storage - page 5

For years we’ve heard a lot of hype about SSDs and how they’re going to change computing, but their progress has been slow, and the masses have been getting impatient. Well CES 2012 will be the start of SSDs officially entering into mainstream use thanks to Apple Inc. The best purchase I made in 2011 was when I replaced my MacBook Pro with the new 11″ MacBook Air. Not only is the MacBook Air lighter than any laptop I’ve owned, it’s also powerful enough to do some really awesome things I’d never thought possible on a miniature computer (like playing graphic intensive games like Star Wars the Old Republic). Most of these technological marvels are all thanks to Apple’s inclusion on SSDs in the MacBook Air lineup. Of course, Apple didn’t invent the SSD, nor were they the first company to use them, but they’re responsible for bringing SSDs to the masses at an affordable price.

Yesterday we showed you how to conserve iCloud storage space by removing old backups from your iOS device. But what if you don’t have old backups eating up your storage, and you’re still going over your limit?

Today’s tip will show you how to manage your iCloud storage by disabling backups for selected iOS apps that you don’t necessarily need to backup with iCloud, quickly providing you with more storage for your important data.

Launched a few weeks ago, the Pogoplug Series 4 ($100) is Cloud Engines’ latest attempt at making their network-attached storage device as ubiquitous as the microwave oven. Like its predecessors, the S4 allows you to attach a hard drive or flash drive to create your own cloud, which you can use to stream media, share files or create slideshows, all of which can be accessed over the Internet and shared with others. Additionally, it can also be used for remote backup.

When we install new apps on our iOS devices, they don’t just take up the storage space needed for the app itself, but they also consume space needed for storing “documents & data.” This can be all sorts of things, including save files for your games, pictures, videos, and content downloaded through in-app purchases.

Here’s how to see how much storage space each of your apps is using for “documents & data,” and how you can reclaim that precious space.

Pogoplug has been busy. For a company that focuses really intently on a single concept — namely, putting your stuff in the cloud — it has released a prolific number of products since the original Pogoplug first debuted in early 2009. Today brings their latest offering: The Pogoplug Series 4 ($100).

Cloud Engines, the outfit that makes the Pogoplug, sent us an Series 4 to check out, and we got a little hands-on time with it before the launch today.

Review by Jordan Trimas

The Seagate GoFlex Slim Performance Hard Drive ($100) is a compact, sleek, and fashionable storage accessory good for both Mac and PC users. If you’re looking for a sexy and functional piece of computer candy, the GoFlex Slim is the Prada of portable storage solutions.

Sure, the 32GB iPad has enough storage space for a bunch of apps, some songs and maybe even a movie or two. But for those of us with large media collections, even the mega 64GB version will start to feel a little cramped when stuffed full of music and videos (and I have no idea how those of you with 16GB iPads get by).

So, what if you could just stick a portable external drive into your iPad, like you would with a MacBook? Bam, extra storage! Well, yeah — but you can’t, right? Wrong! Well, sorta — you can’t plug one in physically; but the 500GB Seagate GoFlex Satellite ($200) gets around the whole physical connection thing by supplying its own wifi hotspot that lets you create a wifi link between it and your iPad. Genius.

Yes, cloud computing is all the rage these days; question is, d’you plonk all your stuff down on a distant server, or keep your digital junk safe and dry inside your own home, with your own personal cloud? If you picked the latter, Akitio’s new NAS device might appeal to you.

Apple has added a feature to iOS 5 that will allow you to check the storage apps use on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It’s an important feature to know if you are using any of these devices without a computer and syncing straight to iCloud.

Existing MobileMe customers will be happy to find out that Apple is giving them access to the 20GB iCloud storage plan until June 30, 2012. The total allotted storage comes to 25GB, but the plethora of storage plans I expected to appear didn’t. Instead Apple is only offering three storage plans.

For the first time ever since its launch, Apple’s next iPhone could be available with up to 64GB of storage — double that currently available from the iPhone 4 — according to a reliable source.

Akitio’s pretty new alloy enclosure has a back full of inputs: eSATA, USB 3.0 and two FireWire 800 ports. There’s no way to jack in a Thunderbolt connection, though.

They’re running through the entire playbook over at Pogoplug for a touchdown (yeah, guess I’m jonesing for the football season to start). Their latest move is the Pogoplug Mobile ($80), out today.

When Apple announced iTunes Match at WWDC back in June, it was a little unclear whether the service would allow you to stream your music library to your iOS devices as opposed to storing it locally — allowing you to access your tracks without actually taking up any of your precious storage space.

Following the launch of the iTunes Match developer beta yesterday, it has been confirmed that streaming is possible with Apple’s upcoming $25/year service.

Iomega has announced its latest external hard drive for Mac users today. Named the Mac Companion, the drives are available with either 2 or 3 terabytes of storage at 7,200 rpm and start at $195. But what’s great about this baby is it fits beautifully under your iMac and will also charge your iOS devices while you work.

Following the launch of the iCloud.com beta, Apple unveiled the pricing structure for its iCloud storage upgrade options. For the first 5GB, iCloud is completely free, but if you need need more storage, subscriptions start at $20 a year for 10GB.

In addition to a fancy new processor and Intel’s super speedy Thunderbolt technology, Apple’s upcoming MacBook Air may also boast the latest high-speed 400MBps flash memory.

As we’re probably all aware by now, Apple’s Thunderbolt I/O debuted earlier this year with the new generation of MacBook Pros and threatened to make all other interfaces, like USB and FireWire, seem like stone-age relics — and at the same time, make obsolescent all current external HDDs. All, that is, except Seagate’s line of GoFlex drives.

If you thought Apple was good at pushing its tech gadgets to consumers, that’s nothing compared to some government deals. What’s great about federal contracts, if $1M mistake is made, agencies will cover it up, a government watchdog reports.

The idea that Apple would launch a 64GB iPhone 4 months before the release of a fifth-generation iPhone seems ludicrous to me, but memos recently published by a Verizon retailer mention a “White iPhone 4 (32 and 64gb)” in the small print, and have sparked speculation that the device is on its way.

Cloud Player, the recently launched online storage service from Amazon, now works on iOS devices through the Safari web browser. When it first went live, the service – which offers 5GB of storage for free – was only accessible from Flash-supported browsers and Android devices.

When you first navigate to Cloud Player on your iOS device, you are greeted by a warning that tells you your browser isn’t supported. You can just ignore that and proceed into your music collection. Once there, you can use Cloud Player flawlessly: it will pause when you receive push notifications and incoming calls, you’ll get the blue “playing” icon in your device’s status bar, and you can control playback from the buttons in the multitasking tray.

Hints of Apple’s upcoming cloud-based storage service – now dubbed iCloud following the company’s takeover of the iCloud.com domain – have been found within the third release of the Mac OS X Lion developer preview under the ‘Castle’ codename.

First discovered by Consomac.fr is a ‘Find My Mac’ feature thought to offer the same functionality as the ‘Find My iPhone’ feature built into MobileMe. What’s more interesting, however, are the strings that indicate users can upgrade from MobileMe to a service called ‘Castle.’

‘Castle’ is believed to be the codename for iCloud – the cloud-based storage service that Apple is currently developing. The service is expected to offer users a way of storing their music and other content in a digital locker, which they can then stream to internet connected devices such as the iPhone and iPad, and save storage space which would usually be taken up by storing content locally.

The service got its ‘iCloud’ name after Apple purchased the domain from a Swedish company called Xcerion, who offer a similar storage service. Xcerion received $4.5 million to rebrand the service and give up the iCloud.com domain.

Apple has reportedly purchased the iCloud.com domain for the new cloud-based storage service it is currently working on, paying $4.5 million to the previous owners who have now rebranded their service. Visitors to iCloud.com are currently redirected to the new service – now called CloudMe – but it is believed Apple will take over the domain when it’s ready.

The report comes from GigaOm, who cites a source familiar with the company:

My source, who is familiar with the company, says that Xcerion has sold the domain to Apple for about $4.5 million. Xcerion hasn’t responded to my queries as yet. At the time of writing, the Whois database showed Xcerion as the owner of iCloud.

MacRumors also received some information on the iCloud rebranding last week, but were unable to obtain enough information at the time to link the change to an Apple takeover.

Apple’s upcoming cloud-based storage service – also dubbed a ‘music locker’ – will purportedly be a solution for storing music and other content online which can then be streamed to internet connected devices, such as the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

The most recent speculation has suggested that Apple is currently in the process of signing deals with all of the major music labels and getting the service ready for launch. An announcement is expected at WWDC in June.

Toshiba unveiled its new SmartNAND flash memory on Tuesday with support for flash chips up to 64GB. With a next-generation 24-nanometer process, the new design has a better memory controller that speeds up the read and write process, and is more space efficient – perfect for devices like the iPhone.

It’s possible the new SmartNAND could replace the Samsung flash memory in the current iPhone 4 and allow for a 64GB iPhone 5. Apple has already moved away from the Samsung flash since the launch of the iPhone 4, choosing Toshiba’s NAND flash for both the forth-generation iPod touch and the iPad 2.

The 32GB and 64GB SmartNAND options won’t start being mass produced until at least June, which could be one of the reasons why the launch of the iPhone 5 may be delayed until September – as recent rumors claim.

A 64GB iPhone 4 prototype was recently discovered on the Chinese grey market, and reports at the time ruled out a 64GB forth-generation device, suggesting instead that Apple was testing the larger flash memory for a forthcoming iPhone.

[via Electronista]

Don’t get me wrong — I love chunky; chunky is great to hold, easy to get along with. Thin, though — well, thin is just plain fast. It’s stealthy, slinky, looks great sitting on a desk. Of course, we’re talking about the latest addition to Seagate’s line of GoFlex modular drives, the GoFlex Slim external laptop drive.

Seagate says it’s the “world’s thinnest”; we haven’t whipped out a tape measure yet, but our very brief hands-on time with the 9mm-thick drive at CES definitely left us with the impression it was stealthy. We’re thinking the drive is probably aimed broadly at professional women, judging by its product shots.

The fast-spinning, 7200RPM drive comes in one flavor and price right now: $100 for 320GB.