January 10, 2007 5:23 AM PST
From folks who brought you instant film and instant cameras. . .
(Credit:
Polaroid)
Polaroid popped up on our radar again, this time introducing a handy photo backup device.
Plugging the portable storage device into a computer's USB port automatically prompts it to find and copy any images stored on the computer. The Media Backup Photo Edition, which comes in black or white, does not require installing software or clicking a sync button to activate but works automatically through its "ClickFree" technology.
The 2.5-inch 40GB hard drive can hold up to about 40,000 photos and can be used with Internet services for sharing and printing.
Polaroid launched the new media backup device at CES 2007 on Wednesday. It will be available some time in the next three months for about $129.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
- What's the point in this thing?
- by chadinko January 10, 2007 7:01 PM PST
- It's a useless, gimmicky thing. It's merely a hard drive with a USB port that wants to look like an iPod. It has no display, no provision for downloading images into it at an event for storage (a flash card reader, etc.)... Woopty doo. I can buy a 120GB hard drive at Office Max and stick it in a cheap $15 CompUSA 2.5 inch case for less than the price of this thing.
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