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2.5

Hitachi unveils new 7mm laptop hard drives

Standard laptop hard drives (2.5-inch) come in three tiers based on their thickness: 9mm, 12.5mm, and 7mm.

The first one, such as the Seagate Momentus XT (500GB), is the most popular and used in most notebooks and other 2.5-inch-based storage applications. The 12.5mm standard, such as the 1TB WD Corpio Blue, is a newer standard that offers higher capacities but can only fit in later models of laptop computers. The third, 7mm tier is used for ultraportable applications, such as Netbooks or tablet PCs. For a long time, this ultracompact tier of internal hard drive was … Read more

Seagate hybrid hard drive raises perfomance bar

You've probably heard of solid-state drives, such as the Intel X25, but haven't yet purchased one because you can't afford it. Or maybe you're turned off by the limited amount of storage these drives offer.

There's now an alternative that allows you to have high performance and more storage space, without leaving a hole in your wallet. It is the all new hybrid Momentus XT hard drive that Seagate unveiled Monday.

The Momentus XT combines the traditional platter-based storage with solid-state memory, incorporating 4GB of high-speed single-level-cell flash memory and a built-in algorithm, called Active … Read more

Kindle update integrates Facebook, Twitter

Amazon posted info on its site about a new 2.5 software update for Kindle and Kindle DX users that's coming soon. The company says it has begun rolling out the new software update to "a limited group of Kindle users" and plans a broad release in late May. The big news here is that owners of the second-generation Kindle and the Kindle DX will soon be able to share book passages with friends on Twitter and Facebook, and Amazon's also improving its PDF-viewing support with an enhanced pan-and-zoom feature.

Here's the full list of … Read more

Turn iPhone into a scanner

Problem: You've just been handed a stack of papers that needs to be signed and returned, and there's no fax machine in sight. You have a pocketful of receipts you're tired of carrying around, and no place to file them. You need to convert a printed document into a PDF.

The solution for all these predicaments is Scanner Pro, which turns your iPhone into a mobile scanner that connects to everything from Dropbox to Evernote to MobileMe. Find the most well-lit setting you possibly can, run the app, then point your iPhone's camera at a document. … Read more

Feed read need

Any news reader/podcast receiver worth its disk space should do more than gather headlines. It should also help you search for and organize the latest and most in-depth information on the subjects you're most interested in. All of these functions and more make eSobi among the most popular information management tools available. It combines an RSS reader for searching and gathering the news and updates you want it to, a meta-search engine, and an information library built out of items you select, with eSobi's help. You can build a database of articles, references, and other saved materials … Read more

Versatile virtual keyboard

Hot Virtual Keyboard is an attractive and versatile virtual keyboard that gives users plenty of options for customization. With its many interfaces and helpful features, this is a great choice no matter your reason for needing a virtual keyboard.

The program's interface is sleek and intuitive, and a set-up wizard makes it easy for users to get started. There are almost 50 different keyboard interfaces to choose from, including number pads, and each one offers options to further customize the keyboard appearance. Each keyboard is also fully editable, letting users move and alter keys if they desire. We liked … Read more

Disc image do-it-all

ISO images, also known as disc images, are archival files found on optical discs like CD-ROMs. Many software publishers support the ISO file standard (.iso), and most CD- and DVD-burning software only works with ISO images and their own image formats. If you have software, presentations, archives, or other data to burn onto optical discs, you'll need to convert files in a wide range of formats into ISO images. AnyToISO from CrystalIdea is just the tool. It converts a wide range of file formats into ISO images, including BIN, MDF, PDI, CDI, NRG, B5I, and IMG files. It supports … Read more

File control

Take control of your files with FileBoss. If you need a more robust tool for managing files than the one that came with your operating system, FileBoss has you covered. You can easily search, copy, rename, explore, back up, and organize your files with this multifeatured application. It lets you search for files by name, extension, type, size, and more. You can rename individual or multiple files. You can also use FileBoss to change or delete spaces in file names. FileBoss can display your computer's overall contents, delete duplicate files, and organize your folders. It also copies files from … Read more

Get an external hard-drive enclosure for $5.95

If you've ever upgraded the hard drive in your laptop (or thought about doing so), you've probably wondered what to do with the old drive. After all, it's still perfectly good storage.

Answer: Turn it into an external, USB hard drive. All you need is an enclosure, a sturdy casing for the drive that provides an IDE interface and USB connection.

Today only, deal-a-day site Froobi has a SimpleTech 2.5-inch USB external hard drive enclosure for free (plus $5.95 for shipping).

The enclosure is very compact, measuring roughly 0.75 inch thick by 3 inches … Read more