Posts Tagged ‘MAC’
Western Digital Launches New Passport Studio Drives For Mac
WD has introduced its new My Passport Studio portable drives for Macs featuring FireWire 800 interface and a customizable e-label that’s visible, even when the drive is unplugged. Sporting a sleek design, the high-performance My Passport Studio drives are formatted for Mac computers, compatible with Apple TimeMachine software, and feature automatic and continuous backup with WD SmartWare software, and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Available now at select retailers, the new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB.
WD’s My Passport Studio drives are designed for creative professionals and Mac enthusiasts. Their production and use of many large files require the fast transfers from computer to My Passport Studio drives that FireWire 800 provides. Professionals such as photographers also benefit from the e-labeling system to effectively organize their work.
The e-label smart display on the front of the My Passport drives can be changed as often as desired using the included WD SmartWare software. Users can easily create a label to personalize their drive or remind themselves of its contents. The e-label also shows available capacity and whether the drive is locked. Utilizing e-paper technology, the information on the display remains clearly visible, even when the drive is unplugged.
“Many of our customers store their content on multiple external drives, making it difficult to know what content is on each drive,” said Sushil Bandi, Country Manager – India, Western Digital. “The e-label smart display is an elegant and practical solution for organizing and keeping track of one’s digital life and work. WD SmartWare software makes it easy for users to protect their valuable content with automatic and continuous backup and encryption.”
The new My Passport Studio is fully compatible with Apple TimeMachine software for easy backup of your most important files. It also offers the option of the simple and intuitive WD SmartWare software, with automatic continuous backup and real-time visual interface, giving users a view of their backup as it happens. After the first backup, users’ files are backed up automatically every time they change or add a file.
My Passport Studio drives also feature user-selected password protection combined with 256-bit hardware-based encryption, which scrambles files before they are stored.
MSRP for the My Passport Studio drives is Rs. 9,600 for 500GB and Rs. 10,750 for 640GB and they come with a 3-year warranty.
PC vs. Mac in Security: Experts Share Opinions
Those notorious “I’m a Mac” TV commercials from Apple always paint the picture that Macs are nearly impervious to malware – but that’s not the truth. For the most part, it all comes down to the user base that malicious hackers choose to target.
Regardless, the subject of which platform is more secure – the PC with Windows or the Mac with OS X – is constantly debated by rabid fanboys from both sides.
CNet’s Elinor Mills decided to get the experts’ opinions on the subject by polling no less than 32 security gurus on his or her take on PC vs. Mac security. Here are a handful of what the experts had to say:
Paul Kocher, president and chief scientist at Cryptography Research: “The fair answer is that with the latest versions of each operating system there isn’t a compelling security reason to pick one or the other. It used to be that Apple was doing a better job, but with Windows 7 Microsoft has caught up. There are some differences; Windows has a better security ecosystem. On the other hand, Apple tends to have more expensive hardware and has a smaller market share, so it attracts fewer malware writers. Both have security bugs. Both need patches. Both can be broken if someone finds a zero-day exploit.”
Dino Dai Zovi, independent researcher: “Neither. Consumers should see if Apple’s iPad or the forthcoming devices based on Google’s Chrome OS suit their needs because both are significantly more secure than any general-purpose desktop system, Linux, Mac, or PC.”
Genius Launches New Graphics Tablets
Genius has launched its latest range of graphic tablets – the 4” x 5.5” EasyPen i405 and the 6” x 8” MousePen i608.
“As a company, it is our constant endeavor to offer best of the products in terms of technology, quality and user-friendliness. These two products enable one to showcase his creativity in a simple, easy and fun way,” said, Sandeep Ramani, Country Manager, OBM Sales Division, KYE Systems.
The first of the two offerings, EasyPen i405 allows the user to express himself on the computer by simply touching the pen tip to the tablet. The 4” x 5.5” working area with the cordless pen is a comfortable fit for Windows and MAC users to write, draw, sketch or sign emails. Users need to just click the pen on any of the 28 programmable shortcut keys for instant access to Office and Internet functions. The new offering features two buttons and 1024 level pressure sensitivity for thickness during drawing or writing. There is a clip on the right to store the pen and this makes it easy to carry and store. EasyPen i405 helps the user to touch up digital photos, draw by hand, and create artwork and paintings, and even writing in their own handwriting.
The other design tool is the MousePen i608. This is a new design tool to draw and paint and it enables to increase the productivity with any professional publishing software. There are 29 programmable shortcut keys for instant access to Office and Internet functions.
This pen too features two buttons and 1024 level pressure sensitivity for thickness during drawing or writing. The cordless mouse with the scroll wheel is more convenient when working on the tablet.
Genius EasyPen i405 and MousePen i608 are available in India at Rs. 2550 and Rs. 3625 respectively. Both the products come with a one year warranty.
Apple Sells More than 300000 iPads on First Day
Apple on Monday announced that it sold more than 300,000 iPads in the U.S. on the first day of sales, April 3. But is it enough?
That figure, taken through midnight Saturday, includes deliveries of pre-ordered iPads, deliveries to channel partners and sales at Apple retail stores. But I can’t help but think that the number is a little low.
There are a few reasons this may be:
A holiday weekend: Many folks who celebrate Easter were traveling and otherwise preoccupied;
Split availability: 3G models, which are more expensive, were not a part of the launch;
Proof: the iPad is a bit harder for consumers to digest than an iPod or iPhone. An iPod makes music. An iPhone makes phone calls. What the heck does an iPad do?
Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded more than one million apps from the App Store, and, interestingly, more than 250,000 ebooks from the iBookstore on the first day.
It appears to me that Apple has quite a bit of work ahead of it. The iPad has been accepted and impatiently awaited by technologists around the world, but the mass market still is merely curious about the device — and that curiosity isn’t strong enough to plunk more than $500 to take it home.
My take: Give it time. The technologists need to have time to crow about the virtues of the iPad to their non-techie buddies, who in turn will buy the device at Best Buy, rather than an Apple Store.
In the meantime, Apple needs to flood the airwaves with its iconic commercials featuring the iPad, not iPhone. Once it can show the average consumer what it can do, perhaps then they will bite.