Cloud storage is lessening the hard drive’s load and making it easier for us to access all of our data anywhere. But for a lot of people (particularly those who watch the frequent news stories about data being stolen from the cloud), physical storage still seems like a far better option. Fasetto‘s Link wristband offers that secure physical storage in a very cool, if somewhat clunky, wearable form.

The Link gives you up to 1TB of storage on a solid state hard drive that goes anywhere with you. The wristband is strong and durable enough to wear it every day; it’s even waterproof so you can wear it in the shower or at the gym. In fact, it even incorporates some fitness tracking features to enhance your gym experience. But the Link’s major pull is that you can store just about every file you’ll ever need on the wearable hard drive and then share or stream wherever you go – even if you don’t have an internet connection.

Link hooks up with an app that removes the file type restrictions associated with different platforms. For example, you can stream an iTunes playlist from your Link to a friend’s Android phone without having to download or convert anything. The wristband communicates with devices via peer to peer communication rather than using a router or internet connection – so when you’re done streaming, there is no digital imprint of your data left behind.

The team behind Link is raising money on IndieGoGo to launch their product, which by all accounts is kind of amazing. Its battery life is up to two weeks standby and up to 12 hours while streaming; it weighs just a little over nine ounces and boasts wireless transmission speeds of up to 1300 MB/s. This kind of security and convenience is going to cost you, though: you can pre-order the 1TB Link for $799, which is a hefty discount from the eventual retail price of $949. Smaller storage units of 512GB, 256GB, and 128GB are available for pre-order through the IndieGoGo campaign as well.

The post Un-Clouding: Wearable Hard Drive Carries 1TB of Data first appeared on Gajitz.

You have a ton of choices for getting your data from one place to another, but flash drives are a classic. Etsy seller miniFab combines the flash drive with more classic technology: retro 8-bit video game controllers.

The 4GB Wood Gamer Flash Drives are made from bamboo and have an attached keychain for keeping them close at hand. Each one is emblazoned with the image of a classic NES or Super NES controller or a Gameboy.

The flash drives can be personalized with an engraved name or message. At $25, the 4GB USB drive seems like a pretty great gift for the 8-bit game enthusiast on your list.

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The desire to leave a legacy that persists long after our lives are over is encoded in our DNA. Some of us just have kids and call it good; others do something extraordinary like inventing stuff or going into space. Yourbot is a device and service that’s meant to make it fun and easy to leave a part of you behind for many, many generations.

The people behind the development of Yourbot call it “a time machine for the future.” The device lets you more or less digitally store your history and your personality for future generations. You take a 3D scan of your head and answer a series of questions developed by researchers from Princeton University, and the device creates a version of you that your great-grandchildren can converse with. The physical device connects to the Yourbot database via wi-fi, so future generations can put the Yourbot viewing device on a tabletop (assuming they have tables in the future) and talk to you.

You don’t have to type your whole life story all at once; you’ll answer a few questions a day via the app or web interface to build up an informational database. The questions range from simple and basic to timely and complex. You’ll record information about your childhood home, then weigh in on current (for you) world events. You’ll go on to describe your experiences in school, talk about your first kiss, and discuss your socioeconomic status. Future generations will be able to ask you questions via speech recognition software, and your digital 3D avatar will conversationally answer with your own words.

We love the idea of being able to record pieces of the present and preserve them for the future. However, Yourbot isn’t really that different from writing a journal or keeping a video diary. In order for your face to actually speak your words with your voice, you have to record your answers on the device in video mode. There’s nothing wrong with preserving information in that way; it’s just that when we picture a “time machine for the future,” we envision a 3D rendered version of ourselves culling information from a robust database of information and having actual conversations, not just playing back pre-recorded messages.

The draw of the Yourbot seems to be its data storage plan. When you purchase a Yourbot, the company promises to store the information you record for at least 200 years. There’s even an option to record two personalities on the same device, so you and a spouse or other loved one can tell your individual and shared stories. As of the time of publication, the Yourbot project is seeking funding through Kickstarter. For $100 you can upload your digital answers to the Yourbot database for 100 years. Starting at $250 you can get your very own handheld Yourbot and 200 years of data storage.

The post Digital Time Capsule Preserves Your Personality Forever first appeared on Gajitz.

Almost every important piece of information we use is kept on our phones – do you back yours up often enough? If you tend to use a wall charger rather than a cable connected to your computer to charge your phone, you might not be backing up your data daily. There are plenty of smartphone users who don’t even know how to do a proper data backup.

Or perhaps you back your data up regularly, but you keep it all in the cloud. With some very real security issues surrounding cloud storage coming up in the media recently, you might want to back up your back-up with some physical data storage. Bleep is a smart charging cable that automatically backs up your data whenever you plug in your phone. The interface is password protected and you can choose exactly which data you want to back up.

With built-in physical storage ranging from 16 GB to 64 GB, Bleep comes with an app that lets you easily access your backed-up info. If your phone is lost or stolen, all you have to do is get a new one, plug in Bleep, log into your account on the Bleep app and press “Restore.” All of the data you chose to back up is automatically loaded onto your new phone.

The Bleep will be available for use with Android or iOS devices. It can back up data without the use of an internet connection and can be used as a storage stick for transporting your photos, videos, and other files without the need for additional hardware. The creative project raised more than its funding goal on Indiegogo, with early versions going from $55-$78 for supporters.

The post Smart Charging Cable Backs up Your Phone as it Charges first appeared on Gajitz.

If you’ve ever looked at your desk and thought “Well, this isn’t nearly luxurious enough,” then the LaCie Sphère is here to pull you out of your non-fancy squalor. The rather beautiful spherical hard drive is handcrafted in Yainville, France and encased in super-shiny silver-plated steel case.

Looking like something from outer space, the hard drive holds an impressive 1TB of information. It doesn’t even require a power cord; it connects to your computer for data transfer and powering up via a single USB 3.0 cable.

Fancy French brand Christofle designed the truly beautiful hard drive. Although it looks futuristic and its insides are, in fact, quite high-tech, the polished globe is handcrafted using old-world techniques.

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The Sphère comes with basic software that prompts it to automatically back-up your information; it also has an eco-friendly mode that uses 90% less energy when the drive is idle. Available as of February 2014, the Sphère will run you a cool $490 (at the time of publication).

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