What makes ADSL so improbable is it's transmitting a huge amount of data over some very ancient copper. That's right, copper, the stuff that isn't anywhere near as interesting or valuable as gold.
(Credit: Crave UK) Many things keep us awake at night. Simon Cowell's hair is one. The implausible success of anyone who appears in "Big Brother" is another. But the thing that really keeps us staring into the darkness is technology. How the hell does it work? Simple gadgets like TVs and mice leave us unperturbed. But there are some things that are just beyond reasoning. Science fiction writer and all-round genius Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." On this one issue, we think he might have been wrong--because it's quite obvious to us that some technology is magic. Or if not magic, at least utterly impossible and somehow a massive confidence trick.
We've ranked the most impossible technologies on the planet in order of their level of impossibility. If you've got all six things on this list, and haven't yet had breakfast, then as Douglas Adams said, you should consider dinner at Milliways, the restaurant at the end of the universe. Read more of "Technology that's totally impossible" at Crave UK.
Less than a month ago, Hitachi announced its 2TB hard drive for desktops. The company on Tuesday brought the same speed to its newest Travelstar hard drive for laptops.
The new hard drive is called Travelstar 7K500. This is a 500GB, 2.5-inch, SATA 2 (3Gb/s) hard drive designed for high-performance notebooks and external storage solutions. The new Travelstar 7K500, according to Hitachi, delivers up to 56 percent higher capacity and 16 percent better application performance than its predecessors. It also comes with Hitachi's new technologies designed to withstand shocks and vibration, and offers better power management and security.
The new 7200 RPM TravelStar hard drive.
(Credit: Hitachi)As with previous generations of the Travelstar hard drive, like the Travelstar 5K500.B, the Travelstar 7K500 comes optional with hardware-based bulk data encryption (BDE). However, it's one of the first that's compliant with the Trusted Computing Group's (TCG) Opal storage security specification. This is a new open standard designed to protect data in the event of system loss or theft.
(Hitachi BDE, much like the Seagate's full disk encrytion, is a hardware-based encryption provided as an option for hard drives. Once enabled, the hard drive will encrypt all data that comes from the system as it is written to the media. When read back, the drive decrypts the data so that it can be understood by the system. Since the hard drive is doing the encryption work, there is no impact on the operating system's performance. In case of loss or theft, the data can be automatically deleted, rendering the hard drive unreadable.)
Hitachi claims that the new Travelstar 7K500 has been designed for energy efficiency with power consumption as low as 0.69 watts when idle and 1.8 watts during operation. The drive also offer halogen-free design and RoHS compliance.
The new Travelstar 7K500 comes in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB capacities. It's currently only available to OEMs but you can get your own sometime later this month with the 500GB version costing $160.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET)
If you haven't been backing up your data because the economy is bad and you can't afford a decent backup software, I am about to open a can of no-more-excuses on you.
GFI Software launched on Thursday a free backup and recovery software for home users. Unlike other free software, which tends to be the stripped-down of the commercial version, GFI Backup Home Edition is a full-featured application.
The application gives PC users a few ways to safeguard data, including backing it up and syncing it with another location. I tried out this wizard-driven application and the feature I liked best is the capability to back up and sync a computer's folder with an FTP location. Very few other backup solutions offer this and none are free. Of course, GFI Backup also supports backing files to local folders, network locations, and other removable media.
Most backup software, including my favorite, Acronis True Image, uses a proprietary compression standard, meaning you will need the same software to do a recovery. GFI Backup Home Edition, on the other hand, uses the popular ZIP format to store backups.
... Read moreIomega continues to impress us with its sexy, sleek external hard drives. We just recently reviewed the eGo Helium, a drive catered to Apple fanboys. There's also the eGo Camo that's useful for secretly accessing your data in the forest, and the eGo Brown Leather that makes a perfect present for your friendly neighborhood alcoholic. This time, they're introducing two new drives to their eGo line. Check 'em out!
This is the eGo Encrypt. It actually bears a striking resemblance to the eGo Helium, with its silver case and clean lines, but this one is a little thicker and is NTFS formatted out of the box. This one also bumps the security up a notch using government grade 128-bit encryption to protect the data inside. In addition, if the drive is disconnected from a computer while in use, the drive will automatically lock itself and require a predesignated password to access it again.
It also comes with a clear version of the Drop Guard Xtreme band that we first saw on the eGo Camo. You can take it on and off, but we recommend you keep it on just in case you happen to drive it from seven feet up- it'll keep the drive protected. Plus, what're you going to do with a loose rubber band? It's 320GB for $150--a little more than the eGo Helium, but still an excellent deal at $0.47 per gigabyte.
This one looks even more familiar than the Encrypt. The eGO BlackBelt portable hard drive is the same drive as the eGo Camo, but...it's black. So if you have enough disruptive pattern material in your house and just need a simple, secure drive, the BlackBelt is your go-to guy. Again, it includes the Drop Guard Xtreme, so feel free to use it to protect yourself against would-be assailants. This one is 250GB for $120, which factors out to a cool $0.48 per gigabyte.
We'll be getting both drives into our labs before the holiday break, so look out for a full length review coming soon!
This article was corrected at 2 p.m. PT to reflect the proper spelling of Cannady's name.
An SMS message can be a powerful thing when it comes to laptop security.
There are a considerable number of security measures available to companies to protect their valuable data on employee hard drives. Self-encrypting hard drives and security software are touted as the latest solutions, but the PC has to be turned off for the data to be secured by encryption. If a notebook is stolen while in hibernation mode, or even while the operating system is fully loaded, there's a higher risk of data being exposed.
That's where Lenovo says its new text-message-based remote disable software comes in. Using Phoenix Technologies' system, any Montevina-based Lenovo machine that's equipped with WWAN (wireless wide area network) can be paired with a cell phone.
If a laptop is stolen, the phone that's paired with it can send a text message instantly with some predetermined message, like "Shut down computer" or "At my signal, unleash hell." Whatever you want, really.
The computer will shut down, and from there the self-encrypting hard drive will take over to lock down the computer's data.
"It's becoming better understood that having the encryption is not necessarily enough," said Stacy Cannady, Lenovo's product manager for security. "This is kind of like a morning-after pill, I guess."
Remote disable is free for Lenovo customers with Montevina-based laptops through a BIOS (basic input/output system) update from Lenovo sometime during the next one to three months.
Free is good especially since it's not a service Lenovo can entirely guarantee itself. The success of the remote disable command depends entirely on the viability of the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) wireless network the computer is connected to at the time and that network's ability to receive SMS messages.
In other words, if the computer is out of cellular range, then you're out of luck.
If you are a fan of notebook hard drives with hardware-level encryption, apart from Seagate, you now can turn to Hitachi.
The company announced on Tuesday the third generation of its 2.5-inch Travelstar hard drive with built-in encryption, the Travelstar 5K500.B. This is a 5400rpm, SATA II hard drive that comes in capacities ranging from 120GB to 500GB, and is designed for notebook PCs, external storage, gaming consoles, as well as other mobile and enterprise applications.
(Credit:
Hitachi)
Considering the wide range of implementation, the new hard drive comes in a few versions. The one for notebooks focuses on low power consumption. The version used for enterprise has Hitachi's Enhanced Availability technology that lets the drive operate 24 hours a day at high-speed.
Nonetheless, according to Hitachi, its new drive features a halogen-free design, consumes less energy, and is more eco-friendly than other drives of the same type.
The new Travelstar 5K500.B's features optional hard-drive-level Bulk Data Encryption. The "optional" notation means that customers need to ask for the data encryption feature to be turned on at the manufacturer. This is because, according to Hitachi, in some markets such as China or Russia, special permits are required to buy or use hard drives with built-in encryption.
With BDE, the data is scrambled using a key as it is written to the disk and then descrambled with the key as it is retrieved, giving users transparent protection. It also helps simplify the drive redeployment process. By deleting the encryption key, the data is rendered unreadable, thereby eliminating the need for the time-consuming data-wiping process.
The new TravelStar 5K500.B drive is slated to be available sometime next month. Currently, it's unclear how much the drive will cost.
UPDATED: Corrected the information that McAfee provides software security solution for Dell's self-encrypting PCs as previously suggested in the article.
A Momentus FDE 2.5-inch SATA hard drive.
(Credit: Seagate)According to credible sources, a notebook computer is stolen every 53 seconds--and 97 percent are never recovered. In most cases, the risk of losing data stored on the hard drive is much higher than the value of the notebook itself.
To address this issue, Seagate, Dell, and McAfee teamed up to announce on Monday data encryption solutions for PCs that work without you even having to know about it. The solutions include new self-encrypting hard drives, software managing systems, and computers that implements the two.
The new hard drives belong to the Seagate's Momentus FDE family. FDE stands for full-disk encryption, Seagate's self-encrypting method for 2.5-inch hard drives.
Dell is the PC vendor that implements the new hard drives in a variety of its business computers.
McAfee annouced that it has joined the list of security software providers that support Seagate hard drives' embedded hardware encryption. This offers customers another choice of enterprise management solutions required to secure notebook computers.
The new Momentus FDE notebook hard drives comes in two performance grades: one that spins at 5400rpm and the other at 7200rpm. Both are presently available in 320GB and 16GB storage capacities, with 500GB versions coming early next year. However, the 5400rpm Momentus FDE has only 8MB of cache as opposed to 16MB of the 7200rpm version.
These drives features SATA controller interface and built-in AES encryption, a government-grade encryption capable of encrypting a hard drive's entire content transparently and automatically.
... Read moreOn Monday, Western Digital introduced its new 500GB capacity portable USB drive for its My Passport Elite and Essential lines.
Features for both of the USB-powered Elite and Essential lines include synchronization software that lets users sync their changes and protect their information with 128-bit encryption, as well as plug-and-play capability with gaming consoles to make it easy to play music and view photos and video files on a TV.
My Passport Elite portable drives are available in bronze, titanium, westminster blue and cherry red. Additional features include:
- Capacity gauge that enables users to know at-a-glance how much space is available.
- Powerful automatic backup software lets users designate files and folders for automatic and continuous backup.
- The ability to retrieve forgotten files from the road from any MioNet-enabled PC (compatible with Windows only) and copy them to My Passport portable drive using the unique MioNet Key software.
- Google software.
The Passport Elite comes in Westminster Blue..
(Credit: Western Digital)
and in Cherry Red.
(Credit: Western Digital)Weighing in at less than 7 ounces, My Passport Elite 500 GB USB portable drive will be available for $219.99. My Passport Essential 500 GB USB portable drives are available in 11 colors and is being sold for $199.99. Both are currently on Western Digital's site.
We first caught a glimpse of the Maxtor Black Armor back in January at CES 2008. Since then, we've been excited to get it into our labs for testing to see if it measures up to the rest of the market. After a few months of waiting, we finally got it and...not so much.
The Black Armor's No. 1 concern is data security. Like a little digital lockbox, everything inside the hard drive is protected by 128-bit government grade encryption that's built into the hardware itself, rendering the drive useless in the wrong hands. The owner sets a username and password, and only he or she can access the drive. Furthermore, a convenient "traveler" mode prevents thieves from completely wiping out your data. Only the host, at their home computer, has the permission to format the drive.
But the Black Armor isn't cheap in comparison to other externals out there. It's $150 and you only get 160GB, which factors out to 81 cents per GB--far more than the industry standard. In fact, in the same CES report, we also debuted a 320GB Toshiba drive for just $250.
Take a look at our full review of the Maxtor Black Armor hard drive for a more detailed description of this drive.
(Credit:
Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc.)
On Monday, Fujitsu Computer Products of America announced the Fujitsu MHZ2 CJ series for business notebooks that features full disk encryption. The new 2.5" 7,200RPM SATA hard disk drive (HDD) incorporates the AES-256 encryption standard at the hardware level without the need for additional software.
Unlike encryption with Windows Vista BitLocker, which requires the operating system to be present, the new Fujitsu drive performs its encryption entirely within the BIOS during power on. Encryption performed within the BIOS prevents the keys from being stored in the clear anywhere on the drive.
According to Fujitsu, "the key used to encrypt and decrypt data is cryptographically regenerated at power-on, and is not known even to the HDD when the system is powered off."
Also, since all the encryption generation is done as the laptop is being powered up, there is virtually no performance hit whenever the 256-bit password key is generated.
Fujitsu plans to ship the MHZ2 CJ series starting this summer.
