1.8" USB Portable Hard Drive

Jin-Wei Tioh writes "The folks at BlueSmoke take a look at Transcend's recently announced 1.8" USB 2.0 portable hard drive, the only one of its kind on the market. Roughly the size of a small stack of business cards, it is quite a bit smaller than existing 2.5" drives. It holds either 20GB or 40GB of data and is styled like an iPod."

Comments

Like the VST FireFly

[SiMac]

The VST FireFly was based on the 1.8" 5GB drive (the one that was in the original iPod). It was also extremely tiny; however, it was limited in capacity, and eventually discontinued.

Nice

[MacFury]

I was waiting for something like this. I wonder how reliable something like this would be if left on/used as a main drive for extended periods of time.

Re:Nice

[Suburbanpride]

I wonder if their server was running on these drives, beacuse it sure went down fast.

Re:Nice

[You aren't funny]

HAR HAR HAR HAR

yuo are teh funnay!!!1!

Ive nevar herd a joke liek that befor!!!!! suggesting that the server is running on product from artical is GENIUS!!!!!! It was so original!!! nobody has evar made a joke like that!!!!!!!1!!!!

you split my sides apart with gut busting laughter!!!!!!!!

Pleez tell another one mistar commedian!!!?!~1!

Good for DigVid cameras?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would imagine this could easily power new digital video cameras, and you could actually record in true digital mode instead of on tapes.

cat_man_50

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[josh3736]

You're saying that DV on tapes is somehow not "true" digital. It's still stored as 1s and 0s, just on a tape instead of on a disk.

I work with (large amounts of) DV daily. Recording directly to disk would be much more convenient than tape, but it would not somehow increase the quality. In the end, it's the same set of digits regardless of what medi[a/ums] its been on.

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[Twirlip of the Mists]

you could actually record in true digital mode instead of on tapes

Yes, as opposed to all that fake digital stuff on a DV tape. God, I hate fake digital so much.

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[jackbird]

Perhaps the grandparent is talking about random access playback, or recording uncompressed. DV has neither of those features.

A 40 GB hard drive isn't going to record you very much uncompressed NTSC, though, and hardly any hi-def.

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[3digitnic]

You mean record direct-to-disk? That's just crazy talk... Well maybe not so crazy.

FireStore series products convert any IEEE-1394 (FireWire, i.Link) drive into high performance Digital Disk Recorder/Players. Record directly to disk from your digital camcorder, VTR, or mixer. When you are ready to edit, your clips are immediately available to your NLE system with zero ingest time - no capturing, no file transfer, no file conversion! Just shoot...then edit

http://www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/fire store.htm

Actually works quite well. Several others have simular products on the market.

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[dfghjk]

HDV is HiDef and records at DV data rates. Same with DVHS. 40GB would be over 3 hours.

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[Snaller]

It isn't - its cheap crap. What we need is crystal storage ;)

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[jackbird]

If it records at DV data rates, it sure as heck ain't uncompressed. Anyway, I was just trying to understand what the original post was talking about.

Re:Good for DigVid cameras?

[dfghjk]

I have no idea what "true digital mode" is either. HDV is certainly compressed as uncompressed HD is huge. I don't think anyone will be doing uncompressed video of any type on a single 1.8" hard drive.

Funny 404 pages

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out the 404 page for this site:

http://www.bluesmoke.net/Graphics/Digits/trans.gif

Pretty funny.

Re:Funny 404 pages

[Concerned Onlooker]

I tried but I got a 404 error.

Re:Funny 404 pages

[the pickle]

Funny, maybe, but nowhere near original. The HHGG "Marvin" 404 pages have been around for years.

And IMO, this is one of the less well-done examples.

p

Re:Funny 404 pages

[JFitzsimmons]

But human's are perfect.

*sigh*
Apparently not.

Where the hell is my stuff?

[thewldisntenuff]

As hard drive/memory chip/etc devices get smaller and smaller, I wonder how people will be able to keep track of where the hell their (physical, not logical) memory is....

I can see a new market now, not for data recovery, but for recover-the-data-device recovery....I'll make millions!

-thewldisntenuff

Re:Where the hell is my stuff?

[DoctorDeath]

they already have one... you just whistle and it starts chirping.

Re:Where the hell is my stuff?

[josh3736]

As hard drive/memory chip/etc devices get smaller and smaller, I wonder how people will be able to keep track of where the hell their (physical, not logical) memory is.... I can see a new market now, not for data recovery, but for recover-the-data-device recovery....I'll make millions!

And now that I've patented this new business model before you did, it will now make me millions!

Re:Where the hell is my stuff?

[Anonymous Coward]

I work with this mini technology day in and day out and I know it's not just the physical location of the drive that you lose. Due to the heisenberg uncertainty principle as we get to storing smaller and smaller units of data, we become less certain as to the position and the velocity of the data so there is error inherent in each of these drives that is getting worse. Sometimes these drives will randomly shift the bits and the data will be completely corrupted, stay away from them.

This would be nice

[Daimaou]

I currently am using a 40GB laptop drive in a USB case. it is about the size of a deck of cards (just a bit longer) and requires no exteral power source. It is really handy.

Of course, it would even be better if it was smaller, so I can already feel that compulsive twitch in my hand as it dives for my wallet to fork over some bucks for one of these.

Re:This would be nice

[billygr]

I am using the same from Fujitsu http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20030729/fujit su-02.html With one common problem.... Some laptops cannot handle the current that the disk requires to spin up and happens as usual when you don't have the "double" usb cable with you

Re:This would be nice

[Daimaou]

My drive casing came with a power cord that you can plug into the keyboard socket if you run into this problem. So far though, I haven't needed to use it.

Obligatory

[sw155kn1f3]

Well...

You don't want to name your site bluesmoke.net and post a link to slashdot, don't you ;-)?

Not exactly first to market...

[lemonylimey]

Freecom have had an external hard drive based on a 1.8" unit for a couple of months now.

Link

Re:Not exactly first to market...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes and the freecom item is available now. It would seem to be quite a bit pricier than the transcend unit, if the bluesmoke guess is right. The freecom is 259 EUR I think; $329 at Fry's (a CA comp retailer) for a 40gb.

really?

[IamLarryboy]

"it is quite a bit smaller than existing 2.5" drives."

Say about .7"?

Re:really?

[Anonymous Coward]

.7" may not seem like a lot but thats a 28% reduction, which is great.

Re:really?

[notanatheist]

Great, America is getting hit by the "smaller is better bug". Next thing you know you'll have spam in your box advertising shrinkage.

Re:really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Great, America is getting hit by the "smaller is better bug". Next thing you know you'll have spam in your box advertising shrinkage.

Slashdot is going to start publishing a newsletter?!??! Sweet!

Re:really?

[Anonymous Coward]

And stil they are not embarassed to admit it. I would be even for 2.5" one...

"Styled like an iPod?

[InternationalCow]

Excuse me? It is flat, rectangular and whitish by the look of the ./-ed site. Apart from that it doesn't look like an iPod at all. Since when is everything that is rectangular and flat styled like an iPod? Is a paperweight styled like an iPod? Or an iced cake? Please, think before you post.

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who gives a shit if it looks like an iPod or not. if he thinks it looks like an ipod thats his own opinion - why would you even bother to disagree?

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[YrWrstNtmr]

Slashdot Think Post

Choose any two.

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[Throtex]

"A terrific adaptation of a classic joke!"
- raves the Slashdot community.

"Inspiring, and right in so many ways!"
- says Anonymous Coward Weekly

"Laugh Out Loud funny!"
- gushes Nerds Quarterly

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[starphish]

Perhaps you should think before you post rather then just react. He didn't say that he thought it was styled like an ipod. If you went to the link, you'd see he was quoting the website.

He did his research, you didn't

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[MyDixieWrecked]

it actually does kinda look like an ipod. White face... chrome on the back (or is that just a chrome band? I can't really tell in the pic...)

see?

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[InternationalCow]

Exactly - I rest my case!

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[Anonymous Coward]

A. Nowhere in the article does it say "is styled like an iPod." The article does mention that it "can be quite easily mistaken for an iPod" and "the styling is similar to many of Apple's products." So it's not a quote at all.

B. If it was a quote, the article submitter fails to indicate it as such, making it look like their opinion. Ironic that there was a story about plagiarism posted earlier today eh?

C. It's not styled like an iPod, it kind of, perhaps, under certain lighting, uses the same styling as Apple products. But then who cares.

In conclusion, the grandparent comment author did think before posting. You, on the other hand, don't seem to even have the capability of thinking.

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[writermike]

Is a paperweight styled like an iPod? Or an iced cake?

Actually, they're ALL copies of Ivory Soap. Proctor and Gamble's gonna put the smack down on Apple any day now, just you wait and see.

Re:"Styled like an iPod?

[shadowbearer]

Replace the first word with Usenet, and you have metaphorical time travel.

(I know what I'm trying to say, dammit, quit being pedantic already. The language sucks :)

SB

ADS Pyro DV

[MacFury]

http://www.adstech.com/products/API_820/intro/API8 20intro.asp?pid=API820 They have a DV drive that you can plug into a FireWire camera and record straight to the hard drive. I want one, but I haven't been able to find any reviews on the product so I'm reluctant to spend $700.

Re:ADS Pyro DV

[josh3736]

We have a Videonics FireStore. You can hook a DV camera in one end and a FireWire drive to the other side.

It seems really cool, but in pratice, it just sits in the studio collecting dust on top of a VCR.

Tapes work for me. You can always get more of em for cheap and the time moving the DV off tape onto disk isn't all that bad since you can set it and go get something to eat while it does its thing.

Re:ADS Pyro DV

[bprice20]

Your link isn't working but i found a site with a review of a similar product. What do you think?

Re:ADS Pyro DV

[Pfhor]

The added benefit of shooting on tape, is once you have it imported, you can lock the tape and keep it somewhere safe, so you atleast have some backup of the video. And with timecodes, you can reimport footage X if someone got carried away with a filter or you scratch drive got munged.

Would you see someone doing lots of quick shooting and editing (blitz movie making became an aspect of the doc. film class I took this last semester) being able to benefit from something like the firestore? or the Pyro DV?

It took a week to get all our video logged and digitized for the final class project, so the last thing I want to do now for our make up shots is to have to sit down and digitize it all again.

Cache

[NEOtaku17]

1. http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:7qLgSWe6BYg J:www.bluesmoke.net/+&hl=en

Re:Cache

[josh3736]

Say it with me now,

"I will use <a>...</a> tags for my links."

and

"The Google Cache does not include the images."

Which is all we really want to see anyways. ;)

Its very simple..

[t_allardyce]

1) Take a PDA with a reasonable CPU (one that could handle say low-res divx playing at a decent framerate)

2) Include built in hard-drive

3) Profit

Re:Its very simple..

[Anonymous Coward]

I would love an affordable mini-harddisk with a general purpose cpu, a network interface and an open OS. These firewire/usb2 harddisks are nice, but you really have to trust people when you attach your disk to their system. An autonomous network server would be much safer and could also present your data in different ways. It could be a streaming audio server with built-in webserver for database access, for example.

Re:Its very simple..

[Anonymous Coward]

There are already pdas that can handle microdrives and no one is impressed by the battery life of these monstrosities

Re:Its very simple..

[josh3736]

So it turns out the mysterious "????" step #2 has always been "Include a built-in harddrive?" Huh....

On a more serious note, you forgot "include one hell of a battery."

My PDA probably would'nt be able to last for an entire movie, especially since the CPU is at full load for the entire thing. Now you add a faster CPU and having to power a hard drive. The battery is gone in half an hour.

Unfortunately, hardly enough to watch a movie.

Re:Its very simple..

[YrWrstNtmr]

2a) Devise new battery technology

Re:Its very simple..

[cloudless.net]

Can save energy with other components too, for example the supposedly great OLED display, new energy-saving CPU, or even a more efficient OS. Or perhaps somebody can make a harddisk less power hungry.

Re:Its very simple..

[t_allardyce]

nah just hand-crank the hard-drive (connected to a gearing system of course:P

Re:Its very simple..

[KZigurs]

Too late. Sony will profit from that.

Re:Its very simple..

[rebelcool]

and then in order to recoup the research and new manufacturing plant costs required to design and build these new components, charge $1800 for it.

Re:Its very simple..

[jsebrech]

nah just hand-crank the hard-drive (connected to a gearing system of course:P

You make that remark in jest, but I'm suddenly wondering whether there are hand-powered generators to power/recharge all our technotools while on the go.

Re:Its very simple..

[jrockway]

Yes. We should stop inventing new technology because it's all too expensive. All for going back to stone tools say "aye"!

*crickets*

Oh.

from tonytalkstech.net

[loomis]

"Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend) releases its 1.8 USB 2.0 portable hard drive this month, April 2004. Although roughly the size of a standard business card, it has more than enough capacity (20GB/40GB) for your data storage needs. No need to carry around another troublesome power brick either; it is powered directly from the USB port. This pocket drive is perfect for the person always on the go."

"Data transfer rate is up to 480 Mbps (USB2.0). This device is fully compatible with USB2.0 and backwards compatible with USB1.1 specifications. Unlike CD-RWs, which require special software, pocket drives will appear as just another hard drive. There isnt any extra driver software to worry about (except for Win98SE). Using the included ExBoot software, your entire computer can be backed-up and restored at a moments notice. Weighing only 4.2oz (118g) for the 20GB HDD and 4.6oz (130g) for the 40GB HDD. Transcends portable hard drive is as rugged as it is lightweight. Smaller and more convenient than a 1.44MB floppy diskette, this hard drive is ready to go wherever and whenever you need it."

ipod

[jsebrech]

I've been using my ipod for that for a while now. It's remarkably handy having gigabytes of storage that can be used from most computers without installing a driver, and that will fit in your pocket.

The one annoying thing is that you can't access the music player functionality while it's mounted as a disk.

Re:ipod

[Twirlip of the Mists]

The one annoying thing is that you can't access the music player functionality while it's mounted as a disk.

That must be a Windows thing. On a Mac, you can do both at the same time. In fact, that's the default behavior once you turn "mount as a hard drive" on. It never even occurred to me that there would be any other way.

Re:ipod

[damiam]

That's how it works on Windows too. I don't know what the parent was talking about.

Re:ipod

[System.out.println()]

That's not my experience. When you plug it in to Firewire, The big "International No" sign comes up and it says "Do Not Disconnect", and the music stops, and none of the buttons do anything until I eject the iPod.

I wonder what the difference is (or if we're just misunderstanding each other). I have a brand-new 15GB, 3rd-gen iPod, and am using it in auto-sync mode, and mount it as a disk on OS X.3.4.

Maybe one of you who *can* play music while it's mounted could post your data, and we can figure out why yours plays and mine doesn't?

Re:ipod

[jsebrech]

I did some research on this. It turns out that it depends on the firmware version. Some 3rd gen firmwares allow you access to the ipod's menu while mounted, some don't.

What firmware version are you using? I'm on 2.2.

obvious question...

[selderrr]

why not use an iPod ?? It's Firewire+USB2, also has upto 40GB capacity and features a handy display for built-in calendar/notes/game/...


The article is slashdotted, so I don't know te price difference.

Re:obvious question...

[Turtlewind]

In addition to the price, there's also the size difference. The iPod is 4.1 inches long, which is over twice as big as this drive. The whole point about this story is the (physical) size of the drive.

Re:obvious question...

[Twirlip of the Mists]

And by the way, I've heard a rumor that you can hack it to play music, too. ;-)

since blue smoke seems to be smoked

[atarione]

https://ec.transcendusa.com/product/memspitem.asp

and

http://news.amdplanet.it/news.php?a=shownews&last= 1883

External HDs for Linux?

[Unknown Relic]

Are there any external hard drives that have decent support under Linux? From what I've read all of the common ones seem to require a slew of hacks to get working properly, and even then are somewhat quirky. I'd love to be able to plug one of these into a running machine, mount the drive and just have it work. Any of the current offerigns fit the bill? Some of these external drives can be booted to as well, which would be an extra bonus.

Re:External HDs for Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

Almost any USB storage unit should work, everything from those tiny pen/key things to hard drives. Anything I've plugged has always worked without drivers, not only on Linux but also on OSX and in Windows. Some new digital cameras, my Frontier mp3 player, and so on work like this. It's absolute heaven not having to install crappy software from the manufacturers like in the bad old days.

Re:External HDs for Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

Huh? I don't know of any modern distro that doesn't support the most common External Hard Drives available, ie the USB type. Just buy it and plug it in. No hacks involved. I'm not trying to make fun of you, but are you using Debian stable or some other old distro perchance?

Re:External HDs for Linux?

[gotr00t]

Almost any external hard disk that is either USB or firewire works perfectly under linux. This is because for the most part, these drives follow open standards. I have never had a problem using external storage with my Linux box, and that includes FW drives like the iPod.

I don't know where you're reading that "all the common ones seem to require a slew of hacks to get working properly", but I, for one, have never had to use any hack to get an external drive to work. Just plug it in and mount it.

Re:External HDs for Linux?

[RobertLTux]

the slew of hacks being 1 convert to a 2.4+ kernel 2 install devfs (or similar) 3 install USB mass storage support 4 (optional) install automount (or similar) 5 PROFIT!!!! Please note all the above hacks should be predone in any recent (~8 months) distro

Re:External HDs for Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know about other distro's, but on my Xandros 2 Business Edition I simply plug the USB HDD in, and all the data is available..... Can't see how it can be made easier than that

Re:External HDs for Linux?

[DaveCBio]

Just bought the 160GB version of this - http://www.ximeta.com/products/netdisk.php , comes with Windows, Linux and Mac drivers.

Re:External HDs for Linux?

[glitch23]

but I, for one, have never had to use any hack to get an external drive to work. Just plug it in and mount it.

All right, enough with the sex talk.

"only one of it's kind on the market"?

[stephentyrone]

what about an iPod? (which actually *is* styled like an ipod). Numerous other 1.8" externals exist.

Re:"only one of it's kind on the market"?

[System.out.println()]

One thing that struck me is that if it's "styled like an iPod" (possibly to appeal to Mac users?) then why the hell is it USB 2.0? OS X's implementation of USB 2.0 absolutely blows - slower than Firewire 400 (iPod's primary connection).

Get me one of these that plays music and connects via firewire, and I'll....wait a second....

With decent storage this size...

[Kegster]

How long before we start to see PDAs with hard-drive based storage?

Then the only limit on the software will be the processor speed and battery life.

Who wouldn't want a system like that that you could fit into your back pocket?

Re:With decent storage this size...

[drinkypoo]

I'd rather have one whose screen and likely case would not be obliterated if I put it in my back pocket and leaned against something or sat on it. I'm more than willing to sacrifice say another 1/4" in all directions to have a more rigid case. Make it out of a magnesium/aluminum alloy and it should be plenty rigid. But instead, we get all these plastic or thin metal PDAs which are too flexible and if the thing is in your FRONT pants pocket it usually ends up with a cracked screen. I've destroyed several palm devices (none of them were color though, I knew better) and I'm pretty tired of it.

Re:With decent storage this size...

[Kegster]

Thats a valid point, even if they devices were built top survive being sat on they'd be pretty bloody uncomfortable.

This is why tailors invented inside jacket pockets,
then the destruction of your pda is the least of your worries when you reach for it in an airport or bank ;)

Re:With decent storage this size...

[drinkypoo]

The problem with the inside jacket pocket is that they are inside jackets and I live in California. I wear a jacket maybe a fourth of the year maximum and that's only because I live in Northern California where we have seasons. The rest of the time it's pretty much shorts and tee shirt weather, or lay in the shade drinking beer and wishing the wind would pick up weather. (We have a swamp cooler actually.)

Re:With decent storage this size...

[Kegster]

Gah, the trials of living in a pleasant climate? how do you cope?

Cargo pockets would work though.

Maybe PDAs should come with suggected attire for users? they could point out that socks and sandals look bad all the time then, which would be a bonus ;)

Re:With decent storage this size...

[Gothmolly]

Who gives a fuck that you have a swamp cooler? What is this, your blog?

storage for my camera

[cloudless.net]

That tiny harddisk sounds nice, but I wish it will have USB host or Compact Flash card reader so I can transfer all the photos from my digital camera to the harddisk. Large CF or microdrives are too expensive, and this sounds like a much better solution.

Re:storage for my camera

[steven_r]

I've been looking at this sort of stuff recently. I found a couple of things that look cool.

The first is a USB Master Portable Hard Disk / Media Player which can connect directly to Digital cameras and memory card reader devices and copy images from the camera.

The second is a USB Bridge which you can connect two USB slave devices and copy files from one to the other without the need for a separate pc. I think that there are also some other portable hard drive cases that have a built in memory card reader to perform a similar function.

Steve.

Re:storage for my camera

[Trracer]

Then you should check out the Archos Gmini 220.
...which is also based on an 1.8" drive, 20GB. It has a built-in cardreader for CF (and other media via an adapter). I have one that I download pics from my Nikon D70. It even can show jpegs on it's b/w lcd screen (crappy tho).
Drop me a mail if you want more info about it from me.

Re:storage for my camera

[mesuvoche]

I think this is what the iRiver H300 is for:
Product link (Japanese text), English summary.

I Claim Patent rights

[Prince Vegeta SSJ4]

to the process of clapping, whistling, or shouting for the purpose of locating a tiny hard drive, through the use of an audio visual device. HERE is a working prototype of my device.

Anybody who wishes to license this technology, please contact me at 1 (800) 426-8686

ooooooooo....

[hellmarch]

thats all i have to say. oooooooo
i can't afford one but i can wish i could afford one.

Make $5250 Guaranteed!!! All you need is a PayPal account and $25. We'll do the rest. Click here to find out how.

Usefullness

[Sinful_Shirts]

I'm curious to know what something like this would be most useful for. I mean obviously there are some good uses, but why not just use DVD+-R or something?

Re:Usefullness

[Fuzzle]

I have a powerbook with an 80gb drive, which is enough space for carrying around a decent sized library of mp3s, documents, pictures, etc. However, with my old iBook and it's 20gb drive, I was unable to arry everything around with me that I wanted. A nice, small, bus powered pocket sized drive was exactly what I wanted. Which is why I bought an iPod.

Re:Usefullness

[Sinful_Shirts]

Troll?? I don't see what is wrong with my question

partly mirrored

[lart2150]

I got some of the first page before the server started connection refused http://students.depaul.edu/~bengert/www.bluesmoke. net/viewArticle.html

quality?

[azatht]

I have a question:

How well can the tiny hard drives withstand shakes and magnetic fields? It's seems that there is not much room for shielding.

Re:quality?

[Fweeky]

Most magnetic fields aren't much of a danger to hard disks; they're so dense the magnetic material has to be quite resistant to all but the largest fields, because the heads can't focus the entire field on the exact area bits are stored on. Unless you're planning on being near an MRI machine or particle accelerator I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just don't store it near your rare earth magnet collection, ok? ;)

Shock's more a factor of aerodynamics than shielding; will just have to see what the specs are like :)

Lacie Mobile Drive

[NoWhere Man]

Unfortunately now discontinued, Lacie came out with a similar product in the past.

http://www.programmersparadise.com/Product.pasp? tx tCatalog=Paradise&txtCategory=&txtProductID=ZHI+85 8103

Useful

[Bill_Royle]

Nice review. I can envision this being very useful for my company's business travellers, due to the space considerations specifically. As well, anyone that works in corporate IT knows that users have a tendency to stockpile their mail, regardless of it's use - this would be a very handy device to store .pst files (or even .nsf files.)

Thanks to BlueSmoke for the useful info, I'll see if I can pick one of these up and eval it for wider usage.

Ever notice...

[aismail3]

that nerds are the only ones who are envious of men with small objects? ;)

preemptive grammar nazi strike

[Anonymous Coward]

I realize it should be "wouldn't."

Typing too fast can be a BadThing®.

Re:Mirror?

[Anonymous Coward]

FLAME! FLAME! FLAME!

What I want to know is

[geeber]

How long until portable data storage integrated with built in WiFi becomes standard? Just walk up to any computer, set it down, type in the password and you are good to go. No cables required.

Re:What I want to know is

[samfreed]

Same problem as attaching it to a PDA. Battery. And a PDA would be even better - you have all the stuff available to you all the time on a crappy little screen, and when you have a decent machine you can REALLY work.

Re:What I want to know is

[mrchaotica]

That's not WiFi, that's Bluetooth.

Re:What I want to know is

[Anonymous Coward]

WiFi is the wrong standard for that. The standard for walk-up integration is Bluetooth. There are some rumblings about products for this due out soon from Toshiba. There are also rumors that the iPod mini might have bluetooth capability shortly as well. WiFi requires a per-device setup (unless you're stupid enough to run it without security). Bluetooth is designed to be short range (2 meters), and has built-in support for automatic discovery and configuration. Bluetooth has security available as well, but it's less strict due to the limitations of the range design.

Yes, I know that there are long-range bluetooth designs being touted. I thought it was a bad idea before, and I think it's a bad idea now. 802.11(b|g|a) is for longer range networking, Bluetooth is for the short-range personal networking and peripheral connect. Just like USB is good for input devices and low-speed peripherals, while Firewire is best for high-speed, peer-to-peer and/or time-linked(video/audio, etc...) devices.

Re:What I want to know is

[lavaface]

I suppose what's holding things up is the power issue. Unless a convenient, effective solution for wireless power is developed the point is moot. The wifi transmitter will gobble power. The drive itself needs power. You'd get minutes of use out of such a device. Definitely a cool idea but until then carrying a wire seems ok.

Re:What I want to know is

[Anonymous Coward]

If it could plug in directly to an electric outlet, like an electric shaver, wouldn't it be convenient enough?

Re:What I want to know is

[geeber]

Point well taken. I had actually meant to type wireless, not WiFi. That's what I get for not previewing. Oh well, the basic idea of a wireless harddrive that I carry with me and contains all my needed data still intrigues me.

COMPusa Has 1GB and 1.5GB USB2.0 drives for $99 an

[Anonymous Coward]

COMPUSA has 1GB and 1.5GB USB2.0 drives for $99 and $129, they are smaller than the Creative Muvo2, it may contain the Hitachi micro dirves.

Re:Mirror?

[Thadddius_Brinks]

http://www.transcendusa.com/Transcend/PressDetail. asp?pruid=124

try this

sounds nice...

[pedantic bore]

... but I think that BlueSmoke describes what's coming out of their web server right now.

Small drives like this (though maybe not quite so petite) have been around for at least a year but they haven't apparently caught on. My guess is that the dollars/gigabyte ratio isn't down to the point where these things become worthwhile. For a few megs (or hundreds of megs) a keychain USB "drive" (really flash memory) is fine. For large amounts of data, portable drives (ala LaCie) are OK; it's no big deal to carry around something a bit larger than a 3.5" drive. Is there a market for anything in between? Probably not, unless it's pretty cheap.

Re:sounds nice...

[bas148]

$160/20 gb. Don't know what this means to you, although it's quite cheap compared to hard drive mp3 players and quite expensive compared to standard hard drives. Why couldn't they add some basic music-playing functionality to it? I really don't know how extensive a technological change that would be, but they could probably do it for $20-$30 a unit, which would make the price still much cheaper than the cheapest hard drive mp3 players of comparable size. And as they said, it has that iPod look, for half the price of the comparable iPod. I'm waiting until hard drive mp3 players come down to a reasonable price (which is pretty low for me, obviously).

Already done by Archos

[Anonymous Coward]

Archos has had their 1.8" Arcdisk out in 20GB format for a good while now. $199 MSRP.

Bought one off of ebay, probably was refurbished, but still, only $115.

Took it apart and there is a Hitachi drive inside. The 44 pins are soldered to the USB-IDE adapter. Plan on desoldering it and using it with an SBC.

Styled like an iPod????

[brunes69]

Funny, last time I checked the iPod didn't have a think black stipe wrapped around the middle. It also didn't have a perfectly flat top either, and it had numerous buttons.

Why is it nowadays whenever anything is "white" and have curned edges it is "styled after the iPod"? Things were white before too.

Does the fact that my digital camera is grey with curved corners make it "styled after a 50's toaster"?

Death by Apple Fashion

[No_Weak_Heart]

My casket is going to be "styled like an iPod."

Enough already.

Reliability?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hope it is more reliable than their servers, because they are down now...

Re: 40 GB is very good!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

40 GB / 824 MB-per-XviD-file = 48.54 XviD-files.

I can store good quality 48 XviD-films inside of my pocket!!! xDD

open4free ©

I'm so cool that my refrigerator..

[the_rajah]

is styled like an iPod..

"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain

picture here

[spazoid12]

This is the most amazing device I've ever seen.

It's white. It's smallish. It will bring you strong donkey good luck!

Here's the BIG DEAL.

styled like the ipod??

[Anonymous Coward]

Styled like the ipod??

Dimension wise I hope.

Come up with something original stylistically though. Aiming for portability is good .. but come on .. have a different style!

There are an infinite number of colors and control/display layouts to choose from.

Don't copy the ipod, cause I'll just go with the original.

On the server, algorithmically indexed

[Ars-Fartsica]

The pieces are already there. It should be obvious by now that the major web players (Yahoo,MSN,Google) will move to "unlimited" storage or some metered model. They will back up your data (yes Yahoo Briefcase etc are backed up, if primitively), and index it algorithmically. Your PC will just be the docking station/local cache (to prevent you from having to transfer *all* your data).

Small but expensive

[Dark Bard]

Took some digging but I found them for sale and got a price. The 20 gig was going for $255 and the 40 gig was going for $370. Here's the site if anyone is desperate enough to pay the price. http://atic.ath.cx/index.php?page=Products&cat =5 I like the compatiblity of USB but I'd still like to see the price on the 40 gig in the area of $200. I'm sure they'll come down to that range eventually. 256 and 512 USB pen drives are doing the trick for me and at a fraction the price.

Re:Small but expensive

[Anonymous Coward]

newegg.com has it on sell for $249 for the 40gb one.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?desc ription=22-157-002&depa=0

Re:Mirror?

[Piranhaa]

"Copyright © 2002 Transcend Information Inc. All Rights Reserved" Are we living in the future?

hard drive

[Overd0g]

I'm waiting for the RAID 0+1 version.

But can you bludgeon your boyfriend with it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Woman kills her boyfriend with an ipod

Just make it slightly larger

[AtariAmarok]

Just make it slightly larger, in order to accomodate a couple of buttons, a headphone jack, and an audio file decoder chip.

0.7"

[FRiC]

These are only slightly smaller than 2.5" portable drives, and hold much less. I've been using a portable 2.5" USB 2.0 drive with a much larger capacity for almost two years, and it's USB port powered as well.

The Ipod does the same and more

[Anonymous Coward]

THe third generation iPods are based on 1.8 inch drivesand have both firewire and usb2 connections. In adddition to being (overpriced) hard drives they they are also music players.

MP3 players with external USB storage

[Xenna]

Why doesn't someone create an MP3 player that can function as a USB host and read its media files from an external USB device like this one (or a big old 3.5 disk or one of those tiny USB keys).

Then build it in to a car stereo head unit so that I can finally listen to my music collection wherever I go...

A savings of 0.7" is actually quite a bit more...

[Thowllly]

...significant that it sounds on paper

2.5" drives are actually 2.75" wide, while this drive realy is 1.8" wide. So the difference is 0.95", not 0.7" as claimed in the article. Also, the dimensions they give in mm on page 2 does not mach the size they give in inches.

Not alone...

[aitsu]

the only one of its kind on the market.

There is one on the Japanese market, however. (Sorry, Japanese only but w/ pics.)

Re:Obligatory Comment

[Anonymous Coward]

Not me. I can't wait until I get my first "Enlarge your Overlord" spam.

Archos ARCDisk beat them to the punch...

[ereuter]

The Archos ARCDisk uses a 1.8" HD unit, measures about 3" x 3" x 0.35", and is available now (amazon.com sells it, for example)

Archos ARCdisk

"The folks at BlueSmoke"?

[argent]

Jin-Wei Tioh writes "The folks at BlueSmoke...

Go to the site:

Transcend 1.8" Portable Hard Disk - Features[...]
Author: Jin-Wei Tioh

Contact us:

Jin-Wei Tioh: Editor In Chief / Webmaster

Nice job of slashdotting yourself, eh? I assume the coy reference "The folks at BlueSmoke" was the result of Slashdot editorial rewrite.