Tech Watch

Seagate Locks Down Asi Whitebooks

VARs selling into industries such as health care, law and government, where security is of particular concern, might want to check out new whitebooks from ASI that integrate Seagate's Momentus hard drives with built-in encryption. Seagate's Momentus 5400 FDE.2, a 2.5-inch hard drive that adds hardware-based full-disk encryption to protect data at the drive level, is aimed at helping businesses prevent unauthorized access to laptops and to comply with data privacy regulations. ASI's C8015, for example, uses Wave Systems' Embassy Security Center Trusted Drive Manager, wizard-driven security-management software that's designed to make drive setup and configuration a snap. The software also lets IT administrators control hard drive security settings and taps Seagate's DriveTrust technology to allow administrators to erase data for system redeployment or disposal. The notebook employs traditional password authentication, as well as a fingerprint reader and support for the Trusted Platform Module. The enhanced security features, however, boost the notebook's price about 25 percent over that of similar ASI models. The company plans to integrate the Seagate drive with 13 different notebook models in the next several months.

ASI C8015 with Seagate Momentus 5400 FDE.2, www.asipartner.com, Price: $2,150

Xerox Kicks It Up A Notch

Xerox has started shipping the Phaser 4510 monochrome laser printer, which replaces the Phaser 4500 model. The new office printer kicks up the speed to 45 pages per minute, compared to 36 ppm for the 4500. Powered by a 533-MHz processor (vs. 400 MHz for the 4500), the 4510 also drives up the maximum monthly duty cycle from 150,000 pages to 200,000 pages. Among the new features: Networked models can be installed and configured over the Web, and toner levels can be determined from the machine's front-panel display or through a PC.

Xerox Phaser 4510, www.xerox.com, Price: starts at $899

Motorola Eda Doesn't Skip A Beat

Motorola's new MC35 Enterprise Digital Assistant (EDA) is designed to travel from the office into the field without skipping a beat. The handheld mobile computer, which weighs about 6.5 ounces and is slightly thinner than a Palm Treo device, packs support for GPS, Bluetooth and 802.11b/g, and includes a tri-band GSM radio, a 2-megapixel camera and a bar code reader. The compact device is based on Intel's XScale PXa270, 416-MHz processor and Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition operating system.

Motorola MC35 Enterprise Digital Assistant, www.motorola.com, Price: $640 to $750