Sony's latest generation of digital voice recorders is angled firmly at the consumer and student market with colourful finishes and MP3-playing abilities.

The slimline ICD-UX200, ICD-UX300 and ICD-UX300F are lightweight 3-in-1 devices that offer voice recording, file storage and music playback via the built-in speakers or the supplied in-ear headphones.

Voice recordings are captured in stereo as MP3 files with a background noise filter helping to keep them clear while 21-step digital playback speed control claims to help when listening back.

Compatible with PCs and Macs, and boasting drag-and-drop file support, the new devices get a slide-out USB connector, folder options and a LCD screen with easy-to-read 5-line display.

Battery life comes in at up to 15 hours in LP mode, while playback extends to 83 hours, presumably less if via the speakers.

The 2GB ICD-UX200 will be available in black, silver, pink and red finishes. The 4GB ICD-UX300 will see black or red finishes while the 4GB ICD-UX300F, complete with an FM tuner, will just be available in black.

The ICD-UX200, UX300 and UX300F digital voice recorders will be available from December 2009 - pricing to be confirmed.

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Tags: Gadgets Sony Hardware Storage Audio MP3 players Sony ICD-UX300 Voice recorders

Sony launches colourful 3-in-1 digital voice recorders originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:28:53 +0000

OCZ has unveiled an unnamed external SSD that it'll be showcasing at CES next year. It'll be the first to feature USB 3.0 connectivity, meaning that it should be able to theoretically reach 4.8Gb/s, though that'll sink to more like 1.6Gb/s in real-world situations.

The company appears to be crowdsourcing a name for the device before its launch. That launch will likely take place at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, which Pocket-lint will be reporting live from.

There's no specs for the device yet, but the renders show a microUSB connector, as well as 8 memory modules. USB 3.0 should allow the SSD to fly at the speeds that it's capable of, unlike SSD drives that choke up on the elderly USB 2.0 connectivity.

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Tags: Hardware Storage SSD OCZ USB 3 Hard drives CES2010

OCZ introduces external USB 3.0 SSD originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:05:36 +0000

Welcome to the second of our Pocket-lint guides on the perfect presents to buy this year. Yesterday we started the ball rolling with our perfect presents for photographers, but today we're talking laptops. Whether the person you're looking for has a notebook or a netbook that they simply won't put down, here are 10 excellent ideas of what you can buy to help feed their habit and bring a rosy-cheeked smile to their face on Christmas morning - at least until they bury it in their LCD and keyboard for the rest of the day.?

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picoStick TV tuner

Who said size doesn't matter? No one told PCTV Systems, part of Hauppauge Digital, who sell this tiny picoStick Freeview tuner. The minuscule USB DVB-T receiver simply has a USB connection on one end and a connection either for an aerial or a screw-in mini antenna at the other. Accompanying software will handle Teletext and EPG functions, as well as allowing pause or time shift functions and recording in MPEG1, 2, or DivX formats. Come and take a look to appreciate how small these things are and then fork out the ?37 while your jaw's still hung open.

Huawei E225 USB modem

The gift of mobile broadband is a wonderful thing and entirely necessary these days if you're? hooked on laptops. There are all sorts of contract deals out there but you can skip all the hassle by picking up an unlocked dongle, which you can put any SIM card into you like. One of the easier to find is the likes of the Huawei E225 which you can currently get for around ?30. Chances are that your giftee already has a decent data package on their mobile phone SIM which they can slot in at will or if not, you can often find good PAYG SIM only packages from the likes of 3 which offer free chunks of data for a nominal top up.

Laptop Sleeves

Come on, who doesn't want to out-sleeve the next man? These aren't new items but, like clothes, you can simply never have enough of the them. One amuser of late has been the Undercover Sleeve which you can pick up for ?20 but other beauties include the 9 to 5 from last year and the My Documents folder for ultimate geek chic. If you really want to get the perfect one, then head over to Etsy and knock yourself out and you might even find a crafter who'll make one to order.

Speck CorePack Fly

Take the sleeve one step on you've got yourself a bag with cushioning for the portable number cruncher as well as space for all your other bits and pieces. Right now, the CorePack Fly from Speck is the pick of the crop for the frequent flier as it features a separate and removable section for the laptop so it can be scanned by those airport machines with minimal fuss. If the $89.95 price tag and trans-Atlantic postage are a sticking point them you can always go with something simple like the ?29 Canvas PC messenger bag from Muji.

Portable HDDs

The more portable the laptop, the less memory it's likely to have. Combine that with the computing equivalent of Parkinson's law such that states that your file library will expand to fill the memory allotted and you can see pretty quickly that just anyone with a notebook is going to need an external HDD. An SSD would be preferable but, frankly, who's going to spend the bucks on those right now? Fortunately, 2.5" travel friendly ones are remarkably reasonable. Some couple of goodies to suggest would be the Western Digital Passport Essential 250GB for ?48 and the HP SimpleSave 320GB HDD for ?69.

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Spare/Better laptop battery

What do you mean "that doesn't sound very exciting"? It is. It's one of the best presents money can buy. The person you give it to will bless your name every time their machine powers down en route to an important meeting/half way through the latest downloaded episode of Mad Men on a long haul flight. They'll promise great gifts back onto you when they reach inside their CorePack Fly and pull out a vastly superior, pre-charged 6/8/12-cell battery.

You'll need to sneak a look a at the make an model of the one they already have and then get yourself onto one of the usual online electrical e-tailers for the appropriate unit. Do not buy one second hand and cheaper non-brand options are not always as efficient as those from the original manufacture.

Logitech Comfort Lapdesk

There's a lot of things like these available for those who wish to compute on the sofa while giving both the notebook and their rapidly heating thighs enough air to breathe. Plenty have USB powered fans and some can get quite expensive but the only one we'd really recommend at the moment is the cheap, simple and, best of all, most comfortable, Logitech Comfort Lapdesk. The clue was in the name. You can pick them up for ?20. Very reasonable.

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Samsung SE-S084 Super WriteMaster

So you're friend or loved one has a netbook or very small notebook and, guess what, it doesn't come with a CD or DVD drive does it. What's the solution? Well, there's plenty out there to choose from but the Samsung SE-S084 Super WriteMaster Slim External DVD drive is certainly a strong contender. It's not "oh my god" small, but around the same size and thickness of a double CD case. More to the point, though, it performs all the necessary buring and reading tasks at an affordable price of ?39 and it looks pretty good too.

Kensington Flylight 2.0

Yes it's silly but only marginally so. Every now and then as a laptop user, you'll find yourself in dark place - usually a plane - and you're trying to type without a backlit keyboard. Worse still, your nice bright LCD screen is rendering any dark vision you might develop utterly useless. Along comes the Kensington Flylight 2.0 for its annual rescue and your USB power supplies all the illumination required. Fortunately, it's an LED lamp and so uses very little juice - less than 90 seconds of power per hour of normal use. Very tidy for ?8.69.

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iRock Foldable Speakers

The rest of the world might curse you for it but you giftee will enjoy these rather basic portable, foldable speakers from iRock. Yes, you do. For ?16.99 they come with a 3.5mm plug and can charge their Li-ion batter via USB at the same time. They also happen to have a little magnetic base which is great if you want to pretend they're police sirens and try to stick them to the roof of your car.

Or...

...of course, if you feel really flush and actually want to buy someone a laptop - lucky old them - then take a look our Top Products section which will help guide you through to a suitable model and offer you only the best of the ones Pocket-lint's reviewed. And, as always, if you get have any red hot tips for gift ideas of your own, then do let us know in the comments below. Good luck.

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Tags: Hardware Laptops Christmas Features Laptop accessories Storage

10 perfect Christmas presents for...laptop addicts originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:47:30 +0000

Sony has announced the launch of a new Microvault flash drive series that will be available in capacities ranging from 4GB "all the way" to 32GB.

The new Microvaults are said to be "extremely robust" with a retractable connector - so no more lost caps. Boasting full compatibility with Windows 7, the drives offer drag and drop operation.

The Microvault range is due to be available from major retailers in January 2010, no pricing revealed.

Tags: Hardware Storage Flash drives Sony

Sony announces new Microvault flash drives originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:12:51 +0000

Google has "dramatically" reduced the cost of its online storage linked to its Picasa Web Albums service and Gmail accounts.

The online giant is now offering twice as much storage for a quarter of the old price of its 20GB plan, on top of the free allowances available to everyone.

Picasa and Gmail users can now buy 20GB for $5 per year, apparently a result of not just hard drive storage prices dropping, but because Google has been "working hard to improve our infrastructure to reduce your costs even further".

Google says 20GB is enough space for more than 10,000 full resolution pictures taken with a 5-megapixel camera.

Price plans also include 80GB for $20 per year, 200GB for $50 per year, 400GB for $100 per year and 1TB for $256 per year.

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Tags: Software Online Websites Storage Google Picasa Cameras Gmail

Google "dramatically" cuts Gmail and Picasa online storage costs originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:32:04 +0000

Star Wars fans will be able to get their "Force" fix while storing data thanks to a new range of USB thumb drives.

The standard USB drives are sculpted replicas of Darth Vader, Boba Fett, a Storm Trooper and Yoda, ranged in storage sizes from 4GB to 16GB and costing between $29.99 to $59.99.

The new drives come hot on the heels of an announcement in September from Toshiba who are launching Transformer USB drives in time for Christmas.?

Measuring 3 inches high expect Star Wars fans to get very giddy with excitement.

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Tags: Gadgets Hardware Storage USB drives Star Wars

Star Wars USB drives let you feel the force while saving stuff originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:59:12 +0000

Toshiba has announced the launch of the highest capacity 1.8-inch hard disk drive to date, offering the 320GB dual platter MK3233GSG.

The upshot of the announcement means you'll soon see the "latest generation of high-end portable and extremely mobile personal computers, notebooks and external hard disk drives" offering such a hard disk drive capacity.

To put the size into content, Toshiba says 320GB is good for 160,000 MP3 files or 282 hours of DVD-quality video.

"The recent growth in mobile computer sales even in these trying times is testament to what the consumer really wants; maximum storage in a small and portable device", said Martin Larsson, VP, Toshiba Europe's storage device division.

"To support this demand, Toshiba is continuing to innovate storage technology so that the latest generations of hard disk drives, such as the MK3233GSG, are light and fast enough for even the most up to date notebooks".

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Tags: Hardware Toshiba Storage HDDs

Toshiba launches 320GB 1.8-inch HDD originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:38:32 +0000

Disney is prepping an interesting solution that will redefine "ownership as access rights, not physical possession", reveals the Wall Street Journal.

The project, currently codenamed "Keychest", will offer cloud-based content that those who have paid to access it, across multiple platforms.

By paying a single price consumers would be granted permanent access to a movie or a TV show that they could chose to watch on-demand via a connected television, on a computer, or on the go on a similarly hooked up portable device, such as a mobile phone.

As well as addressing the modern consumer's need for flexible digital content, and falling DVD sales, the solution would mean that the content would not eat into the memory capacity of smaller portable devices, although consumers would have to be careful with data costs.

The WSJ reports: "The company has been quietly demonstrating Keychest for other movie studios and technology companies in a bid to get them to sign on".

Disney is said to be due to unveil the technology next month - we will keep you posted.

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Tags: Home Cinema Disney Video on demand Disney Keychest Software Cloud computing Storage

Disney to offer "Keychest" cloud-based solution for content across devices originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:05:15 +0100

Samsung has announced the launch of the Samsung S2 Portable external hard drive that hits shop shelves today.

In an attempt to make portable storage a little more exciting, Samsung is offering the S2 complete with a "worldwide box office hit".

A digital version of "Angels & Demons", as directed by Ron Howard from the Dan Brown novel, will be pre-loaded onto the storage device, apparently an industry first.

Capacity-wise, the S2 offers 500GB as well as auto back-up, "SecretZone" that encrypts and stores data on a virtual drive and "SafetyKey" password protection.

It's on sale now from Amazon.co.uk for ?75.

Tags: Hardware Storage Samsung Dan Brown Home Cinema

Samsung S2 Portable HDD gets "Angels & Demons" pre-loaded originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:54:51 +0100

Western Digital has announced the launch of the WD TV Live HD media player, a revamp of a previous product this time round with networking capabilities as well as support for Full HD 1080p resolution.

WD says the new drive makes it easy to play HD videos stored on USB and network drives, from PCs and Macs, as well as stream content from websites on big screen HDTVs.

Boasting a "more responsive" interface than the previous WD TV HD media player, the Ethernet- and Wi-Fi-enabled new player comes complete with remote control, boasts internet radio, two USB ports, one HDMI port and SPDIF digital output.

The WD TV Live Media Player is available now on the high street, online, and at www.shopwd.co.uk for ?119.99.

Tags: Hardware Storage Western Digital Networking NAS Home Cinema

WD TV Live HD media player launches originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:25:53 +0100

Vodafone has announced it has teamed up with Decho to develop a range of cloud-based services for both consumers and business customers.

Vodafone PC Backup, based on Decho's Mozy online backup service, will let customers "simply and securely" back up both work-related and personal content from their PC to a remotely hosted online location.

"Once a customer has backed-up their digital content they know it is protected and that they will always be able to access it, even if their primary device is lost, stolen or otherwise unavailable", says Vodafone.

The backed up content will be available to view and share from any connected PC, laptop or netbook.

With both business and consumer solutions available, Vodafone says the service will be introduced across a number of major European markets this year, but has not provided details of pricing or UK availability yet.

Tags: Phones Vodafone Software Cloud computing Decho Storage Hardware Biz

Vodafone PC Backup announced originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:29:48 +0100

HP is continuing its stead move into the world of home servers with the launch of yet another; the HP MediaSmart Server EX490.

This time, users will get a faster, leaner, more useful device with support for Mac, iPhone and the ability to convert video for watching around the home.

Based on the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform, the updated HP MediaSmart Server promises a shiny new user interface via a web browser.

The HP MediaSmart Server EX490 also features a new media collector, which allows users to collect media by computer, media type or file location.

According to HP "The server automatically collects and organises media files across Macs and PCs and streams it across a home network and the Internet."

iPod touch and iPhone users will also be able to access content on the stored drives via a downloadable (free) app called MediaSmart Server iStream.

Available from 15 October, the HP MediaSmart Server EX490 with 1TB of hard disk storage is ?429.

Tags: Hardware Storage HP HP MediaSmart Server EX490

HP MediaSmart Server EX490 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:12:35 +0100

LaCie has announced a couple of hard disks that it's bringing to the UK which have been designed by French New Design pioneer Philippe Starck - the designer behind the Juicy Salif lemon juicer.

There's a desktop and a mobile version of the drive. Both have design from Starck, a thick aluminium casing, a touch sensitive surface for app launching, and software capable of scheduling automatic backups. Starck said of the design:

"Technological genius explodes exponentially, each time with incredible power whose limits are yet to be known. The power remains, never abating, symbolically characterised by the sculptural magma that one attempts to cleave, to master within this geometrically perfect strongbox".

He added: "A symbol of strength mastered, of freedom guided, of incandescent magma heeding to the form of its cast. The interpretation is free. But the mystery remains".

The desktop drives come in 1TB and 2TB capacities and the mobile ones have 320GB and 500GB options. Pricing starts at ?110 for the desktop version and ?85 for the mobile one. They're available now.

Related links:

• News - LaCie Sound2 Speakers launch

Tags: Hardware Storage LaCie Philippe Starck HDDs

LaCie reveals Starck desktop and mobile HDDs originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:12:05 +0100

Western Digital has upped the ante once again on its range of external storage solutions. The biggest face-lift is for the My Book desktop series which now features the My Book Elite and the My Book Studio, the second of which is designed for Mac users.

They offer 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB sizes, 256-bit password protected encryption and an automatic back up solution as part of the WD SmartWare software built in. The most eye-catching feature though, is the customisable e-paper label on the side of the book-look volumes, which lets the user know just how much storage there is left on each drive, whether it's locked or protected and what the label is - even when the unit is unplugged.

They're smaller and greener than ever before, as we would hope, and connect via USB 2.0. The bonus of the Studio is that it's compatible with OS X, works with AppleTimeMachine and also has a FireWire 800 port as well.

If you'd rather, something more portable, then My Passport Elite has also hit the shelves not long after the recent refresh to the standard My Passport range. These come in anodized red, anodized blue and charcoal, and are offered in capacities of 320GB, 500GB and 640GB sizes. They to feature 256-bit protection and are powered by the USB 2.0 connection, so no extra plugs are needed. The Elite models also come with a dock for easier and more attractive desktop use.

The My Book Elite is available now from between ?99.99 to ?199.99, the My Book Studio range is a touch more at ?119.90 to ?209.90 and the My Passport Eilte is ?75.99, ?99.99 and ?109.99 for the three sizes respectively.

Related links:

• News - Western Digital refreshes My Passport and My Book ranges

Tags: Hardware Western Digital My Book Elite My Passport Elite HDDs Storage Photos

Western Digital launches My Book Elite and My Passport Elite HDDs originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:55:42 +0100

When we first spotted these available as a Far Eastern import way back in 2007 they were being sold for near on $90, which makes Firebox's from ?14.99 pricing seem positively reasonable.

The cutesy, penguin-shaped drives are available complete with scarf, in different shades, or with a Santa hat, for those feeling the festive spirit already.

On sale now, the drives play nice with Macs as well as PCs, come in 2GB or 4GB capacities and offer some water resistance, as indeed do their real-life counterparts.

Related links:

• Shop - Firebox

Tags: Hardware Storage Firebox Flash drives Gadgets USB gadgets

Firebox offers penguin flash drives originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:08:42 +0100

Fujitsu and Toshiba have jointly announced that the latter has now taken over the former's hard disk business. The deal, originally announced in February, involves the formation of a new Toshiba subsidiary company called Toshiba Storage Device Corp.

The new company will initially be owned 80% by Toshiba and 20% by Fujitsu. However, by December 2010, Fujitsu will give up its share, which will mean that Toshiba Storage Device Corp will be a wholly owned Toshiba subsidiary. The delay in getting the deal approved has been down to difficulties with obtaining regulatory approval from the European commission.

Toshiba has said that it wants to grab a bigger chunk of the tricky hard disk market, which will be tough thanks to competition from Seagate, Western Digital and Hitachi. Toshiba aims to grab 20% of the market by March 2016.

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Related links:

• News - Fujitsu shows off world's fastest CPU

Tags: Hardware Biz Fujitsu Toshiba Storage

Toshiba takes over Fujitsu's hard-disk business originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:42:41 +0100

The "Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier" brand is offering "must-have" designer computer accessories.

Inspired by the tattoo artist's work, the new "computer supplies" include mouse mats and mice, USB flash dives and laptop skins.

Pricing comes in a ?14.95 for the mouse pad, while the mouse costs ?24.95.

The notebook skin costs ?18.95 and the flash drive ranges from ?24.95 for 1GB up to a a whopping ?69.95 for an 8GB effort.

Related links:

• Shop - Ed Hardys

Tags: Hardware Ed Hardy Mice And Keyboards Storage Flash drives Mouse mats Skins

Ed Hardy computer supplies available originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:20:06 +0100

Following the earlier debut of its "Netbook" SD card, and the Wii-branded cards it offers, SanDisk has announced the launch of the official memory card for the Nintendo DSi.

SanDisk says the SDHC card for Nintendo DSi "provides gamers with the extra storage capacity needed to fully enjoy the system's new and improved features while ensuring Nintendo DSi compatibility".

Eric Bone the vice president of retail product marketing at SanDisk does, however, come clean in a statement:

"While Nintendo DSi is compatible with all SDHC formats, the branded SanDisk SDHCcards provide added assurance for consumers that it can be used in the Nintendo DSi".

Available now in Europe, the official cards get official recommended price tags of ?8 for the 2GB, ?12 for the 4GB and ?23 for the 8GB.

Related links:

• News - SanDisk offers Netbook SD card

Tags: Gaming Storage SanDisk Nintendo DSi Memory cards

SanDisk at it again with Nintendo DSi SDHC card originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:05:57 +0100