Storage vendor Western Digital has introduced new versions of its My Book Essential and My Book for Mac external hard drives, adding new WD SmartWare for automatic backups of both Mac and Windows systems, as well as hardware encryption for data protection if the drives are ever lost or stolen. The My Book Essential drives are available in capacities from 500 GB to 2 TB, while the My Book Mac drives range from 640 GB to 2 TB.
“Keeping an extra copy of your digital life used to be a painstaking, manual task undertaken only by the most expert and diligent of users,” said WD branded products group VP of marketing Dale Pistilli, in a statement. “WD’s new drives combine massive storage capacity, visual backup, and hardware encryption, so consumers can now actually see their digital life, safe in one place.”
The drive’s backup software launches automatically when users first connect the My Book Essential drive; and a visual interface lets users easily see the progress of their backup as its underway. After the initial complete backup, WD SmartWare backs up users’ data every time they modify or add a file.
The My Book for Mac enables users to set a password for the drive, and offers 256-bit hardware encryption so the data on the drive itself is basically an incomprehensible mishmash of scrambled bits…that can only be made whole again with the proper password. The drives are also compatible with Apple’s Time Machine backup system built into Mac OS X Leopard and newer.
The My Book Essential and My Book for Mac drives are available now with prices ranging from $99 to $249.99, depending on capacity.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.