Crave

"I'll give you two guesses as to this product's identity. Is it the Base Station or Time Capsule? Only the astute among you will know for sure.

(Credit: Apple)

Along with the major Apple announcements that took place Tuesday, Apple also--quite stealthily, I might add--announced upgraded performance, specs, and support for both its Time Capsule and Airport Extreme Base Station.

Time Capsule received the most updates, with Apple claiming that with the new technologies and refinements added to both Time Capsule and the Time Machine software, backing up using Snow Leopard is up to "60 percent faster than before."

That number is based on internal testing done by Apple comparing a new preproduction (unreleased) Time Capsule with the version released earlier this year.

Apple also claims that by using the latest 802.11n wireless technology, you'll see "up to five times the Wi-Fi performance and up to twice the range of 802.11g wireless networks."

This, also based on Apple testing comparing both Time Capsule and the Airport Extreme Base Station to "Apple's 802.11g products." The company doesn't specify which products it compares them to, however.

Finally, Apple claims that improvements to both Time Capsule's and the Airport Extreme Base Station's antenna design can give "up to 50 percent better performance and up to 25 percent better range than with the previous-generation Time Capsule and Airport Extreme base Station."

This performance is based on Apple testing comparing the Time Capsule and Airport based Station to "Apple's 802.11n products." Again, although we can safely assume they're basing the comparison on apples to apples test results on the previous versions of the versions of the same hardware, we can't be certain.

We'll of course be conducting our own testing as soon as we get these updated versions of the products in for review. It'll be interesting to see how close our performance numbers match up with theirs.

According to Apple's site, both new versions of the hardware are shipping now.

(Credit: Apple)

For those of you looking for more capacity in Apple's combo 802.11n router/NAS drive, the company has boosted its top-end Time Capsule to 2TB and slapped a $499 price tag on it.

More significantly, Apple also dropped the price of the 1TB model--which just Wednesday cost $499--to $299. Aside from the higher capacity, nothing else appears to have changed.

Previously, Apple also offered a 500GB Time Capsule, but that model has been discontinued and can only be found in the refurbished aisle, where it's going for $199.

All I can say is that if Apple was able to shave off $200 on the 1TB model, it must have had one hell of a nice margin.

Comments?

(Via: Engadget)

Apple's new Time Capsule in chic Apple white.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Apple's new Time Capsule is basically the new true dual-band Airport Extreme Base Station with a hard drive permanently attached to it.

Coming in a great design, the new Time Capsule's good looks can't make up for its lackluster set of features, unfortunately.

A lot of networking functions, such as Web filtering, DDNS, and Wi-Fi-protected setup, commonly found on many other routers, are missing. With the Time Capsule, you won't have very good control of which band--2.4GHz or 5GHz--you want the router to work in, either.

Its wireless performance was also a mixed bag. In our testing, the device had great 5GHz performance. Its 2.4GHz performance, on the other hand, could use some improvement.

The built-in hard drive of the Time Capsule is a very simple network storage solution, the sole function of which is to store files and share them with others; there are no other features, such as iTunes or Media servers. Its network storage performance was also lower than our expectations.

The Time Capsule could still make a nice device, even with all these shortcomings, if it didn't cost too much. At $500 (for the 1TB version--the 500GB version costs $300), I found it to be painfully expensive. For this much cash, you can find many alternative solutions that offer more storage and many more features.

You can read the full review of the Apple Time Capsule at CNET Reviews.

Updated at 10:05 a.m. on Wednesday: Apple confirmed that the new devices are true dual-band, meaning both bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and both networks (primary and Guest) offer 802.11n.

Without much ado, Apple has just rather silently upgraded its networking products, including the Time Capsule and the Airport Extreme, with two significant features: dual-band wireless-N and guest networking.

The new Airport Extreme Base Station

(Credit: Apple)

At its Web site, Apple states that its new simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi allows for maximum range and compatibility, as the AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule work simultaneously on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

However, it's unclear whether or not both bands offer Wireless-N (true dual-band) or only one band offers Wireless-N while the other offers Wireless-G (802.11g, hybrid dual-band).

True dual-band networking has been available for a long time and can be found in many routers such as the D-Link DIR-825 or the Linksys WRT610N. Hybrid dual-band can be found in the Netgear 3300.

Guest networking (or Guest Zone) has also been found in many routers from other vendors, most Wireless-N routers from D-Link have this feature. Basically it allows you to set up a separate wireless network that's isolated from your main local network. This is a great feature if you want to allows guests to access the Internet without being able to access your local network resources, such as your computer, printers, or the router's settings.

Other than that, both the new Airport Extreme and the Time Capsules have about the same features and design as their predecessors. The new Time Capsule also comes in 500GB and 1TB versions. This is slightly disappointing since you now can easily find hard drives that offer capacities up to 2TB for reasonable prices.

These new products are now available at Apple's Store with prices that won't reflect the current state of the economy.

9to5mac noticed that Apple's 1TB Time Capsule network router/storage device dropped from $500 to $388 on Amazon.com. We also found the 500GB model down to $260 from $300. Apple's Refurb store has similar price drops, although the main Apple online store still has them for their original prices.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

As 9to5mac speculates, this could mean an impending Time Capsule refresh. We'll take a stab and say 1TB for $300 and 2TB for $500. Letting the current market guide us, external 1TB drives currently go for $100 to $120, and we've seen 2TB models for as low as $235. A decent N router can be had for less than $150. So that's $250 on the low end for 1TB and $385 on the high end for 2TB for a DIY router/storage combo. Drop the prices for the raw components, throw in the so-called Apple tax and that range could scale nicely with Apple's current price points. Any other guesses?

The wireless backup feature that disappeared from Apple's promotional copy for its Leopard operating system has snuck in through the back door.

Macworld did a little poking around with the recently released Mac OS X software update for "Time Machine and Airport" and realized that Time Machine now recognizes a generic USB hard drive plugged into an Airport Extreme base station, allowing Airport Extreme users to wirelessly back up their notebooks with Leopard's Time Machine. You need to mount the external hard drive using Finder to make sure Time Machine can see it, according to Macworld.

Time Machine will now work wirelessly with MacBooks after a software update.

(Credit: Apple)

Apple had promoted this aspect of Time Machine--wireless backups via Airport Extreme and a USB hard drive--in its advertising for Leopard, the latest and greatest version of Mac OS X released in October. But at the last minute, that capability was pulled from Apple's ads, and Leopard early adopters found they were unable to use Time Machine with a notebook unless they plugged a USB hard drive directly into the notebook, or if they set up a complicated storage-area network. It was never clear what led to the disappearance of that feature, but perhaps the code just simply wasn't ready for prime time.

In January, Apple announced Time Capsule, a combination USB hard drive/wireless base station that allowed for wireless backups. But at $299 or $499, depending on the storage capacity, it's a pricey option for people who already own Airport Extreme and USB hard drives.

Time Capsule is a pretty easy way of getting the wireless backups up and running if you don't already have a wireless access point or USB hard drive. But if you bought Time Capsule to replace your Airport Extreme access points and USB hard drives, well, um, turns out you didn't need to do that.

With spring just around the corner, it's time to clean up your workspace. To help you clean up your clutter, Brother is releasing two multifunction printers: the MFC-7440N ($249) and the MFC-7840W ($299). Both are significant upgrades to their predecessors, with the MFC-7840W living up to its prefix multifunction name.

The MFC-7840W is the standout product here, it includes all the features you would expect from a high end all-in-one printer, such as a speedy 23 page per minute output, 2400x600 dots per inch resolution, and a 35 sheet auto feeder. We're excited to take a look at the 7840W's 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi feature after our recent adventures with Apple's Time Capsule and the Canon Pixma iP2600.

Both printers support PCL6 and BR-Script3, and information technology departments will be happy to know that the system is compatible with Buffalo Technology's AirStation OneTouch Secure System and Linksys's SecureEasySetup.

According to Brother, both models will be available in early April.

Update:

After spending some time with Apple's Time Capsule this afternoon, we have some impressions for you. We'll dig deeper before our full review on Monday, but here are some initial thoughts.

We paired the Time Capsule with a MacBook Pro with a home cable modem providing the Internet connection. In order to keep it simple, we relied on hard-wired Ethernet all the way, linking the cable modem to the Time Capsule, and the Time Capsule to our laptop. Setup is easy. All you need to do is plug all of the appropriate cables in for your network and then plug in the Time Capsule's power cord. There's no power switch, so it comes right on.

The first software screen you see when you insert the Time Capsule disc

(Credit: CNET)

The screen above pops up when you insert the Time Capsule's CD, and from there you click on the Time Capsule icon to install the update to your Mac's AirPort Utility. The AirPort Utility serves as the primary software interface for the Time Capsule. Most of the software setup is easy, but a few screens might puzzle you if you're not that network savvy.

Not every Time Capsule setup screen will make sense to the average user.

(Credit: CNET)

Assuming you make your way through the setup process (the default option on each screen was usually the right one, at least at home), you'll know it's successful when Time Machine, Apple's automated backup software, finds the Time Capsule's drive. "J Boogie" in the screen below would be our music-loving Associate Testing Analyst Julie Rivera, who's testing the MacBook Pro laptop we're using.

We have Time Machine turned off here because when it's on it gives you a 2-minute countdown before it performs a backup. We wanted to investigate the software some more before losing it to the hours-long backup process, but we'll turn it on tonight to see how that goes.

When Time Machine finds your Time Capsule, you know you set it up correctly.

(Credit: CNET)

One feature Time Capsule offers is the ability to add more storage via its USB port. We connected a simple USB flash drive (the "NO NAME" volume in the shot below), and it popped up almost instantly on the Time Capsule's devices screen. The only stipulation is that you have to enter the Time Capsule's password, which you establish during setup, before it will allow you to access the new drive.

Adding external storage to the Time Capsule is easy.

(Credit: CNET)

Even though initial set up at home was relatively easy, we hit a few snags. We were able to use the Time Capsule successfully as a router for our home network, and we got online on both the MacBook Pro as well as a Windows XP desktop in the other room. We hoped the Time Capsule's hard drive would just pop up in Windows, but it didn't. And after we reconfigured the drive properties and restarted the Time Capsule, per its software instructions, it hung. Every time you make a settings change it seems to want to reboot itself, which takes a while. Worse, whenever it failed a restart, the Time Capsule and our Macbook seemed to lose each other, and we had to go through the whole setup process from scratch.

We're going to spend more time with the Time Capsule tomorrow and we'll have our full review up by Monday. In the meantime, Flickr user nakedmac posted a gallery of the Time Capsule's internals (seems you can swap in a new hard drive). And Schmittroth, to answer your question in the comments about the power cable, nope, no brick. Just a thin white cord as you can see from the shot below.

No clunky power brick here.

(Credit: Rich Brown/CNET Networks)

Original post (by Matthew Elliott):

Time Capsule: Time for your close-up.

(Credit: Phil Ryan/CNET Networks)

Apple's Time Capsule began shipping yesterday, and after a run to The Westchester mall in White Plains, N.Y., this afternoon, we now have one in hand. Stay tuned for our full review, which we plan to bring you on Monday. In it, we'll discuss throughput of the 802.11n router, transfer speeds of the 500GB drive (call us cheap--we bought the lower-end $299 model), and how it jibes with Leopard's Time Machine feature for wireless backups. Anything else you want, let us know. In the meantime, read Rich Brown's breakdown of Time Capsule here.

From the left: the power cord, a USB port, one Gigabit WAN port, and three Gigabit LAN ports.

(Credit: Phil Ryan/CNET Networks)

Apple has begun shipping Time Capsule, its latest external hard drive that is pretty much the only game in town if you want to do wireless Time Machine backups from your notebook.

Time Capsule was first introduced at Macworld. It's an 802.11n Wi-Fi base station with either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive that allows you to back up files to the drive or share files across a network without having to connect a cable. It will set you back either $299 or $499, depending on the storage size chosen.

Time Capsule is now available for either $299 or $499, depending on capacity.

(Credit: Apple)

It's a solid product in its own right (although stay tuned for CNET's review), but Time Machine Capsule is actually a workaround for a feature in Mac OS X Leopard that disappeared just before Apple was getting ready to ship the new operating system. In the runup to Leopard's debut, Apple advertised wireless backup features as part of Time Machine, the intuitive backup and recovery program that was included with Mac OS X 10.5.

But that language was pulled from the ad copy just days prior to Leopard's debut, and its disappearance has never been officially explained, as far as I can tell. As a result, there was no way to use Time Machine on a MacBook or MacBook Pro and an external hard drive without physically connecting the notebook, which is kind of a pain. You can set up wireless backups if you're running a Leopard server in your home, or if you set up a Xsan storage-area network, but those aren't really practical options for most of us.

It seems likely that the external hard drive itself needs some sort of extra intelligence to process the Time Machine handoffs over a wireless connection, requiring Apple to design Time Capsule with that updated firmware or software. Still, it would be a shame if Apple is unable or unwilling to add that capability into Leopard via a future software update, forcing anyone who wants to do wireless backups to buy Apple's hard drive.