Think you have the biggest hard drive around? Think again. Western Digital has set another industry first with a 2TB (Yes, that’s Terabyte) Hard Drive.

Released yesterday in the US, the hard drive, marked as the 2TB Caviar Green, sits on a 3.5-inch platform, includes 32MB of cache and is based around WD’s 500GB per platter technology (with 400Gb/in2 areal density).

This is a HUGE step forward in the hard drive world. Ten years ago, people were amazed by 40GB hard drive- it goes to show how far this technology has come. The new hard drive is available now for $299, which (all things considered) ins’t all that bad. Personally, I’m waiting for a laptop version; 2TB in a MacBook would rock.

Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green Drive Preview [Hot Hardware via Engadget]

Everybody loves Favicons- the nice little icons that saves when you bring up a web page. If you have a bunch of sites saved, these are really cool. But if you use Internet Explorer, they randomly disappear. Rid of this problem and save your Favicons with FavIconizer.

It will scan all links you have in your favorites and check if the website has a FavIcon. If it has one, FavIconizer will download that icon and adjust the link in the favorites to use that.
After FavIconizer is finished, you have all the FavIcons back in your favorites.

Pretty neat, eh? Before the emails fly in, yes, I did show a similar functioning program called FavOrg when Wired For Gadgets was just a tot (and it was JakeBechtold.net at the time). FavIconizer is a modern version to an old solution to an even older problem.

FavIconizer

If you’re like me, then you are testing out the Windows 7 Beta, the Beta version of the new upcoming version of Windows. If you are looking to quickly burn an ISO with Windows 7, there is easy way to do it.

Burning that ISO to a disc is as simple as:

1. Double-click the ISO file (or right-click and select Burn disc image.
2. Click Burn.

How do you like that? The next step of course would be the ability to mount an ISO, but they’ll get that far. Let’s just hope this feature makes the cut. Enjoy!

How to Burn ISOs in Windows 7 [Lifehacker]

I guess today is just going to be a day of Apple news. Fresh to hit the net is iPod/iPod Touch update 2.2.1. So far, it appears as if it is mearly a bug fix update (at least on my 2nd gen iPod Touch); It sites some various bugs with Safari and Mail and it fixes an issue with ALAC music files. I’ll keep you up to date if some other mysterious features pop up (copy and paste, anyone?)

As usual, the file comes in at a hefty 277MB (all the more reason to download it at school, *evil laugh*). You can upgrade your phone or iPod’s firmware by selecting, “check for updates” in iTunes.

I had heard a rumor that Apple was going to ship iLife ‘09 a week early, and sure enough, they did.

When I ordered, I got the free shipping, but they made it overnight shipping! Nice gesture on their part! And greatly appreciated. I should be getting it today and I’ll let you know later this week what I think.

Good Morning- It’s Monday and you know what that means: It’s time for Manic Monday.

• Obama’s staff finds White House in the technological dark ages.
• Forget the flash drive- Google’s gDrive expected for release this year.
• Judge: 17,000 illegal downloads don’t equal 17,000 lost sales
• RIAA Fears ‘Manipulation’ of Courtroom Web Broadcast
• All Major Canadian ISPs Slow Down P2P Traffic
• And, MSNBC really doesn’t get it with Linux…
• Moving on, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (allegedly) Delayed Until May or June.
• Windows 7 to have multiple versions. Is the really a surprise?
• And is Windows 7 what gamers really need?
• Apple puts iPhone Nano and Netbook rumors to rest
• And finally, Apple drops anti-piracy measures from iWork ‘09.

And that’s this week’s Manic Monday. Stay tuned for more great tech content to come!

On the Mac, Preview is a great way to view PDF files. But what if you need to put notes on them? That’s where Skim comes in.

Skim is a PDF reader and note-taker for OS X. It is designed to help you read and annotate scientific papers in PDF, but is also great for viewing any PDF file. It allows you view PDFs, add and edit notes, highlight important text, including one-swipe highlight modes, and magnify your notes. It also has Spotlight integration and the ability to export as text and much more.

Essentially, it’s Preview on steroids. This is great for students who want to highlight notes. In fact, I’m taking an Economics class where the professor posts the notes as a PDF. With this, I can highlight, add my own notes and print the changes. Skim is Free, Mac OS X only.

Skim [Sourceforge]

Time once again for another “From Under The Tree”. Today I’m talking about my new printer, the HP Deskjet D4360. As you may recall, this was also one of my items from my wish list. With the D4360, you can print up to 30 pages/minute black and up to 23 color. Also, you can transfer documents and photos to your PC via the front USB port. Plus, you save space with the compact, fold-up-tray design.

The main question that arose from some WFG readers was the compatibility with the Mac. HP has a great reputation with their printers, especially in the Mac department. HP is actually the brand that Apple recommends.

One thing I love about the printer (especially over my previous one, my Lexmark Z705), is the speed. HP says it’ll do 30 ppm (pages per minute) in black and 23 ppm in color. I have not tested the color, but I can verify that it will do around 30 ppm in black and white. Very impressive for an inkjet printer. READ MORE »

If you’ve been looking at the $999 Polycarbonate White MacBook, but haven’t been happy with the specs, rejoice! As of this morning, Apple has upgraded the $999 MacBook, to almost the same specs as a Unibody Aluminum one.

The low-end MacBook now comes standard with 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and Nvidia GeForce 9400m, the same graphics processor that is found in the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro.

The CPU speed is still at 2.0 GHz, and there’s no backlit keyboard option. In fact, I think the backlit keyboard should be standard. But that’s just me. Even without the keyboard, the upgrades are still great.

The new MacBook should ship in 4-6 days. To reiterate, the upgrade is to White plastic MacBook only; The Unibody Aluminum ones have not been touched.

MacBook [Apple Store via TUAW]

Okay okay, I’ve been trying to do this for a couple weeks and I apologize for the delay. As per tradition, it’s time for me to review a few gadgets I got for Christmas. Today we’re going to start with a device that came right off my wish list, the Griffin AutoPilot.

For those who don’t recall the multiple time I talked about it, The AutoPilot is a Charger/Controler using your cars Aux-In. AutoPilot’s illuminated knob gives you controls for Play/Pause and Track Forward/Backward. Press play; you get tactile feedback that lets you keep your eyes on the road. It’s the perfect complement for iPod touch (or any iPod) while driving; you never have to glance down or touch the face of your iPod.

So how to I like it? I love it. Due to an unusual circumstance, I got to test this out in two cars. First, my 1995 Taurus with aftermarket Sony stereo, which had a built-in Aux-In. It was very easy to hook up- it was really plug and play. The same great results happened with my 2007 Taurus, after I added an Aux-In to it.

Once hooked up, you can go backwards or forwards with your tracks. Also, there’s a Play/Pause button, which you’ll need if you need to shut off the car with the iPod still hooked up. The sound quality is great. In fact, there’s a high/low boost on it, in case your car’s Aux-In isn’t amplified.

So what’s wrong with it? Just one thing. It still receives power when the car is turned off. If the iPod is disconnected, the red LED is lit up so it likely isn’t sucking up much power. If you leave your iPod hooked up, there’s a chance you could drain the car battery, as it’s going to try and charge the iPod.

That said, I highly recommend the Griffin AutoPilot to anyone with a car Aux-In. For $49, you can’t go wrong. If you use an FM-Transmitter, Griffin makes an AutoPilot with built-in iTrip as well.

AutoPilot [Griffin Technologies]