Filed under: Macworld, Accessories, Software
Retrospect, portable storage headline Iomega booth
Iomega and EMC continue to offer plenty of backup and storage options for home and small businesses, including a new version of Retrospect that improves the interface and performance for the first time in years.
Retrospect 8.0 for Mac, in addition to the customizable UI, includes improved backup-to-disk features, tape library management, and email reporting. Its revamped backup engine can perform eight simultaneous disk actions (like copy, backup, and restore), bringing it closer to parity with the Windows version of the tool.
A public beta of Retrospect 8.0 is available now from EMC's website, which EMC recommends not be used in mission-critical environments. The final version is expected to ship before the end of March; pricing starts at $129.
Also available from Iomega (an EMC company) are two storage products for Mac users: Home Media Network Hard Drive, and the eGo Helium for MacBook Air users.The Home Media Network Hard Drive works with iTunes to create a networked repository for music and movies, along with a print server for USB printers. It's available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, and retails for $160 and $230, respectively.
The eGo Helium is designed with the MacBook Air in mind, and features a small, lightweight profile. With a single USB connection for power and data, Helium works with the Air's single USB port. The eGo Helium is 320GB and priced at $150.
Iomega is located at Macworld in the North hall, at booth 4015.
Full disclosure: I previously worked with Iomega for five years starting in 2002, designing their retail packaging.
Video on the next page:
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Allister said 7:12AM on 1-07-2009
EMC are kidding themselves if they seriously think people will pay $129 for a version of Retrospect for OS X that 'almost' has feature parity with Windows... After how many years and other solutions have been available??
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Allister said 7:14AM on 1-07-2009
Also:
ROAR!!!
Boyo said 8:06AM on 1-07-2009
Iomega drives IMHO-- blow, they are loud and have a high failure rate compared to others with similar products.
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Mark Howell said 8:29AM on 1-07-2009
Hilarious.
Last year, EMC "introduced" Retrospect X for the platform. This year, they "introduce" Retrospect 8.
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Marcos said 10:35AM on 1-07-2009
It'd sure be nice if TUAW embedded videos that were compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch. What ever happened to plain old Quicktime videos? I bet an overwhelming majority of your readers have Quicktime installed.
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LD said 11:52AM on 1-07-2009
Hear hear! At least embed YouTube if it's going to be Flash. That way iPhone/iPod Touch users can view it. But it just makes more sense, on an Apple-centric site, to embed in a format that every Apple user has, which is Quicktime.
TUAW has zero consistency in the videos they post. Sure, there are some that are out of their control. But for those that are, or that have alternatives, Quicktime and YouTube should be the only formats.
Tom W Browning said 11:07AM on 1-07-2009
The Air actually doesn't have an overpowered USB port. It was discovered that it is the firmware in the Superdrive that limits its use to just the Air. Replacing a board inside the unit renders it useable with any computer.
Many (most?) portable HDDs only need one USB port these days.
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LD said 12:14PM on 1-07-2009
Not sure why people ever thought it had an overpowered port. Wouldn't that be a BAD thing for other USB devices that may be more sensitive to power requirements? I'd hate to the Apple would make the decision to blow up USB sticks!
Robert Palmer said 12:48PM on 1-07-2009
The way the engineer explained it to me was that it couldn't use a typical USB Y cable, since (obv) the Air only has one USB port. Most other Iomega drives use the Y cable for power. When I asked if the drive took advantage of the unique power features of the port, the engineer at the booth said yes, it had to.
Not sure how that squares with the firmware issue. I know that Iomega worked with Apple to develop the drive.
I'll go back today and ask more about that.
Raymond said 1:14PM on 1-07-2009
There's no need to use a Y-cable anymore for a USB 2.5" Hard drives nowadays anymore.
The Superslim DVD Writers made by MATSHITA or Panasonic are able to be powered by a single USB ports.
Check out eBay and you'll find those.
There's nothing special about the power for the MBA SuperDrive
Robert Palmer said 2:15PM on 1-07-2009
Y'all are right -- I went back and talked with the guy, and he said the drive has no additional power requirements beyond a normal drive that connects with one port. He said the 320 GB drives work well with the single cable; larger capacities would require a Y cable.
I removed the parenthetical from the story. Thanks!