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Drobo Transporter Connected Data merger

Here at Gear Live, we're big fans of both Drobo and the Transporter, so excuse us if we're more than a little excited about the announcement that the two companies that entered into a merger agreement. We've covered the Transporter in the past, but to refresh your memory, it's a collaborative file-sharing device that offers Dropbox- or Copy-like functionality, but stored locally with no fees. Of course, Drobo makes fantastic external storage devices, many of which we've covered extensively. It will be great to see new Drobos that offer the Transporter file-sharing abilities. Nothing official has been announced, but we can dream.

Gallery: Drobo and Connected Data to merge, we look forward to Transporter-like Drobos


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Xbox One external storage

The Xbox One will ship with a 500GB internal hard drive, and we've found out that the drive is "locked" inside the console. In other words, unlike the Xbox 360, users are not able to swap out the Xbox One hard drive for a larger unit. What happens if you run out of space, then? After all, the Xbox One will install every game to the hard drive, and the games are definitely going to be bigger now that they'll be on Blu-ray.

Luckily, the solution is easy. Microsoft included USB 3.0 on the Xbox One, and says that you can connect an external hard drive to the console, and it can be used for everything that the internal hard drive can be used for. So go ahead and grab an external terabyte or two and load up--adding extra storage is as simple as plugging it in.

Gallery: Xbox One storage is expandable with external hard drives


Copy Cloud Storage

Copy is a new cloud storage service, and it's got its sights directly on upheaving Dropbox as the cloud king. With Copy, you keep your files in sync across devices and get a web interface with easy sharing (including mobile devices,) similar to what you get with Dropbox. However, it differs in a couple of key areas that make Copy seem like a much better offering:

  • When you share files with other Copy users, that space isn't docked from both accounts. With Dropbox, if you share a 1GB file, both you and the person you share with now have 1GB less storage space.
  • When you sign up for Copy, you get 15GB of space right off the bat. With Dropbox, you get 5GB.
  • Each time you refer a friend to sign up for copy, you are granted another 5GB, with no limit. Dropbox only gives you an extra 500MB, and has a hard referral bonus of 16GB.

Wanna give it a try? It's free, and it's great. Head on over to Copy to sign up - use this link, and you'll start out with 20GB free instead of 15GB!

Gallery: Copy cloud storage aims to overtake Dropbox with Fair Storage, more space


Seagate 4TB hard drive

Seagate is now selling what it deems to be the world's first 4 terabyte hard drive to use 1 terabyte platter technology. The result is a four platter design that means a boost in performance while reducing material costs, resulting in a better drive for less money. According to Seagate, you can store 450 hours of video, 800,000 photos, or 1 million songs on its newest internal drive. As far as data rate is concerned, expect 146 MB per second, and boasts 64 MB cache and 7200 RPM speed. You can pick up the Seagate 4 TB drive on Amazon for $189.

Read More | Seagate 4TB hard drive

Gallery: Seagate shipping first 4 TB hard drive with 1 TB platters


Amazon Cloud Drive

Amazon has announced that it's Cloud Drive storage locker is now accessible from PC, Mac, Kindle Fire, and web browser, allowing you to sync your documents across all of your devices with the reliance of Amazon in the background. This puts the Amazon Cloud Drive, which gives users a free 5 GB of storage space, in direct competition with services like Dropbox.

Gallery: Amazon Cloud Drive now syncs between PC, Mac, Kindle, web


iPad 128gb

If you're one of those people (like me) who absolutely have to have the biggest and the best version of everything possible, then get ready to break out your wallets -- the biggest and most expensive iPad is now available the Apple Store online, topping out at 128 GB. The Wi-Fi model sells for $799, while the Cellular version with LTE support (your choice of AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon) sells for a whopping $929. Buying the AT&T model results in a 1-3 day ship time, while 3-5 days is the wait for Sprint and Verizon models.

Read More | Apple

Gallery: 128 GB iPad now available from Apple


Transporter shipping

The Transporter is a private data sharing and storage device from the folks at Connected Data, a team comprised of many of the same folks who worked on the Drobo. It's able to communicate with every other Transporter device, anywhere in the world, elimination the need for a third-party cloud storage solution for any files stored. Even more impressive? The Transporter is a Kickstarter project that is actually shipping on time - just 20 days after the end of its massively successful campaign. Compare that to other Kickstarter hardware projects, and you'll see just how impressive this is. You can pick up a Transporter with no drive for $199, a model with a 1 TB drive for $299, or a 2 TB version for $399. Hit the break for a video explaining how it all works.

Click to continue reading Transporter collaborative data sharing storage device now shipping

Read More | Transporter

Gallery: Transporter collaborative data sharing storage device now shipping


Google Music scan and match

When Google Music came to Europe, it brought a new feature not available in the US -- Scan and Match. It's similar to iTunes Match, whereas it scans your local music collection and puts them in the cloud so that you don't have to.

After downloading the Music Manager, it will match your songs up with Google's, and begin "uploading" your songs into the cloud at a rate of about 30 seconds per album. After your music is in the cloud, you can listen to it on different devices, even iOS if you use Google's HTML5 web app.

Now US users are able to take advantage of this feature. It's free, and automatic for the most part, so you won't have to go through the cumbersome process of backing up your digital music collection solo.

Read More | Google

Gallery: Google Music’s Scan and Match now available in the US


Bitcasa brings its unlimited cloud storage from the desktop to the mobile-verse today, with Android and Windows Phone 8 users getting first dibs. An iOS and Mac version are promised in early January, however, so you won't feel left out in the cold for too long.

The apps for Android and Windows 8 stream media through its native player with two-way file access so you can access your files from your Surface. Android users can also link their camera app to Bitcasa, so each photo they take is automatically saved to the cloud.

Click to continue reading Bitcasa Brings infinite cloud storage to Android, Windows 8, and Windows Phone

Read More | Google Play Store

Gallery: Bitcasa Brings infinite cloud storage to Android, Windows 8, and Windows Phone


Drobo 5N

If you were interested in the Drobo 5D, but wanted something a bit more network-friendly, the newly-announced Drobo 5N might just be your cup of tea. Built on the same architecture as the 5D, the Drobo 5N does away with the Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports and instead opts for a gigabit Ethernet port instead, giving all the devices on your local network access to the file storage array. You can pack up to five 3.5-inch drives into the chassis, as well as an mSATA SSD to make things even faster. All in all, you get a maximum capacity of 20TB. Not too shabby. The Drobo 5N is set to start shipping tomorrow, and will cost $599.

Read More | Drobo

Gallery: Drobo 5N provides up to 20TB of fast, protected network storage


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