Appletell

“We have been able to assemble a functional nanocluster that incorporates two electron donating groups, and position them precisely 0.32nm apart so they can form a totally new type of molecular switching device,” says Professor Lee Cronin.  Uhh, what does that mean?  Well, according to two researchers at Glasglow University, they have developed a extremely small switch that could allow up to 500,000GB to be housed on one square inch of substrate.  Apple’s largest iPod on the market today is a measly 160GB, or 40,000 songs.  With this new switch you could house millions upon millions of songs, all in your pocket!  It doesn’t stop there, though.  Imagine the possibilities when it comes to computers, or anything that has hard drive storage!

Don’t get too excited yet.  Even with this amazing feat, there is still an extremely long way to go before something like this would appear in a consumer device.  There are currently some fabrication problems in its production, but the professors remain optimistic.  Mr. Cronin believes, “What we have done is find a way to potentially increase the data storage capabilities in a radical way.” I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see where this goes.

Via [iPodObserver]

After announcing their new Xsan 2 software, Apple has terminated production as the Xserve RAID. Apple has been promoting this solution of RAID storage for pro environment for many years, but that time has come to an end. If you head over to the page on the store, you won’t be greeted with pictures and reflections of the Xserve RAID, but Promise’s Vtrak E-Class RAID subsystem. Don’t understand why the canceled this product? I didn’t either, Apple’s told us though. Here’s why:

Promise’s VTrak E-Class RAID delivers a great combination of performance, features and value. When configured with Xsan 2 and Final Cut Studio 2, it can deliver up to 6 streams of 8-bit uncompressed high definition video, 22 streams of ProRes HQ compressed HD video and 26 streams of 8-bit uncompressed SD video at costs as low as $1.12 per GB.

Anuj Nayar of Apple noted that they will continue to sell the 500 and 750 GB drive modules. If you try to purchase one of this you’ll get a sad, but true message:

The item you have selected is currently not available from the Apple Store.
Please note that Apple cannot guarantee availability of any product.

Via [Gizmodo]

Laptop storage has been increasing rapidly over the past few years, with prices decreasing too. MCE technologies has just announced a 320GB SATA hard drive that will work in both the MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers from Apple. The 320GB MobileStor Performance hard drive utilizes the same technology used in current MacBook/Pro hard drives, 2.5 inch SATA (the MacBook Air uses a different technology called PATA in a 1.8 inch drive).

The drive has an external portable enclosure with FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces. Bundled with it is the Mac backup software, SuperDuper! Although, you will most likely use Time Machine for your backups, it’s always good to have a system that backs up in a universal format - so you can read it on a Windows PC. It also has some unique features like Native Command Queing (NCQ), which “reorders commands in the most efficient way based on the location of data on its platters in order to retrieve that data with the least latency”, so that the drive can retrieve data super-fast. The 320GB MobileStor Performance hard drive upgrade solution costs $350 and is available today.

Via [MacNN]

Apple has given a much needed boost to the .Mac service. Offering more storage, better integration with iLife ‘08 and even server side SPAM filtering for email.

The online storage has been increased from 1GB to 10GB for individual accounts and from 2GB to 20GB for family packs. Web Gallery will require iPhoto ‘08 and will allow you to upload and share pictures and video from either iPhoto ‘08 or iMovie ‘08. You can also let friends and family upload photos by email or browser or print out images at up to 16x20. The .Mac email now allows for attachments up to 20mb and has spam filtering available. To activate the spam filtering go to your webmail preferences in your .Mac account.

The updates and upgrades to the .Mac service will be given to the current users automatically and should take effect no later than August 14th. New users can sign up for $99.95 a year for an individual or $179.95 for a family pack with a 30-day free trial available. Overall this seems like some much needed improvements, I would say it’s still far from perfect but in my opinion it is now worth the yearly cost.

Read [Apple]

If you’re a geek like myself then you probably carry a thumb drive around with you. I tend to use mine for backup or transferring files between computers I use daily. iPhone Drive is a piece of software from the Ecamm Network that allows you to use the extra space on your iPhone to store files.

You can use this extra space to backup special files or even hide files in a way, it also proves as a simple way to transfer data between your Macs. I am always up for simplicity, and having to remember 1 less thing each day is enough to convince me. Why take a thumb drive when your iPhone can be used as one?

The iPhone Drive software is $9.95, but you can download the demo and give it a spin before you buy it.

Product Page [iPhone Drive]