Buffalo is introducing three new routers, as well as a hat trick of network adapters. Two of the routers are based on the Draft N spec, with the $99.99 Wireless-N Nfiniti High Power Router & Access Point (WZR-HP-G300NH; pictured) at the higher end and the $79.99 Wireless-N Nfiniti Router & Access Point (WHR-G300N) priced for more value-oriented consumers. The biggest differences between the two are that the WZR-HP-G300NH comes with USB and Gigabit Ethernet ports, adjustable antennae, and a quality-of-service (QoS) mode that prioritizes multimedia content streaming over the network. For price-conscious consumers that don't want to make the step up to 802.11n, Buffalo is also offering a 802.11g router in the form of the $59.99 Wireless-G High Speed Router & Access Point (WHR-HP-G54). One thing Buffalo is not offering is a dual-band N router like D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear have. According to the Buffalo rep I spoke with, the company's thinking is that the high-end ($100+) router market is too small for it to worry about for the moment.
Of course, Buffalo is releasing USB-based network adapters to go along with the new routers, though it isn't offering a 802.11g one to go along with the WHR-HP-G54. Instead, it's offering the $79.99 Wireless-N High Power Compact USB 2.0 Adapter (WLI-UC-G300HP) and $69.99 Wireless-N Compact USB 2.0 Adapter (WLI-UC-G300N); the primary difference is the pricier unit comes with a flip-out antenna. If size matters, Buffalo is offering the teeny-tiny Wireless-N Ultra Compact USB 2.0 Adapter (WLI-UC-GN; pictured) for $59.99 It measures just 0.6x1.6x0.2 inches.
While Buffalo will need to play catch-up in the router space, it's already a market leader in network attached storage. It looks to build on that success with several new NAS devices, and it's even trying to reduce confusion over its business and consumer lines by labeling the former TeraStations and the latter LinkStations, and not mingling consumer TeraStations and pro-level LinkStations as has happened in the past. The new TeraStation Duo is the first TeraStation to support just two drives, and it comes in 1TB (the $319.99 TS-W1.0L/R1) and 2TB (the $399.99 TS-W2.0L/R1) flavors. There's also the TeraStation III (pictured), which can handle four drives, and comes in the $1,299.99 2TB TS-X2.0TL/R5 and the $2,299.99 4GB 4TB TS-X4.0TL/R5. Both new TeraStations support RAID Level 0 and 1 configurations, hot-swappable drives, and Mac OS X's Time Machine feature, sport a pair of USB ports with printer server capabilities, and can work as a DLNA media server. They also have power-saving features like a scheduler that can automatically shut down the device during off hours. With room for more drives, the TeraStation III also offers RAID Level 5 support.
On the consumer side, the new LinkStation Pro has a sleek look and competitive pricing: $209.99 for the 500GB LS-XH500L and $299.99 for the 1TB LS-XH1.0TL. While it has many of the features you see in competing NAS drivesa pair of USB ports, DLNA server support, Web access to your files it stands out with an iPhone app that lets you access those files on your phone, including streaming media content. The one-year warranty's a little on the thin side, however. I hope to take a look at one when they become available soon, so stay tuned.
Digi-Capital
and
Augmented
World
Expo
dish
out
a
bevy
of
takeaways
in
a
research
report
on
augmented
reality
and
smartglasses,
but
they
didn't
quite
expect
Apple
to
be
cited
as
a
player
...
While
sales
of
desktop
units
were
up
slightly
year-over-year,
HP
still
saw
an
overall
drop
in
the
number
of
PCs
sold
due
to
the
decline
in
Notebooks
units.
...
If
the
cold
war
with
China
intensifies,
more
companies
with
alleged
ties
to
the
Chinese
government
could
be
prohibited
from
doing
business
with
American
firms.
...
The
new
devices,
which
include
a
$64
8-inch
and
$79
10.1-inch
slate
and
a
$99
10.1-inch
model
with
detachable
keyboard,
go
on
sale
this
week
under
the
company's
Onn
electronics
brand.
...
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