anything more than back up your files -- and Apple really needs to step up and enable general NAS support for Time Machine. Read on!

Continue reading Time Capsule: everything you wanted to know

Time Machine plays nice with USB HDDs on Time Capsule

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 2:41AM

Well, would you look at that. It seems as if Time Machine is all buddy-buddy with externally connected HDDs on Time Capsule after all. If you'll recall, many Apple users were miffed (to put it gently) by the disappearance of said feature from vanilla AirPort Extreme Base Stations just before Leopard hit the streets, but according to a hands-on report over at Macworld, "you can perform Time Machine backups to drives attached to the Time Capsule via USB." Granted, it wasn't exactly speedy or anything, but at least the functionality is tucked away in there -- hit up the read link if you're still spinning in disbelief.

[Via TUAW]

Time Capsule opened despite it not yet being the future

by Ryan Block, posted Mar 1st 2008 at 8:10AM

You kind of miss the point if you open your Time Capsule after just a day or two, but at least we now know that future generations can, in fact, expect an active drive cooling system (by way of a blower fan).

Time Capsule first impressions

by Nilay Patel, posted Feb 29th 2008 at 1:28PM

Okay, so we've got our Time Capsule up and running here -- we'll be back with a full review once our full 516GB backup is completed, but here are some quick first impressions:

You can definitely hear the disks spin up and access. It also sounds like there's a fan in there, but there are no obvious vents for one and we can't feel any air coming out, so the drives might just be that loud.
The top is getting quite warm during the backup -- we'll see if it cools down once we stop hitting the drive this hard, but if there really isn't a fan we're a little concerned. Hope those server-grade hard drives like being cooked.
You can't transfer an existing Time Machine backup to Time Capsule. Sure, it's easy enough to switch back and get at your old data, but it's still a pain -- and now we have a 1TB drive sitting here with months of backups on it that we can't erase and reuse.
Time Machine doesn't prioritize network activity on your machine, so it's slamming our network connection right now as it backs up. That's not a huge problem since we're backing up over Ethernet, but we'll see what happens when we try this over WiFi later.
We tried to back up a second machine while the first was in progress, and not much happened -- it created the disk image and got to "Preparing..." and then did nothing. We're assuming these can only happen one at a time.
The wireless side of things is basically the same as the Airport Extreme, nothing shocking there, although the setup assistant has been substantially revised to make things easier.
The setup assistant now asks if you already have a 2.4GHz network and offers to create a 5GHz secondary network, which is interesting.

That's about it for now -- there's not much we can try out while this backup is in progress. Anything else you guys want to know?

Opening the Time Capsule

by Nilay Patel, posted Feb 29th 2008 at 11:15AM

Right at the buzzer, Apple shipped us a Time Capsule -- and just like we remember, it's a bit bigger than you'd expect. We're about to set it up in our WiFi torture chamber of an apartment building, we'll let you know how it goes -- unboxing in the gallery below.

Gallery: Time Capsule unboxing

Time Capsule shipping this week?

by Ryan Block, posted Feb 28th 2008 at 5:02AM

According to AppleInsider, it sounds like Time Capsule customers' orders are in the crucial "preparing to ship" phase about now, meaning credit cards are being charged and units will be loaded onto trucks for distribution as early as tomorrow for some. Apple still hasn't said anything officially about shipping though; just don't be too surprised units start showing up shortly at your doorstep or in your local Apple store.

Update: Yep, we've got confirmation from Apple that it's shipping this week (although some users apparently already manage to snag theirs offline -- good for you). The only question now is: will it really last 10,000 years if buried in your back yard?

Airport Extreme owners not happy to be left out of Time Capsule

by Nilay Patel, posted Jan 21st 2008 at 2:32PM

It's no secret that most of you aren't exactly pleased with Apple's decision to charge $20 to add in Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather, and Notes to the iPod touch, but there's another segment of Apple users feeling burned by last week's announcements: Airport Extreme owners. Seems like Apple's only enabled network support for Time Machine when used with Time Capsule, not for USB disks connected to the Airport Extreme -- even though early Leopard promo materials promised such support. Of course, it's an easy hack to enable NAS support (although it's probably pretty risky), and who knows what'll happen when 10.5.2. is released, but for now, it certainly seems like Airport Extreme owners just got a raw deal.

Apple Time Capsule hands-on

by Paul Miller, posted Jan 15th 2008 at 3:10PM

Here's the new Time Capsule NAS from Apple. Not much to say about this one. It's a bit larger than we expected, but still pretty well sized for a NAS.

Gallery: Apple Time Capsule hands-on

Apple introduces Time Capsule, a NAS companion to Time Machine

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jan 15th 2008 at 11:45AM

Apple announced a companion to Time Machine today, Time Capsule. Essentially a hard drive and Airport combined -- an NAS from your favorite Cupertino team. The wireless drive will come in 500GB and 1TB configurations, and will feature 802.11n, as well as server grade hard drives. They will clock in at $299 and $499, respectively (Steve says they're aggressively pricing them because they want everyone to backup). You'll be able to backup your notebook or desktop wirelessly from anywhere in your home. Available in February, pre-order now.