Hitachi Launches Power-Efficient HDD

One of the biggest problems that's cropped up with the tremendous performance boost in computing has been an increase in power expenditure. Though AMD has taken some steps with its low-power range of processors, this area has remained largely neglected.

One of the biggest culprits in this regard has got to be HDD manufacturers, whose sole focus till now has been on increasing the speed and performance of their products while neglecting the issue of vastly higher power requirements.

However, things appear to be changing. In a positive move, Hitachi has introduced what it says is its most power-efficient HDD. This new drive aims to cut power requirements by up to 40% over previous offerings. The model in question is the Desktar PK7500.

The PK 7500 requires only 3.6 watts of power in idle mode for its 250 GB model. The higher end model (350 GB) requires only 4.8 Watts. Under full load, the 250 GB will require 6.4 Watts and the 350 GB will require 8.2 Watts of power.

For more details on how this has been achieved, check out this excellent report by Dailytech.

The new drives will ship by end of the year. Prices have not been announced yet.

Boingo Wi-Fi Access for Nokia Smartphones

Boingo Wireless Inc., which provides access to the world's largest network of Wi-Fi hotspots, announced on October 17 that Boingo Mobile is now available for selected Nokia mobile devices.

Boingo Mobile subscribers pay a monthly flat rate for unlimited high-speed Internet access at thousands of hotspots worldwide, including airports, hotels, restaurants, cafés, and convention centers.

With the addition of Boingo Mobile, selected Nokia handsets and Internet Tablets can automatically connect to Boingo's network across the world for only USD 7.95/ EUR 5.95/ GBP 3.95 per month.

According to a press release from Nokia, owners of compatible Nokia Wi-Fi enabled devices – including selected S60-based smartphones and Linux-based Internet Tablets – can download and install Boingo Mobile, which enables roaming access to the world's largest network of public hotspots. The software identifies Boingo-enabled hotspots and automatically authenticates users with their Boingo account.

"Millions of Nokia customers worldwide can use Boingo Mobile to effortlessly connect to Boingo's hotspot network, allowing them to enjoy bandwidth-intensive applications at blazing-fast speeds," said Dave Hagan, Boingo president and CEO. "It simplifies the connection process and eliminates the cumbersome task of navigating public Wi-Fi walled gardens."

"This agreement reinforces Nokia's commitment to become an Internet-driven experiences company – offering not only great devices but also exciting services around them," said Nigel Rundstrom, vice-president, Nokia Multimedia.

Boingo Mobile can be downloaded via Nokia Download! for the Nokia N95, N80, N80 Internet Edition multimedia smartphones, and from Boingo.com for selected Wi-Fi enabled Nokia S60-based devices. From November, it will be available on additional selected Nseries and Eseries smartphones as well.

Boingo recently began expanding outside the US and now has hotspots in Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada, Latin America, and India.