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The march of technology amazes me. Yeah, I'm an old guy, but it still surprises me when I realize that the amount of storage that used to fill a data center can now fit in my pocket. G-Technology's G-Drive mobile (made by Hitachi, US$199.99 MSRP for 1 TB) is the perfect example of mass storage in a small, silent box. Read on for a review of this mobile companion and a chance to win one!
Design
There's not much too say in terms of the design of the G-Drive mobile -- it's a slim metallic box 5 inches long, a little over 3 inches wide, and about 3/4 of an inch high. There's no power port; the G-Drive is bus-powered by either FireWire (400/800) or USB 2.0. The device comes with cables for each connection. A single white LED on the front of the drive indicates when it is powered up and in use.
On the inside, there's a 5400 RPM 1 TB drive with an 8 MB cache. For speed, I'd much rather see a 7200 RPM drive, but that would most likely drive up both the cost and power requirements of the drive. However, as you'll see with the benchmarks, this is still a pretty fast drive despite the slower rotation speed of the disk.
The G-Drive mobile also comes in 500 MB ($149.99 MSRP) and 750 MB ($159.99) versions, although I'm at a loss why someone wouldn't want to double their capacity for just fifty bucks more. I found the drive to run a bit hot -- I had placed my iPhone on top of the drive at one point, and when I answered a call I wondered why the phone was so hot...
As with other drives of this ilk, the G-Drive mobile is almost completely silent.
Benchmarks
TUAW uses a standard industry benchmark to compare the I/O capabilities of disks and arrays. The benchmark uses the AJA System Test, which simulates reading and writing video. The specific test I used was the Disk Read/Write test, also known as the DiskWhackTest, set at a video frame size of 720 x 486 8-bit and a file size of 128 MB.
The drive read speeds were surprisingly fast in our benchmarks, matching almost every FireWire drive that we've tested (only one is shown below for space considerations). When it came to USB 2.0 read speeds, the G-Drive mobile was slightly faster than the competition across the board. Write speeds were slower for the G-Drive when connected via FireWire 800, while almost identical to other drives with a USB 2.0 connection.
Conclusion and Giveaway
If you're the owner of a MacBook Pro and have an available FireWire 800 port, or have a FireWire-equipped desktop Mac you'd like to back up while keeping a lot of available desk space, then the G-Drive mobile will fill your requirements. Those who only have USB 2.0 ports on their Macs should spend their money on less expensive USB-only drives that offer read/write speeds in the same range as the G-Drive mobile.
Thanks to G-Technology and TUAW, you now have a chance to win one of these sweet little drives. Just fill out the entry form below (only one entry per person, please) and we'll pick a random winner next week. Here are the rules for the giveaway:
- Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
- To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button.
- The entry must be made before May 20, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
- You may enter only once.
- One winner will be selected and will receive a G-Technology G-Drive mobile valued at $199.99.
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
G-Technology G-Drive mobile: Rugged, pocket-sized, and fast originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
It's been almost four years since Apple debuted its App Store platform for iOS (and then the Mac), and MacStories has an in-depth look back at that time. In just four short years, Apple has gone from saying that all we'd need on iOS are web apps, to a millions of dollars a year industry that supports almost half a million jobs. Needless to say, that's phenomenal growth.
But what's most interesting about the growth of the App Store is how the apps themselves have changed. MacStories writes about that initial push -- in those early days, the quality of the software was very low, and there were a lot of "speculators," for lack of a better term: Developers who just released quick and dirty apps (honestly, fart apps is what most of them were) to try and make a little bit of money. App branding, too, has come a long way. In the early days it was all about search and gaming the system, and these days, there are more ways to find good apps than ever.
At the same time, it's also harder for developers to make their mark in an increasingly crowded market. Apple's own success may be its biggest problem. The App Store has grown in a huge way over the past four years, and that may make it harder for both developers and Apple to figure out how to best run it going forward.
MacStories looks at four years of the App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.
You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.
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Daily Update for May 18, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The battle over the nano-SIM standard is heating up with Apple on one side and a group that includes Nokia, Motorola and RIM on the other. In the latest series of developments reported by The Verge, Motorola and RIM are countering Apple's nano-SIM proposal with a revised design of their own. This newest design is a compromise which includes elements from both their design and Apple's. It's about "80 percent Apple and 20 percent RIM / Motorola" writes Chris Ziegler for The Verge.
We should hear more about the nano-SIM standard when the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) meets at the end of this month in Osaka, Japan.
Motorola, RIM offer Apple a nano-SIM compromise originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple has announced some details on the 2012 iTunes Festival in London. This 30-day music event will take place at The Roundhouse and feature free performances by Usher, Emeli Sandé, Jack White, Norah Jones and One Direction among others.
Tickets will be distributed via lottery, and fans in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and the Netherlands can vie for a seat. Apple will stream performances to computers running iTunes and iPhones, iPod touches and iPads with the iTunes Festival app installed. The fun starts on September 1 and runs for the whole month.
Apple's iTunes Festival scheduled for September originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
All the little fishies
in bottom of the sea
wish that they were swimming
in my G5 Mac PC
Or for the geekier devs among you: Joy to NSFishies in the G5 PC, @selector(joy:) to you and me...
Video of the case conversion follows for your delectation.
G5 Mac "Pro" (sic) receives Macquarium treatment originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
WellRed Apps launched its DropKey file encryption app for Mac last month, but realized that there's one issue with gaining widespread acceptance -- it takes two to tango, and it takes two copies of DropKey (one each for sender and recipient) to send files securely. The company had been giving away one free license with each purchase of DropKey, but is going all-out through Sunday by making the app completely free.
DropKey pairs 2048-bit keys with 256-bit encryption for incredible security. The app, which requires a Mac running OS X 10.7 or later, is integrated with Address Book and makes encryption drop-dead simple.
When you launch DropKey for the first time, it generates your public and private encryption keys. You can email your public key to a trusted recipient from the app, which adds the key information to your address book card on the recipient's Mac. Prior to that time, a shared password is required; after the keys have been shared, you no longer need the password.
DropKey is a useful app if you need to send encrypted information to co-workers on a regular basis, and there's no better time than now to download a copy for free from the Mac App Store.
DropKey app encrypts Mac files, free through Sunday originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
New York Times writer Brian X. Chen reports that Amtrak is replacing its old manual ticketing system with iPhone, noting that the company is among the “growing number of businesses” to use iOS devices to improve operations. Chen reports that the system will allow conductors to keep track of passengers in real time and also provide updates to railway staff, such as if a disabled person is getting on at a particular stop or if equipment fails. Amtrak’s Matt Hardison says, “We’ve made a number of important improvements for both our customers and Amtrak, all in one fell swoop.”
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended March 31, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net profit of $6.0 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. “We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”
Professional video editors around the world have moved to Final Cut Pro X to create faster and more flexible workflows. New York-based production house @radical.media is flipping its entire facility to Final Cut Pro X to tackle high-profile client projects. Hollywood’s Electric Entertainment is using Final Cut Pro X to cut episodes for the new season of its hit TV show “Leverage.” And accomplished editor Knut Hake used the software to edit new episodes of “Danni Lowinski,” one of Germany’s most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows.
FileMaker, Inc. today announced the release of the FileMaker 12 database software line — including FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Go 12, and FileMaker Server 12 — which offers powerful new ways to create custom database apps for iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows, and the web. New professionally designed themes and the ability to customize every detail make it easy to create databases for managing contacts, projects, digital content, and more. All FileMaker 12 products are available starting today.
At Lowe’s stores around the country, iPhone is changing customer service for the better. Using custom iPhone apps, store employees have key product information on hand, so they can check pricing, inventory, and location of items within the store, anytime, from their iPhones. And the free consumer app features how-to videos, prices and reviews, store locations, and gift card balances. “iPhone, iPad, and the iOS platform are enterprise solutions that we can build on for the future,” says Lowe’s Executive Vice President and CIO Mike Brown.
National Geographic magazine reports that ski-mountaineer Hilaree O’Neill — a member of its 2012 Everest expedition — will follow the same route Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did in 1953, but with an iPad and iPhone in her backpack. iPad gives O’Neill a journaling device with a solid-state data storage drive usable at altitudes where spinning hard disk drives have been known to fail. And with cell service available even on Everest’s summit, she’ll use an iPhone 4S to stay in touch instead of a cumbersome walkie-talkie.
Apple today announced it has sold three million new iPad devices since its launch on Friday, March 16. “The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold ― the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
The new iPad — the third generation of the category-defining mobile device — arrived at Apple’s Retail Stores and the Apple Online Store on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Beginning at a suggested retail price of $499 (US), the new iPad features a stunning Retina display, Apple’s A5X chip with quad-core graphics, and a 5-megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video. And iPad 2 is now available at a more affordable price, starting at just $399.
In his review of the new iPad, AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg describes viewing the Retina display as “like getting a new eyeglasses prescription — you suddenly realize what you thought looked sharp before wasn’t nearly as sharp as it could be.” He praises the performance of the iPad as “buttery smooth,” and he writes that he “loves” the photos he took with the new 5-megapixel camera. Mossberg concludes, “Since it launched in 2010, the iPad has been the best tablet on the planet. With the new, third-generation model, it still holds that crown.”
Ed Baig of USA Today reviews the new iPad and declares that it “snatches the crown from its predecessor as the finest tablet you can buy. Period.” Baig calls the new Retina display “spectacular” and points out that the screen is “sharper than your high-definition television.” He also lauds the built-in battery, which allowed him to use it for an entire day without recharging. And he points out that Apple “continues to claim a huge advantage over Android and other tablet rivals” with its apps ecosystem.
Apple today introduced the new iPad — the third generation of its category-defining mobile device — featuring a stunning new Retina display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, and a 5-megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing incredible photos and 1080p HD video. iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G connects to fast networks worldwide, including AT&T’s and Verizon’s 4G LTE networks, and still delivers the same all-day 10-hour battery life while remaining amazingly thin and light. The new iPad will be available in black or white through the Apple Online Store and in Apple Retail stores on Friday, March 16, beginning at $499 (US). Customers can begin pre-ordering their new iPad today on the Apple Online Store. Also beginning today, iPad 2 will be offered at an even more affordable price, starting at just $399 (US).
Apple today introduced iPhoto for iPad and iPhone and major updates to iMovie and GarageBand, completing its suite of iLife apps for iOS. iPhoto includes breakthrough Multi-Touch features so you can use simple gestures to sort through hundreds of photos and find your best shots, enhance and retouch your images using fingertip brushes, and share stunning photo journals with iCloud. iMovie now gives you the ability to create Hollywood-style trailers as you record HD video on your iPad or iPhone. GarageBand introduces Jam Session, an innovative and fun feature that allows a group of friends to wirelessly connect their iOS devices to play instruments and record live music together. iPhoto, iMovie 1.3, and GarageBand 1.2 are available today for $4.99 (US) each from the App Store. Updates are available for free to existing customers.
Apple today announced the new Apple TV featuring 1080p HD programming, including iTunes movies and TV shows, Netflix, Vimeo, photos, and more. The new Apple TV features a simpler, refined user interface, making it easier than ever to access your purchased movies, TV shows, and music with iTunes Match right from iCloud. With AirPlay, users can stream or mirror their favorite content from their iPad or iPhone 4S to Apple TV. And with iTunes in the Cloud, customers can purchase and play their favorite movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store and watch them instantly on their HDTV. Apple TV will be available on Friday, March 16 for a suggested retail price of $99 (US) through the Apple Online Store and Apple Retail Stores.
Apple today announced that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store by users of the more than 315 million iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices worldwide. The 25 billionth app — a free version of “Where’s My Water?” — was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps, Chunli Fu will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.
For the fifth year in a row, Apple has been named the World’s Most Admired Company by Fortune Magazine. Apple also ranks first again in the Innovation category. Noting the “runaway success” of iPhone 4S and iPad 2 and increased sales across the board, the magazine writes: “To say it was another big year for Apple would be a gross understatement.”
Apple today released a developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion — the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system — which brings popular apps and features from iPad to the Mac and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Mountain Lion introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders, and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration, and AirPlay Mirroring. The preview release of Mountain Lion is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store in late summer 2012.
The New York Times reports that a MacBook Air one-to-one program is helping raise student attendance, engagement, and performance at North Carolina’s Mooresville Graded School District, which “has quietly emerged as the de facto national model of the digital school.” The article notes, “Mooresville ranks 100th out of 115 districts in North Carolina in terms of dollars spent per student — $7,415.89 a year — but it is now third in test scores and second in graduation rates.”
Apple today announced that the Fair Labor Association will conduct special voluntary audits of Apple’s final assembly suppliers, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, at Apple’s request. “We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. A team of labor rights experts led by FLA president Auret van Heerden began the first inspections Monday morning at the facility in Shenzhen known as Foxconn City.
USA Today reviewer Edward C. Baig describes his experience using the first Multi-Touch digital textbooks published for the iBooks 2 for iPad app, noting that they are “engaging in ways that were simply not possible with the textbooks I grew up with.” Baig likes the portability, updatability, and low pricing of iBooks 2 digital textbooks and touts specific features like instant search, highlighting, bookmarking, and interactive graphics. Writes Baig, “It’s better to see an animated tour of the genome in E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth than just to read about it. ”
Bloomberg’s Peter Burrows reports that Apple is making rapid headway selling into corporations — especially financial services and pharmaceutical firms. Burrows writes that Apple’s corporate sales are being driven chiefly by iPad, which “has become a standard business tool.” The article quotes Matt Wallach, co-founder of Veeva Systems, who says: “I’ve seen a lot of devices come and go over the years. Nothing touches the speed of adoption of the iPad.”
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