Dubbed the world’s smallest desktop USB 3.0 hard drive, the LaCie Rikiki comes equipped with the newer USB 3.0 interface and large sizes – 500GB and 1TB.

The LaCie Rikiki USB 3.0 combines the fastest interface on the market with perfect portability. The tough aluminum casing combines form and function; it withstands bumps and jolts, but its sophisticated style sets it apart from other mobile hard drives. With interface speeds up to 5Gb/s and capacities available up to 1TB, it offers desktop-sized storage in a pocket-sized product. Best of all, it’s backward-compatible with USB 2.0, which means connectivity is never an issue.

Starting at $99 dollars, the LaCie Rikiki and its all aluminum exterior combined with the advantages of USB 3.0 are a definitely must-buy in the very near future.

[ Links: LaCie Rikiki USB 3.0 ]

LaCie has introduced a water-tight, waterproof to 100 meters, drop resistant from 5 meters, weatherproof USB flashdrive that seems like it’s more at home outside than inside a server room or small office:

LaCie, originator of the flat, award-winning key-shaped USB flash drives, shields the XtremKey’s premium flash memory modules inside a 2mm metal pipe casing. Sealed with wear-resistant screw threads and a rubber O-ring, it is watertight up to 100 meters. The LaCie XtremKey is also resistant to 5-meter drops, fierce heat and bitter cold – it holds up in any environment, no matter where you take it (+200°C / -50°C).

XtremKey is constructed with zamac, a metal alloy composed of zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper that’s so strong, it can withstand the pressure of a 10-ton truck. Less than three inches tall, this flash memory drive puts strength, security and storage right on your keyring.

Due out in August, priced to sell at $49.99 and higher with capacity starting at 8gb going all the way up to 64gb in a 3-inch form, I truly recommend this for the clumsy adventurous computer users out there.

[ Links: LaCie, LaCie YouTube Channel ]

In the market for an Intel i5 or Intel i7, SATA 3 and USB 3 enabled, crazily overclockable motherboard that pulls no punches in giving you the most up to date options? Look no further than the ASUS Rampage III Extreme Intel Motherboard. The motherboard itself has more heatsinks than my last three computers combined.

The kind folks over at Tweaktown take the ASUS Rampage III Extreme through its paces in their typically detailed review process and come up with the following:

But even with all the overclocking features put aside, the board is solidly designed and built. The high end Caps, Chokes and even the tracing layout has been well thought out and put into play. Make no mistake, though, this board is meant for performance and for pushing as hard and as far as you can. We were able to reach our highest stable clock yet on the 980X (using only air cooling).

Definitely a motherboard for the people wanting to squeeze out the absolute most from their PC’s for that extra 10% or more. With a price tag of under $370 via NewEgg.com, you’re getting a well-built motherboard that should wow even the most hardcore of hardcore gamer and overclock fan.

Head over to Tweaktown for the rest of their review.

[ Links: Tweaktown Review, ASUS Rampage III Extreme Motherboard ]

With USB 3.0 coming out very soon, it is expected all that had preceded it (USB 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 for instance) will be destroyed by how fast it can access other USB 3.0 enabled devices. Tweaktown [ site here ] puts an early chipset through its paces against Firewire 400, Firewire 800, eSATA, SATA and USB 2.0 of course with varying results.

In our first test using HD Tune Pro, we can see that USB 3.0 is plenty faster than USB 2.0 when using the Intel SSD. It’s not 10 times faster as the marketing data tells us, but it is six times faster and a good sign for a technology still in its early stages of deployment in the consumer space.

Tweaktown shows a few graphs worth of information that show how you might want to hold off and buy a SATA 2.0 and USB 3.0 based motherboard for your next PC build. Definitely worthy of a quick read [ read more ], and they found that SATA 2.0 is keeping pace and sometimes beat USB 3.0 – barely.

[ Tweaktown ]

By Luke Anderson

I remember back when FireWire was first introduced (yes, it’s actually called IEEE 1394, but I’m an old-school Mac guy, so it’s FireWire) and it had some incredible speed to it. Of course USB 2.0 eventually came along and became the more widely used standard. FireWire 800 came out a little while later, but despite its faster speed, never really caught on. Don’t count the standard out though, as a newer, faster version is coming this fall.

The newer FireWire spec is rated at transfer speeds of up to 3.2Gbit/s, which is a considerable jump. It is expected to be compatible with previous standards, something that likely contributed to the lack of interest in FireWire 800. Unfortunately with USB 3.0 on the way with 4.8Gbit/s, it faces some serious competition.

VIA [ Gearlog ]

Link to the original article…