Many people nowadays are turning to laptops for their main systems, not only due to the power that is now available in these mobile machines, but also because it offers a very versatile set-up. Not having to look after two systems is very nice and the ability to connect your laptop up to an external display, gives you the best of both worlds.

Storage whilst on the move is very handy, but when your laptop comes with maybe only 60Gb of internal storage you may not have enough. When your mobile storage needs expand your only option is to either get a larger hard drive installed (often an expensive option) or invest in an external device. This is where the Lacie MobileDrive comes into play. It offers you 80Gb or 100Gb (as reviewed here) of external storage in a very neat package. This unit is very nicely styled, sleek curves to the front and no protruding feet to catch on things. It is small enough to easily fit into a large coat pocket or a normal bag pocket alongside your laptop. It does not feel cheap either, despite its’ very competitive price tag.
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For many years now I have been a fan (and user) of LaCie hard drives. They have always proved to be reliable, the build quality is superb and if you ever need to ask them a question, support is very good too. So, I was please to learn that on September 12th LaCie announced increased capacities for it’s LaCie Hard Drives Design by F.A. Porsche. To quote from their press release, “New drives reach a phenomenal 500GB in a small, sleek case created exclusively for LaCie by the renowned agency Porsche Design GmbH. Exhibiting world-class style and elite performance, LaCie Hard Drives Design by F.A. Porsche allow people to easily add massive storage to a desktop computer. New USB drives are shipping now, and FireWire drives ship in October.”

LaCie Senior Product Manager Olivier Mirloup said, “LaCie’s awarded Design by F.A. Porsche hard drives are quiet, easy to carry and stack, and now have some of the largest capacities available at a low price per gigabyte. These drives are the fastest, easiest way to add storage to your computer, making room for lots of additional video, audio and music files. And our 1-Click Backup Software simplifies data protection.”

LaCie Hard Drives Design by F.A. Porsche offer the choice of a USB or FireWire interface for use with Windows, Mac OS or Linux. Cables are included for immediate use. Drives are durable and lightweight for transporting from one machine to another, and multiple drives can be stacked thanks to secure rubber feet underneath.

I hope to bring you a full review of a Lacie offering very soon.

Link to the new Lacie 500Gb Hard Drive.

To say I feel honored is an understatement, but when I  took the new 2nd generation iPod Nano out of the shipping box my jaw dropped. The new transparent packaging is fantastic and I  now know why Steve Jobs mentioned it in his keynote. Not thinking my jaw could get any lower I  removed the Nano from it’s packaging and was once again amazed at how much sleeker it felt than the previous generation.

This is the first review where I  just felt that I  wanted to give you two pages (or more) of high resolution photographs. They say “a picture is worth a thousand words” and with the new Nano those words could not be more fitting. The case of the Nano is now all anodized aluminum and is so nice to touch, a real smooth feel, no worries about fingerprints either, which is fantastic news. Colors have been introduced with the 2Gb model being available in silver only, the 4Gb version available in silver, green, blue and pink, and the new higher capacity 8Gb model in a sexy black. All have this wicked metallic look.
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iPodulator Pro 2 from ThePlaceforitAll.com is an application for taking content form a variety of sources and making it available as Notes on your iPod.

The interface for the program is fairly simple to use although not rising to the level of elegant. The first thing you do is change your iPod settings so that it can be used as a disk and then select the iPod from iPodulator.
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Remember back in the 70s and early 80s when sweatbands were all the rage? Well, the folks over at iMojo have released an armband called the nano Sweats which holds the 1G and 2G iPod nano. It’s made out of that same elastic-like cotton weave that was so popular with runners of yore, that fits around your forearm, instead of your wrists or head.
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Apple iPod Earphones (USD $29.00)
Website: Apple Store
Having caved in to what must have been significant request, Apple has finally released some sleeker, form-fitting earphones, and I’ve already picked up a pair for my 30g Video.

Having tried Apple’s terrible, tinny, and low-volume in-ear earphones, I was hopeful that these new iPod earphones would finally achieve what I had missed in ditching my old Sony Fontopia earphones – smoother, thinner, and elongated stem earphones that fit so snugly you forget they’re there. I also hoped that the excellent sound quality (in my opinion) that was present in the previous, stock iPod earphones would remain, or improve.

So how do they measure up?
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Verizon is spending $20 billion upgrading its network to provide fiber to the home, a new network running fiber optic cable for voice, internet and TV/Entertainment applications. I was one of the first in line to swap out my Comcast services. Why?

Good old-fashioned, raw, American speed, of course. While Comcast Internet provides anywhere from 4-8Mbps downloading and somewhere between 500-768K upload service, performance wavers substantially during typical usage. For the same price, I could get Verizon’s middle tier service, offering 15Mbps downloads and 2Mbps uploading speed. Pricing may vary in some regions, but the basic options are as follows:

5Mbps/2Mbps: $34.95/month
15Mbps/2Mbps: $44.95/month
30Mbps/5Mbps: $179.95/month

All with free installation. And unlike cable, fiber technology promises to be “truer” to its rated speeds. You can run a bandwidth tester such as http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest, and see what you’re getting now with your current provider. So far with FIOS, I’m almost always getting the advertised download speeds, and come very close with the upload speeds as well.
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The Mouse BT II (USD $69.00)
Website: macmice.com

I am forever searching for that ultimate mouse, having tried offerings from Logitech, Microsoft and Apple I am always left with mixed feelings. Apple’s Mighty Mouse in either the corded or Bluetooth version looked promising, but I just did not get on with the whole two button sensor arrangement. I found myself having to lift my left finger slightly to get the right click to work. This was a shame as the shape and feel was spot on. So back I went to my Logitech cordless which is great, just a tad big.

The guys at MacMice just recently released a new offering call ‘The Mouse BT II’ and one just landed on my desk to review. To say I am excited is an understatement because the size and shape is almost identical to the Mighty Mouse but with some awesome differences.
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I am writing this blog posting from the food court of a local mall between the TCBY and the Cinnibon. No, this mall does not have anything as great as free wi-fi. Instead I am trying out a new service from Verizon using the emerging EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) wireless data standard. EVDO is being offered by a number of cell phone providers using their networks. To use EVDO you need to have special hardware which comes in the form of a PCCard for the PowerBook, or the new express card version for the MacBook Pro. USB versions of the cards will soon become available.

So how well does it work? Pretty well. Having connectivity even more widely available than what is provided by Wi-fi is very addictive. The download speed feels faster than dialup but slower than DSL. The upload speed is much less impressive. Recently it took me 2 hours to upload a 15Mb mp3 file for the latest episode of my podcast. Not impressive speed except that I was driving 65 MPH at the time up highway 101 in California and during that 2 hour period it was connected to my companies VPN server without losing its connection. I also tested it on a commuter train from San Jose to San Francisco and this is the kind of technology that could get me to take the train more often.

I have tried both the Sprint service and the Verizon service and both work well, although the setup with Sprint on a Mac was simpler (you put in the card). Verizon seems to require installing their software. Cost for the service is around $70 a month with flat rate pricing for data.

TubeSock (USD $15.00)
Website: stinkbot.com

Well I was just listening to the latest creation from the Leo Lapotre TWiT machine, Mac Break Weekly, and I heard them mention this little application for putting YouTube videos on your iPod. Since how to convert YouTube video seems to be something I am getting asked about more and more frequently these days, I decided to check it out. The app is called TubeSock (I know, great name) and appears to be the first creation from StinkBot. What makes TubeSock so great is the same thing that makes many of my favorite Mac apps great, simplicity. It does one task and does it well. There are other ways to save and convert YouTube videos, like through the use Firefox plugins, but TubeSock makes it a pleasure vs. a pain. All you have to do is launch TubeSock, copy the URL of the video you want to convert and hit a button. From there TubeSock takes over, downloads the FLV file (Flash Video File), converts it into a video iPod compatible H.264 video and drops it right into iTunes. Sync your iPod and go. Now that alone would be enough, but Tube Sock also lets you choose other output options. It has settings for PSP, audio MP3, Mac H.264 and you can even save the raw FLV file if you want. It will also let you choose different locations to save the converted video. TubeSock can drop the converted video into your Movies folder for easy viewing in Frontrow or you can choose to place it anywhere else on your Mac. Add to that the option to add a link to your Safari bookmark bar that lets you send videos directly to Tube Sock and you have by far the easiest way to make your favorite YouTube videos available when and where you want to watch them.