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Lenovo refreshes its ThinkPad T, W, L and X lines with Ivy Bridge processors, retooled keyboards
Now that Intel's Ivy Bridge specifications are finally out of the bag, you may as well resign yourselves to a deluge of PC refreshes over the coming months. Today Lenovo's up at bat, unveiling a slew of products under its business-friendly ThinkPad brand. If you were looking for a wholesale redesign, we'll kindly direct you to the X1, which was just reborn as a 14-inch Ultrabook. Otherwise, if you were just holding out for a little Ivy Bridge, we've got your refresh right here. All told, the upgrades span Lenovo's ultraportable X series, mainstream "T" lineup, budget "L" models and the W-series workstation. In general, you'll find Ivy Bridge processors (natch), Dolby audio and, in some cases, optional 4G radios. Additionally, the company tweaked its famed keyboard ever-so slightly and added a backlighting option to almost every system, save the newly available T430u Ultrabook. That's the abridged version for those of you not actually in the market for a new system, but folks craving more nitty-gritty details can follow past the break for a more detailed breakdown of pricing and specs.%Gallery-155303%
99Bill produces first iPhone credit card reader in China
99Bill, a leading electronic financial service provider in China, is launching a new mobile payment solution that looks surprisingly familiar. The square-shaped 99Bill Card Reader plugs into the audio jack of your iPhone or Android device and lets merchants accept credit card and bank card payments on the go. The company is hoping to take advantage of the growing interest in mobile payments and smartphones, which are taking China by storm. Show full PR text 99Bill's Smartphone Card Reader to Enable Massive Mobile Payment in China 99BILL CORPORATION CARD READER 99Bill's Smartphone Card Reader to Enable Massive Mobile Payment in China. (PRNewsFoto/99Bill Corporation) BEIJING, CHINA BEIJING, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- 99Bill Corporation, China's leading electronic financial service provider, announced the official launch of its new mobile payment product 99Bill Card Reader. By simply plugging the tiny 99Bill Card Reader into Smartphone audio jack, merchants can accept bank card and credit card payments on the go, and make more sales quickly. The patented solution supports both iOS and Android platforms. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120508/CN02862) Statistics shows that China has huge demands for card present transactions, but still lags behind other markets around the developed world where POS devices are extremely common. According to People's Bank of China, the nation had issued a total of nearly 3 billion bank cards by the end of 2011, an increase of 22% from the previous year. Meanwhile, there were only 3.18 million merchants using a total of 4.82 million POS devices in China. The 99Bill Card Reader creates an entirely new card present payment solution for merchants and consumers by tuning smartphones into POS devices. According to iResearch, China's leading internet-based research firm, there were a total of 72.1 million smart phones being sold in 2011 alone, an increase of 103.1% over the previous year, and this trend is expected to continue in 2012 with an estimated 113 million being sold throughout the year. The increasing penetration of mobile devices gives 99Bill Card Reader a natural edge in this market segment. With 99Bill's patented technology, the 99Bill card reader solution supports both pass code and signature based bank card transactions. This is especially important in the China market, where pass code enabled bank cards are the most common. Oliver Kwan, CEO of 99Bill, said, "We always position ourselves as a comprehensive B2B and B2C payment solution provider for business customers. This Card Reader can significantly increase the number of bank card acceptance devices in China and give our business customers more choices to accept payments. We will continue to introduce more innovative payment solutions that really work, and help our customer grow their business." The 99Bill Card Reader takes advantage of the convenience and ubiquitous nature of mobile devices to enable mobile selling for large companies and face-to-face transactions for small-to-medium size businesses. The first commercial use of such a product in mainland China, 99Bill has already signed agreements with three insurance companies to support their mobile sales forces. In China's mobile payment market, 99Bill has introduced a wide range of innovative products over times, including WAP, IVR, and InAPP based mobile payment services. As China's leading provider of electronic financial services, 99Bill provides a comprehensive suite of electronic payment solutions that are actively used in 20 major industries, including airline, online and offline retail, insurance, education, logistics, etc. In 2011, the company obtained the six payment service licenses issued by the People's Bank of China, the most of any e-payment company in the industry.
HP refreshes its ProBook laptops for small businesses
HP's already outed a bunch of business laptops today, but so far they've all been aimed at the enterprise level -- machines an IT manager would deploy on the order of thousands. But while it was at it, the company also refreshed its ProBook lineup for small businesses, the sort of operations that likely don't have an IT department running the show. For those folks, there's the refreshed b- and s-series. Starting with the "b" lineup, it includes 14- and 15.6-inch models (the 6470b and 6570b), each of which have a magnesium-reinforced chassis with a coating designed to resist scratches and other signs of wear. Users can choose between integrated and discrete graphics, while the 14-inch version, at least, will be offered with Intel and AMD chips. (The 15-incher is Intel-only.) Other perks include Intel's vPro management technology, HP 3D DriveGuard and optional 3G / 4G connectivity. The Intel-based models will start at $769, while the AMD-based 6475b will go for $669 and up. Expect these to land on June 4th. Meanwhile, the s-series (pictured) is available in a wider range of sizes (13, 14, 15 and 17 inches), with a mix of Intel and AMD chips. The existing s-series has also gotten a redesign, with aluminum casing and a spill-resistant keyboard. These laptops, too, will arrive June 4th, though they're slated to start at a lower price of $589.
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E430 and E530 go on sale, starting at $459
Lenovo announced a slew of notebooks back at CES in January, so you'll be forgiven if the ThinkPad Edge E430 and E530 don't ring a bell. Those names are about to hit closer to home, though, because both models are finally on sale in the US and Asia with a base price of $459. To jog your memory, the 14-inch Edge E430 and 15-inch E530 run Intel Core i3-2350M Sandy Bridge CPUs clocked at 2.3GHz and feature 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drives, Intel HD Graphics and a 1366 x 768 displays. Of course, Lenovo lets you customize the processor, storage space and more on its website. Click through to the source links below for the full configuration options.
PayPal unveils Square competitor 'PayPal Here'
Small businesses that are using PayPal to process credit cards but considering the Square service are in luck -- PayPal today unveiled a competitor to Square called "PayPal Here". Like Square, the new service comes with a free card reader dongle. In this case, the card reader has been designed with a stabilizing "wing" that makes it much easier to swipe a credit card. PayPal notes that the reader comes with a free companion PayPal Here app that isn't in the App Store as of the time of publication. The iPhone or iPad that is used with the card reader needn't be online -- apparently the card reader can be used offline as well. The merchant simply needs to tap in an amount, then hand the phone or iPad to the customer. The buyer can add a tip, sign, and request a method of getting a receipt. If the merchant doesn't have the card reader with him/her, the app has a Scan Card feature that uses the device's camera to read the credit card number -- the merchant still needs to enter the customer's CVV and postal code. Scan Card also works with debit cards and checks, and the app can also be used to track cash transactions. Both the card reader and app offer encryption, and PayPal will charge merchants a flat 2.7 percent fee for the service. If you apply the income towards your PayPal debit card, which offers a 1 percent rebate on all purchases, your effective rate is 1.7 percent. That's a rate that Square can't currently beat. PayPal is also touting immediate access to funds, while Square has a built-in one-day delay. The service is being rolled out to a few thousand PayPal merchants in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Australia today, and should be available for everyone else in a few weeks. You can sign up to be notified of the availability of the app and readers on the PayPal website.
PayPal may go after Square's mobile payments
PayPal is planning to take on Square with a new payment processing dongle, says a report from GigaOM. The dongle will supposedly tie into PayPal's already robust payment processing system and will be targeted towards small businesses. Smaller companies would be able to use this system to process credit card transaction at the office or in the field. PayPal says its technology will become "the future of commerce for small businesses." The eBay subsidiary is expected to unveil its new mobile payment system on Thursday.
iPad embraced by small businesses; use quadruples in one year
While we've been hearing a lot about enterprise use of Apple's iPad, there hasn't been much attention paid to the millions of small businesses that are using the tablet. The Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal reported on a new national study that shows that small business use of the iPad has nearly quadrupled from 9 percent in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011. The study by the parent company of The Business Journals indicates that the iPad is now the fastest growing technology in the SMB (small and medium businesses) business sector. The poll also notes that about 75 percent of small business owners were "very or somewhat familiar" with the iPad. Godfrey Phillips, vice president of research at The Business Journals, says that "Our research has shown that for small business owners, productivity and efficiency, which used to be the central benefits of technology, are now declining in importance compared to accessibility. "The iPad, as well as smartphones and cloud computing, are all part of this new trend and are experiencing significant growth as a result of that need." One of the more fascinating results of the study looked at the demographics of iPad users in the small business community. They're highly educated, with 72 percent having a college education. Annual household incomes averaged about US$176,000 for the respondents, and their companies are well-established -- on average, they've existed for 28 years and have annual sales of about $9.2 million. The full study will be made available on March 31.
Square's new Register app turns the iPad into a full-on point of sale terminal
Square continues to add functionality to its mobile payment platform, and the latest addition is its new Register app for iPad. The refresh brings a sleeker interface and greater Card Case integration along with analytics to break down sales by transaction type and chronology to track your business' performance. Additionally, you can set up custom permissions to limit employee access, create customer loyalty programs and there's an improved inventory system feature as well. Naturally, it still relies on Square's trusty card reader for swiping cards and charges 2.75 percent per transaction using Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express. Small businessmen, your payment chariot awaits, so check out a video of the new Square Register in action after the break.
Kashoo iPad app: Business accounting on the go
Kashoo began existence as an online business accounting service. With the addition of a new free iPad app, business owners now have a powerful accounting tool at their fingertips at all times. In this review, I'll take you through a quick look at Kashoo and describe how it's helped one small business owner -- me -- take control of the day-to-day transactions that keep a business going. I have to admit that accounting is not my strong suite. Back in the early 80s when I was getting my MBA, I struggled through the concepts of T-charts, debits and credits just long enough to pass the required course. Through the years, I tortured myself with various versions of QuickBooks, but when I had to move to QuickBooks Online because Intuit had once again fallen behind the curve on updates, I decided that any future companies I started would use a different accounting package. Kashoo immediately caught my attention as an online alternative. For $10 a month, you not only get full access with a lot of features (more on those later), but the company's support is incredibly good. Early on, my lack of accounting savvy had me questioning my sanity in terms of figuring out how to perform a certain task. I zapped a quick email off to Kashoo support, and within an hour or two I had a very clear answer. You can also call the support line for even faster response, and that support is free. When I initially started setting up the books for a business partnership, Kashoo's iPad app wasn't available so my work began on the web app. It's fast, and a special "setup" section made it a piece of cake to set up a profile for the business, add accounts, vendors, and more. The iPad app, however, has made life even easier. When the app is first launched, you're asked to log into your Kashoo account. If you don't already have an account, you can sign up for a free trial or paid account. For those who sign into an existing account from the app, Kashoo syncs with the server and then displays a three page "dashboard" that business owners can scroll through by swiping. The first page of the dashboard displays income by month, quarter or year in a colorful column chart format with revenue, expenses, and profit listed at the top (screenshot below). The next dashboard page shows one year's worth of income by customer in a pie chart with sections by customer. There's a slider at the bottom of the chart for constraining the income information to a shorter timeframe. The last page of the dashboard shows expenses by account (below). Once again, the slider makes it possible to look at expenses for a specific timeframe during the last year. For the last two dashboard pages, tapping on either the customer name (for income) or expense account takes you right into the transaction details for that account. Likewise, tapping a vendor name on the expense dashboard page shows you exactly who your money is going to. If you've set up more than one business in your Kashoo account, you can select between them from a "Select Business" button at the top of the app. It's even possible to set up a new business from the iPad app. The settings button for the Kashoo app is pretty minimal, allowing you to force a sync with the cloud, log out, upgrade to a premium account, or send feedback to the Kashoo team. Along the bottom of the app are seven buttons -- Dashboard, Banking, Invoices, Expenses, Accounts, Reports, and Business. I've just described the Dashboard, and Business is where you can either set up or edit information about a business. The Banking button displays bank and other accounts one at a time (below). For example, I have a savings and checking account set up for the business, a PayPal account, several cash expense accounts, a cash account, and two accounts for Visa debit cards. Tapping on any of the accounts listed takes me to a detailed transaction record showing both income going into the account and expenses being taken from that account. Tapping an individual transaction shows a detail of that transaction. The standard iPad share button can be used to preview an invoice for a transaction or to email the transaction to someone. Speaking of invoices, the Invoice button displays invoices that have already been entered into Kashoo and also allows you to create and email invoices. You can pick a customer to invoice, pick the date from a standard rolling date picker, and enter an invoice and order number, terms of payment, and a memo. There are fields for adding line items to the invoice, including quantities, unit prices, extended prices, taxes (if applicable), and a description of the line item. There's also a location on the bottom of the invoice page for adding payments that a customer has made to their account. When adding expenses to Kashoo by tapping the Expenses button, a list of vendors appears (below). You can also add new vendors -- a tap on a "plus sign" button lets you add the company contact information, payment terms, the default account to which those expenses will be charged, and other miscellaneous information. If you do business with international vendors, you can choose from a number of different currencies. The Accounts button lets you see all transactions in all accounts or just in specific accounts (below). As before, tapping on any transaction displays a detailed accounting of vendor and account information. Probably the most useful button is the Reports button, which generates a Profit & Loss Statement (below), a Balance Sheet, and Aged Receivables and Payables. While these reports can be emailed as PDFs, at this time they cannot be printed directly from the iPad. Likewise, invoices and checks can't be printed from the iPad app; you still need to use the web app to accomplish printing. If you happen to have an HP printer with its own email address, you can print the reports from your iPad by mailing the report to the printer's unique address. I've been pleased with both the web and iPad apps; they're fast, they don't crash, and I'm able to do my business account fairly easily. Since the Kashoo app is new, I expect that the development team will continue to add new features like printing as time goes by. As it is, I can now review and update the current financial status of the company from my iPad -- helpful if I'm talking to a banker or potential vendor as I don't need to print out a stack of reports prior to the meeting. If you use an accountant for tax purposes like I do, you'll be pleased to know that most of them simply want a copy of your General Ledger for the previous year. In this case, I was able to generate that GL from the web app and email it directly to the accountant. Many of the various reports created by Kashoo can be saved as .csv files for import into a spreadsheet package. Kashoo's development team continues to add functionality to the online system as well, including FreshBooks integration and Payroll (Canada only at this time), and recently adding automatic import of transactions from banks. If you're starting a new business or thinking about breaking from a traditional Mac or Windows small business accounting package, Kashoo's the first place you ought to look. And be sure to expense that new iPad to your business, OK?
T-Mobile brings Square to select small businesses, does the mobile payment thing
T-Mobile is throwing some of its weight behind the mobile payment movement this morning, becoming the first carrier to offer Square credit card readers to a handful of retail outlets. Under the company's new campaign, stores equipped with T-Mobile smartphones will be able to use Jack Dorsey's readers to finalize transactions from the comfort of their palms. This should come in handy for cash-only businesses, in particular, as T-Mobile emphasized in its announcement today. It's all part of the provider's lineup of small business offerings, though not every retailer will be involved at launch. To see the full list of Squared-up outlets, check out the source link below.
Lenovo announces ThinkPad Edge S430 with Thunderbolt, six other small business laptops
In addition to rolling out a ThinkPad X1 running Android and a buttoned-up Ultrabook, Lenovo announced a handful of mainstream laptops aimed at the small business set. Starting at the high end, the 14-inch Edge S430 (pictured) looks the part of a traditional ThinkPad (nay, IBM box), though Lenovo's sprinkled in metal accents and whittled the chassis to a reasonably narrow .8 inches (20.3mm). As the cream of this crop, it packs Dolby Home Theatre sound, optional NVIDIA Optimus graphics, up to 1TB in storage and Thunderbolt (!), making this the first Windows PC to make use of that standard. Moving on down the line, the 14-inch Edge E430 and 15-inch E530 give you a choice of Intel Core processors and AMD Fusion APUs. These, too, can be configured with discrete graphics and 1TB hard drives, though being the less-premium systems they are, you can get them in more playful colors like red and cobalt blue. If you crave a little more portability, Lenovo's also offering smaller versions, the 11-inch E130 and the 13-inch E330. Only have $400 to spend? The budget B480 and B580 bring Fusion and Core CPUs, USB 3.0 and 1TB hard drives, at the high end. The S430 will start at $749 when it hits select markets in June, but the rest will arrive in April, with the ThinkPad Edge models going for $549-plus and the B-series laptops fetching $399 and up. Though the 11- and 13-inch Edge laptops and the B-series notebooks will only be offered in certain markets the 14-inch E430 and 15-inch E530 are slated to ship worldwide. More info in the press release, just past the break.
Study finds small, medium businesses considering iPads
The iPad is popular, so popular that analysts have blamed the tablet for declining consumer netbook and notebook sales. While consumers may be buying tablets in lieu of PCs, small to medium businesses are not. A pair of recent surveys from the NPD group suggest businesses will continue to buy PCs along with tablets in 2012. As reported by AppleInsider, a recent tablet survey from NPD's quarterly SMB Technology Monitor shows that 73% of businesses with less than 1,000 employees plan to buy tablets for their employees. Almost all of these tablets will be from Apple as the word "tablet" is synonymous with iPad says Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. Most companies plan to spend about $21,000 on new tablet purchases in the upcoming year. At the same time, these small to medium businesses will continue to buy PCs for their workforce. Less than 20 percent of companies with 999 employees or less plan to reduce spending on PCs. The remaining 80 percent will spend the same or more on PCs in 2012 than they did in 2011. On average, both small and medium-sized businesses will replace 10 to 15 percent of their PCs in the upcoming year. These surveys suggest 2012 will be a terrific year for corporate employees at small to medium-sized businesses. Some of you will be getting new office PCs, and many of you will be handed an iPad for your business use. [Via AppleInsider and the NPD Group]
Square snags one million merchants, liberates the cashless
For those of us addicted to plastic, "I love you" hardly holds the same clout as those three magical words: "we accept credit." Taking the dream one step closer to plastic payment monogamy is the mobile checkout service, Square. According to founder Jack Dorsey, the company has hit a milestone today, signing up over one million small business owners ready to swipe. For merchants, all it takes is a Square reader and an iPhone, iPad or Android to start processing the plastic of the cash-o-phobic -- practically rendering those ATM pit stops pre-taco run or flea market excursion useless.
ERPLY's mobile credit card reader handles NFC payments on an iPad, obliterates the check-out line
It may look like nothing more than a glorified chip clip, but that dongle at the bottom of this guy's iPad is actually ERPLY's new credit card reader -- the latest addition to a growing field of NFC and mobile payment devices designed for small and large businesses. Once attached to an iPad's charging port, the peripheral will send a user's encrypted credit card information to ERPLY's point-of-sale and inventory management software, allowing customers to purchase products on the store room floor and giving retailers the ability to monitor transactions and stock flows in real time. Available for $50 (with a transaction fee of 1.9 percent), the reader is also equipped to handle both NFC and traditional card payments and, after processing a purchase, will automatically send a receipt to consumers via text or e-mail. At the moment, it's only available for the iPad, though iPhone users should be able to get their own version within the next three months. Swipe past the break for more information, in the full press release.
Lenovo targets businesses with LS2221 and LS2421p monitors, ThinkCentre Edge 71
It's surprising how many small stores and offices take good care of their shopfront and interior decor, then spoil it by putting a bunch of dusty old PCs and monitors on show amid a jumble of cables. That's exactly the kind of business Lenovo hopes to entice with its latest range of kit. The 21.5-inch LS2221 and 23.6-inch LS2421p monitors cost $229 and $299 respectively, and come with LED-backlit panels, a claimed "10 million to one" dynamic contrast ratio, and power efficiency that exceeds Energy Star requirements. The larger model has generally better specs, with 300nits of brightness, HDMI out and an inbuilt four-port USB hub to reduce clutter. Meanwhile, the ThinkCentre Edge 71 desktop comes in both tower and SFF versions to suit different locations, and sacrifices "legacy ports" for a cleaner appearance. It should be available from October starting at $369, while the monitors are due this month. Further details in the PR after the break.
NetSecure Kudos Payments announced for Canada, is the half-circle to Square
Canada may be moving to polymer-based currency, but mobile payment services like Square -- which cater to classic plastic -- haven't yet taken time to trek to the Great White North. NetSecure is looking to offer similar convenience to the region with its new Kudos Payments service, which just so happens to ship with a shockingly curvy swiping dongle. Similar to Square, it creates a secure 'point of sale' without a hard-wired transaction terminal, and charges a slightly higher 2.9-percent fee to users' accounts for each exchange. Kudos has iOS, Android, and Blackberry apps to tap into the functionality and, even a version for Mac and PC -- in other words, you and yours should be suitably covered. Any roving entrepreneurs who are interested in the service will be able to snag the $49.99 kit free of charge from the company's website for a "limited time," which may or may not expire before Google decides to open its own Wallet a few miles kilometers north.
MacTech Boot Camp 2011 coming to four more cities
If you missed MacTech Boot Camp before Macworld this year, you may have a chance to attend if you live in or around Dallas, Boston, Los Angeles or Chicago. In fact, there happen to be major airports in all of those towns, so if the cost of flying to San Francisco was out of reach, you're in luck! What is MacTech Boot Camp? A one-day session geared towards the home user, small business users and anyone who may assist those users (your family's computer guy, for example). We've been quite impressed with the MacTech events we've attended so far, and attendees at the San Francisco Boot Camp were quite enthusiastic with what they learned. Full press release on the next page, but we've listed the locations and dates of the upcoming events below. Dallas, Texas: April 27, 2011 - Sessions Chair: CV Rao, and Nathan Toups Boston, Massachusetts: May 18, 2011 - Sessions Chair: Andy Espo, and Leon Lincoln Los Angeles, California: July 27, 2011 - Sessions Chair: Sean Colins Chicago, Illinois: August 31, 2011 - Sessions Chair: Douglas Ward, and Ben Greiner
Data Robotics launches Drobo for Business line, new 12-bay SAN option
Data Robotics has certainly flexed its biz muscle before, but this is nothing short of a full-out assault on the boardroom. Or at least the boardroom's IT closet. The outfit's new Drobo for Business line is being revealed today, with three pieces of hardware making up the initial line. The new trio is primarily aimed at small businesses, but even average consumers in need of some serious at-home storage may find something worth investigating. Though the system designs are obviously built for use in rack-mount arrangements, you'll still find the same BeyondRAID setup that existing Drobo users have grown familiar with. At least initially, the company will be offering an 8-bay file sharing Drobo with remote backup, an 8-bay SAN (iSCSI-attached) Drobo and a 12-bay SAN (also iSCSI-attached) with expanded redundancy features, support for thin provisioning and deprovisioning and new data-aware tiering technology. Those who buy in will also be treated to a bolstered level of DroboCare business support, a refreshed management interface tailor to the needs of SMB, new functionality / redundancy and boosted performance from top to bottom. The former two are available now -- with pricing to start at just north of $2,000 ($8,500 on the 12-bay) -- while the latter can be reserved as we speak for a Q2 delivery. %Gallery-115761%
Google rolls out NFC-equipped Places business kits, muscles in on location-based territory in Portland
Yelp may be the raconteur of restaurant recommendations and Foursquare the cardinal of check-ins, but Google has an ace up its sleeve: NFC chips. The company's embedded near-field communications chips into each and every one of these "Recommended on Google Places" window stickers, which you'll be able to trigger with a shiny new Nexus S -- just hold your handset up to the black dot, and voila, your phone gets a "tag." Google's now distributing the signs on a trial basis to Portland, Oregon businesses as part of a larger Google Places kit, though it doesn't explain how (or if) they'll be able to program the chips. Either way, if you own a hot new joint in Portland, you might as well give it a spin. Find the sign-up form at our more coverage link, or peep a Nexus S doing its thing after the break.
Data Robotics debuts 8-bay DroboPro FS with automatic offsite backup option
It was inevitable, really. First comes the business-oriented DroboPro, then comes the network-savvy Drobo FS. Mash the two together, and out pops the DroboPro FS. Design wise, it's the same 3U form factor that DroboPro users will recognize, but internally, Data Robotics has bumped the CPU speed from 800MHz in the Drobo FS to 1GHz here. There are eight total bays within, and a pair of gigabit Ethernet jacks around back; by default, the second port is used to connect to a different subnet (possibly for offsite file replication), while users can opt for a protection mode during setup if they'd rather it act as a fail-safe (in case the primary port kicks the bucket). More important than all of that, though, is the new Drobo Sync feature, which will be exclusive to the DroboPro FS for at least the time being. During setup, users simply input the IP address of another DroboPro FS; once that's plugged in, they can schedule automatic offsite backups as often as each hour or as infrequently as once per day. Here's the thing: this automatic offsite sync only works with a pair of DroboPro FS devices, so you'll need to pick up two from the start and have 'em shipped to different addresses if you're interested in taking advantage. The good news, however, is that an intelligent syncing system specifically scans for minute file changes, so if you only change two cells in a 105MB Excel chart, only a few chunks of data will have to fly over your network rather than resending and overwriting the entire 105MB file. As for pricing? Given that these are meant for small biz, it's up there -- the empty base unit goes for $1,999, while at 8TB model (2TB x 4) lists for $2,699 and a 16TB behemoth (2TB x 8) sells for $3,299. The company also has plans to sell a two-device bundle (16TB x 2 units) for $6,399, aiming this at folks who want an offsite solution from the get-go. The box itself is available today from CDW, B&H and a few other e-tailers, and even if you're not feeling spendy, you can hit that More Coverage link for a chance to win yourself a gratis Drobo FS. It's a win-win, we tell ya. %Gallery-104054%
