In addition, each model features the TravelStar drive, which essentially protects the device from shock and water. While operating, it can withstand a shock up to 400G, and when it is idling it can withstand a shock up to 1000G. According to Hitachi, these drives can survive a 3 meter drop. The USB cable shouldn’t get in the way when traveling with the hard drive as it neatly tucks away. Using Mozy, each hard drive allows the user 2GB of free online storage space.

Moving on, the SimpleDRIVE Mini features a 250GB version, a 320GB version, and a 500GB version. They come in red, blue, and black, respectively. Otherwise, these two series of hard drives are the same except for the fact that the SimpleTOUGH series are designed to withstand the elements, while the SimpleDRIVE Mini is simply designed for travel convenience, without any protection features.

In terms of pricing, the 250GB SimpleTOUGH hard drive will sell for $99, while the Mini sells for $90 at 250GB. The 320GB SimpleTOUGH hard drive sells for $120, while the Mini counterpart sells for $110. Finally, the 500GB SimpleTOUGH sells for $150, while the Mini 500GB sells for $140.

Hitachi SimpleTech

The Amazon Kindle is renowned for its superb ability to read literature and news on the go however, sheet music is not readily seen as a must have document on such a device.

FreeHand System aims to allow Kindle users to download sheet music from a selection of 130,000 titles.   Their music library is contained within the Novato Music Press catalog and it features a mix of jazz, pop, country, world music, chamber, opera, orchestra and major composers with the company touting themselves as the world’s largest online music database.

Pricing ranges from low-cost to somewhat expensive depending on music type with no specific pricing information at this time.

The focus for this event will be on WordPress, the software that powers the core of all MechaWorks sites. We’re hosting the first Silicon Valley WordPress meetup, and we hope to make it a recurring thing. It’s one way we can help give back to the technology that has helped us grow so much, over the past couple of years.

But, even if you aren’t WP-Savvy, don’t let that stop you from showing up! Your fearless CEO and Editor-in-Chief will be there, and we’ll also be taking a brief bit of time to show off all the job openings that we have, as well as a few details about cool new stuff MechaWorks is working on. It’s open-ended, a way to get bloggers out from under their computer desks… but generally about great technology.

Oh, and of course, free coffee for everyone that shows up. Coffee is just as important to us at MechaWorks, just like any other technology that keeps us awake.

The meetup will take place Sunday, July 19 from 3 to 5 PM, at Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View. Seating there is limited, but if we fill up fast we can move the event somewhere else nearby.

Since we are on the theme of WordPress for this event, if you’ve got some great blog, or just a cool way WordPress makes your life better… drop us an email and we’ll see if we can fit in some showcasing.

Please do RSVP for the event, at the link below. Red Rock has a capacity of just under 60 people, so we do need to know how many to expect.

MechaWorks.local Meetup 01 – Silicon Valley WordPress Meetup + Coffee

Simply called Google Chrome OS, the forthcoming software is targeted at x86 and ARM based hardware and is completely separate from Android, which is maintained by the Open Hardware Alliance along with Google.

Google will open-source the Chrome OS code later this year and netbooks running Google Chrome OS are planned to be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. The software architecture consists of Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel, similar to Palm’s webOS.

For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using standard web technologies. Apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux, thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform as well as using standard Linux development tools for more conventional applications.

Google is pitching the Google Chrome OS in a similar manner to the browser by addressing the most common issues such as dealing with viruses, malware and security updates along with instant email access, speed, data accessibility, redundancy and configuration for average users.

The laptop itself features a 16GB solid state drive, Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, webcam, integrated card reader, 10-inch display, and integrated Wi-Fi/mobile broadband card.

One of the key aspects of the device is the OS it will be running. Since it is slated for a fall release, it will be running Windows 7.

It features a 1.2 GHz Atom processor, operates completely on its touch screen, but there are some shortcut buttons along the side of the device, and features an optical trackpad. In addition, it features a 80GB hard drive, Bluetooth connectivity, and Wi-Fi support. For the European version, it will feature a DVB-T TV tuner, but that feature will be lost in the American model.

Moving on, Archos announced that on September 15, 2009, they will unveil a new Android Tablet. Such a device is significant because it will be running an OS that has only been featured in cell phones. Furthermore, a few features in the Tablet includes Flash support, 3G connectivity, TV recording, 500GB hard drive space, and a 7 hour battery life.

No word on pricing for either of these devices, but I’m sure we will learn more in September, and then in October when Windows 7 is officially made available.

Joost is going down the drain, and AnimeNews.biz is reporting what is going to happen with the technology…

Over on CentralGadget.com, we’re urging you to nab those Windows 7 early-upgrade discounts… as they’re running out.

Our deal site, CheapenGadget.com, has found Apple continuing their fire sale of MacBook Air refurbs. The newest entry in way-too-low-pricing for the ultracompact notebook is the GeForce 9400M-powered variety… for $1199.

And, on PhoneNews.com, LG finally gets on the iPhone-style updating train.

Padding, or adding a small space from the left-side of the screen, is not something new to search engines. Ask.com is considered widely to be one of the first to engage in it, and Windows Live Search Bing also followed suit.

Making subtle changes can improve the quality of a web site, but it also can disorient readers. With Google typically considered the most popular web site on the internet, millions of people have already seen the change. How many actually pause, or are disoriented by the change, remains to be seen.

What’s your take on padding? Like it? Hate it? Sound off in the comments.

For those of you living under a rock, Microsoft is discounting the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade by 58%, and the Windows 7 Professional upgrade by 50%, while supplies last. No discount will be given on the Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade.

The Windows 7 upgrades are compatible with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. Pre-order from Microsoft to get both digital download and mail-order options. You can upgrade at the link below, or from most retailers. Micro Center was the first retailer to sell out, as they offered the only significant discount off the already marked-down prices.

Update: To answer some questions that we’ve already received… yes, you can upgrade from Windows 2000/XP Professional to Windows 7 Home Premium. And yes, you can downgrade upgrade from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional.

The YouTube Blog earlier today announced that they’ve increased the upload limit from 1GB to 2GB. The increased limit means that users can now upload higher quality videos as well as HD videos. The 10 minute time limit does remain the same, for general users, as can be seen here in their documentation.

In addition to the increased upload size, YouTube now offers links directly to HD videos as well as embedded code for websites allowing users to immediately start watching the HD content as soon as the click the link or watch the embedded video. The YouTube Team provides a few tips on how to access and use these added features:

* To share a link to the HD version of your video, simply append &hd=1 to the end of the URL. This means the video will start playing in HD as soon as someone follows the link. Cool, huh?

* To embed the HD version of a video on a website or blog, click the ‘customize’ button to the right of the embed box on the video page. Some options will appear; simply check ‘play in HD’. The embed code that’s generated will cause the video to start playing in HD as soon as a viewer clicks play. We recommend embedding HD videos at the largest size (853×505) for maximum enjoyment.