CES 2009

We're noticing more and more solid-state drives enter the mainstream market; the Intel X-25M drive's blazing fast transfer speed and completely unaffordable price tag felt bittersweet, but the prices aren't quite as bad for lesser quality drives like the Patriot Warp V.2. SSDs are popping up more often in the world of Netbooks, but we rarely see standalone external SSD.

Luckily, G-Technology made good use of this year's Macworld Expo by introducing a new family of external solid-state hard drives. Both the G-Drive mini SSD and the RAID 0/1 G-RAID mini SSD use 2.5-inch internal SSDs that benefit from higher performance scores, vastly increased durability, less power consumption, and an overall quieter operation. The new drives are ready to use with Macs right out of the box thanks to the HFS+ preformatting, and since SSDs lack moving parts, on-the-go data mongers can easily throw the drives in their equipment bag without fear of destruction.

The G-Drive mini is available in up to 250GB capacities, and users have the option of connecting to their computers via FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0. The drive is powered by the USB bus as well, so no external power is required to access your data. Finally, G-Technology reports a 60 megabytes per second write speed and 75 megabytes per second read speed. Thankfully, both drives are available now and come with a three-year manufacturer's warranty, and prices for each start at $599 for the mini and $1,299 for the G-Raid mini.

We're coming to you from CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada and it's all about Netbooks today. I'm sure we'll get more buzz about 3D TVs and more later this week. Also, Ellie doesn't like it when we call out the title of the show, but that makes it easier for Jason to find them for his special edition! (And please excuse a bit of distortion in today's episode. Sorry! -Jason)
Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 886

Yawn— MacWorld (woohoo iTunes DRM free!!)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10133230-37.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090106-apple-mwsf-announcements-new-macbook-pro.html

Apple activates iTunes downloads over 3G, with a caveat
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10133349-1.html
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2009/01/06/apple-labels-both-win-with-drm-free-itunes-tiered-pricing

Free Nine Inch Nails albums top 2008 Amazon MP3 sales charts
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090106-free-nine-inch-nails-albums-top-2008-amazon-mp3-sales-charts.html

AMD’s Neo processor debuts in HP notebook
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090106-amds-neo-processor-debuts-in-hp-notebook-whoah.html

Asus says Netbooks can be upscale with the S121
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10131423-100.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/asus-s121-with-worlds-first-512gb-ssd/

…and new Eee PC with swiveling screen
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10131412-100.html

MSI XSlim MacBook Air-like thing
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/msis-super-thin.html

LG’s Watch Phone: production please?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/07/lg-shows-off-gd910-watch-phone-production-later-this-year/

LaCie breaks off quad-interface 2big Quadra RAID drive
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/lacie-breaks-off-quad-interface-2big-quadra-raid-drive/

Google’s Android runs on a Netbook — Google OS in the offing?
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/opensource/?p=316
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090105-android-netbook-port-leaves-some-pondering-google-os.html

Phishing is a minimum-wage job
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F06%2F2213256&from=rss

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone announced
http://www.cnet.com/8301-19515_1-10131943-234.html

Pay-as-you-go airline charges by the minute
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/01/new-airline-pla.html

What piracy? Movie biz sees record box office in 2008http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090105-what-piracy-movie-biz-sees-record-box-office-in-2008.html

E-MAIL

Hey jamoto,
As one of your UK listeners, I’d just like to clarify the ‘liveness’
of the BBC iPlayer. It actually broadcasts tv shows on the internet an
hour after they are first broadcasted on tv. Just thought that you
should know.

LTS,
DanieInHell

**********

Hey Jamoto++,

Web Developer Matthew Horoszowski (say Horoshofski) here and just
wanted to point out this article,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/technologynews/4126913/Mind-game-where-players-use-brainwaves-to-float-ball-through-hoops-unveiled.html
,
which talks about a new game that uses your brainwaves to control a
small ball and move it through hoops and things.

Guess that one prediction for this year down!

**********

Hey JaMoTo + 1:

On the dial tone issue from Monday’s show: when someone moves out of a
house or and apartment, the phone company *should* leave dial tone on
the line, but with no account information. This gives access to 911 and
611 (to be able to call the company to fully activate the line). When I
worked for BellSouth, that service was called a QuickServe.

However, QuickServes can be disabled if the line is needed at another
residence or business and no other cable pairs are immediately
available, hence the reason that Tom’s line didn’t have dial tone.
FWIW, no dial tone, no 911.

Barry Stubbs

**********

Stop it!!! Stop with the announcing of the title in the actual show!!

Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, STOP!!!

<3 Ellie