Iomega has released the StorCenter ix2-200, a squat-looking NAS that includes built-in remote torrent transfers and support for Apple’s Time Machine. The $270 (1T) product also lets you download data to any Bluetooth phone – along with a number of “green” features.

“Based on EMC’s world class enterprise storage and security technologies and featuring a completely new sleek, sexy industrial design, the new network device will be the easiest-to-use NAS appliance on the marketplace today,” according to Iomega.

The ix2-200’s features “appeal to the movie-downloading, home-server-building, tofu-eating, lazy ass in you,” according to Gizmodo.

What struck us most is the built-in support for torrents. No computer is needed – download the files on the road with your Bluetooth mobile. The NAS also includes support for up to five security cameras that can be monitored from your iPhone.

[Via Gizmodo and Iomega]

We close the week with a familiar trio: MacBook Pros (2.66GHz 17-inch screen), more MacBooks (13.3-inch 2.4GHz) from the Apple Store, and the iPod touch ($149 for an 8GB). Along the way, we also offer a laptop case for your MacBook, plus the MyPlaylists app for your iPod touch or iPhone.

For details on these and other bargains (such as 40GB Apple TVs), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

It seems everywhere you look – on the street, on television and online – another iPod or iPhone is being produced or sold. Supply of flash memory has hit a 1.3 percent shortfall and is expected to drop to 3.3 percent below demand during the important Christmas period. Once again the blame is being laid at Apple’s doorstep.

“NAND flash supply has reportedly become tighter as major chip producers Samsung Electronics, Toshiba, Micron and Hynix Semiconductor favor demand for Apple devices,” DigiTimes writes on a report from DRAMeXchange.

This isn’t the first time Apple has been blamed for a shortage in NAND memory. In September a “serious shortage” of flash memory was reported, causing makers to curtail production to everyone but Apple. At the same time, Apple unveiled new flash-based iPods, including a 64GB iPod touch and an updated iPod nano with video ability.

If you’re still not convinced about the need for regular backups, maybe talking with some Snow Leopard users will. The Apple support boards are buzzing with reports of Leopard users finding data zapped.

“Users start their Macs up as normal only to find they’ve logged in as ‘Guests’ on their machine – with all the files and data held on their Mac in their own user account seemingly deleted,” according to 9to5.

About 18 percent of Mac users have upgraded to Snow Leopard since its release August 28, we reported earlier this month.

So, a month ago, I wrote a post proclaiming iTunes LP to be the first digital album good enough to criticize. I would like to revise that assessment. It is, instead, the first major content misstep in the history of the iTunes Store.

At launch, Apple had six albums available in the format, which basically marries lyrics, album artwork, ad video content to your collection of AAC files. Scratch that, there were five albums and one musical comic book. It seemed like too little, but it was a launch — there were hardly any apps on the App Store when it came out, too. A month later, however, things have scarcely improved. We’ve gone from six offerings in iTunes LP to 13.

So what could be the problem? As it turns out, it’s the business model. According to Gizmodo, an indie record label owner asked Apple what it would take to get some of his albums available in the LP format. Apple’s reported answer? Be a major label. Seriously. Read on.

We start off with a trio of Mac-related deals: 80 percent off on iPod touch cases (along with another discount on MP3 accessories) and a bargain on a universal windshield mount for your iPhone or iPod. (While it is not as slick as a Kensington model we profiled earlier or the DIY “Cop Dash Cam”, it is just $4) Our trio of top picks is rounded out by a USB adapter allowing Mac owners to use SATA hard drives.

For details on these and other items (such as the Netgear 5-port Ethernet switch), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the break.

There are no big announcements from Apple today. No new products, nothing special happening. But it’s a special day nonetheless.

Because today, the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg has finally declared Windows a match for OS X.

Many of you will know that Walt’s opinions are widely read, and are likely to sway a lot of people in their computer-purchasing decisions.

In recent years, he has consistently said that Mac OS X is a better choice than Windows, either XP or Vista. But with the imminent release of Windows 7 (on October 22nd), that comes to an end.

Earlier this year, we ran several articles about Mobigame‘s excellent iPod game Edge getting a legal smackdown from Tim Langdell, owner of Edge Games. Over time, his claims to the Edge marks have, according to commentators, become increasingly dubious and troll-like, to the point where internet sleuths have clubbed together as ChaosEdge to provide a legal fund for Mobigame and information repository that built on the investigative work of TIG Source.

Recently, EA filed suit against Langdell about an entirely different Edge trademark spat, but, to aid indie devs, EA aims via the suit to obliterate all Langdell’s Edge marks, making the world safe for people to use the word ‘Edge’ in the title of a videogame without someone who had a company that was marginally famous in the 1980s popping up and having a major hissy fit.

Possible upshot? Edge is back in the App Store ($4.99 US/£2.99 UK). Somewhat like what you’d get if Marble Madness was built from cubes, and then a load of other cracking gameplay components were added, Edge is a top game for iPod touch and iPhone. And while we hope it’s around for good this time, we strongly recommend you go and buy it right now, just in case it vanishes again.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNUcD-FXgDI

Color me unsurprised, but the Mac vs. PC mentality doesn’t always hold true at home.

The fascinatingly-named 2009 Household Penetration Study from NPD finds that Apple computers are in 12% of US households, up from 9% in 2008.

Ad campaigns aside, the study found that these Mac people don’t mind a little fraternizing with the “enemy:” 85% also have a Windows-based PC at home.

The study also found that Apple owners have more computers (and more laptops) than strictly PC owners, plus they also tend to have more gadget-happy households in general.

We have two new deals on 13-inch MacBooks, including from the Apple Store. Also on tap today is a 1.33GHz Dual Xserve, plus a number of items from the iTunes App Store.

For details on these and other Apple-related products (such as Sony’s S-AIRPLAY iPod Dock), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.