storage

Microsoft beefs up SkyDrive with more features

Microsoft has kicked off 2013 with a few helpful additions to your SkyDrive Web site.

As detailed in yesterday's Inside SkyDrive blog, you can now move files within SkyDrive to other folders by dragging and dropping them to a specific location on the breadcrumb bar.

For example, to move a file from your Documents subfolder to the root of your SkyDrive storage, simply drag the file onto the SkyDrive breadcrumb with your name. Previously, you'd have to right-click on a file, select the Move to command, and then choose a target folder in order to move it.

Those … Read more

G-Tech soups up external storage with 7,200rpm hard drives

LAS VEGAS--Call it a minor upgrade, but that's what G-Technology has to offer this year at CES.

The storage vendor, which is now part of Western Digital, announced at CES 2013 that it now ships all of its popular G-Technology G-Drive Mini and G-RAID Mini external storage products with high-speed 1TB, 2.5-inch 7,200rpm hard drives.

Thanks to this, the G-Drive Mini, a compact single-volume external drive, now offers up to 136MBps performance speed. The drive offers both USB 3.0 and FireWire 8000 connection types and is bus-powered. It's preformatted for Mac and is now available … Read more

Seagate Wireless Plus: A totally new mobile storage experience made from an old concept

Unveiled at CES 2013, Seagate's Wireless Plus won CNET's Best of CES for Networking and Storage category for a reason: it's a big step up from its predecessor, the Seagate GoFlex Satellite.

The drive now combines 1TB of storage space, 10-hour-and-then-some battery life, and a built-in Wi-Fi network that supports up to eight concurrent clients in one compact package about the size of a regular USB 3.0 portable drive. Connected clients can stream digital content from it and you can also back up content to it, using a mobile app or a network browser.

And, when … Read more

Dropbox snaps up cloud-based photo organizer Snapjoy

Dropbox is continuing to reveal its interest in getting into the online photo sharing space. The latest piece of evidence is the acquisition of Snapjoy, a startup that provides a cloud-based photo library.

For reference, Snapjoy's platform can be used to collect photos from a multiude of online and offline sources (i.e., Flickr, desktops, an iPhone, etc.) to be stored in a cloud-based account. Users can elect to share some or all photos, either via invite to select friends or on social networks.

One of the differences that Snapjoy aimed to convey is that its elegant photo stream … Read more

Get a 32GB USB 3.0 flash drive for $19.99 shipped

Regular readers know that flash-drive prices have plummeted in the past year. But you know what all those dirt-cheap drives have had in common? A USB 2.0 interface.

What is this, 2001? USB 2.0 is over, man. It's the digital equivalent of the horse and buggy. And yet it's still pretty rare to find flash drives that support the newer, faster USB 3.0 spec.

That's why I'm jazzed about today's deal. While supplies last, Ice Monkey has the Super Talent ST3U32ST1K 32GB USB 3.0 flash drive for $19.99 shipped. Elsewhere … Read more

Samsung acquires Nvelo, maker of SSD tech

Samsung Electronics has agreed to purchase storage software firm Nvelo.

The Korean firm announced the purchase of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvelo on Friday. The company develops next-generation SSD storage solutions, and works to manage and optimize the use of solid state drives within subsystems. This kind of "SSD caching" is used in both consumer and enterprise platforms, increasing the speed of retrieving data in a number of devices, including desktops and smartphones, from both hard drives and SSDs.

The acquisition of 2-year-old Nvelo, albeit low-key, means that Samsung will increase its storage space portfolio, and will potentially … Read more

The state of networking and storage, and what to expect at CES 2013

It's been an exciting -- and busy -- year for networking and storage, two very important categories in consumer electronics. Important because they are at the core of information technology -- without either, most or all of your gadgets will come to a grinding halt. And as far as I know, we haven't yet seen the limit of what they can do.

That said, here is a quick roundup of the current state of this sector and what we can expect, based on my educated guesses, heading into CES 2013.

Networking

802.11ac This year will be remembered … Read more

Get a Toshiba 1TB portable USB 3.0 hard drive for $69.99

My cheapskate senses tell me not to post this, because it's so very likely to sell out right around the time I click "publish," but I just can't help it. (That's why I'm padding today's post with two bonus deals.)

Today only, and while supplies last, Best Buy has the Toshiba Canvio 1TB portable USB 3.0 hard drive for $69.99 shipped (plus sales tax where applicable). That's $20 off the regular price -- not a mammoth savings, I grant you, but still a great deal on a great drive.

What … Read more

Startup cloud app Younity aims to take on iCloud

Software startup Entangled Media today released a new app, Younity, that lets iPhone users access all their files from any device without storing files in the cloud. It's like iCloud, which syncs all your Apple devices so you can access the files from any device, but without the syncing or the cloud.

Younity allows devices to communicate with other devices -- both desktop and mobile -- to access files and stream music or videos.

"What we provide is glue," said Entangle Media CEO Erick Caso.

That would be the virtual glue that sticks all your devices together. … Read more