Hitachi thinks small with new 8 GByte microdrive
Berlin (Germany) - Hitachi today introduced a new generation of its smallest form factor harddrives. Mikey, the firm's 1-inch microdrive is now available in capacities of up to 8 GByte and claims to be the first harddrive to offer a CE-ATA interface, which is widely promoted to spread among consumer electronics devices. There are also new 30 and 60 GByte slim versions of Hitachi's 1.8-inch Travelstar series.
Storage capacity of small harddrives is beginning to catch up with the requirements of emerging portable consumer electronics that will demand more and more space for digital audio, video and image content. Hitachi's storage products division showcases its latest generation of miniaturized harddrives at the currently IFA tradeshow in Berlin, Germany. Especially noteworthy is the Mikey 3K8 drive with capacities of 6 and 8 GByte.
According to the manufacturer, the new Mikey is 20 percent smaller and consumes 40 percent less power than its predecessor. The 1-inch device, available in a CFII form factor, achieves a storage density of 105 Gbit per square inch and comes with PATA, CE-ATA, or ATA on MMC interfaces, offers a ZIF connector and measures about 5 mm in height and 13 grams in weight. Disc rotation speed is 3600 rpm, average latency is rated at 8.33 ms. According to Hitachi, the microdrive offers the industry's highest show resistance at 2000 Gs.
The 8 GByte 3K8 is shipping in limited quantities now, with volume shipments expected to begin in October. Other manufacturers are expected to follow with similar announcements. For example, Seagate told us earlier this year that it will launch its 1-inch photo harddrive in a CFII form factor with 4 and 8 GByte during the third quarter of this year. The same goes for the manufacturer's ST1 1-inch harddrive, which has been available in limited quantities since June.
Hitachi also demos a new version of its 1.8-inch Travelstar series. The C4K60 Slim sports a 30-percent thinner profile than its predecessor, checking in with a thickness of 5 mm for the 30 GByte one-disk model. Like Mikey the Travelstar comes with a ZIF connector for consumer electronics devices. The 4200 rpm drives will be available as a 30 GByte model later this month and as a 60 GByte version in Q1 of 2006, according to Hitachi.
from Tom's Hardware
Kodak and Nikon duel with Wi-Fi cameras
Westlake Village (CA) - Not content with ever-increasing mega-pixels, Kodak and Nikon are giving consumers something else to look forward to - wireless picture transfer capability. This month, Nikon will be releasing its Coolpix P1 and P2 cameras, while the Kodak EasyShare One will be available in October. All three cameras offer at least 4 mega-pixels of resolution in addition to wirelessly beaming pictures to computers, printers and the Internet.
Nikon will be the first out of the gate and the optical specifications look promising. The Coolpix P1 will have 8.0 megapixels of resolution with a 4X optical zoom. The Coolpix P2 will also come with a 4X zoom, but with less megapixels (5.0). Both cameras can record 30 frames per second movies at 640 X 480 pixel resolution.
Kodak's EasyShare One will ship next month and will have a 3X optical zoom and take pictures at 4 megapixels. While all three cameras offer wireless transfer, the feature is enabled differently between the announced snapshot cameras.
All the cameras offer wireless transfer direct to a printer, but an extra wireless adapter must be purchased. For transferring to a computer, the Nikon cameras beam pictures directly into the "PictureProject" software. This means users are either tied to their desktop PC, bring their notebooks along or install the software on a friend's computer to be able to get their shots off the camera in a wireless fashion.
Kodak has partnered up with Hotspot providers like T-Mobile to offer direct-to-the-Internet transfers. Users can completely ditch the computer and drop by any Starbucks. Pictures can be sent directly to an Internet picture gallery from participating hotspots or wireless networks.
The Nikon Coolpix P1 and P2 will be available for $550 and $400 respectively, while the Kodak EasyShare One will sell for $600.
from tom's hardware
Adobe chief says Intel optimisation is no trivial pursuit
The CEO of Adobe has warned that migrating the company's applications to Apple's imminent Intel-based hardware is not as easy as Apple CEO Steve Jobs suggested when he announced the change earlier this year.
Bruce Chizen said it's not just a question of compiling the software, you have to test it and in Adobe's case that can take three to four months.
'Steve likes to trivialise the process and make it seem easy, but moving the apps over is not that easy' he said. 'Getting over to MacTel is work.'
However he maintains that in the long run the switch will be worthwhile, providing better performance and greater value.
'At Adobe, we tend to optimize for Intel today on the Windows side,' he confessed. 'The fact that we'll be able to optimise for Intel cross-platform will make it even better for us.'
Chizen added that the 'MacTel' version of Photoshop will in all likelihood continue to support existing systems, in much the same way that Adobe apps remained compatible with OS 9 in the early days of OSX. He said that the normal product cycle suggests that the Photoshop upgrade will occur towards then end of 2006 or at the beginning of 2007, after the first Intel Macs have appeared.
Linux total cost of ownership cheaper than Windows
A report sponsored by IBM claims that the total cost of Ownership (TCO) of Linux is considerably less than Windows. This is curiously at odds with similar studies, sponsored by Microsoft, which draw the opposite conclusion.
The report from the Robert Frances Group looked at the TCO for large application servers, comparing Linux, Windows and Solaris solutions. The research was based on interviews with IT executives from more than 20 medium and large companies with more than 250 employees
The report notes that 'commercial product vendors', such as Microsoft and Sun, have cut their prices in order to compete with the open source licence of Linux. It also notes that Linux is not entirely a free lunch and that if companies want to do serious business on the platform they need to treat it as they would a commercial productand buy the same support and management tools available from IBM, Novell, RedHat and others, that they would on any other platform. As a result, the cost of deploying Linux is actually climbing although the report concludes there is still a considerable cost benefit. for article
State may drop Office software
Massachusetts state government may stop using
Microsoft Corp.'s popular Office software by 2007, unless the giant software company adopts a file format compatible with other software brands...
Linux: Unilever Ditches Global IT Linux Migration
One to stir the open source debate. The CIO of global consumer goods giant Unilever says in this interview with silicon.com that the company has ditched plans to migrate its enterprise IT platform to Linux running on Itanium. He reckons hidden support costs and security issues have emerged over the past two years with open source and that proprietary vendors have also raised their game in response to the 'threat'.
Trusted Computing
This sounds great, but it's a double-edged sword. The same system that prevents worms and viruses from running on your computer might also stop you from using any legitimate software that your hardware or operating system vendor simply doesn't like. The same system that protects spyware from accessing your data files might also stop you from copying audio and video files. The same system that ensures that all the patches you download are legitimate might also prevent you from, well, doing pretty much anything.
Creative MP3 Players Ship With Virus
Creative is reporting that the virus affects players with serial numbers between 1230528000001 and 1230533001680 that have shipped in Japan in late July. According to a translation of Creative's statement (in Japanese) on the security flap the firm has temporarily stopped shipping Zen Neeons players while its partners assist in the recall of the infected batch. The firm said it has identified the source of the outbreak and fixed the problem. Creative said the virus contamination issue was confined to Zen Neeons players and didn't affect any of its other products
Microsoft to Stop Releasing Services for Unix
According to a recent article, Microsoft will
stop releasing any new versions of Services for Unix. SFU 3.5 will continue to be supported until 2011 and will have extended support until 2014. From what the article hints at, Microsoft wants Unix interoperability integrated into the OS. Microsoft says that this integration couldn't be done with past architectures
Charges Against High School Hackers Dropped
According to eSchool News Online, the 13 students from Kutztown, PA originally charged with felonies for hacking have been given a deal, dropping charges in exchange for 15 hours of community service. From the article: 'The probation department realizes this is small potatoes,' said William Bispels, an attorney representing nearly half the accused students. This is great news for the students and their families.
Intel Replies to AMD Antitrust Lawsuits
The New York Times is reporting today that Intel has replied sharply to AMD's lawsuit. This lawsuit sounds like it will be a bruiser." From the article:
"The claims are factually incorrect and contradictory...The evidence will show that every failure and setback for which A.M.D. today seeks to blame Intel is actually a direct result of A.M.D.'s own actions or inactions.
