WD today announced the availability of its 802.11ac Wi-Fi products, including a new router and a media bridge.

WD, one of the largest hard-drive makers in the world, jumped into home networking just recently with the My Net router family, which includes the already reviewed My Net N900 HD and My Net N900 Central. The two new devices announced today complete the company's Wi-Fi portfolio by adding support for the latest 802.11ac standard.

The two new products include a 802.11ac router, the My Net AC1300 HD Dual-Band router, and a 802.1ac-compatible media bridge, the My … Read more

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories.

It's not the locker room type of storage we're talking about here. Instead it's something much more important and often underrated: the place where information is stored.

When it comes to computer storage, judging from many questions friends and readers send me, there's quite a bit of confusion among general users as to what it actually is. And it's not your fault; digital storage can be as messy as my desk. This is the reason for … Read more

Bob Dylan famously sang that the times they are a-changin' -- but little did he know just how much. So much, in fact, that a MIDI-controlled orchestra made of old consumer electronics can now play one of his all-time classics.

Chris Cairns of production company Partizan teamed with creative firm Isthisgood? to turn old Brother photocopiers, scanners, fax machines, printers, hard drives, and modems into a full-scale scrapheap symphony with a penchant for folk.

They soldered, reprogrammed, hacked, and rewired 97 printer relics destined for the landfill and even custom-designed their own circuitboard that could control all of the printers from one main computer. … Read more

Intel on Monday introduced its latest solid-state drive, the DC S3700, which offers up to 800GB of storage space and will become available in early 2013.

The chip maker says the drive incorporates a new technology called High Endurance Technology (HET) that leads to much better endurance. Basically, the new drive can handle 10 full drive writes per day and still last a full 5-year life span for its lowest capacities. For the highest, 800GB capacity, this translates into a life span of almost 200 years should you choose to use it for video editing constantly.

The reason endurance is … Read more

LaCie today announced the availability of its latest network attached storage (NAS) server, the CloudBox.

Originally, the storage vendor announced this device more than a year ago, suggesting it'd be a unique network storage server that offers 100GB of local storage and a matching 100GB of online storage, with the two being synced over the Internet. The final device shipping today, however, appears to be quite traditional.

The CloudBox is now available in either 1TB, 2TB, or 3TB capacities and doesn't seem to come with any online storage. Instead it works by itself as a personal cloud server … Read more

Halloween's over and done with, the cold November rain is here, and the mercury is dipping. But the gadget ninjas at Tokyo's Thanko do not rest.

They've been preparing for winter, when millions of Japanese face less-than-cozy conditions at home and in the office. Central heating doesn't really exist in Japan, so people use everything from kerosene heaters to blankets to keep warm.

Add to that Thanko's USB Heated Futon Mouse pad.

This cute twist on traditional futon floor bedding, which is, of course, very different from the Western concept of a couch futon, comes in three parts: a mouse-pad mattress, a heated quilt, and a wrist pillow. … Read more

Need to print something? Copy something? Scan something? Aw, that's so cute and quaint.

But necessary, sometimes. And cheap, today.

For a limited time, Canon has the refurbished Pixma MG5320 multifunction printer and X Mark Mouse for $49.99 shipped.

I'll get to the printer in a minute -- because check out that mouse! It's not only a Bluetooth-powered wireless wheel mouse, but also a calculator and numeric keypad! As someone who was just bemoaning the lack of a keypad on his wee laptop, I'm loving that. It's available in black or white, and normally … Read more

The launch of Windows 8 also brings an opportunity for PC makers to release third-party peripherals that complement the push for touch sensitivity. If you're planning to purchase tablet, laptop, desktop, or some combination of the three, these accessories let you get hands-on with your new computer, because let's face it -- a touch-based device is only as good as the accessories available for it.

Many of the devices in this list already have reviews, but we'll continue to add products as they emerge. Head here for a comprehensive list of every major computer launching with Windows 8 or RT.… Read more

Apple announced at its October 23 event its first hybrid drive, called Fusion Drive, initially available as an option in its new iMac and Mac Mini.

Apple's Fusion Drive combines 120GB of solid-state storage and a regular platter-based hard drive of either 1TB or 3TB. Apple says the operating system and software will be installed on the flash memory part while all other data, such as media and documents, stays on the hard-drive part. However, users can move apps and files between the two sides of the drive to improve performance.

Apple claims that the Fusion Drive will offer … Read more