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The weather is quite unpredictable nowadays; very hot and sunny in the morning, then it's suddenly raining cats and dogs in the afternoon. It’s times like these that you should have the right bag to protect your electronic gear, and the Targus Dash backpack is just what we would recommend.

It features more then enough compartments to keep everything organized, and provides ample padding to keep sensitive equipment such as your laptop protected at all times. There’s even dedicated wet compartment where you can store your umbrella or towel after a heavy downpour so that you won’t have to worry yourself about getting your other stuff wet.

There’s also a hidden rain cover that you can pull out to add that extra protective layer when the need arises. A built-in cable, security pocket, contoured padded backing and ergonomic shoulder straps provide that balance between security and comfort that is essential in the bags of today.

 

The Targus Dash backpack will set you back P3800 and comes with a lifetime warranty. It might seem a bit expensive for a bag, but think of it as an investment as it’ll surely protect whatever stuff you put in it from the elements. Targus products are exclusively distributed by MSI-ECS in the Philippines.

Technology these days is simply amazing once you stop and just think how things were a couple of years back. Who knew that eventually almost anyone can easily set-up a wireless network at home and enjoy broadband connections to surf the net. Thanks to technological wonders such as these, and the Eye-Fi SD card, Reuters reports how a tourist was able to recover her stolen camera and nab the culprits as well. While enjoying her vacation in Florida,  Alison DeLauzon suddenly realized that her camera was missing and along with it, all the snapshots and videos of her son. Fortunately for her, she was using the Eye-Fi SD card as storage on her Canon camera; and to her surprise, once she got home, all the pictures from her vacation were sent to her computer including snap shots of the thieves. Apparently, there was an unsecure network that matched the settings of her home network which the Eye-Fi card detected. The card then sent all the content to her computer via the internet. It not only managed to salvage all her vacation pictures, but also helped catch those guilty of the crime. This is just another example of how technology can work for you. Of course, taking extra care of your belongings is always a better and safer route because luck won't always be on your side. The Eye-Fi SD card is avialable locally at Ynzal.

There were rumors floating around that Intel might come out with their very own Solid-State drives, but with the demo units they handed out to select employees, I guess it safe to say it’s more than just talk. It was also demonstrated at the Intel Developer’s Forum in Shanghai and they announced that they were on track with its scheduled release in the 2^nd quarter of this year. Those lucky few who have used it testify to the strengths of this upcoming product. Some got even addicted to it they had difficulty switching back to the traditional hard drive when they had to return the demo unit already. For those still not familiar with the technology, here’s a little backgrounder. SSD, as opposed to traditional hard drives, is completely flash-based which does away with any mechanical parts. In turn, it provides faster performance as it is purely electronic, but unfortunately costs more. Right now, SSDs have yet to break the 500GB barrier while conventional hard drives are already at the TB level. However, if everything goes according to Intel’s plans, when this new line is released, we will see them range from 80GB to 160GB capacities in both 1.8- and 2.5-inch sizes. This will definitely be a big boost to the cause of the SSD revolution.

LaCie has got these spiffy new hard drives to complement your system both in style and functionality. With the ever growing demand of modern applications for more storage, this 1 TB external Hard Disk is just want the doctor recommends. House in a very stylish and classic aluminum chassis, it goes well in any environment whether it be your home computer or office workstation. Sadly though, connectivity is limited to hi-speed USB 2.0 standards which might suffice for most users but a FireWire or eSATA option would have been great on this TB storage solution. For those seeking a more portable alternative, the new Mobile Disk that comes in 80, 120, 160, 250, 320 GB variants is just what you need. It’s small, compact, and comes with a variety of capacities to choose. It makes us of a mini USB port and has 8 MB of cache on its 5400 rpm HDD. I can’t wait for these beauties to hit the local market.

Getting into the groove of the Olympic fever, Lenovo has formally launched a flash memory USB drive that’s specifically designed for the sporting event. Nice is my first impression, but thinking about it a bit longer, since this will be coming from Lenovo and being marketed as a special Olympic edition device, this will be tagged with a higher price than ordinary flash drives. I would expect (or wish) that this would include more-than-the-usual features, but as for now, the only thing confirmed is its availability soon and the design which hopefully won’t be limited to just one. TNo exact date was given as its release, but this should definitely be out in the market right before the games begin. The idea of an Olympic Games themed device is something not exclusive to Lenovo and I bet as the date of the China 2008 Olympics come closer, other manufacturers and companies will soon join the band wagon. It’s nice to see that souvenirs now will not only serve as mementos but are functional as well.

We’re all familiar with card readers as they have become a necessity of the ever-changing times. From 3-in-1 to 5-in-1, there are a variety of card readers that are available now that are either built-in to laptops or external add-on devices, but with the latest release by Kingston, it seems that you’ll just need one card reader to solve all your flash card dilemmas. The Kingston 23-in-1 Media Reader supports almost every media card format known to man. From microSD to MMCmicro to Compact Flash and Memory Stick Micro, this nifty peripheral is a do-it-all wonder. So say goodbye to those adaptors that only add junk to your amassing pile of gadgetry and say hello to your new best friend, the Kingston Media Reader. Gizmodo has a quick review on it and for the price and functionality it offers, it's seems like a pretty decent buy. It might not yet be available locally so just consider this as a heads up for you to watch out for this baby then next time you head out to your local tech shop.

Probably serving more as a fashion accessory rather than a mobile storage wonder, the Louis Vuitton USB flash drive has luxury written all over it. Discerning buyers will have the option of getting either white or yellow gold with ostrich or alligator accents combination. It carries over its signature lock and key feture from its famed purse line, though I highly doubt if it will serve much of a security function for this device since the key is chained to the unit itself.  Designers are also planning to integrate either an analog or digital watch on this elegant flash drive for a more functional non-computer related feature. Pricing for this uber luxurious gadget has not been released yet, but expect this to be more expensive than your average pint-sized flash drive. Storage capacity is expected to be 40 GB. I guess now high society has something to look forward in the tech industry.

Genius released the DPF-101K (suggested retail price P990), the Digital Photo Keychain -- a picture viewer in the most mobile form of a keychain. You can download images from your PC and store up to 80 pictures. The DPF-101K can also be used as a calendar and clock. It features a manual or auto slide show of your stored photos, software that compresses all your files, display of real time and calendar and a time setup (on/off). You can view your images in its 1 inch color panel with a resolution of 96 x 64 pixels. The DPF-101K can easily be connected to your PC through a USB port. Weighing only 23 grams, and measuring L45.5 x W38 X H12.5, no album has ever been more portable. Genius products are exclusively distributed in the Philippines by MSI-ECS. For more information on Genius products, contact James Ong at 688-3740, email jong @ msi-ecs.com.ph, or visit www.msi-ecs.com.ph

Probably a foreshadowing of sorts, the Eye-Fi SD Wifi card has received FCC approval in the US. So what does an Eye-Fi SD card do? It enables users to transfer images via Wifi 802.11b/g from digital cameras to their desktops virtually supplying their cameras with a limitless storage device. One simply needs to set up their PC using the SD card and an included adaptor and your good to go. It will come with 2 GB of storage for those who wish to use it as an ordinary SD card and is both Windows and Mac compatible. While this current technology only limits its usage to transferring images, this opens the floodgates to future innovations based on this revolutionary device that can one day even allow mobile phones that used to lack wifi functionality become wifi enabled in as easy as inserting an SD card.

It should be a no-brainer prediction that one of the high-capacity optical formats will be included in an impending iteration of iMac (nice alliteration, huh?) or other new Mac, but its still anyone's guess which of the two warring standards Steve-O will side with, and we won't likely know until the next Macworld Keynote. (Blu-Ray is emerging as the dominant format, but you never really know with notorious contrarian Jobs.) But for those portable Mac users with ginormous storage needs, you don't have to wait (well, maybe a month): Fastmac's got a solution. Fastmac announced yesterday their new slim, low-profile, slot-loading 2x Blu-Ray burner upgrade for Mac laptops. Now Mac users can enjoy burning 50GB worth of files at twice the speed, or watch a growing number commercially available BD movies like PS3 owners can. The new burner is also Adobe certified, and supports Blu-Ray video disk authoring on Mac OS X. It works with the following models: iBook G4 iMac G5 iMac Intel MacBook Pro (17-inch) Mac mini PowerBook G3 Pismo PowerBook G4 Titanium (667 Mhz or higher) PowerBook G4 Aluminum The burner works with Roxio Toast 8 Titanium or Adobe Premiere CS3 for Macs. It'll be shipping within the month but is already available for pre-order on the FastMac site for a cool US$1K special introductory offer.