andPOP » lacie

Certified Colours in a Click

Carys Mills — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:05:25 +0000

LaCie blue eye pro Proof Edition, a complete monitor calibration and profiling solution, ensures certified colors in a one click.

Designed to integrate with prepress, its Test & Report function allows users to perform color accuracy verifications based on UGRA/FOGRA Mediawedge standard colours.

Whitepoint, gamma, brightness, blackpoint and any other target colorimetric settings can be targeted by users. The software automatically calibrates the monitor, ensuring consistent colour reproduction during the work-flow.

“Thanks to the LaCie blue eye pro Proof Edition, customers whose work-flow includes contract proofing based on standard UGRA/FOGRA Mediawedge colours can enjoy the benefits of softproofing with no disruption to their existing processes,” said Daniel Mayer, LaCie Displays Business Unit Manager.

LaCie blue eye pro Proof Edition’s colour management tools include whitepoint fine-tuning, blackpoint adjustment and ambient Light analysis. It works with software packages such as ColorSync, Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, QuarkXPress and Aperture.

Merger of LaCie and Wuala

Carys Mills — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:20:38 +0000

LaCie, manufacturer of computer peripherals, announced a merger with the creators of the online storage service, Wuala, yesterday.

“We will also bring this technology to enterprises and professional customers, who will soon take advantage of our services with both cloud and data center-based storage,” said Dominik Grolimund, Co-creator of Wuala.

LaCie was established in 1989 and makes peripherals for PC, Apple and Linux users. Wuala is online storage that allows users to securely store, backup and access files from anywhere. Users start with 1 GB of storage, but can trade idle disk space or buy more space. LaCie is planning on implementing “cloud storage” technology into its storage devices.

“For 20 years, LaCie massively promoted hard drive technologies; today, as a leader on storage market, we will be a first mover in the next leading technologies: flash-based storage, and cloud storage. With this merger, LaCie will morph from a pure hardware manufacturer to a solution provider. These new technologies will be amazing for our customers and will enhance their experience,” said Philippe Spruch, CEO of LaCie.

LaCie releases new products for the holidays

andPOP Staff — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:49:35 +0000

LaCie announced last week the release of several new products for the holiday season. The CurrenKeys are high-speed 2.0 USB drives that resemble contemporary coinage, making it ideal to hold customer’s valuable and confidential data.

Flat Cables bring practical improvements and an visually-appealing cover to computer cables. The cables are available for three types of USB interfaces, as well as FireWire and eSATA connectors.

Finally, LaCie’s new line of PCI cards allow users to update their desktop computers with additional peripheral connections. The product line includes a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 card with four ports, an eSATA 1.5GB card with two ports and RAID 0/1 support, a FireWire 400 card with three ports, among others.

To view images of the product, please visit http://www.lacie.com/.

Review: LaCie USB Speakers

Daniel Levine — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:26:44 +0000

Seemingly inspired by a PVC tube corner-connector, LaCie’s latest diversion from the world of hard-drive comes in speaker form. Design by Neil Poulton out of France, the LaCie USB Speakers are a modern, lightweight and welcomed addition to the realm of desktop speakers.

The $59.99 (USD) speakers are completely plug and play for both PC and Mac, requiring no drivers. They work over USB which means no need for a power adaptor (they’re bus-powered).

The last time I was impressed by the design of a set of desktop speakers was the harman/kardon Soundsticks (they went great with my iMac G4). Since I stopped using those a few years ago, I haven’t actually used a pair of desktop speakers.

The minimalistic and modern design of the LaCie USB speakers make them an easy addition to any design conscious user. They look great next to a white MacBook or a current generation aluminum MacBook or MacBook Pro.

If there’s one complaint for Apple’s line of notebooks it’s their horrendously low speaker internal speaker volume. When I use my laptop at my desk, the $59.99 the LaCie speakers are an affordable and appreciated addition.

The sound volume of the speakers is considerably good for an office or working space, but don’t expect to wake the neighbours with them. As an audiophile, you may notice some deficiencies on the lows but considering their small physical footprint and overall great quality, this isn’t a huge issue.

While intuitively designed to hide cables and even allow the input of an iPod or other audio device (through a 3.5mm jack), the speakers give no ability for volume control, or volume level feedback on the unit themselves. The audio input has been great, allowing me to connect both my desktop (through the 3.5mm jack) and my laptop (through the USB) to the speakers and use them for both computers while at my desk.

Being USB powered has its obvious costs/benefits. On the plus, the direct digital USB connection provides for a better quality signal to the speakers, while at the same time it means sacrificing an important USB port.

The setup is extremely simple and completely plug and play. Just take the speakers out of the box and insert the USB. You’re ready to go. If for some reason they don’t start to work, just launch System Preferences (or Control Panel on a PC), go to your sound preferences and select the USB Audio Device as your sound output.

These speakers are a great addition and have earned a permanent spot on my desk. There are no alarming trade-offs between form and function, and the apparent focus on both has created a great product at a great price.

LaCie Adds USB Speakers to Product Line

andPOP Staff — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:50:58 +0000

LaCie announced earlier this week the addition of USB Speakers by Neil Poulton to their product line. The speakers provide universal usability in both PC and Mac environments through bus-powered connectivity, and feature internal cable storage.

The LaCie USB speakers can plug into a PC or Mac without installing any additional drivers. The speakers can also be connected directly to a MP3 player with the purchase of an extra power adapter.

The speakers were also awarded the Janus 2007 Seal of Quality by the French Institute of Design, and were listed in Time Magazine’s Design 100 issue. LaCie was also awarded a 2008 Design Observer Star from the French Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation.

The LaCie USB Speakers are available worldwide for the suggested retail price of $59.99. For more information on this product, visit www.lacie.com.

LaCie Introduces Network Space

andPOP Staff — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:58:14 +0000

This week, LaCie announced the release of Network Space, a networked attached storage (NAS) and media server designed specifically for easy home and small office use. Network Space was designed by Neil Poulton, who also designed the Red Dot award-winning Hard Disk device.

The LaCie Network Space comes ready-to-use out of the box – it is simply connected to a router through the rear Ethernet port and the device is immediately available to share information through the local area network. Network Space also comes pre-built with two separate shares: one share is public for easy access from any networked computer, while the other is password protected for secured private use.

LaCie Network Space can also stream multimedia files through DLNA-compatible UPnP media players, such as the Xbox 360 or Sony Playstation 3, or act as an iTunes server. This allows users to enjoy media on their television located elsewhere in the house, rather than just from the computer monitor.

The Network Space is available in capacities of 500 gigabytes to 1 terabyte. The device will be available worldwide in early October, and can be purchased for about $150 from the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller and LaCie Storage Partner.

2big Triple Hard Drive Wins TIPA Award

andPOP Staff — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:32:25 +0000

This week, LaCie announced that the innovative 2big Triple hard drive, designed by Neil Poulton, has won an award for the Best Storage Back-up Solution from the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA). The annual TIPA Award is regarded as the most prestigious photo and imaging honor in Europe.

TIPA is composed of 30 independent industry publications from 13 European countries. The member publications have no relation with any manufacturer in the industry, allowing for neutrality to present awards to the best products of the year. The award is eligible to any company that manufactures photo, video and digital products. Products are judged for the award for ease of use, features and price.

The LaCie 2big Triple is a storage device with separate FireWire 800, FireWire 400, or USB 2.0 interfaces for high-speed data transfer. The 2big Triple is a RAID solution product that can be configured for safety or performance. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, which refers to technology that uses two or more hard disk drives simultaneously to enhance performance, reliability, and/or to create larger data volume sizes. The 2big Triple also features a naturally-cooling, heat-sink design and a thermoregulated progressive smart fan to keep noise to a minimum.

This product is available at various participating retailers, and is selling for approximately $350 for 1TB of storage space. More information on this product can be found at www.lacie.com.

LaCie Announces New Remote Burning Software

andPOP Staff — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:54:25 +0000

LaCie, an international computer accessories manufacturer, has announced the release of its new Remote Burn Software for Mac OS. The software allows users to burn multiple copies of a CD/DVD across numerous computers connected by the same network. Using the Remote Burn Software, the data to be burned to is sent across the network to selected computers that are attached with LaCie burners.

The Remote Burn Software automatically calculates the kind of DVD/CD needed to burn particular types of data to a disc, and files can be burned by simply dragging and dropping the files into the queue. The Remote Burn Software also features professional disc burning capabilities, such as burning verification and data compression for a faster transfer. As of now, the Remote Burn Software is only available for Macs with an operating system of OS X 10.4 or later.

Faster, Better Blu-Ray Burner Drive

andPOP Staff — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:56:24 +0000

LaCie, a computer hardware company, has just announced the release of the d2 Blu-Ray Drive. This latest version of the product burns Blu-ray single-layer media discs four times faster than the previous model. The drive records, rewrites and reads 25 gigabytes (GB), 50GB BD-R (recordable) and BD-RE (rewritable), as well as DVD±RW DL and CD±RW. The d2 Blu-ray Drive also comes with Roxio burning software, allowing users to burn professional-quality media.

Since Blu-ray discs have 10 times the capacity of DVDs, users have the ability to choose much higher bit rate codes when burning content to improve the overall picture quality. The audio qualities can also be manipulated with the Blu-ray drive, with up to eight channels of 92kHz/32 audio streams.

The d2 Blu-ray Drive is available at specialized retails stores, and has suggested retail price of $649.99.