In Japan, the hand can be used as a knife. And you can't swing a Yume Neko Smile cat without defacing a 1080p TV with built-in Ethernet and a hard disk drive recorder. Case in point, Toshiba's latest batch of REGZA LCDs, ten in all. The top of the line ZH500 series measures in at 52- (52ZH500) and 46-inches (46ZH500) with 120Hz VA panels, 4x HDMI (1080/60p, 24p) inputs, 3x Ethernet (with DLNA support), 2x USB, Bluetooth, Firewire, SD slot, and a DVR to record your shows to the built-in 300GB disk. These lack the eSATA jack found in the 42-, 37-, and 32-inch RH500 series, but you can add more disk over Ethernet via an I-O Data REGZA drive wrapped in DTCP-IP DRM to keep your HD recordings off the global torrents. Rounding things out are the 42- and 37-inch ZV500 series of 120HZ IPS panel LCDs and the relatively low-end, 42-, 37-, and 32-inch CV500 series of diskless TVs. Prices will range from ¥160,000 ($1,560) on up to about $5,850 when products start hitting shelves between April and July. Pics of the in/outs on the ZH500s after the break.

Read - ZH500 and ZV500 series
Read -- RH500 and CV500 series

In typical LaCie fashion, it's latest external hard drive isn't even mentioned on the outfit's own website, but nevertheless, it most definitely exists. The tried and true Neil Poulton HDD has been refreshed with two new ports to coexist alongside the USB 2.0 socket: FireWire 400 and eSATA. Outside of the two new holes flanking the rear, the drive looks essentially the same, and is available on the streets as we speak for $139.99 (500GB), $187.99 (750GB) or $276.99 (1TB).

[Via CNET]

Update: LaCie mounted these up on its website, after all. Thanks, bjrcboy!

Ultra-portables are by the far the sexiest class of laptops. Especially when they start at just 2.2-pounds (1kg) like Dell's upcoming 12.1-inch E4200 or 3-pounds for the 13.3-inch E4300. Both pack LED backlit displays; Centrino 2 chipsets; Firewire, eSATA, 2x audio, ExpressCard 34, and at least 2x USB ports; integrated UMA graphics; DDR3 800MHz with Intel Turbo Memory 2.0; DisplayPort; and a host of security features to keep corporate IT types happy. The E4300 differs with a higher WXGA+ resolution, modular optical bay, peppier CPU options, and a choice of beefier hard disk drives instead of the 32GB or 64GB SSD restriction of the E4200. Plenty more in the gallery including a head-to-head comparison's of each new model with the D430 they'll replace. Stay tuned as our exclusive Week o' Dell Scoops continues.

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]

You already loved it in its USB 2.0 incarnation. Now check the HDD Stage Rack with an additional eSATA interface. Who couldn't use an extra 315MB/s transfer rate for their 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch disks? Yours now for $57.15 before those excessive shipping costs are factored in.

[Thanks, Tyson W.]

Hitachi returns after suffering scathing reviews for their generation-one Blu-ray / HDD hybrid camcorder. Its new 60GB DZ-BD9H hybrid still records 1,920 x 1,080 MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video to 8-cm BD or internal hard disk. This time, however, it's aided by an improved 5.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, Picture Master Full HD processing, and brighter 2.7-inch LCD. We're talking about 9 hours of recording to disk at max resolution -- that's about an hour to that wee 7.5GB Blu-ray Disc. HDMI and USB 2.0 remain standard as does that super steep price when it arrives in Japan on February 12th for ¥180,000 (about $1,700). But you'll wait for the reviews first, right? Better yet, why not consider Hitachi's new DZ-HD90. Same 60GB camera sans Blu-ray but with an eSATA connection for ¥140,000 (about $1,320). That pup hits Japan on March 1st.

Your good pals at Buffalo are injecting some new storage options into your life, so you might want to pay attention (especially if you're a Japanese citizen). The company is introducing a new line of RAID 0, four-drive models called the QSIBSU2 HD / R, featuring eSATA, USB, FireWire 400 / 800, and TurboUSB functionality. A 1TB version of the array will run you ¥74,300 (or around $695) and will be available in at the end of the month, while the 2TB model clocks in at ¥106,300 ($995) and will ship in late February.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

The absence of built-in power in eSATA devices has left many scratching their heads in frustration -- not to mention the zanily designed devices that have been created to cope -- but it seems someone up there feels our pain. And by "up there," we mean the SATA-IO, which has finally sparked up a Power Over eSATA initiative in order to "provide power to eSATA devices without the need for a separate power connection." Put simply, the group is hoping to design a specification where power can be passed directly through a Power Over eSATA cable, and yes, they are aiming to "maintain compatibility with the existing eSATA connector form factor." Looking for a date of completion to circle? Try "the second half of 2008" -- and that's just for finalizing the paperwork.

[Image courtesy of ExtremeTech]
[Via Tom's Hardware, thanks Stephen]

TiVo let on that November was going to be the month that both TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing became a reality, and now with only a week to go it's finally here. But that's not all TiVo's taken the occasion to announce: in addition to being able to stream shows between your TiVos (MRV) and copy programming from a TiVo to your PC (TiVoToGo), TiVo has also announced (hack free) eSATA drive support along with Western Digital's My DVR Expander, which, for $199, will expand your TiVo with 500GB of space (a good 65 hours of HD). Another new feature included with this release is progressive downloads, which means you won't have to wait for TiVoCast and Unbox videos to finish downloading before you can start enjoying them. Instead, the TiVo will figured out how much of a buffer is required for uninterrupted viewing and let you start watching as soon as possible. While most of these features have been a long time coming, we can only imagine how excited TiVo owners are to know that the wait is over -- assuming they've already signed up for the priority list to received the 9.2 update.

TiVo is rolling out system software 9.2 to those HD-friendly Series3 and TiVo HD boxen, which brings official eSATA external storage at last. Of course, the adventurous among us have been able to pull this off with a pretty simple Series3 hack for ages, but official support means a whole lot more users are going to be taking advantage of that extra room for hiding away Gossip Girl episodes and all their other CW faves. The rolling update hasn't hit everyone's boxes yet, but keep your fingers crossed -- the update should also address some of those 9.1 bugs, and allows for progressive playback of Amazon Unbox downloads as they download.

We know, you're probably still gawking at that shiny hunk of hard drive that LaCie announced earlier today, but for the pros out there, this lineup is likely to be more your style. The 2big family -- which will include the 2big Dual, 2big Triple and the 2big Network -- range in capacity from 1TB to 2TB, and all include a new "thermoregulated progressive smart fan" to keep things cool and quiet. As for the 2Big Dual, you'll find eSATA II and USB 2.0, while the 2Big Triple offers up both flavors of FireWire / USB 2.0 and the 2Big Network "is an Ethernet version that can act as a file sharing or backup server." Pricing on the trifecta will vary based on storage space and connectivity options, but you can find these hanging out in September and starting at $399.

[Via Electronista]

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]

LaCie is apparently looking to grab video editors' attention with the introduction of its latest RAID tower, which comes stocked with 5TB of storage and is scalable to up to 20TB for HD multi-stream support. The 5TB Biggest S2S five-disk RAID boasts a 3Gbit/sec eSATA interface, direct eSATA-to-SATA connection, burst rates of over 200MB/sec, and the ability to link up with three other S2S units on the eSATA PCI-X / ExpressCard to achieve the aforementioned 20TB solution. Furthermore, the disks are hot-swappable and the tower is hot-pluggable, and it can even be setup to beam out email alerts in the event of disk failure. The 5TB S2S is available now for $3,699 with a PCI-X card, or you can toss in an extra Benjamin and go for the PCI-E bundle.

While it's far from the most spacious storage system we've seen, Netcom's new eSATA-based NR5-4 system will accommodate four drives for up to 3TB of storage in a RAID 5 configuration, something the company claims to be an industry first. If RAID 5 isn't your thing, you can set things up in your choice of RAID 0 or 10 configurations as well, and you'll be able to keep an eye on the goings on thanks to the unit's backlit display. You'll also, of course, get the requisite PCI host adapter, along with a one meter host cable, and a "comprehensive" one year warranty. Not surprisingly, the unit doesn't exactly come cheap, with it boasting a near $2,000 price tag. If that's not a deal-breaker, you can get your order in right now.