You can get the LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive in 1TB and 2TB flavors, while the LaCie Starck Mobile Drive in 320GB and 500GB. The prices should be around $US130 for the Desktop and $US100 for the Mobile.

In the words of Philippe Starck:

Technological genius explodes exponentially, each time with incredible power whose limits are yet to be known. The power remains, never abating, symbolically characterized by the sculptural magma that one attempts to cleave, to master within this geometrically perfect strongbox. A symbol of strength mastered, of freedom guided, of incandescent magma heeding to the form of its cast. The interpretation is free. But the mystery remains.

See? He wants to dunk a toast in his drives too. [LaCie]

Designed by LaCie stalwart Neil Poulton, they remind me of floating giant iPod earbuds. I really hope they sound better than I suspect they do for $US100. [LaCie via Mirror]

The LaCinema Rugged HD packs pretty much everything you’d want in a mutlimedia enclosure, with a plethora of output jacks (HDMI, composite, optical A/V) and a fat list of supported codecs. It’ll both upconvert standard-def video and output true HD in formats like H.264 and MKV, along with support for major audio and photo formats.

It comes in 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB capacities (2.5-inch drives, presumably), priced at $US170, $US200, and $US230, respectively, which is pricey for a hard drive but pretty fair for a media centre. All models come in that goofy rugged casing; we’re not sure why electronics makers keep trying to tell us to go outside, but they’re clearly going to keep ruggedizing everything in sight. I can tell you that my external hard drive has seen sunlight maybe twice in its lifetime. Accidentally, of course. The LaCinema Rugged HD line is available now. [LaCie]

Both of these wireless media players can stream 1080p media from the network to your TV and upscale standard def movies to 1080i. They also come with either 500GB or 1TB of internal storage. However, the Record has added DVR capability for anyone looking to ditch the set top box altogether. Exact pricing and a release date has not been made available, but it appears that prices will start at $US430.

LaCie Enhances the LaCinema Black Series:
LaCinema Black PLAY and RECORD

* Easy-to-use wireless HD media players

* Play HD movies, photos, and music on your HDTV

* Access digital content on your home network

* Control your TV experience: play, pause and record

Image Bank | Product Page

Today LaCie announced the latest products to expand their range of Wireless HD media players – LaCinema Black PLAY and LaCinema Black RECORD, Design by Neil Poulton. The new LaCinema Black products are built to optimise how consumers access and play content right from their HDTV.

Access all your media
LaCinema Black PLAY and RECORD provide the latest in home networking capabilities. Users can choose from a direct network connection, or use the built-in Wi-Fi connection, making it easy to store music, movies and photos from any computer on the local network. A built-in UPnP client player makes it fast and easy for users to access media content from a networked PC or Mac from anywhere in the home.

Built for High Definition
Designed with High Definition in mind, LaCinema Black PLAY and RECORD allow users to watch downloaded HD movies and television programs directly on the television. Promoting a greater use of HDTVs, these new products are capable of decoding 1080p resolution movies, HD JPEG photos and 1080i upscaling of Standard Definition movies. Consumers can enjoy movies with more detail, clarity and sharpness, making the LaCinema Black products a vital part of their viewing and entertainment experience. Users can even enable surround sound through the optical audio output.

LaCinema Black RECORD features Digital Video Recorder (DVR) technology, which allows users to record, pause, and rewind their favourite TV shows with the support of a connected set-top box or cable converter.

“Now that families are beginning to consume masses of digital content, they need a multimedia device that will allow them to easily store and play their favourite content right from their existing home entertainment center,” said Patrick Salin, LaCie Multimedia Business Unit Manager. “With LaCinema Black products, users can access media over their network, listen to music, sort photos, record TV programs, and ultimately get the desired experience from their media collection – all from one product.”

Easy use for the entire family
With the help of an intuitive user interface, families can easily browse their media, creating photo slideshows or music playlists with the touch of a button. LaCinema Black products also come with a parental control feature to password-protect files, allowing parents to centralize and secure their multimedia content with confidence.

The LaCinema Black PLAY and RECORD are available starting at 500GB* and support a broad variety of file formatting options. They are capable of storing up to 710 movies, 165,000 songs, 500,000 photos, or 250 hours of recording**. USB ports for peripherals allow users to expand capacity, or store their photos and videos by directly connecting video and digital cameras.

Availability
The LaCinema Black is available through the LaCie Online Store or LaCie resellers at the suggested retail price starting at $429.99. For more product information, visit www.lacie.com.

[LaCie]

With the upgraded 5big Network array, LaCie gives users the ability to go into double-digits with regard to terabyte storage capacity—10 TB to be exact.

USB flash media readers aren’t exactly ripe for innovation, so it’s rare that they surprise us in a way that doesn’t inspire laughter. But 69ing two readers into one compact, featureless lump? That’s kinda genius.

Designed by the same folks who brought us those wiseass USB “Keys”, the LaCie Data/Share is proudly simple, which is the source of both its strengths and its weaknesses. Along with plain card-reading capabilities, it offers a great way to store an extra SD or MicroSD card on the go, consolidating case and reader into one unit and eliminating dust and fragility concerns for both. That said, it could stand to do a little more; SD cards are well and good, and I know LaCie is aiming to keep things small, but nowadays it’s taken for granted that SD readers can handle at least a handful of other flash media as well.

The Data/Share isn’t yet listed on LaCie’s website, but it’s expected to ship at around $US15. [Electric Pig]

The Lacie Rugged XL offers 1TB of USB/eSATA storage, wrapped in aluminium and a large external/internal bumper, for $US160. But, at least according to this lead picture, this new model (right) is huuuuuggge, even by 3.5-inch standards. Seriously, it might eat your laptop if it gets too close. [Lacie]

LaCie Doubles the Burn Speed of Its High-Capacity Blu-ray Drive

February 2, 2009

* Burn Blu-ray discs up to 8x
* Store up to 50GB of videos, files and other data on one disc
* Multi-format BD (Blu-ray) and DVD/CD writer in one
* Durable d2 design with whisper-quiet operation

Today LaCie announced that it has doubled the speed at which its high-performance, large-capacity LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive burns discs to eight times (8x) standard data writing rates. The increased speed to burn files applies to both single and dual-layer discs. LaCie also has upgraded the authoring and backup software that ships standard with the product.

The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive packs up to 50 GB of data, or four hours of high-definition video, on a single Blu-ray disc – making it an ideal tool for video professionals and anyone who wants to backup and store significant amounts of data on reliable removable media. It sports both FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces for high-speed throughput between the drive and a PC or Mac.

“With the doubling of the speed to burn Blu-ray discs, video professionals will be able to spend more time creating content and less time on production,” said Christelle Dexet, Multimedia Product Manager for LaCie. “And for those who need to safely store large quantities of information for extended periods of time on secure removable media, the LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive is an ideal solution.”

The exceptionally quiet LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive comes bundled with the newly revised Easy Media Creator 10 and Toast 9 Titanium software. The easy-to-use software lets Mac and Windows users master video and audio files onto Blu-ray, DVD and CD discs. With the tools customers can also schedule backups for data files, edit videos, create audio mixes and much more.

Plus, users can work with three popular codexes-MPEG2, AVC and VC-1-when creating their Blu-ray content. And the LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive supports a dozen Blu-ray, DVD and CD formats, including BD-ROM, BD-ROM AACS, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD±R, CD-R and others.

Availability
The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive is available now and starts at $449.99. LaCie products are available through the LaCie Online Store or LaCie resellers. For more information, visit www.lacie.com.

The 2big with its two bays and a max capacity of 3TB has four RAID modes including RAID 0, RAID 1, and a hot swap feature. Transfer rates can reach up to 165MB/s through eSATA and if you don’t use eSATA than you should be covered with any connection type you do use since the its also got FireWire 800, 400 and Hi-Speed USB 2.0.

As usual with LaCie’s drives the 2big Quadra is stackable, rackable, daisy-chainable, and even expandable. Expect availability this month in 1TB, 2TB and 3TB sizes with a starting price of $US299.

LaCie 2big Quadra: Two Bays for Custom Performance and Protection

January 6, 2009

* Up to 3TB* for backup and digital library management
* Four convenient RAID modes
* Two hot-swappable drives for non-stop data access
* Quadruple interface for universal connectivity

Today LaCie unveils the 2big Quadra, a new two-bay RAID solution with up to 3TB of capacity for high speed-demanding applications, as well as for backup and storage use. With four RAID modes including RAID 0 and RAID 1, and a convenient hot-swap feature, it offers optimal performance and data protection.

Developed for maximum speed, the 2big’s native RAID controller preserves computer resources and provides professional workstations with lightning-fast data transfers, which reach up to 165MB/s** through eSATA 3Gbits/s in RAID 0. It also integrates perfectly with most applications that demand high speed, such as photo and pre-press processing or audio/video projects, including HDV post-production.

“Like its big brother the 4big Quadra, the LaCie 2big Quadra is the most complete two-bay solution of its category,” said Arnaud Prézelin, LaCie Product manager for Creative Pro Solutions. “Its four RAID modes and outstanding performance make it the perfect choice for backup and digital library management, as well as for SDV and HDV projects.”

In addition to offering protection through a full RAID 1 mode with hot-swappable disks for non-stop data access, the 2big Quadra also features a convenient Mixed mode. This mode provides both a RAID 0 partition for daily working data and a RAID 1 partition to archive important files. As a complete RAID storage solution, the 2big Quadra is compatible with Time Machine™ and comes with Genie Backup Manager Pro™ and Intego Backup Manager Pro™ for customizable backups and a computer recovery option.

Designed by Neil Poulton, the 2big is housed in a sturdy aluminium body that ensures reliable heat dissipation and quiet operation. Developed to enhance any workstation thanks to universal connectivity through eSATA 3Gbits/s, FireWire 800 and 400 and Hi-Speed USB 2.0, it is also stackable, rackable and even daisy-chainable through FireWire for optimal use of space, as well as expandibility.

Availability
The LaCie 2big Quadra will be available in 1TB, 2TB and 3TB in January through the LaCie Online Store or LaCie resellers starting at the suggested retail price of $299.99 (excluding VAT). For more information, visit www.lacie.com.