Performance

While Netgear and D-Link introduced their approaches to app-supporting and cloud-enabled networking products at CES 2012, Cisco, which didn't have anything to announce at CES, turns out to be the first to materialize the new concepts.

Cisco today unveiled a line of Linksys Smart Wi-Fi routers that promises to change the face, and the body, of home networking.

The Linksys EA4500, EA3500, and EA2700 -- the "A" designation being short for "app-enabled" -- look like models in the earlier E Series but have more-powerful hardware and support Cisco Connect Cloud, the next generation of Cisco … Read more

While Mac users can use the recently reviewed Windows-preformatted 2TB WD My Passport portable drive, they now have another drive to call their own.

Western Digital announced today the new My Passport Studio, which increased the storage space to up to 2TB. Similar to the existing My Passport Studio, the new drive offers USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 connectivity in the place of USB 3.0. This is because Macs generally don't support USB 3.0, leaving FireWire 800 the only second fastest peripheral connection to Thunderbolt. In fact the new 2TB model shares the same design as the current 1TB model with the all-metal casing. … Read more

Finally, you now can have access to a Thunderbolt storage device without having to sell an arm and a leg, but maybe just a little finger.

Seagate's latest adapter for its superflexible external hard drive, the GoFlex Desk, now supports the Thunderbolt standard and costs just $190.

While $190 is not a small amount, the GoFlex Desk Thunderbolt adapter, when coupled with a GoFlex Desk drive (which costs another $250 for the top 4TB capacity), still comes out at least $100 cheaper than any other Thunderbolt storage device, including those with much less storage space.

To add icing to … Read more

After teasing about its new Thunderbolt at CES 2012 and Macworld iWorld, Western Digital finally officially announced today that it's now shipping its My Book Thunderbolt Duo dual-drive storage system.

This is the company's first Thunderbolt storage device.… Read more

During a brief drive in the 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth, we stopped for a photo shoot. But as CNET editor Antuan Goodwin and I circled the car with our cameras, the idling Abarth suddenly gave a vicious growl.

The engine decided a few extra revs were in order, resulting in a burbly rumble from the exhaust. The car was either camera-shy or annoyed that we weren't driving it.

The Abarth scorpion badges look pretty cool, but the first thing that will make you sit up and take notice of this Fiat 500 is the exhaust note. It grumbles loudly running at a steady speed. Run up the revs, then let them drop, and it backfires, which makes me unreasonably happy.… Read more

Bus-powered portable drives, those that don't need a separate power adapter to work, are not new and have been in the market for years. But the Elgato Thunderbolt SSD is the first made specifically for Macs and for now can only work with Macs.

For this reason, like many thing Apple-made, it changes everything all over, again.

For one, it's by far the fastest bus-powered portable drive on the market, though not at all the fastest among Thunderbolt storage devices. Secondly, it's super-expensive at $700 for 240GB (or $450 for 120GB).

While souped-up pricing and performance of … Read more

LaCie has been known to give its tech products a touch of fashion, and the 2big Thunderbolt Series is no exception.

The device looks good and sturdy, resembling the rest of the 2big family, including the already reviewed 2big USB 3.0.

The biggest difference from the previous models is that it has two Thunderbolt ports on the back that take the place of any other connection types, so no USB, FireWire, or eSATA.… Read more

There's not much that's extreme about the SanDisk Extreme solid-state drive.

In fact, it's very standard, with a 9.5mm 2.5-inch design like most laptop hard drives. In my testing, the drive boosted the test machine's overall performance a great deal.… Read more

This is not one of those typical thumbdrives being given out at social events. For one thing, the Lexar JumpDrive Triton may be the first device I've run into in a long, long time that doesn't bear the "Made in China" label. Instead, there's a message on its back that clearly reads "Product of USA." While it's unclear if the drive is actually made entirely in the States, one thing is for sure: it holds a lot more appeal than just patriotic sentiment.… Read more