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Apple rolls out wireless backup

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Looking not too dissimilar to the
differently successful Apple TV, or if you squint a Mac Mini, Apple has
finally taken the wraps off it shiny new device that at last promises
wireless backup to all those people that have gone out and bought OS X
Leopard. 

The wireless storage device, called Time Capsule,
is basically an AirPort Extreme wireless router with a huge hard disk
drive crammed into its svelte body. The device works with Leopard’s new
back-up application called Time Machine. Apple users
can now back up and restore files and stuff over a wireless network,
instead of
having to mess up your perfectly ordered desktop with cables running
from your computer to your external hard disc.

Time
Capsule has dual-band antennas covering both 2.4GHz or 5GHz
frequencies. Physical connectivity-wise, it has a USB 2.0 and three
Gigabit LAN ports. The device sports a built-in power supply (no messy
power blocks to spoil the view). It can also do wrieless printing from
a USB printer. Security is a big feature of this as the device has
WPA/WPA-2,
128-bit WEP encryption and a built-in NAT firewall that supports
NAT-PMP
for OS X’s Back to My Mac feature.

According to Apple, the
units are shipping already, although looking on the Apple website there
are reports of five- to seven-day waits. The appliance is available in
two sizes: a 500GB unit which costs $299, and a huge 1TB model that
goes for $499.

When Time Capsule was introduced by his holiness the Jobs on January 15 at Macworld,
he said the device would ship in February. So the company just about got this one out on time-ish.

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