Tuesday, April 7, 2009

DroboPro: Drobo bigger, better, rack-mounted and faster

DroboPro: Drobo bigger, better, rack-mounted and faster

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The Data Robotics Drobo brought easy mass storage to power users and small businesses back in 2007, and since then, higher hard disk capacities and word of mouth have turned it into a popular storage solution. The simple design, proprietary BeyondRaid redundant-disk technology, and easy expandability are perfect for anyone who has a lot of information to store, and for businesses with up to 25 employees. However, Data Robotics wanted to move further into the lucrative SMB storage market and didn't have a product that would handle up to 100 people and fit in a standard server rack.

That all changed this morning, with the announcement of DroboPro. Think of Drobo on steroids, with slots for eight SATA drives instead of four, two FireWire 800 ports, a USB 2.0 port, and an Ethernet port that is used for iSCSI connectivity, and throughput rates in the 75-80 megabyte/second range. Give this über-Drobo the same easy setup and management, quiet operation, and cool looks of the original device, and you have a winner.

I interviewed Tom Loverro, Director of Product Marketing at Data Robotics, last week about the company's new product.

Continue reading DroboPro: Drobo bigger, better, rack-mounted and faster

TUAWDroboPro: Drobo bigger, better, rack-mounted and faster originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Computerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio?

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ComputerWorld has an interesting item this morning by Mike Elgan. It speculates about new features in the anticipated iPhone coming this summer, including an FM transmitter to send iPhone audio to a car radio. It's also thought that the new 3.0 software will enable stereo bluetooth streaming to a car suitably equipped.

There's no doubt that these features might convince many to either skip satellite radio, or to not renew current contracts.

All that is bad news for Sirius/XM, but the newly merged companies have done plenty to shoot themselves. Many subscribers think the merger was badly done, and many favorite channels were killed with no notice. As an XM subscriber I experienced that first hand when no heads up was given to customers about massive channel changes until the day of the switch last fall. For a communications company, that's pretty poor communications.

With an iPhone that can stream stereo Bluetooth, services like Pandora, LastFM, AOL Radio, and Simplify Media become more mobile in the car. I'd have to think twice about renewing XM or Sirius. Although new car sales are in the dumper, a great many new vehicles are delivered with iPod adapters, giving even more impetus for users to take their own music with them rather than to be stuck with a costly, and seemingly diminishing satellite radio service.

The whole theory behind Sirius/XM was to get radio worth paying for. To a degree, the iPhone and iPod have changed that equation, because you can take your favorite music with you, either your own or music from the new streaming music services. But getting the music into your car audio system was a chore if you weren't pre-wired for it. If indeed Apple makes the integration of the iPhone into the car easier, I think satellite radio will have to re-think its business plan, a plan that is already in tatters.

How about you? Do you subscribe to Sirius/XM now? Has the economy changed your plans? Would new options to get iPhone audio on your car make you think again about that costly subscription plan?

TUAWComputerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

60+ Free Classic Tabletop Games for the iPhone
Whether you love checkers, tic-tac-toe, or even rock-paper-scissors, there are a ton of free applications you can download for hours of classic tabletop entertainment. Browse through this list and you’re almost certain to find apps that appeal to your need to play your favorite childhood games.

Prepare for ludicrous speed: Ars reviews the 8-core Mac Pro
What has two "Nehalem" Xeon processors, eight cores, a non-workstation class graphics card(?!), and a positively stratospheric sticker price? The answer is, of course, Apple's new Mac Pro tower, an aluminum-clad whale of a machine that art director Dave Girard put through its media-creation paces in this massive review.

Illusion Labs goes to the big screen

Filed under: , , , , ,

This is only slightly Mac-related but it is really cool. We've posted about two of Illusion Labs' popular iPhone games here on the site: Touchgrind is a 3D simulation of a touchboard, and Sway is a really fun little platformer-esque swingathon that has you swinging from side-to-side using the touchscreen. Both games are pretty original in how they use multitouch controls, and so when Illusion Labs got their hands on a big tabletop touchscreen, there was only one thing to do: blow the games up and play them in a big way.

You can see how it looks above -- seems like a lot of fun. And it makes you think, too -- multitouch seems to be where its at for the future of user interfaces, and the iPhone is really a breeding ground for testing out the technology and coming up with new ways to use it. It may be a long time before we all have huge multitouch screens like this in our kitches and living rooms, but considering how ubiquitous the iPhone already is (and the fact that almost anyone with some time, $100, and an idea can publish an app on the App Store), we can start seeing the kinds of applications that will live on those screens right now.

TUAWIllusion Labs goes to the big screen originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

DroboPro: Drobo bigger, better, rack-mounted and faster

Filed under: , , ,

The Data Robotics Drobo brought easy mass storage to power users and small businesses back in 2007, and since then, higher hard disk capacities and word of mouth have turned it into a popular storage solution. The simple design, proprietary BeyondRaid redundant-disk technology, and easy expandability are perfect for anyone who has a lot of information to store, and for businesses with up to 25 employees. However, Data Robotics wanted to move further into the lucrative SMB storage market and didn't have a product that would handle up to 100 people and fit in a standard server rack.

That all changed this morning, with the announcement of DroboPro. Think of Drobo on steroids, with slots for eight SATA drives instead of four, two FireWire 800 ports, a USB 2.0 port, and an Ethernet port that is used for iSCSI connectivity, and throughput rates in the 75-80 megabyte/second range. Give this über-Drobo the same easy setup and management, quiet operation, and cool looks of the original device, and you have a winner.

I interviewed Tom Loverro, Director of Product Marketing at Data Robotics, last week about the company's new product.

Continue reading DroboPro: Drobo bigger, better, rack-mounted and faster

TUAWDroboPro: Drobo bigger, better, rack-mounted and faster originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Computerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio?

Filed under: , ,

ComputerWorld has an interesting item this morning by Mike Elgan. It speculates about new features in the anticipated iPhone coming this summer, including an FM transmitter to send iPhone audio to a car radio. It's also thought that the new 3.0 software will enable stereo bluetooth streaming to a car suitably equipped.

There's no doubt that these features might convince many to either skip satellite radio, or to not renew current contracts.

All that is bad news for Sirius/XM, but the newly merged companies have done plenty to shoot themselves. Many subscribers think the merger was badly done, and many favorite channels were killed with no notice. As an XM subscriber I experienced that first hand when no heads up was given to customers about massive channel changes until the day of the switch last fall. For a communications company, that's pretty poor communications.

With an iPhone that can stream stereo Bluetooth, services like Pandora, LastFM, AOL Radio, and Simplify Media become more mobile in the car. I'd have to think twice about renewing XM or Sirius. Although new car sales are in the dumper, a great many new vehicles are delivered with iPod adapters, giving even more impetus for users to take their own music with them rather than to be stuck with a costly, and seemingly diminishing satellite radio service.

The whole theory behind Sirius/XM was to get radio worth paying for. To a degree, the iPhone and iPod have changed that equation, because you can take your favorite music with you, either your own or music from the new streaming music services. But getting the music into your car audio system was a chore if you weren't pre-wired for it. If indeed Apple makes the integration of the iPhone into the car easier, I think satellite radio will have to re-think its business plan, a plan that is already in tatters.

How about you? Do you subscribe to Sirius/XM now? Has the economy changed your plans? Would new options to get iPhone audio on your car make you think again about that costly subscription plan?

TUAWComputerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

60+ Free Classic Tabletop Games for the iPhone
Whether you love checkers, tic-tac-toe, or even rock-paper-scissors, there are a ton of free applications you can download for hours of classic tabletop entertainment. Browse through this list and you’re almost certain to find apps that appeal to your need to play your favorite childhood games.

Prepare for ludicrous speed: Ars reviews the 8-core Mac Pro
What has two "Nehalem" Xeon processors, eight cores, a non-workstation class graphics card(?!), and a positively stratospheric sticker price? The answer is, of course, Apple's new Mac Pro tower, an aluminum-clad whale of a machine that art director Dave Girard put through its media-creation paces in this massive review.

Illusion Labs goes to the big screen

Filed under: , , , , ,

This is only slightly Mac-related but it is really cool. We've posted about two of Illusion Labs' popular iPhone games here on the site: Touchgrind is a 3D simulation of a touchboard, and Sway is a really fun little platformer-esque swingathon that has you swinging from side-to-side using the touchscreen. Both games are pretty original in how they use multitouch controls, and so when Illusion Labs got their hands on a big tabletop touchscreen, there was only one thing to do: blow the games up and play them in a big way.

You can see how it looks above -- seems like a lot of fun. And it makes you think, too -- multitouch seems to be where its at for the future of user interfaces, and the iPhone is really a breeding ground for testing out the technology and coming up with new ways to use it. It may be a long time before we all have huge multitouch screens like this in our kitches and living rooms, but considering how ubiquitous the iPhone already is (and the fact that almost anyone with some time, $100, and an idea can publish an app on the App Store), we can start seeing the kinds of applications that will live on those screens right now.

TUAWIllusion Labs goes to the big screen originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

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