Headlines Archives - Page 27 of 58

Samsung’s Safety Trucks Might Just Save a Ton of Lives

June 24, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

In Argentina, one person is killed every hour in traffic accidents. The main cause is people overtaking without assuring themselves if it’s safe to do so. Samsung’s Safety Trucks might be a campaign stunt to bolster their popularity, but I seriously don’t care. They’re doing a great job, and this might actually save lives on the long run!

We all know how annoying it is to be stuck behind a long-hauler – some trucks drive slow as hell, and they are kinda’ hard to overtake. But this doesn’t mean that you should try to do so without checking if it’s safe first. Samsung builds a huge screen on the back of their trucks, and the camera in the front streams a live feed in order for the driver behind to see what’s happening on the road – thus the dubbing Safety Trucks.

It’s far more convenient to just patiently wait until oncoming traffic isn’t oncoming anymore, so you can pass without accelerating like crazy because there’s a Prius just in front of you.

Samsung doesn’t half-ass things, and their wireless camera can capture night-time footage without distorting too much of the video, and the video wall made out of four exterior monitors doesn’t gauge your eyes out by being way too bright.

Samsung’s Safety Trucks might also prevent accidents caused by braking all of a sudden due to animals jumping in front of a vehicle – it happens way more often than you think.

Now, this is just but prototype, it’s not operational at the moment, but Samsung just wants to give a shout out to the world – ” Here, I made this.”. Hopefully, it’s going to be picked up on a world-wide scale, thus combating, and lowering the rate of accidents caused by failing to overtake properly.

Samsung just needs to perform a lot more tests to ensure that their tech works fine and dandy, and they need permits for their Safety Trucks. Also, there’s a thing called national protocols that their trucks must comply with.

The South-Korean giant might as well implement this on all the trucks they have – they’ll definitely get golden stars in my book.

Here’s the official video by Samsung. Take a look, it’s heart-wrenching, and inspiring.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

iPad Mini 4 Might be Launching Soon

June 22, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Is Apple prepared to release an update to their iPad Mini product line? The internet says so. Leaks have flooded Twitter on the 19th, and the pictures in cause are showcasing an iPad Mini that looks almost exactly like the third iteration. Why fix something that isn’t broken, right?

Well, GSM Arena says that – ” A set of live images, portraying what is allegedly a bumper case for the upcoming iPad mini 4, showed up online. It’s commonplace to have case manufacturers a step ahead of the crow in terms of dimensions and layout of new devices, and it’s no different in this instance.”

Almost two months ago a video leaked that showcased the rear shell of the new iPad Mini 4 which we later discovered that it was made out of aluminium. MacRumors notes that – “[…] closely resembles the shell of the existing iPad mini, but it does include several design elements introduced with the iPad Air 2.”

Based on what we’re seeing right now, the video that was leaked almost two months ago isn’t a fake, and the new pictures are giving it credibility.

The mute switch has been removed, and it has been replaced with a microphone hole. Also, the holes alongside the Lightning port are now organized in a single row of large speakers, rather than two smaller holes.

Earlier this year, and prior to the leaks, Apple aficionados have noticed that the company has withdrawn their original Apple Mini from their official store. We were starting to think that Apple might discontinue their product line.

The original iPad Mini is using an outdated A5 processor, and it was about time they did something about it. Although, we didn’t expect it to be removing the original iPad Mini from the production line, but c’est la vie I guess.

Apple iPad Mini 3

Apple is seriously trying to get a hold of everything at the moment. They just settled the issues regarding not paying any money to artists in the first 3 months of their Apple Music streaming service. The company is offering 3 months for free to entice audiophiles to come join their side.

How is Apple managing all of this stuff? It’s a little bit spooky, and I won’t be shocked if sometime in the near future the company is going to announce that they bought an island, and that they plan on creating a new country – where you are obligated to eat an apple twice a day.

Well, without further ado here’s the YouTube clip that showcases Apple’s iPad Mini 4 cover.

Not really a fan of Apple, but I know how’s it like to be pumped by something and discovering there are leaks on the internet. Yay for being giddy as a school girl!

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

Sony Announced a New 1 TB PlayStation 4

June 22, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Sony’s just announced a new model for their console – it’s going to be called PlayStation 4 Ultimate Player 1 TB Edition.

Sony acknowledges that the downloadable content market is growing more and more with each passing year, and the company wants to take the bulls by its horns while the bull isn’t all grown up. The Japanese company is going to release their PlayStation 4 1 TB Edition next month – doubling its original capacity.

The PlayStation 4 1 TB Edition is going to be available at the end of this month for those residing in Japan. European, and US gamers will have the possibility of buying the newer model on the 15th of July. At the current moment, nobody knows how much it will cost, nor if it’s going to be bundled with an additional controller, or a Sony exclusive game.

Microsoft announced last week that an Xbox One 1 TB Edition is in the works and it will feature their new Xbox One killer controller. This is Sony’s counter attack to the growing fan-base for Xbox one – reports state that the Xbox One will sell like crazy this X-Mass. Why? Well, because Xbox One will feature backwards compatibility, and a string of AAA titles will also hit Microsoft’s console.

Xbox 360 users will most likely shift towards the next generation consoles, says Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg – ” A lot of people have been waiting for the next Halo; a lot of people have been waiting for Gears; a lot of people have been waiting for backwards compatibility.”

Sony doesn’t have a thrilling line-up for this holiday – No Man’s Sky is known to be released at the end of 2015, but Sony has lost it’s timed exclusivity deal, and the open-world virtually infinite space exploration game will be released on the PC at the same time.

But Sony’s new model for their PlayStation 4 product line will feature a reduction in power consumption – the Ultimate Player 1 TB Edition will use 8 percent less power than the 500GB version.

Here’s the official video announcement from Sony.

If you didn’t jump on the next gen console bandwagon already, this might be the perfect time to do so. You only have to choose between a Sony PlayStation 4, and a Microsoft Xbox One. Take a look at what exclusive titles stir your curiosity, and decide. You don’t want to miss this period – it’s the best time to be a gamer, and this year’s E3 event is a statement that gaming can only get better.

I’m a happy owner of both the Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. I highly recommend you buy both of them, but if you can’t, I’m more inclined to tell you that Sony has better exclusives, while Microsoft has a better controller.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

Epic Games Doesn’t Want to Make a Terrible VR Experience

June 21, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Epic Games has announced countless times that they are supporting virtual reality in any way they can, but the company doesn’t want to make a terrible virtual reality experience on their Unreal Engine.

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, and their included resources, offers developers the tools necessary to build a virtual reality game. At the current moment the Unreal Engine supports VR hardware such as Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Samsung Gear VR.

So you make an idea how much Epic Games loves the virtual reality trend, CEO Tim Sweeney said, earlier this year, that – ” It’s going to change the world. The hardware is going to double in quality every few years for another decade, to the point where, 10 years from now, it’s going to be hard to tell the difference between virtual reality and the real world.”

That’s a pretty bold statement to be honest. Virtual reality changing the world? Let’s calm ourselves a little bit and reassess our mental state, shall we dear Tim Sweeney? Probably in 50 years or so, but not now – it’s impossible.

Engadget managed to sit down, and talk with Chief Technology Officer Kim Libreri, and Unreal Engine General Manager Ray Davis, at this year’s E3 event, to talk more about the company’s stance on virtual reality, and where they believe the trend is heading.

” We wanna make sure that, whatever platform developers choose to use, they’re well supported in UE 4″ says Libreri, which notes that VR development should have a set of standards that will not only make a developers’ life easier, but they will also ensure a great gaming experience.

Davis continues, and adds that – ” It’s always been sort of our [approach] with the engine. Even going all the way back to the original Xbox [360] and pushing back on Microsoft to make sure they put enough memory in it.”

Davis also notes that sharing what works, and what doesn’t with other VR developers, and of course manufacturers, will ensure that games will only get better with time.

Take a look at the Unreal Engine experience on Oculus Rift.

Can’t imagine what a horror game with vampires, ghouls, werewolves, and other creatures of the night might feel like – wet, that’s how!

As we start to think about the evolution of the shooter game or the exploration/action/adventure game, the Uncharted for VR, I think that it’s better to experiment initially with smaller, digestible things. As a collective, we learn that language quickly.” states Libreri.

It’s good to know that Epic Games, a company which pushed forward the gaming industry, and its standards, tackles virtual reality. But can Epic Games provide a good VR experience? That Unreal Engine Oculus Rift demo looks like it was made in two, max three days. What’s up with that Epic Games?

Source Image: 1, 2, 3

$2000 Phantom Speaker from Devialet Lands in the US

June 21, 2015 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

This alien look-alike egg is actually a top-shelf speaker from French company Devialet – called Phantom Implosive Sound Center.

Audiophiles will always find new ways to hear crystalline highs, or low bass sounds that give your tummy tremors. If you’ve got $2000 on your hand and nothing to do with them I would immediately tell you to put them in a bank, but since I’m not your momma I’ll tell you to go crazy and buy the Phantom speaker!

Devialet’s speaker uses a traditional power socket, it can connect to an intelligent audio router, and it can eve use Bluetooth, and WiFi through the Spark application.

Devialet makes its presence in the states with two models a) 750 watts, and b) 3000 watts – pre-order it now, and get it as soon as September.

Even if you aren’t a part of the niche that Devialet markets its Phantom speaker, you have to applaud the state of the art device. It weighs 23 pounds, and its made out of polycarbonate, and aluminium.

Devialet makes their own chips in order to ensure that audiophiles get the best experience out of their products – the Phantom speaker has their Analog Digital Hybrid chip which provides a true, and spectacular digital amplification.

The Phantom speaker automatically adjusts the volume so it can’t be blown out by curiosity, or recklessness – their chip takes care of this, while at the same time providing a distortion-free audio session.

This compact technology that involves pressure levels associated with a rocket launch is the fruit of 10 years of hard work, and $30 million of funding.

You can play music through Devialet’s optical input, or through its Spark app – available on iOS, Mac, and Android. You can connect your computer, or mobile device to the WiFi network as the audio router, and the Spark app will help you set up.

The app will let you play music from your local storage, or from Deezer, and Qobuz – Devialet is French, so go figure. The company has hinted that Tidal might be supported in the near future. I don’t use any of these three so this might be a deal breaker for me – give me Spotify, and Google Play support, and I might think of selling a kidney to buy your product Devialet.

Devialet wasn’t designed just to look spacey, but acoustic laws were taken into consideration so the Phantom speaker provides the best experience possible.

No review in the world will be able to express how a speaker sounds, so if you’re interested in buying the Phantom speaker I highly recommend you don’t pre-order it, and just visit a retail shop and try it out. Here’s a sample of how it sounds.

Going to buy a Devialet Phantom Speaker? Don’t forget to invite me to the party!

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

SoftBank Starts Selling The Pepper Robot this Saturday

June 20, 2015 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

SoftBank is launching an adorable Robot named Pepper on June the 20th, which is this Saturday – ASIA only!

SoftBank has partnered with China’s Alibaba, and Foxcon Technology to ensure that on the 20th everyone can acquire Pepper.

Isn’t it a little bit scary that SoftBank’s Pepper can read your body language, and your tone of voice? The 4-foot cute little robot is designed to communicate realistically with its master. This starts to sound as the plot to Steven Spielberg’s 2001 Artificial Intelligence: AI movie.

It can look deep down into your soul using its high-definition cameras, depth sensors and microphones. Here’s hoping to have a meaningful conversation with Pepper – SoftBank states that it enjoys human contact!

The anime-like eyes will follow you around, and will recognize its master in a heartbeat – Pepper moves quite fluid using its 20 motors.

” We think there’s value in a robot that can understand human feelings.” said SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.

Pepper was primarily used as a greeting robot in phone stores, but someone thought that it could become much more. Pepper can make a great learning or play toy, and its ambitions don’t stop there. It wants to help the elderly with menial everyday tasks, but that may seem like a big stretch. It’s not that strong anyway, and SoftBank states that Pepper should be used to engage with customers if bought by a business, or if it’s acquired by your average Joe, it should be treated as you would treat your own child – a made out of plastic, and metal child.

SoftBank will start manufacturing 1000 Peppers a month, and if it’s a success in Asia it will start to ship, and sell to Europe and the US starting next year. Pepper costs $1600, but you must pay an additional $200 for the service fees – this way SoftBank is ensuring that they will make a profit out of the wee robot.

Hopefully, Pepper won’t have the same fate as Sony’s Aibo. A discontinued robo-dog line that somehow found its niche. Sony isn’t offering support to Aibo, and customers have grown attached to their mechanical pet, but once they break down, there’s no place to go to fix the adopted family member. Customers cared for Aibo as if it were their very own child, only to be taken away from them because Sony doesn’t manufacture the much needed parts. Shame on you Sony!

Here’s a short clip from SoftBank portraying Pepper’s skills of teaching children. What do you think? Too expensive for my taste, but if you have the chance of meddling with Pepper tell us your experience in the comments section below!

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

Dota 2 Reborn Is Now Open For Beta Testing

June 20, 2015 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

As Valve promised, Dota 2 Reborn is now open for beta, and you can jump in on the fun straight away. Be warned, this weekend everyone will try it out, and most likely you’ll encounter connection issues. Don’t yell at Valve just yet. Dota 2 Reborn isn’t just your ordinary reshaping of the UI, it’s actually a completely whole new game – they can even name it Dota 3, and get away with it, because that’s what it actually is!

Seven months ago Valve announced that Dota fans will get a big surprise – we weren’t expecting something the likes of this!

” Today we are announcing the Dota 2 Reborn beta, which brings with it a new interface, new engine, and Custom Games. Everything in the dashboard has been redesigned utilizing a new UI framework and the engine that powers the game has been fully replaced. “writes a Valve spokesperson.

To get your dose of Dota 2 Reborn you need to install Dota 2 – which is free on Steam; and go to the Reborn tab to download it.

You won’t lose anything by installing and playing the new Dota 2 Reborn – both versions will share your MMR, match history, cosmetic items, and friends. You can’t play ranked games though, because developers want to test and improve the fundamentals first. You don’t want a botched ranked game that will stick with you for ever, right?

Dota 2 Reborn runs on Valve’s brand new Source 2 game engine – which is known for giving the modding community all the possibilities to create user-generated content.

Dota 2 Reborn has a stunning new UI – it feels invigorating to see that Valve keeps true to its Dota roots. The majority of Dota 2 players have played, and loved the Warcraft 3 Dota map, and when they play the game, they want to feel its essence.

The Dota 2 community is known for being elitist – the same goes for the LOL community; so don’t get infuriated that easily if you encounter flamers. Just keep on playing, and mute them. This weekend will be hard on everyone, but just remember that you’re playing it to have fun, not yell at random internet strangers for messing up a play. I swear to God, sometime it feels like I’m bleeding in shark infested waters – one little drop and pow, all of them jump on me.

But our main problem won’t be annoying wannabe pro gamers that scrutinize your every move. It will be the damned Connectivity Issue! Remember, Dota 2 Reborn is in its beta stage at the moment, and more often than not, you’ll encounter lag, disconnections, or simply not connecting at all.

I’m going to test the field this weekend, hopefully I’ll make it out alive. How about you? We’ll we see each other in a match? If so, please don’t hurt me.

What’s your take on this? Dota 2 Reborn – Good, or Bad?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

The DxO One Turns Your iPhone Into a DSLR

June 19, 2015 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

The DxO One is an awesome add-on that can make your iPhone shoot DSLR-quality photographs.

We all take a ton of pictures on a monthly basis – whether we’re taking pics of our loved ones, or just quickly snapping something funny that you’ve witnessed on your daily commute. At the current moment, we don’t need to worry that our pics will be pixelated, and indescribable because the market is saturated with devices that offer average camera units.

But none of the smartphones on the market can output a DSLR-quality photo.

Shot with a DxO One camera

Here’s where the DxO One comes in handy. It’s due to be released this Fall, and the digital image processing company that is behind the DxO One states that it’s going to be pocket-sized, and it’s going to connect easily to your iPhone, or iPad device – you pair them using your Lightning connector.

Basically, the DxO One uses your iPhone, or iPad, as a viewfinder. The company is promising DSLR-quality photos, but this won’t come cheap. The DxO One is going to cost $599. Yikes! That’s quite expensive. The company states that their little pocket friendly camera will compete with full-sized mirrorless cameras.

Here’s another sample of the quality that it can output:

Shot with a DxO One camera

The camera is super light weighing at about 3.8-ounces, and measuring 2.65-inches tall. The cherry on top is its camera unit that features a 20.2 megapixel sensor, and because it’s paired with an f/1.8 lens, it can compete with 32mm-equivalent lens’.

The DxO One is going to come with its very own Apple app. You can use it to change the ISO, and the aperture, as well as swivelling the camera when it’s connected to your iPhone, or iPad, in order to take photos from different perspectives. Don’t forget those awesome DSLR-quality selfies. Also, you can shoot video at 1080p.

Shot with a DxO One camera

The photos you take are stored on DxO One’s microSD card, but you can easily transfer them to your device of choice.

If you jump on the bandwagon and pre-order the DxO One now, you can get the company’s very own image processing software for free.

Now, the DxO One doesn’t have a flash of its own, and it will use your iPhone’s, or iPad’s flash, but the company noted that the camera will work perfectly in a low light setting. I haven’t tested it yet, and all we have are these photos that the company has released. They look pretty good, but it isn’t the first time a company has lied to sell their product.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

Huawei is One of the Manufacturers for Google Nexus

June 19, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

A source that’s close to the Chinese manufacturer spilled the beans on the whole thing. Now we just have to wait for an official announcement, but we all know now that Huawei is indeed one of the manufacturers working on Google Nexus.

Almost a month ago Deborah talked about Google Nexus 2015 rumours, and the possibility that Huawei is going to build a phablet for Google.

A source that is working for Huawei in the UK has noted that the company will most likely build a phablet, and that the Chinese manufacturer is looking at other models to build for Google. If the Huawei-made phablet is successful, the company can finally break through the western front. Huawei is already the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer behind Lenovo, Apple, and Samsung, but westerners don’t yet seem to fully trust the Chinese company.

The new device is rumoured to feature a 5.7-inch display, a Snapdragon 810 processor, and of course, it will come with Android M built-in. Google likes to announce, and launch its Nexus launch in the Fall – at least 3 more months until we see some news from the big G.

What the Huawei-built Nexus might look like

We’re awaiting confirmation from either Google, or Huawei – this will make Huawei the sixth manufacturer that Google has worked with. LG, Samsung, HTC, Asus, and Motorola have worked in the past with big daddy G whether it was for smartphones, or for tablets.

Google’s Nexus product line is always the first to get the company’s newest Android software, and more so, it’s always the most stable one on the market.

Nexus has made its first steps back in 2010, and since then Google has released some really great smartphones, but their last one, which was built in partnership with Motorola, isn’t a device that I would recommend to my friends – nor my enemies.

The 2014 Motorola-build Nexus which is actually more of a phablet than a smartphone, featured 5.96-inch display, at 493 ppi. In the performance department you can notice a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core 2.7GHz processor, and camera-wise it has a 13 megapixel unit. Not bad, you would say. Unfortunately, it’s poorly made, and has stability problems. It could have been one of the best smartphones.

This is Huawei’s chance to make a name for themselves in the western market. They are struggling in US, and Europe, even though they are the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer in the world with 18.1 million units sold. If they botch this release up, they’ll be scrutinized without mercy.

Are you going to buy a Huawei-built Nexus phablet? Or you’re sticking with the LG one? Tell us in the comments section below!

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

The Best External Hard Drive On The Market – A Quick List!

June 18, 2015 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

Doesn’t matter if you make a living working from home, or at a big corp, having your data backed up is a must. I have countless stories to tell you about how I lost my precious work which I slaved for countless days without end, but let’s not recall my stupidity – I was young, and foolish, didn’t quite cared about this whole backing your data up thing.

Now I consider myself a grown-up, and grown-ups take care of themselves, right? Well, I’m not going to tell you that you need to learn how to properly cook chicken, or how to pack your bags, I’m here to tell you that you need an external hard drive if you don’t want to have a mental breakdown at some point in your life.

As the title suggests, this is going to be an external hard drive round-up – with a few solid state drives worth mentioning. For about $150 you can get one of the best external hard drives on the market, and if you choose to cough up more cash you can even get an external solid state drive – which is unmeasurably superior to the traditional hard drives.

Without further ado, I present you the best external hard drives for any budget. Whether you’re using it for gaming, or just backing up your data, it’s going to do its job exceptionally well.

Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2 TB

When it comes down to hard drives you can always consider looking at Seagate products. Their Seagate Backup Plus Slim costs $150, and it has a capacity of 2 TB.

It’s pocket-size, and can fit in your back-pack without problems, it also sports a pretty coolio design if you care for that stuff – I for one think that design in hard drives is a waste of resources, but that’s a discussion we’ll have some other time.

Now, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim isn’t the best external hard drive that you can buy, but it’s one of the cheapest ones that features a 2 TB capacity.

As soon as you get the external backup drive in your hands you’ll notice how the painted aluminium top panel shines a little bit – you can get it in red, black, blue, and even silver. Measuring 0.5 by 4.5 by 3 inches (HWD) and weighing 6 ounces it will absolutely fit your front pocket – even though, I really don’t see why you would keep it there.

The drive supports USB 3.0 via a detachable 18-inch cable, which I consider a little bit short. All the new laptops have 3.0 ports, so you don’t need to worry about compatibility issues.

One of the most awesome things about this external hard drive is that Seagate packs it with an installer for its Dashboard program, which makes syncing your data from your PC, or Mac feel like a warm Summer breeze. It doesn’t back up automatically program and operating system files, so you need to do so manually.

Another great functionality that Seagate added is the possibility of syncing your data from your Android, or iOS device using WiFi or the cloud. Just download the free app from the store, and set it up. It’s no rocket science, actually, it’s highly intuitive.

You should know that the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2 TB external hard drive has a rotation speed of only 5400 RPM, which can be a deal breaker to some. It copied a 1.5 GB folder in about 15 seconds. It’s not the fastest external hard drive, but it does its job rather well.

As a fair warning, some users have encountered problems with their device. As far as I know Seagate has recalled a couple of batches, and it has announced that it was due to some factory incidents. Some users have encountered loose wires inside of their hard drive.

It comes with a two year warranty.

Pros

– Super small, and super portable

– Affordable external hard drive

Cons

– It only has a rotation speed of 5400 RPM

– Users have encountered loose wires

Monster Digital 1 TB Overdrive

The Monster Digital 1 TB Overdrive is one of the most reliable external solid state drives on the market. It does cost about $760, and I’ve seen it in some retail shops for about $1000 too.

Even at $760, this external solid state drive is quite expensive for my taste, and it only has 1 TB. But it has a Thunderbolt cable which is physically impossible to lose – and a Thunderbolt flash drive is always welcome in my book.

It measures 0.59 by 3.5 by 5.25 inches (HWD), and it weighs about 7 ounces which makes it pocket-size, and portable. No worries here that it will cramp up your back while carrying it.

It has an aluminium body, and it’s a perfect pair to any Apple MacBook that you might be using – more so considering the fact that some MacBook’s come with a meager 65 GB flash drive. It doesn’t come in a variety of colours, so you have to get accustomed to the silver external solid state drive. It’s considered the best ssd drive for Mac.

There’s no USB 3.0 port or cable which might be a huge problem if you your device doesn’t have a Thunderbolt port. Also, the Thunderbolt permanently attached cable is really short – I seriously don’t know what manufacturers are thinking. It’s like they don’t even own a PC.

You can overlook its port variety – which is non-existent; because the Monster Digital 1 TB OverDrive can copy a 1.5 GB folder in about 3 seconds. Yup, 3 seconds! It’s one of the fastest solid state drives on the market – for about $1000, it’s a good thing it is, because nobody would buy it otherwise.

It comes with a three year warranty, and also with a three year free data recovery service. The latter is quite an awesome deal considering the fact that a professional recovery service costs about $100.

Pros

– Pocket-sized, it can be carried anywhere without posing a problem

– Super-fast

Cons

– Only a Thunderbolt port, which is really short

– Super expensive

– No USB 3.0 port

Western Digital My Passport Pro

Another company that has its positions cemented as one of the best external hard drive manufacturers on the market. The Western Digital My Passport Pro device isn’t known for being the best portable external hard drive, because it’s seriously bulky. You can carry it in your backpack, and it won’t be a strain to your back, but you’ll definitely feel it.

It’s on the cheap side – it costs about $350, but I’ve seen it at $450 too, so be careful when you choose your retailer.

It offers a huge capacity of 4 TB – something which I consider more than enough for the average Joe. If you’re rendering high-quality video you should be looking for a solid state drive, or at least an external hard drive that offers more than 10 TB – there’s one from G-Technology that offers 18 TB, but it costs about $3000. Also, NewEgg has a 48 TB Rack consisting of 8x 6 TB pieces that might satisfy your needs if you’re looking for overkill, but it costs $6000.

Now let’s get back to My Passport Pro – it’s super spacious, and I definitely recommend it because it features a Thunderbolt port, and it also has a rotation speed of 7200 RPM.

It’s much thicker than your average external hard drive – it’s about two inches tall, and it weighs about 1.56 pounds. Yeah, it’s portable, and if you put it on your coffee table it won’t crumble under its weight, but it’s worth noting that there are other smaller, and thinner external hard drives on the market.

As I said before, I love it because it has a Thunderbolt cable – I don’t love the fact that it’s permanently attached to the external hard drive, but I guess I’m sort of weird in that way. I have to warn you that the Thunderbolt cable is super short.

When you buy a Thunderbolt external hard drive, you buy it with speed in mind, and in this department the Western Digital device doesn’t disappoint. It took it 6 seconds to copy a 1.5 GB folder.

I consider it one of the best external hard drives, it’s super reliable, and in my experience I haven’t encountered any issues with it – also, forums aren’t riddled with complaints that their Western Digital external hard drive just failed on them. It’s always recommended to do a quick Google search about issues, and why not, go to their official support forum, and see what complaints there are.

The Western Digital My Passport Pro external hard drive is primary aimed at those who need a budget drive for stocking HD video, and clips. If you wish to buy it for gaming take notice that you would better do with a SSD.

It has a three year warranty.

Pros

– Huge capacity that consists of 4 TB

– Speedy

– Thunderbolt port

Cons

– Bulky

Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive

I love me some Seagate products. This external hard drive comes with a 5 TB capacity, and it only costs about $220 – although I’ve seen it at the low price of $150.

This isn’t the best hard drive for gaming because it only has a rotation speed of 5400 RPM, but if you’re to use it to stock your pictures, mp3s, and vacation videos it’s going to this its job more than fine.

It’s made out of a black polycarbonate, and it has three perforated holes to satisfy its cooling needs. It has the Seagate logo moulded at the front, and at the back you can find the USB 3.0 port, and the jack for the AC adapter – which is included with your purchase. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a Thunderbolt port, but I’ll let this slide because it features a 5 TB capacity for only $150!

It measures about 1.75 by 4.75 by 7 inches (HWD) – not the smallest portable external hard drive on the market.

It comes as a already formatted NTFS hard drive which makes it super easy to drag and drop whatever you want to back-up – or you can reformat it by yourself so you can use Time Machine.

As I mentioned before, Seagate packs almost all of its products with a Dashboard installer which makes syncing super easy – although it won’t synch up your program or operating system files. It also features a free Android, and iOS app that you can download from your desire OS store. By using the app you can sync files from your social network, or basically just from your phone, with just one push of a button.

Also, you can set up your Dashboard to check Flickr, or Facebook accounts, and sync up photos, and videos – it automatically downloads all the new stuff if you set it up to do so.

It took about 19 seconds to copy our 1.5 GB test folder. I, for one, don’t consider this a major issue, but if you’re looking for a high-speed external hard-drive, I’m sorry to tell you, but this isn’t the droid you’re looking for. It does its job well, and I can honestly name it the most reliable external hard drive on the market, but that’s about it.

It comes with a two year warranty – all of the cheapest external hard drives come with only a meager two year warranty.

This 5 terabyte external hard-drive is what I’m currently using at the moment, and I’m more than happy with what it outputs.

Pros

– Huge capacity that consists of 5 TB

– Affordable

– Dashboard Software

Cons

– Bulky

– Slow

LaCie Fuel

Another budget external hard drive – this one costs $200, but I’ve seen it at $180 as well.

Because it has a built-in WiFi, it can significantly increase your smartphone storage. Its capacity consists of 1 TB – although it may seem low, all of the features compensate for the lack of space.

Measuring 4.5 by 4.5 by 0.9 inches (HWD), the LaCie Fuel external hard drive features quite the design, which makes me think of some gadget out of a Bond movie.

Its chassis is built out of black-grey polycarbonate, sporting a bright orange corner – for the hipster inside you.

Even if you are a FLAC fan, it will take some time to fill up your LaCie Fuel external hard drive – it can hold up to 100,000 320kbps songs, or a few hundred movies.

You can easily drag and drop files to the external hard drive to copy them, and because LaCie Fuel is such a good guy it uses the same apps as the Seagate Wireless Plus thus making it compatible with Android, iOS and the Kindle format. It can be easily paired to the Seagate Media Sync app that searches your tablet, or smartphone for files that it can back-up.

It has a USB 3.0 port, and a detachable cable. But, because it has a rotation speed of 5400 I seriously don’t recommend it for gaming.

The best thing about the Fuel external hard drive is that you can basically make it a WiFi router. A friend of mine is a proud owner of the LaCiel Fuel external hard drive – and when I say proud, I really mean it, he can’t stop talking about how awesome it is. Mark, if you read this, please shut up, you’re becoming really annoying.

You can also password protect it while it’s serving you as a WiFi router, and you can turn the option off without problems.

The device claims to last up to 10 hours, and it’s super easy to recharge using its included AC adapter. On the other hand, my buddy claims that it can last up to 8 hour and 40 minutes – it’s not bad, but it’s worth mentioning.

It comes with a two year warranty.

Pros

– Affordable

– You can use it as a Wi-Fi router

– Can last up to almost hours

– It has an AC adapter included

Cons

– Not that reliable

– It only has a USB 3.0 port

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2 TB

Monster Digital 1 TB Overdrive

Western Digital My Passport Pro

Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive

LaCie Fuel

Categories