In addition to the new 1TB model, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini is available in nine other “Quad Interface” models offering a variety of speed, capacity, and drive type options:
5200/5400RPM
250GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $119.99
320GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $129.99
500GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $154.99
640GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $189.00
1.0TB 5200RPM 8MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $299.99
7200RPM
320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $144.99
500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $189.99
Solid State Drive featuring the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD
50GB SSD FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $299.99
100GB SSD FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $469.99
200GB SSD FW800/400+USB2+eSATA Storage Solution $849.99
All OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini models, including the new 1TB model, are available for immediate ordering from Other World Computing at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB and are compatible with Apple OS 8.6 and later including the latest 10.6 “Snow Leopard”; and Windows 98SE or later operating systems; and come ready for Plug and Play ease of use with all supported interface connecting cables, a $200 retail value disk utility software bundle, and an industry leading three year complete solution warranty.
For more information on the complete OWC Storage Solution line, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/
Portable & Bus Powered For Mobile Lifestyles
Measuring a compact 3.8″ W x 5.5″ L x 1.1″ H, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini offers storage capacity up to 1TB – enough space for up to 1,000,000 JPEG photos, 500 DVD movies, 76 hours of digital video, or 350,000 MP3 songs – in its fanless, aircraft grade brushed aluminum enclosure. Because it’s bus-powered, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini doesn’t require an AC adapter, which makes it ideal for in-the-field business professionals, creative/entertainment professionals, students, and anyone else needing to back up data, transport large files between computers, gain additional storage capacity, and even perform video editing and live music recording.
Built For Performance & Flexibility
Designed to emulate the award winning history of the larger desktop sized Mercury Elite-AL Pro, the new Elite-AL Pro mini portable storage solution features the fastest 2.5″ SATA hard drive mechanisms up to 7200RPM as well as OWC’s Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD for demanding A/V, digital photography, professional music, graphics, general data, and Time Machine ready storage needs. With two FireWire 800 ports, users can “daisy chain” multiple devices, connect legacy FireWire 400 devices via the included 800 to 400 connecting cable, and can even utilize the fastest data transfer interface, eSATA, while bus powering via FireWire. The Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini can also be used with storage capable digital cameras and camcorders with FireWire and/or USB data ports for fast, on-location backups of images and video.
“We’re very pleased to have our renowned Mercury storage line achieve another industry first,” said Larry O’Connor, CEO, Other World Computing. “With the highest capacity and most interfaces in a portable design, our ‘mini’ delivers massive, professional grade data storage/backup to the modern mobile computing society.”
Verizon Wireless, which also becomes the NFL’s official wireless service sponsor, will provide fans with unprecedented access to America’s favorite sport regardless of whether they are in the stands, at home, or on the go.
Among the programming that will be available for the first time during the regular season will be the wildly popular NFL RedZone channel from the NFL Network, which airs live look-ins of every key play and touchdown from Sunday afternoon games. Fans also will be able to watch live streaming of NBC’s Sunday Night Football and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football. In addition, fans will receive the NFL Network channel, which airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis, and is the only network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football.
“This is an agreement that has, at its core a mutual desire by both the NFL and Verizon Wireless to provide consumers with what they want on and off the field,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “For Verizon Wireless, it is NFL content delivered over our 3G network so football fans can extend the excitement of the sport long after the last touchdown of a season. And the NFL content is customizable in that consumers have options from video to ringtones to alerts; the choice is theirs.”
The NFL experience will become increasingly rich as Verizon Wireless launches its 4G network. It plans to have 4G available in 25 to 30 markets in 2010 and in virtually all of its current nationwide 3G footprint by the end of 2013.
“We are looking forward to working with Verizon Wireless to deliver our fans the most extensive experience on mobile phones,” said Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy. “Our fans have an insatiable appetite for football, and we will be able to keep them connected wherever they are on game day but also throughout the year.”
In addition to NFL RedZone, live Sunday Night and Thursday Night games, and NFL Network, other features of NFL Mobile on Verizon Wireless will include:
· Video: Game highlights and an extensive collection of on-demand video featuring analysis and inside access from NFL Network and NFL Films.
· Audio: Live radio broadcasts of every regular season and playoff game from both home and away teams.
· Fantasy: Access to fantasy information, news, and player and team statistics.
· Customizable NFL alerts, ringtones and graphics.
Fans will get their first taste of NFL Mobile on Verizon Wireless with one of the most anticipated sports events of the year, the NFL Draft, to be held from April 22-24. Among the content:
· Live 24/7 stream of NFL Network’s coverage of the Draft from Radio City Music Hall.
· Extensive collection of on-demand video of NFL Network analysis.
· Pick-by-pick Draft tracker updated in real time.
· In-depth prospect profiles, blogs, news and more.
Additional information on specific phones and associated pricing will be available closer to the start of the NFL season in August.
Founder Oliver Evans said ” We have worked extremely hard to come up with something different here at iKit and with this case we feel we have achieved our goal.”
This is the latest instalment to their 2010 product range and is now available in Red, Blue, Grey, White.
iKit design and manufacture innovative accessories with a unique flair for Apple products and digital media devices.
For a closer look at this product and new range go to www.ikit.com.
New Potato Technologies, an innovator and developer of iPod and iPhone accessories, today introduced FLPR™, a revolutionary new accessory and app that transforms iPhone and iPod touch into a universal remote control. FLPR lets users control multiple electronic devices, including televisions, cable and satellite boxes, stereo systems, lights, ceiling fans and just about anything else that uses an infrared remote control. Available this month from Best Buy stores nationwide, and online at http://www.newpotatotech.com, the revolutionary FLPR replaces a sea of remotes cluttering up the home.
FLPR is a snap to set up. After purchasing the FLPR infrared interface and popping it into the iPhone/iPod touch dock connector, users simply download the free FLPR app from the App Store℠ online store. Once the app is launched, choose the device “type,” select “brand,” “name it” and “use it.” It’s that easy. FLPR comes pre‐programmed with over 14,000 remote control codes, including all major electronics brands.
Unlike other universal remote solutions for iPhone and iPod touch, FLPR’s extensive database of over 14,000 pre‐programmed remote control codes means that you don’t have to spend time learning your existing remotes “button by button.” FLPR works with hundreds of brands of devices out of box with no programming necessary.
FLPR is also a learning remote. If the remote control code for that old television in the guest bedroom is not in the extensive FLPR database, you can easily teach FLPR the code for that old relic, creating a brand new remote.
The user‐friendly, stylish interface of FLPR rivals that of expensive, high‐end universal remotes. What’s more, FLPR can be personalized with the included free background skins. The screen for each device you control can have a distinct look so you can instantly tell the remote for the television apart from the iPod docking sound system.
FLPR has a range of about 30 feet and is powered by the iPhone/iPod touch. The free FLPR app is available now in the iTunes store. For more, visit http://www.newpotatotech.com/flpr.
The FLPR infrared interface will be available March 4, 2010 at NewPotatoTech.com and in‐store nationwide at Best Buy on March 28, 2010 for $79.99.
It’s the fastest and most reliable SSD on the market today and eclipses even the best enterprise class conventional hard drive available.
• Fastest sustained read and write times (over 260MB/s) of any SATA SSD available today.
• DuraClass technology with Ultra-efficient Block Management & Wear Leveling offers highest endurance, performance, and power efficiency in a SATA SSD.
• SandForce™ Processor maximizes read and write performance to greatly extend the endurance and overall reliability of the drive.
• Up to 100X greater data protection than what the highest rated enterprise class conventional hard disk drive (HDD) provides.
• Best in class error correction (ECC) and RAISE™ (Redundant Array of Independent Silicon Elements) technology provides RAID like data protection and reliability without loss of transfer speed due to parity.
• Intelligent “recycling” for advanced free space management
• 8.5x longer use hours than any other name brand SSD
• Highly secure…all data automatically stored in AES-128 encrypted format.
We had some fun taping a “shootout”:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/Framework.cfm?page=ssd-speed-test-feb-10.html
And some early testers have been having a lot of fun with the SSD as well:
OWC Mercury Extreme RAID-ready Enterprise-class Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://macperformanceguide.com/Reviews-SSD-OWC-Mercury_Extreme.html
In the aftermath of today’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile, Verizon Wireless has waived all calling fees for its customers trying to reach loved ones in Chile.
Starting immediately and retroactive to the time of the earthquake, Verizon Wireless customers with regular monthly bills can make calls to connect with family and friends in Chile at no cost when they’re on the Verizon Wireless network in the U.S. Verizon Wireless customers with monthly bills who receive calls from Chile will also receive those calls free of charge. The company is making calls free for at least one week. Calls made while roaming are billed at normal rates.
Dan Mead, chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless, said, “At times of crisis, we spring to action. By acting urgently, we are helping families connect without worrying about cost.”
In addition, Verizon Wireless teams are working with international relief organizations to provide mobile giving options for customers who wish to donate to the earthquake relief efforts. All Verizon Wireless customers who pay a monthly bill, including those formerly with Alltel, may contribute to Chilean earthquake relief efforts via their mobile phones. To make a $10 donation to Habitat for Humanity, text the word “CHILE” to 23583; to make a $10 donation to World Vision, text the word “CHILE” to 20222. Customers will receive a text response to confirm the $10 donation, and 100 percent of customers’ donations will go directly to the relief organization’s efforts to help the victims of the Chilean earthquake. Additional international relief organizations are expected to begin mobile giving campaigns soon.
Verizon Wireless donates the cost of the back-and-forth text messages. Customers will not be charged for the text messages, and the $10 donation will appear on their regular monthly bills.
Wu spent a good amount of time with me and Quicken Essentials for Mac and I was impressed with what a saw. A powerful registry with deep customization, a pie chart with amazing drill-down capabilities, a spending cloud much like “tag clouds” found on many of todays web pages, category reports with incredible filtering, and with support for 12,000 financial institutions for automatic downloading of your data for near-zero user entry (compared to the Windows 2010 version of just 4,500); Quicken Essentials is definitely on the right track.
Wu told me, “We do care about the Mac,” during our conversation and from what I saw that rainy Friday afternoon, it’s obvious Intuit is at least making an attempt to correct its ills of the past. Wu was transparent about some missing features, such as the inability to track historical data for investments, but he stressed that Intuit is, “Looking at bringing those features back,” upon reviewing customer requests. One of my requests was the ability to sync data with Mint.com and Wu said Intuit would like to do that. Nice.
Previous Quicken users, be it Windows or Mac, will be able to easily import their data to Quicken Essentials for Mac.
And now, for Intuit’s take on the release:
For those who manage their money on a Mac, Quicken Essentials for Mac now available from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU). Built from the ground up with the look and feel Mac users expect from their products, QEM, as it’s known, provides a simple and easy way to handle the essentials of money management.
QEM launches a new era for Quicken on the Mac. It marks Intuit’s first Mac-native application for Quicken, that is, a product developed specifically to run on a Mac operating system, instead of adapting a product originally designed for a PC. QEM’s features serve a broad array of essential customer needs, focusing on quick set-up, ease-of-use, and Mac-like intuitiveness in design and workflow. The redesign reflects the influence of the Mint.com product team and its deep experience with Apple products.
“Quicken Essentials for Mac is the first Quicken product to take full advantage of the Mac operating system and development platform,” said Aaron Patzer, vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Personal Finance Group. “We’re bringing a completely new Quicken experience to Mac users, helping them answer essential money questions – what do I spend, what do I earn, where do I stand on my budgets, what is my net worth, and where can I do better?”
Making Money Management Easier on a Mac
Infusing Quicken with the intuitiveness of the Mac, QEM makes financial management easier, featuring:
· Easier set up; faster to use: QEM offers the unique Mac look-and-feel, easy navigation, and all the keyboard shortcuts users expect on Mac. Setup only takes 10 minutes. Users simply search for their bank, and synch using their online credentials.
· Broad banking support; no data entry: QEM currently imports data from 12,000 financial institutions, with support from 18,000 expected by year end. This is nearly quadruple the previous support of banks, credit unions, credit card companies, brokerage houses and lending institutions. All of that means less data entry.
· Improved categorization; better understanding: QEM “learns” the most popular categories from users, improving categorization over time. This means users spend less time organizing transactions, and more time understanding where their money goes, and how to save and do more with their money.
· Easy conversion: The converter feature easily transfers historical data from past Quicken for Mac (2005, 2006 and 2007), Quicken for Windows (2007, 2008 and 2009), and Microsoft Money.
“We plan to continue using these new design and usability elements and bring them into additional personal finance products,” said Patzer. “The combination of Quicken products and the talent of the Mint.com product team brings the best of both worlds to customers.”
Mac users can join the Quicken Inner Circle user community to provide product feedback that will be used to determine future features and development priorities.
Pricing and Availability
Quicken Essentials for the Mac is $69 and is available for purchase or download directly from Intuit at www.quicken.com and at retailers.
Intuit continues to support Quicken Mac 2007 for those users who rely on features that have not been added to QEM, including:
Stock lot accounting and other high-level investment tracking: QEM will show basic investment information, including net worth and changes in value. Detailed reporting similar to past Quicken Products is expected to be included in future versions
Bill Pay: Because only 6 percent of Quicken users rely on this service, it wasn’t added in the Essentials version of Quicken for Mac
Integration with TurboTax™: The Essentials version is designed for day-to-day financial management, and may include more robust features, such as integration with tax products, in the future.
The brand new American Dream by MultiEducator, Inc. is a unique application for Apple iPhone/iPod that contains nearly 500 of the most important documents in US history.
This $2.99 download provides instant access to an astounding array of the most important documents, speeches and inaugural addresses from American Presidents political leaders from the beginnings of our country all the way to the present.
You can read 480 speeches and documents (including all the Presidential Inaugural addresses and dozens of the most important laws of the land), 90 Supreme Court Decisions, and 18 audio recordings all organized on a finger tip friendly phone app.
This little download is an incredible compilation of primary source documents in American History. Each document entry includes an explanation of the significance of the court decision, law, or key points of a speech.
Documents can be accessed chronologically, or often by groups. You can search for a document and save recent or favorites. All of the documents can be e-mailed and thus shared.
American Dreams can be downloaded at the Apple iTunes Store.
Last year Apple stunned, excuse the pun, the Mac world and announced it would no longer attend Macworld Expo or any other trade show event effective after Macworld 2009. Many reasons circulated why Apple would make such an incredible decision with most boiling down to expense. Apple didn’t need trade shows, trade shows needed Apple was the governing thought. While that may be true — Macworld 2010 attendance and vendor participation will reveal that answer — there really is more to the reason for Apple’s ignoring the industry standards of dog and pony shows. Three words: Steve Jobs ego.
It’s no new news to make reference to the iCEOs audacity as folklore is strong when concerning Jobs character. Apple does like to put spin on things no matter what the announcement and when it told the world that it was removing itself from the trade show circuit due to cost and the desire not to be forced for product release dates, it sounded “about right” on the surface. However, one has to scratch their head and wonder why not even a year after that announcement, Apple declared to the world, in a building on the same block Macworld is held, the iPad. Okay, so it must have been the cost thingy, right? Well, maybe, but for a company with tens of billions — ya, billions — of dollars in cash, this argument doesn’t seem that valid, either.
Digging deeper into the iPad launch, one finds many interesting facts. First, the gathering was by invite only. A typical Apple strategy. Second, only well known organizations received these invites. Third, the hands-on demonstration was limited, for example CNET was only allowed to have three of its members take a look at the device to prevent “inner cross-over”. Lastly, the public was visibly forced out and prevented from entry. In the end, Steve Jobs ran the show from start to finish down to who was allowed to sit in the halls of his majesty. Plain and simple, Steve is a control freak and he couldn’t command what IDG did with Macworld Expo. So, he pulled Apple out of it.
There are many examples of Steve’s ego getting in the way of catching a bit closer to Apple-related “stuff” such as when he pulled the less than flattering biography iCon from Apple Stores world wide. The stories are extensive how Apple would fail during Jobs’ day-to-day absence during his liver ordeal of 2008/2009. Since Jobs micro-managed everything, down to what color ties his lieutenants could wear (just kidding on the last one…I think) no one thought Apple had a chance without Jobs running the ship. Really, it does not take much to run the case for Apple leaving Macworld because Jobs doesn’t like how he can’t run the show.
I’m on record for loving Apple and its products and I admit many of the reasons I came back to Apple in 2001 was because of the many great things Jobs brought to Apple. Yet, I am also very vocal about what a pompous jerk Steve Jobs is, as well. From suing blogs due to printing leaked information and talking about how they are “breaking the law”, and yet he forgets about all those free long distance calls he made in the 70s using Woz’s Blue Box as well as “ripping off” Xerox PARCs mouse and GUI for the original Mac, to naming his company similar to the then worlds most popular record label and then telling companies with iPod-like names today to “change your name, it’s simple enough;” it’s tough to accept Jobs as the genius the world wants to paint him.
As long as Jobs has a strong product on stage with him, he’ll continue to ride his high horse with little worry of being jousted off of it. Yes, Jobs can give the pseudo finger to IDG and then show the world the iPad weeks before the revised Apple-less Macworld Expo but remember this, Steve, not all empires last for ever. Rome fell and so well you. How you want to be remembered in history depends how you treat those in the present.
The American Museum of Natural History announced today that DINOSAURS: American Museum of Natural History Collections, the first science and education photo mosaic application for iPhone and iPod Touch, is currently available for download on iTunes. Free and easy to use, DINOSAURS lets paleontologists of all ages explore the world’s largest collection of dinosaur fossils with a tap of the screen.
Combining scientific research with over 800 stunning images from the Museum’s vast archives, this pioneering interactive mosaic provides dinosaur enthusiasts an entirely new way to discover the Museum’s premier paleontology collection—and to become experts in the process. Packed with information about six of the Museum’s most popular dinosaur fossils, including the famed Tyrannosaurus rex and the Barosaurus, DINOSAURS digs deep to bring amateur paleontologists the science behind selected fossils, stories about their discoveries, and profiles of the fossil-hunters who uncovered them. The images are enhanced with social networking functionality, enabling users to share favorite images with friends, post comments, and view comments left by others.
A veritable pocket field guide, DINOSAURS: American Museum of Natural History Collections can also be used while exploring the Museum’s famous halls to learn more about the fascinating fossils on display. DINOSAURS will be updated with new “stories” with in-depth information about additional dinosaur species, including such favorites as the Triceratops.
DINOSAURS is the first in a series of applications that will be published by The American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with 33Delivered, which provides digital stewardship and development services for institutions and companies, to highlight the Museum’s storied collections and bring its world-class holdings to a global audience.
For a demo of DINOSAURS: American Museum of Natural History Collections, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=407CU1491oE
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to explore and interpret human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-reaching program of scientific research, education, and exhibitions. The Museum accomplishes this ambitious goal through its extensive facilities and resources. The institution houses 45 permanent exhibition halls, state-of-the-art research laboratories, one of the largest natural history libraries in the Western Hemisphere, and a permanent collection of more than 30 million specimens and cultural artifacts. With a scientific staff of more than 200, the Museum supports research divisions in Anthropology, Paleontology, Invertebrate and Vertebrate Zoology, and the Physical Sciences. In 2006, with the launch of the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the Museum, it became the first American museum with the authority to grant the Ph.D. degree. The Museum shares its treasures and discoveries with approximately four million on-site visitors from around the world each year. AMNH-produced exhibitions and Space Shows can currently be seen in venues on five continents, reaching an audience of millions. In addition, the Museum’s website, amnh.org, extends its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions more beyond the Museum’s walls.