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Driving

Intel releases pricing, details on solid-state drives

Less than a month ago, Intel announced its line of solid-state hard drives. We didn't have much information at the time, other than a model number and a few benchmarks provided by Intel, but we're pleased to officially announce the X25-M, or the Intel Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drive.

The drive uses NAND flash technology specifically built for computing with 10 parallel channels and optimized firmware. As stated previously, the drive will come in both 2.5 inch (X25-M) and 1.8 inch (X18-M) sizes that will fit in both desktops and laptops with the same performance specifications.

The … Read more

SanDisk stock surges on buyout rumors

Updated at 5:00 p.m. with closing share price.

SanDisk for Sale? The stock price says so.

The world's largest maker of flash memory cards for digital cameras jumped 31 percent, or 4.18 points, Friday on rumors that Samsung would buy the company.

This follows a recent spate of rumors including one that said Seagate was interested in SanDisk. While Samsung already makes flash memory and is a leader in the emerging solid state drive market, Seagate does not sell SSDs and is looking to get into the market.

Samsung doesn't need SanDisk to grow; the … Read more

Lenovo external hard drive responds to touch

I reviewed the WD My Passport external hard drive recently and thought it was really cool with the storage gauge that lights up when plugged in to show how much storage space has been used. Lenovo has gone one step further with an external hard drive concept that can reveal the same information without even being plugged in.

The concept external hard drive features a finger-touch access button, much like a biometric reader, and an external display. Once you touch the button, the display will show the remaining storage space in the form of simple digits.

It's unclear how … Read more

Lexus adds all-wheel drive to LS sedan for 2009

The all-wheel drive (AWD) system of the world's most expensive hybrid, the Lexus LS 600h L, has finally trickled down to the more conventional drive trains of the LS 460 and LS 460 L luxury sedans.

The AWD versions of the LS 460 and LS 460 L will utilize a drive train almost identical to their hybrid counterpart, with the obvious omission of Toyota's hybrid synergy drive. The AWD system features a Torsen Limited-Slip Differential (LSD) that distributes drive torque between the front and rear wheels. In normal driving conditions, the drive train carries a moderate rear-bias, sending … Read more

IBM tests 4-terabyte solid-state drive tech

First it was Intel. Now, Big Blue is keen on solid-state drives.

IBM said Thursday it is testing a 4-terabyte, high-speed solid-state drive array targeted at the enterprise, as the technology giant gives its imprimatur to flash-memory-based storage.

For years, flash memory cards--the first mass-market SSDs--have been limited to digital cameras and music players like the iPod. But SSDs are now poised to hit technological critical mass in terms of storage capacity, speed, and availability as they find their way into everything ranging from tiny netbooks to massive enterprise storage arrays.

High-performance enterprise storage is where IBM comes in. Engineers … Read more

Amazon.com has the Western Digital My Book Pro Edition II WDG2TP15000 1.5TB Hard Drive for $508.99, after $141 savings.

Amazon.com has the Western Digital My Book Pro Edition II WDG2TP15000 1.5TB Hard Drive for $508.99, after a $141 savings. >> Regular price is $649.99 >> Sale price is $508.99 >> Savings $141 (21.69%) >> Click here for deal

Be safer than NASA: Disable autorun

NASA confirmed this week that a computer on the International Space Station is infected with a virus. (See "Houston, we have a virus" at The Register.)

The malicious software is called W32.TGammima.AG, and technically it's a worm. The interesting point, other than how NASA could let this happen, is the way the worm spreads--on USB flash drives.

Randy Abrams, director of technical education at ESET, alerted me about this. Touching on both interesting points, he said:

To start with, no computer going into space should have autorun enabled. Simply disabling autorun would have almost certainly … Read more

Woo-hoo! I'll be live on CNET.com and so can you!

For one whole hour on Thursday, August 28, starting at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. Eastern), I'll belive at CNET.com to entertain your questions and discuss anything to do with backing up your computer data as well as hard drive storage...and possibly more.

So get your questions ready and come on over to join the party. Remember to bookmark the page and be on time.

See you there!