Memory

$25 Computer Runs Linux on USB stick - Asterisk on a Stick?

May 6, 2011

Imagine being able to carry a PC on your keychain, well imagine no more! David Braben a game developer invented a skeletal computer on a USB stick that runs Linux (Ubuntu), and gets you connected to the Internet. This tiny USB stick PC sports a HDMI port on one end and a USB port on the other. It comes equipped with a decent 700 MHz ARM 11 processor, 128 MB of RAM, a USB port, support 1080p video and the ability to add a webcam or WiFi module. All this for $25. Definitely could be a game-changer, especially in the developing world, i.e.

Posted in Accessories, Asterisk, Gadgets, Linux, Memory, TMCnet, Technology and Science, VoIP

Skype Responds to Android Vulnerability

April 15, 2011

Skype's Chief Security Officer, Adrian Asher responded to Android Police's article on a vulnerability in the Skype for Android client. He writes:

It has been brought to our attention that, were you to install a malicious third-party application onto your Android device, then it could access the locally stored Skype for Android files.

These files include cached profile information and instant messages. We take your privacy very seriously and are working quickly to protect you from this vulnerability, including securing the file permissions on the Skype for Android application.

To protect your personal information, we advise users to take care in selecting which applications to download and install onto their device.

He acknowledges the need for Skype to secure the file permissions, but also basically says to take care which apps you install. But how does one know which Androids apps might be stealing Skype personal info, especially now that this exploit is out in the open?

Posted in Android, Google, Memory, Skype, TMCnet, VoIP

Japan Earthquake Devastates Global Chip Production

March 21, 2011

The Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor problems have had a devastating effect not just on people's live and property, but also the Japanese semiconductor industry which accounts for 25% of the global supply of silicon wafer. This will affect pricing on everything from PCs to smartphones to gadgets. Not good. Check out the news with additional information after the jump...

Posted in Computer Software, Gadgets, Memory, Mobile Phones, TMCnet

Hitachi Launches Three Terabytes (3TB) Drives

December 15, 2010

2TB not enough hard drive space? Looking for 3TB? Well, Hitachi GST today has launched a trio of three terabytes (3TB) hard drives.

First up, the new 3TB Hitachi Deskstar Internal Hard Drive Kit breaks the 2.2TB capacity limit on 32-bit Windows XP systems with no extra hardware required, i.e. special SATA card. Second up is a new 3TB Hitachi XL USB 2.0 drive for external storage and backup. Last up are the new 3TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 and 5K3000 hard drive families now shipping to OEMs and the channel for system builders and VARs.

So how does the Hitachi 3TB stack up against the Western Digital 2TB hard drive I just reviewed? Well, first off, I can tell you Hitachi's 2TB version retails for $169.99 vs.

Posted in Accessories, Computer Software, Memory

Western Digital WD Elements 2 TB External Hard Drive

December 6, 2010

I was looking to buy a new cheap 2 TB (terabyte) external hard drive on Black Friday to try and get the best deal. Target had a special on the Western Digital WD Elements 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop external hard drive (model - WDBAAU0020HBK-NESN) for just $69.00! A sweet deal for 2TB! However, when I went to pick one up they were gone and a Target employee told me they sold out in less than 15 minutes. Curse you Black Friday freaks that camp out a week in advance!

So I decided to head over to Amazon to see how much they were selling for. On Black Friday the Western Digital WD Elements listed for $99.99, which is $30 more than Target.

Posted in Accessories, Computer Hardware, Memory, Reviews, TMCnet

String 24 SSDs together for 6TB & 2GB/s throughput!

March 10, 2009

What happens when you string together 24 256GB Samsung MLC SSDs - you get 6TB of storage and 2GB/sec throughput. Sweet mother of ---!

Discovered the news on Lucas Mearian's Computer World blog who writes: When you've got millions of dollars at your disposal, and access to some of the industry's best hardware engineers, what do you do? Well, if you're Samsung you make a YouTube video showing the speed, capacity and reliability you can get by stringing together 24 solid state disk drives behind a RAID controller to create "the world's most powerful consumer computer". The result: 6TB of storage and 2GB/sec throughput that is able to load 53 programs 18 seconds. Whoa.

The video below shows the 24 SSDs setup along with some interesting benchmarks.

Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Memory, Microsoft, Technology and Science

SanDisk G3 SSD Memory Blows Away Hard Drives' Performance

January 8, 2009

SanDisk today unveiled its third-generation family of solid-state drives (SSDs). Using multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory technology, SanDisk's G3 Series of SSD memory has incredible performance benchmarks. The G3 SSDs are more than five times faster than the fastest 7,200 RPM hard disk drives and more than twice as fast as SSDs shipping in 2008, clocking in at 40,000 RPM and anticipated sequential performance of 200MB/s read and 140MB/s write. Even the fastest hard drives I've seen to date, which I have installed on serveral servers at TMC, currently max out at 15,000 RPM.

They were designed as drop-in replacements for hard-disk drives (HDDs) in notebook PCs, the initial members in the SanDisk G3 family are SSD C25-G3 and SSD C18-G3 in the standard 2.5" and 1.8" form factors, respectively, each available with a SATA-II interface.

Posted in Computer Hardware, Gadgets, Memory, TMCnet

Toshiba 512GB Solid State Drive

December 18, 2008

Toshiba announced that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive (SSD) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month, with shipments of this large SSD in the second quarter of 2009. These NAND-flash-based solid state drives (SSD) will be the industry's first 2.5-inch 512-gigabyte SSD and features fast read/write times and reliable performance for laptops/notebooks, and other equipment.

In addition to the 2.5-inch, 512GB drive, the 43nm NAND SSD family also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules. The drives feature a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This should definitely result in faster boot and application loading times.

Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Memory, Mobile Phones, PDAs & Handhelds, Technology and Science

Scientists develop software that can 'Draw' your Dreams

December 11, 2008

Scientists have developed software that can 'draw' your dreams by reading your mind. Your dreams have now been unlocked with the invention of technology capable of illustrating images taken directly from human brains during sleep.

According to Telgraph.co.uk: A team of Japanese scientists have created a device that enables the processing and imaging of thoughts and dreams as experienced in the brain to appear on a computer screen.

While researchers have so far only created technology that can reproduce simple images from the brain, the discovery paves the way for the ability to unlock people's dreams and other brain processes.
We just took one step closer to telepathic communications, which would make this at least one half of this VoIP & Gadgets blog moot. After all, who needs Voice over IP communications when you can just "think" your thoughts and people can hear/see them? May as well ditch the iPhone as well. Who needs a mobile phone when you can communicate telepathically?

As a matter of fact, once they perfect this thing, maybe you can loop back the playback into your brain's auditory and visual cortex centers so you can go back and watch your favorite movie in the theater or hear your favorite concert.

Posted in Gadgets, Memory, TMCnet, Technology and Science

TurboUSB Fastest USB memory?

December 13, 2007

USB memory sticks are more common than President Bush bashing. (exit polling had it as a close call though) Today, yet another USB memory stick launched - the Buffalo SHD-U32GS TurboUSB USB memory stick. Now before you start ho-humming or poo-poohing this as just another USB memory stuck, hear me out. The Buffalo SHD-U32GS TurboUSB features a whopping 32GB of storage and they claim this is the fastest USB memory stick on the market by a clear 20% margin, allowing you to quickly transfer your precious photos, mp3 files, and other large files very quickly.

20% performance over competing memory sticks makes me a bit skeptical, but maybe because this improvement came from Buffalo and not a bigger name like Sandisk or IBM.

Posted in Accessories, Digital Cameras, Gadgets, MP3 Players & Digital Audio, Memory, PDAs & Handhelds

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