Sony loads music and movies onto MicroVault Click USB drives, can't locate any buyers

Gee, Sony. We wonder how well this initiative will go over. In fact, we wonder what bigwig signs off on such a blatantly bad idea? In case you missed the memo, selling overpriced music on flash drives is not the next big thing in content delivery, though in fairness, we will give you the movie side due to file size limitations alone. All rants aside, Sony has just introduced new pre-loaded MicroVault Click USB drives, and the first three include Michael Jackson's Thriller (2GB; $19.99), The Da Vinci Code (4GB; $29.99) and Men In Black (4GB; $29.99). What's odd is that the outfit doesn't bother sharing how much free space is left for other uses, nor are we told that the likely DRM-laced material can be exported elsewhere in order to liberate memory on the stick. In other words, we'll pass. Gladly.
[Via: CNET ] [Tag: audio, flash drive, FlashDrive, MICROVAULT, MicroVault click, MicrovaultClick, music, Sony, USB, usb flash drive, UsbFlashDrive ]

Scosche Passport FireWire-to-USB iPod adapter gets reviewed

Okay, so this adapter doesn't directly convert a FireWire 400 socket into a USB port, but for all intents and purposes here, it does as much. You see, Scosche's Passport was designed to channel the energy from older FireWire-based iPod charging gear into the USB prongs that the newer iPhone / iPods only accept. Macworld was able to get ahold of one for review, and in testing, it found that everything worked well when toying with new iPods, and while it was designed specifically for in-car applications, critics found that it even worked (albeit inelegantly) with dock-cradle accessories. Was it worth $30? Absolutely, so long as you'd rather burn $30 than replace that mess of wires you've got behind the dashboard (and you would).
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: adapter, firewire, ipod, ipod accessory, IpodAccessory, Passport, review, Scosche ]

Ao-LAB's eSATA SSD flash drive conveniently includes USB port

We're still baffled that traditional eSATA flash drives require power from the USB port in order to operate (at least until that Power Over eSATA initiative starts bearing fruit), but it seems that Ao-LAB has found a nice, practical workaround for the time being. The outfit's eSATA / USB Combo Drive arrives in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB flavors and provides dual interfaces along with a convenient way to power it if you're dead-set on using eSATA for transfers. And given that speeds over eSATA absolutely obliterate those over USB 2.0, you're going to want to. Shame there's no pricing / availability information, but we suspect you can get a few hundred of 'em sans issue should you contact the company seeking a bulk contract.

[Via: EverythingUSB ] [Tag: Ao-LAB, combo drive, ComboDrive, eSATA, flash drive, FlashDrive, ssd, USB, usb flash drive, UsbFlashDrive ]

SanDisk, major labels announce slotMusic preloaded microSD cards

We're not sure why the music industry thinks consumers want to buy even more physical media, but it can't seem to stop pumping out plastic in a futile attempt to stay relevant -- this time it's an initiative called slotMusic, announced today in partnership with SanDisk and several major retailers. The 1GB slotMusic microSD cards are preloaded with DRM-free 320kbps MP3s, and are aimed primarily at mobile phones -- the idea is that you'll be able to buy music and listen to it without having to sideload it onto your device using your computer at home. Sure, we can see the appeal of that, but when we half-facetiously asked SanDisk's reps if they expected us to carry around a stack of individual microSD albums, they didn't laugh when they said yes, and even told us that slotMusic media binders would be available at launch -- no, they weren't kidding. We're not sure anyone's going to be sold on going back to lugging around physical media with the iTunes and Zune WiFi stores out there, but it sounds like we'll be seeing quite a push for this from retailers and the labels -- and artists are apparently enthusiastic about using the full 1GB of space to include content beyond basic liner notes and cover art. We'll see when these launch around the holidays -- if we had to guess, we'd say this is just Ringles and CDVU+ part III.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: emi, microsd, sandisk, slotmusic, sony, sony bmg, SonyBmg, universal ]

Planex DigiJuke NAS snags YouTube and BitTorrent video then jams it down the Wii, Xbox 360, iPod... and throat of MPAA

Here it is copyright bandits, the single biggest reason (other than silicone) to make a Hollywood studio notice of you: the MZK-NAS02SG1T network attached server from Planex. The main selling point behind the the ¥54,799 (about $524) 1TB Gigabit Ethernet block is the claim to "universal access" for all your devices. That little trick comes courtesy of its DigiJuke browser for searching and tagging the BitTorrent and YouTube content you want downloaded in the appropriate PSP and iPod (MPEG-4), Wii (FLV), or TV (MPEG-2) format for in-home or on-the-go viewing. The NAS also streams audio and video to your iTunes laptops or desktops or DLNA TV, Xbox 360, or other compliant device in the home. A front-facing USB 2.0 jack offers one-touch dubbing of USB sticks while a second around back offers ready storage expansion. It ships with a pair of 3.5-inch 500GB drive which you can swap out for higher capacity spinners at a later date. That is if the studios don't shut you down first.


[Via: Impress ]
[Tag: bittorrent, dlna, japan, MZK-NAS02SG1T, nas, planex, youtube ]