A subtle transition (or not so subtle when you really look at it) has occurred over the past 10 years. Our lives have moved from analog to digital. Just look at your normal day. Do you read a printed book or pick up a Kindle? Are you listening to cassette tapes, streaming your music from Spotify, Pandora or listening to MP3s on your iPod? Do you go to Blockbuster (if you can find one) or use Netflix, Amazon Video and iTunes? Cameras have clearly gone digital this past decade. 10 years ago I was still recording shows on VHS...now I TIVO.

And look at all the freedom this digital transition has introduced. Your entire music library can travel with you no matter if you are...on the train, in a plane or driving down the road. The concept of a digital camera has opened up a well spring of opportunities to capture the moment. Back in the old film camera days you would be worried about the cost of the film and developing (every time you clicked a picture...good or bad...you would hear "25 cents" inside that click sound). Now people take pictures at every whim...their food, friends, locations, etc. and you can delete the bad pictures.

Now I realize I am a serious consumer of digital assets. I take thousands of photos a year. I record hours of video each month. Currently have a few terabytes of music and movies. I read ebooks and e-magazines. I experiment with quite a few new applications and downloadable apps every month. It all adds up to a lot of digital storage needs. And over the years I have watched many drives die on me and I typically end up loosing everything. I really don't like living in that world and the cost of storage solutions are relatively inexpensive...so today I look for high-reliability solutions that ensure my data is clearly backed up in real-time. This article covers several scenarios, products and services I rely on to sleep soundly and not worry about "when my drive will die"!


INTO THE CLOUD!
A lot of noise has been generated about "storing in the cloud" and that means that you put your content online and a service sends it back to you when you want to use it. I do a fair bit of cloud storage, most notably Flickr.com to store all my photos and a subset of my smaller, shorter video clips. Apple provides storage of my iTunes purchases and some important computer files. I also leverage services like Evernote that backs up a lot of my notes and key information. And Dropbox keeps documents I need to access anywhere. I mostly try to make sure that anything very personal and irreplaceable is protected off-site...in the cloud.

But at the end of the day, I like more immediate access to my content. I might want to sort through all the pictures from this past year and to stream through those from a remote cloud storage solution can be too time consuming, especially if I want to access the full resolution files. To that end, I do need some beefy storage at home and on the road that also ensures the information is safe and sound. And the hard drives within my laptops tend to not be enough. Either the drives are too small AND I have been burned more times than I care to count with hard drives dying on me at the worst possible moment and everything going away in a digital puff of smoke.

In the past, I talked about my mobile storage needs and the limitations of iPads and iPhones to store everything. I do wish that my mobile device was my "always with me" digital backup...but the fact of the matter is these devices just don't offer anywhere near the type of storage capacity I am talking about. So for the most part, this is really a discussion around keeping track of your digital assets at home or work.

First, you really need to know what assets are important to you. I would assume the computer documents, pictures and videos you produce are probably at the top of your list of "important" digital content. And for me I tend to rely on the following; 1) high-speed drives for video editing and manipulating large photos and images, 2) portable storage that travels with me, 3) network storage that backs up my computers and streams content to different media consuming devices around the home and 4) the last wall of defense...the cloud back-ups I mentioned earlier for one last level of redundancy of information.

RAID's...must be an acronym?
Now I mentioned I do enjoy taking pictures and high-definition videos of my travels and family affairs. It is probably my number one hobby. I feel sorry for my family that has to put up with having every minute of their lives captured in one form or another. As these files are very personal and great keepsakes, I really want them to be there tomorrow. So I use some very nice drives that are both "fast" and "safe". This is accomplished by using hard drive technology that is called RAID (redundant array of independent disks). What that means is that you tether multiple drives together to create one super-drive. Now their are different types of RAID configurations but I tend to use two of the four most popular configurations.

RAID 0 is the idea of taking two identical hard drives and writing/striping half the data on each. By splitting up the work, each drive is doing half the work and thus operates twice as fast as a normal drive. The problem with this solution is that if one drive dies...everything is lost! The only way this solution works for me is if this set of drives is backed up onto another set of drives as a safety net. More on that in a bit.

RAID 1 is a good solution if you are worried about loosing information (which obviously I am) and basically takes two drives and writes the same thing on both simultaneously. This solution is great but making sure you have a back up does have limitations on throughput...especially if you are dealing with larger files or multiple files at the same time. A single hard drive solution can choke on the amount of information you may have in your photo, video or music library. You tend to be sitting there waiting for the screen to refresh as you scroll through 100s or 1000s of files.

RAID 5 is the idea of striping information across multiple drives and writes a bit of extra information across all the drives. This extra information would allow the system to "rebuild" one drive if you have a failure. To me, this extra information needs to be perfect...and I have had issues rebuilding a drive before with this technic.

RAID 1+0 (also called RAID 10) is the concept of taking four identical hard drives and creating two sets of RAID 1 mirrored drives and RAID 0 striping of the data across the two sets mirrored sets. This combination provides you with the redundancy of information for safety and the speed of reading and writing information since each set only has to do half the work. This is obviously a costly solution but a great one if you want speed and confidence. I use this solution for my primary data. There is RAID 0+1 that reverses the striping and mirroring roles but for the most part serves the same idea.

One major caveat is that when you mirror drives, you really end up eating a good portion of the overall storage capacity of all the drives combined. For me this is not necessarily a bad thing...it is just the cost of having my digital assets backed up and protected. And for my purposes I seem to like RAID 1 for just having a duplicate backup of my everyday files and for my extreme performance purposes I lean on RAID 10 solutions.

EVERYDAY STORAGE...
For my everyday files and general computer assets like applications and the like, I rely on a RAID 1 configuration. This just makes sure that everything is backed up in real-time with a redundant drive. These are widely available and some computers nowadays even offer the ability to have two RAID 1 internal drives.

A solid, self-contained solution is provided by Western Digital called the My Book Studio II. This is an external drive with two hard disks inside. You can mirror the drives in a RAID 1 configuration or strip the drives for higher write and read speeds of a RAID 0 configuration. My focus here is on the mirroring setup.

The drive is speedy enough and can be connected to your computer via Firewire or USB. There are versions available pre-formated for PC Windows computer or Macintosh. They contain two Green drives that require 30% less energy than traditional drives and as a result do not require a fan...helping to make this drive relatively quiet running. Should one of the drives die, you can replace it and the device will automatically replicate the information back from the other drives content. All-in-all, a nice setup at a pretty reasonable price all things considered. And your precious information is safe-n-sound!

SPEED & PERFORMANCE...
I do a fair bit of photo editing of large images from my Digital SLR camera. These files can run 25 megabtyes per picture. I also do high-definition video editing that requires me to stream multiple videos at the same time. This level of file throughput requires something more beefy from a storage performance standpoint.

My go-to solution for this high level of performance is Hitachi's G-Technology products, most notably the G-Speed ES. This drive requires you to have the new eSATA interface for linking the computer with the drive. G-Technology sells a configuration with a PCIe eSATA controller that you add to your desktop computer. Or you can get an ExpressCard eSATA adaptor for you laptop to add this port as well. There is a lower cost version that supports USB and Firewire connectivity called the G-Speed Q but you'd have to utilize RAID 0 or 5 to get the most out of the drive. In that case, I'd recommend a Firewire connection and RAID 5 setup.

Which G-SPEED RAID Solution is Right for You?

G-Speed	G-SPEED Q	G-SPEED eS	G-SPEED eS PRO
Available Capacities	4TB | 8TB | 12TB	4TB | 8TB | 12TB	4TB | 8TB | 12TB
Interface	eSATA, FW800/400, USB 2.0	eSATA	miniSAS, locking connector
RAID Controller	Internal, Oxford 936Q	*External, eSATA PCIe 4x	*External, miniSAS PCIe 8x
HD Editing	Compressed workflows	Multi-stream compressed Single-stream uncompressed	Uncompressed, multiple stream HD or 2K DPX Film workflows
MB/s	200+	230+ (single unit) 600+ (4-unit)	400+ (single unit) 70+ (2-unit)
RAID Options	0, 5	0, 2, 5, JBOD	0, 1, 3, 5, 6 and JBOD
RAID Spanning		Multi-unit RAID spanning (up to 4 units)	Multi-unit RAID spanning (up to 2 units)
Enterprise HDD	Yes	Yes	Yes

* Available for purchase separately


The G-Speed comes with four drives. In a RAID 10 configuration you get both speed and redundancy to make sure you won't loose a file! But make sure you keep in mind...you will only have half of the published capacity available to you. So think big! :-)

I have had great success regarding these G-Speed drives and have purchased multiples of these as my storage capacity requirements grow. Another nice feature is the ability to span storage across up to four units for even large, more professional needs.

ON THE GO?
I have had an incredible string of bad luck with my laptops over the last year or so. I have had three occasions where the drive has failed (twice on a Windows computer and once on my Mac) and I have lost everything. I really got tired of this, so now I am traveling with a G-RAID Mini configured in a RAID 1 setup. I purchased the 1.5 terabyte drive which affords me 750 gigabytes of redundant mobile storage. More than enough and the drive works great. The only issue is that it requires to be plugged into an electrical outlet if you are not running off of Firewire and my Macbook Air does not have Firewire. But overall, it is a great solution to make sure I have my files when I get back home.

NETWORK STORAGE
Another solution to protect your files on the computers is a network backup. There is a relatively new generation of drives that do not mount to your computer but instead mount to the network either via ethernet or even wi-fi.

My product of choice here is the Synology Diskstation Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions. There are two or more disk versions based on your needs. I should caution that many of these come without the hard drives and you need to purchase those separately. The two products I have are the DS212J and DS411J.

As you would imagine the DS212J supports two drives that can be configured into a RAID 1 setup. What makes these great products, is the sophistication of the Synology's DiskStation operating system. The intelligence of the platform and the ease of getting these drives setup and on your network is amazing. They also offer a very wide range of features from serving media to iTunes and Windows devices to seamless compatibility with backup services like Apple's TimeMachine.

If you need more storage capacity or have a few computers on your network you would like backed up, I would recommend going with the DS411J. And as for hard disks, I would recommend the Western Digital Caviar Green drives. Just make sure if you are ordering the NAS with or without hard drives installed. Both options tend to be available online. Should you purchase one of these without the drives and order them separately, they are very easy to setup...I am talking "minutes" to install.

Once you have one of these systems on the network, make sure you regularly backup your computers to them. If you have Macintosh's, there is NO reason you shouldn't be running TimeMachine on every Mac. It borders on magical when it comes to retrieving any file or version of any file on your computer. I love that if I mess something up, I can go back a day or two and get that version of the file. Very cool!

OTHER DISK BRANDS?
If you have been paying attention, there is a good deal of G-Technology, Synology and Western Digital mentioned here. I have used other brands over the years and have a parking lot of dead product at home. At the end of the day, these have been the three most reliable brands based on my many years of experience. Obviously there are horror stories around any brand but these have been the ones I have had the best luck and will recommend wholeheartedly. I personally steer away from Lacie and Seagate (FYI: Seagate just announced they are buying Lacie) for the most part. Too many dead products. Dying too fast for my liking.

I do have several non-RAID drives, mostly the small, portable ones from the Western Digital Passport series. These are the hard drives I use to haul around duplicates from home or work when the files are too big for a USB memory stick. If these disks die, I don't really loose anything since the original is still back on a RAID somewhere.

ON THE HORIZON
You might be hearing about new technologies called Thunderport or USB 3.0. These are new standards in connecting peripherals to your computer. Thunderport is a new interface you will find on a lot of newer Macintoshs and PCs. As you would assume...it is faster than what you have today. And guess what...USB 3.0 is faster than your current USB 2.0! As our monitors, cameras and videos get higher resolution, the files get exponentially bigger as well. We will be needing the faster connection options as time goes on. We are starting to see drives that support these standards and as they become viable in the types of solutions I am discussing here, I will be sure to keep you in the loop. To date, I've only seen a couple hit the market and they have a bit of an unjustified pricing premium. So for now, I'd continue to suggest the solutions above which are all extremely viable for years to come.

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

This is the hot season for new camera introductions to be entering the market and 2012 is shaping up to be one of the hottest years in camera technologies in quite some time. The fact is that camera makers are having a bit of a hard time. There is no question that more and more people are taking pictures with their smart-phones and some of the latest camera phones take some impressive pictures, especially in well lit environments.

Just check out some unretouched pictures from Apple's latest iPhone 4s!




So the camera manufacturers are creating additional value propositions as consumers move up the scale beyond standard point-n-shot cameras. And I recently wrote a note about Nikon's big 2012 line-up and I see the same level of intensity coming from other manufacturers...especially Canon and Panasonic.

Let's look at some of the hotness recently released from Canon...

Canon PowerShot S100
Canon started out late last year with the introduction of the successor to the popular S90/S95 compact performance cameras. This camera features a high-end array of features including an all-new 12.1 megapixel image sensor, bright F2.0 lens and powerful new image processing technology that is a substantial upgrade from their previous models. You've heard me rave about the S95 and this S100 (I have both)...and I have to say that the latest S100 is a great camera, it is a marvel of small size and very good image quality especially when taking nice, bright pictures in the shorter zoom range (1x-3x). This lens lets in a lot of light for a camera so small and allows you to take many indoor photos even without a flash. The addition of a slightly wider-angle (24mm) is a nice boon but increasing the zoom to 5x did introduce some compromises on the the brightness on the latter end of the telephoto range. I wouldn't use this new level of zoom unless you are outdoors on a nice sunny day or well illuminated environment.

Another popular use for this camera at our household is as our "go to" video recorder. And the new S100 adds the ability to quietly zoom while recordings which is a very nice addition. We find that 80-90 percent of our family video shoots, we use this camera over pulling out a full camcorder. The S100 introduced full 1080p video resolution versus our old S95 at 720p.

Sadly, the battery life has gone backwards on the S100 from the S95 which is a bit of a shame. But I still highly recommend this camera, it really satisfies the "you can only take a picture, if you have a camera" and the S100's size is truly pocketable. The images can frequently be confused for pictures from my higher-end digital SLR cameras. This is something I carry around with me all the time. And most of the pictures I share with friends and family come from this camera.

If you have the S95, it is really not enough of an upgrade to justify the move. The update includes a longer 5x zoom starting with a respectably wide 24mm and going all the way up to 120mm, GPS and 1080p video capture with zoom. If you don't have a quality, easy to use and pocketable camera...this is the one for you.

Canon PowerShot G1X
In an effort to fill the void between "point and shoot" and "digital SLR" cameras, Canon is taking the approach of a compact, all-in-one design (camera body and integrated lens) where you get an all-new 1.5 inch 14 megapixel image sensor that is substantially larger than your traditional compact cameras (approaching Digital SLR size) and an integrated 28mm wide angle / 4x zoom lens allows this camera to be a good compliment to someone looking for a second camera to support their larger DSLR camera.

Sample from Canon G1X

I've played with this camera a far bit and have mixed feelings about this new, first-generation offering. Canon is taking a different tack versus their competitors that are offering small, professional-styled compacts with interchangeable lens. Canon integrated the lens and while this adds a lot of convenience in a compact form factor, I also believe this is giving the camera some serious weaknesses. The first thing you will notice is that focusing is not as fast and crisp as some of the competitor offerings. Where this camera shines though is in its large sensor that captures light more cleanly thus affording some very impressive low-light pictures and bright, clean pictures overall. See sample to the right.

I'd say this camera feels a bit first generation and has huge potential to improve over the years. For now I would lean toward the Canon S100 which is MUCH more pocketable if you want a small, secondary camera that offers a decent amount of control. Or if you looking for more of a step up than the S100 offers, I would recommend the Canon G12.

Canon 5D Mark III
Now we are really leaping into the upper regions of the Canon camera universe with the newly introduced 5D Mark III. This is a semi or professional digital SLR (DSLR) camera that offers an impressive 22 megapixel full-frame sensor. This is a very large sensor, most sensors in the consumer DSLR realm are "cropped" and only have a fraction of the size of a full-frame (same image sensor real estate equivalent to a 35mm film photograph).

Though it looks quite similar to the Canon 5D Mark II (note: this is my current "go-to" camera), the 5DM3 is an all-new design on the inside and really leverages some innovations in the Canon crop sensor space from the hugely successful Canon 7D. But this new camera one ups almost ever aspect of the previous Canons before it. The new 5DM3 leverages the 61 point Auto-Focus system from the top-end Canon 1DX and offers a huge ISO range of 100-25,600 to allow for some impressive low-light and high-speed photography.


At the core is a new Canon Digic 5+ processor which adds much needed horsepower to a camera handling large images. You will also find support for UDMA 7 Compact Flash cards as well as dual memory card slots accommodating Compact Flash and SDXC cards.

It is really hard to compare the 5DM3 versus the 5DM2. While they look almost identical except for a few tweaks here and there. The insides are completely different and really have evolved based on the needs and feedback of professionals to provide a fast and adaptable camera. The old 5DM2 was focused on megapixels and image clarity that proved a great landscape camera but the older camera was a bit slow on its focus. This new camera is notably more accurate and faster.

While I will go into a more in-depth review in the near future, suffice it to say, I am impressed with this new camera and it is right in my wheelhouse of features and capabilities. But I am a bit torn between the Canon and its direct competitor...the new Nikon D800. I do tend to prefer the color gamut of the Canon over the Nikon's almost surgical imagery.

My personal camera shopping dilema...

Typically I like to "make a recommendation" on this blog. I tend to point out my personal preferences and point out why I feel that way. But on this last category of product, I just haven't pulled the trigger on either yet as I need to spend a bit more time with both the Canon 5DM3 and the Nikon D800 before deciding.

Regarding price, the Canon 5DM3 and all it's horsepower comes at a price...$3,499 for just the body vs the original 5DM2s $2,699! There is no question, the 5DM3 is a much needed upgrade. I would love the improved speed, some notable improvements in some photographic technicals like how it handles color-fringe correction, metering and it's advanced focus system. And if you are vested in Canon lens...this is a great update and highly recommended. But I have both Canon and Nikon gear and from a pricing standpoint, the Nikon D800 is priced at $2,999 for the body and comes with an impressive 36 megapixel sensory plus all the other updates mentioned in my previous Nikon 2012 write-up. And my 5DM2 is still a solid performer. Hmmmm????

If you have some questions or thoughts about this, please comment.

More to come...

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

What am I talking about? After sitting through all the big television manufacturers presentations at CES 2012, it is clear that there is a war waging like never before to provide the best solution for watching X-Factor, NCIS or Modern Family. The television manufacturers are really focused on transforming the television into the computing hub of your home.

If I had to dish out a score card for how I believe the different television manufacturers are lined up to provide the best TELEVISION product offerings for 2012, I think it would go something like this...

Panasonic - For some reason I really just get the feeling they are "phoning it in" this year. Someone reading this at Panasonic is going "what the"? I mean they really had a large array of products on display but overall they just didn't evolve as much as others. If you saw the 2011/2012 product comparison demos...you would scratch you head as to the minutiae they were pointing out. Panasonic has a solid staple of incremental improvements in their plasma and LCD products. It is clear they have stuff cooking but this really seems like an off year for them. So much competitive progress in bezels and depth. This pains me to say as I have been a big fan of the plasmas for years but other technology looks to steal the plasma's thunder in the coming year or so. Their connected/internet apps offerings just seem a bit behind the times as well.

Sharp - About the same as Panasonic. Their new LCD televisions are the biggest sized options overall but they really don't seem to be competing on the connected feature offerings. Even though Sharp is pushing the envelop on size, I would challenge that without raising the resolution beyond 1080p...you can really start to notice the pixels. While the content for resolutions beyond 1080 are years off and Sharp plans to pursue these large sizes, they will need to address this "somehow". Bigger is not alway better. Now they did demo a 8K display which is 8,000 pixels wide that would blew you away with its detail and overall clarity (like looking out a window)...but there will be no content at that resolution readily available for another decade!

Vizio - I've been a big fan of how Vizio has really shaken up the television industry and has really driven features and value with some of the best televisions for the dollar out there. But this year it seems that Vizio's eyes have been on getting into new segments and the 2012 line-up just feels a bit underwhelming. More of the same. Still attractive product offerings overall but no advancements like some product offerings you are about to read about.

Sony - Really seems to be addressing their past challenges regarding software and user interface design especially with solutions like the new Google TV offerings. They also demonstrated some new active 3D glasses that are much more lightweight. Sony has developed some new television technology that takes LCD's to 4K resolution but we will be waiting awhile for broadcasters to get to that level...heck we don't even have most channels on cable and satellite at 1080p!

LG - Eager to make strides versus the big Samsung, LG really upped their offering this year and showed an incredible line-up of attractively packaged new LCD products. They also demonstrated a wide range of SMART TV and Google TV offerings with a wide-range of user experiences. We also got a glimpse at a 55" OLED television that combined stunningly vibrant imagery and incredibly thin packaging. These OLEDs look great at the 1080 resolutions of today.

Samsung - This year Samsung raised the bar again. Not only to they have some of the most attractive bezel packages on their LCD televisions, they have really polished up their SMART TV interfaces with new gesture and voice controls. They also demonstrated a 55" OLED TV that looked absolutely amazing. I would argue the Samsung unit has better picture quality than the LG but of course I am not comparing comparable content to be sure. Samsung's marketing team might just make better demo clips. Other than that, this is probably my favorite television at the show and it will be on sale by the end of the year. Now pricing was not announced and I'm sure it is out of all of our price range but it is just nice to know that level of product is making it our way over the coming years.

I'll provide some more details from each of these manufacturers after I have more time to walk their booths and get some more details. I just thought you might be interested in a bit more insight considering that SMART TV's and OLED are hot topics coming out of this year's CES.

And to answer what all those buzz words mean in the headline? Click here for some light reading...OLED, IPS, 4K. Email me if you need more information about these technologies.

For additional details, check out my 2012 Consumer Product Trends, some additional summaries like this one for other product categories at WouldntMind.com and specific key product details coming out of CES 2012 at WouldntMind.com News Page.

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

A video shot on the iPhone 4S from Benjamin Dowie on Vimeo.
Some people may be under the false belief that the new iPhone 4s is just an "update". But when you spend some time with the new SIRI voice-command features, noticeably snapper speed flipping between apps and the new 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video...you start the get the full picture. This is not a new strategy for Apple. If you look at the Macbook Pro line of Apple laptops you will note that the overall look has not changed for many years but the product offering inside has. Most likely this is the road Apple is interested in pursuing with their iPhones as well.

That is not to say that they won't come out with a new configuration but from an operational efficiency standpoint, Apple will try to leverage the form-factor as long as it competitively can.

To demonstrate some of the video prowess of the iPhone 4S, Benjamin Dowie has shot some incredible footage to really highlight the smart-device's 1080p video capabilities. Benjamin is a professional videographer and was really impressed with the depth of field found in a smartphone's camera. He did tweak the colors while editing the footage in Final Cut (Apple's professional video editing) software.

W5RX8UDE6QXQ