Hitachi releases first enterprise-class 4TB hard drive

The new Ultrastar drive has four different power settings

Hitachi's former disk-drive division today announced what it said it the first enterprise-class 4TB hard disk drive.

Hitachi execs plead guilty to price fixing

The drive has a greater areal density that offers 33% more capacity in the same 3.5-inch form factor at 24% lower watts-per-gigabyte than its predecessor.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST), now owned by Western Digital , introduced the new Ultrastar 7K4000 line, which uses the new 512e Advanced Format.

The industry as a whole is moving to the Advanced Format standard because 4KB sectors on hard drives offer higher capacities and addresses current technological limitations with 512-byte sectors in some OSes, such as Windows XP. Laptop drives, or 2.5-in hard drives, adopted the 512e Advanced Format in 2010.

Advanced Format HDDs, also known as 512e HDDs, will emulate 512-byte SATA, allowing them to maintain backward compatibility. Hitachi's Ultrastar 7K4000 4TB hard drive.

The new Ultrastar 7K4000 drive is the third generation using the Ultrastar design. It has five platters that spin at 7,200rpm. The drive uses a 6Gbps SATA interface and a 64MB cache buffer. It has a 2 million hour mean-time-between-failure rating.

Western Digital is marketing the drive for use in 24x7 enterprise applications such as big data, cloud computing, data warehousing, video-on-demand, disk-to-disk backup and massive scale-out storage implementations.

The predecessor to the 7K4000, the Ultrastar 7K3000 drive, held up to 3TB of data. With the new 4TB model, IT managers can get 2.4 petabytes of capacity in the footprint of a standard 19-inch storage rack by stacking 10 4U (7-in high), 60-bay enclosures.

Using the Advanced Power Management API developed by Intel and Microsoft, the Ultrastar 7K4000 can take advantage of four modes and achieve up to a 59% reduction in power usage, from peak usage to low RPM idle mode. In stand-by or sleep mode, the drive uses just 1 watt of power.

The Ultrastar 7K4000 family is now shipping in limited quantities. Models are available with a native data encryption option.

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10 Best U.S. Cities for IT Jobs with Tech Startups

Tech startups have long attracted IT professionals to their payrolls, lured by the opportunity to work on cool projects with new technologies. If you're seeking the thrill of startup life (and the prospect of IPO riches), head to one of the following 10 U.S. cities identified by PayScale as a hotspot for finding high-paying IT jobs with tech startups.

Economists with salary data provider PayScale compiled a list of the 10 best cities in the U.S. for finding high-paying IT jobs with tech startups. They looked at the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. and determined the number of startup IT jobs available per capita in each location. The company also investigated average salaries in each city. PayScale compared the jobs and salary data with national averages to develop its ranking of hotspots for tech startups.

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San Francisco
Not surprisingly, San Francisco and its surrounding cities topped PayScale's list of the best places for finding IT jobs with tech startups. According to PayScale's research, the Silicon Valley/Bay-area boasts 2.5 times more IT jobs with tech startups than the national average. In 2011, venture capitalists inked 1,158 deals in the Valley, worth $11.6 billion, according to PWC and the National Venture Capital Association. The median annual salary that these companies offer tech workers is $84,400. The area's history of launching startup companies, combined with its proximity to venture capital firms and prestigious educational institutions, keeps it on top.

Austin
The city that hosts SXSW, the hippest celebration of music, film and technology, ranked second on PayScale's list of the best cities for finding IT jobs with tech startups. While the median annual salary for tech workers at area startups is only $66,600, Austin claims 2.3 times more IT jobs with tech startups than the national average. Round Rock-based Dell Computer established Austin's tech presence in 1984, and now the city is brimming with tech companies. Check out AustinStartup's list of the top 100 emerging technology companies in the are.

Seattle
The looming presences of two of the world's most famous tech companies, Amazon and Microsoft, help drive up salaries and startup activity in the Seattle metro area. The median annual salary for IT workers with tech startups in Seattle is $74,900. The city is home to twice as many startups as the national average. Notable startups in the area include the Cheezburger Network, Big Fish Games, Zillow and Jobster.

Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City has been dubbed "Silicon Slopes" for the tech community that has grown inside Utah's capital and for the mountains that surround it. Notable tech companies based in Salt Lake City include Overstock.com and Software Technology Group. SaaS companies Omniture and AtTask are headquartered 40 miles south in Orem, and Ancestry.com is based in Provo. The median annual salary for IT workers with tech startups in Salt Lake City is $61,400. "Cash compensation is usually lower at startups than it is at bigger firms," says PayScale's Bardaro. She adds that it's balanced out by equity in the company and other perks.

Denver
In the 1970s, the city of Denver built the Denver Technology Center (DTC), an office park off Interstate 25 in the southwestern part of the Denver metro-area. DTC gives several big tech companies, including HP, Oracle and SAP, an outpost in the West. Late last year, an 80,000 square foot facility within the DTC, dubbed the Innovation Pavillion, was formed to co-locate startups with established companies, academic institutions and government organizations, according to the Denver Post. The median annual salary for tech workers at startups in the Denver metro area is $65,300.

Boston
Budding entrepreneurs and technologists studying at Harvard and MIT have made Boston a hub for startup activity. Famous Boston-and Massachusetts-based startups include Monster.com, Brightcove, and Akamai Technologies. Today there's a new pack of promising startups, which include peddl, MOVL and Tracelytics, among many others. An outgrowth of the MIT Media Lab, peddl aims to revolutionize the classified marketplace the way Craigslist did a decade ago. Social television company MOVL captured the attention—and VC dollars—of Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban. Tracelytics does application performance management. The median annual salary for IT workers with tech startups in Boston is $74,100.

Raleigh
North Carolina's capital recommitted itself to becoming an "Innovation Center" in January 2012 when city leaders, in partnership with North Carolina State University and several local economic development organizations, held an "Innovation Summit" designed to foster entrepreneurs and startups in the city. The city's plan includes creating an Innovation Center to house startups and attracting more money to the region from venture capitalists. Famous tech companies based in the Raleigh/Research Triangle Park area include Red Hat and SAS Institute. The median annual salary for IT workers with tech startups in Raleigh is $63,900.

Atlanta
Atlanta had the second-highest rate of entrepreneurial activity across 15 of the largest metro areas in the U.S. in 2011, according to the Kauffman Foundation. The foundation's research shows that there are 500 entrepreneurs in Atlanta for every 100,000 people. Atlanta's increase in entrepreneurial activity can be attributed to the 25 business incubators in Georgia and to the support of organizations such as the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). Some of the state's most innovative technology companies, according to TAG, are AirWatch, Proximus Mobility and SalesLoft. The median annual salary for IT workers with tech startups in Atlanta is $64,800.

Washington, D.C.
Entrepreneurs in Washington, D.C. want everyone to know about the thriving startup community in and around the nation's capital. Thus, they created the Website, Proudly Made in DC, to highlight these companies. The area features a blend of consumer- and enterprise-focused tech startups. One famous consumer-oriented Washington, D.C.-based startup is Living Social. Enterprise-oriented startups such as Zenoss, Chart.io, and Netuitive respectively provide data center operations management, data analysis and predictive analytics software and services. The median annual salary for tech workers with startups in the Washington, D.C. area is $75,400.

Los Angeles
Venture capitalists made 208 deals worth nearly $2 billion with startups based in Los Angeles and Orange County in 2011, according to PWC and the National Venture Capital Association. Of the 15 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, Los Angeles had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity in 2011, with 580 entrepreneurs for every 100,000 adults, according to the Kauffman Foundation. Because of all this startup activity, Los Angeles is becoming known as "Silicon Beach." Famous LA-based tech companies include MySpace and Fandango. Interesting up-and-comers include ToothTag and Row 44. The median annual salary for IT workers with tech startups in LA is $69,000.

Why Windows 8 touch sorta stinks in the Consumer Preview edition

Existing hardware wasn't built to rigorous Microsoft standards for the new operating system.

If you've been less than impressed with the performance of the touch interface for Windows 8 Consumer Preview it may be because the hardware running it wasn't designed for the new operating system, Microsoft says.

The eight screen-touch interactions defined for Windows 8 call for screens whose sensitivity may vary from what Microsoft requires of manufacturers who are building machines for Windows 8 specifically, according to the Building Windows 8 blog.

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"[W]hile we ensure that the OS works well with a Windows 7 PC, a new Windows 8 PC is going to be much more consistent and predictable both from a user and developer perspective," say the authors of the blog, Jerry Koh, a group program manager, and Jeff Piira, a test manager of the Windows human interaction platform team.

When the software is finalized and installed on devices that were designed specifically to support it the experience should be better, they say, and that is the top priority. In the meantime Microsoft has tried to make Windows 8 compatible with machines designed for Windows 7. "So you should feel confidence in installing the Consumer Preview on the machines that you own today," they write. "However, as much as we value compatibility, we also have to balance this with making Windows 8 really shine on new Windows 8 PCs."

As an example, they point to the edge-swipe feature that reveals application bars from the bottom of the screen and the charm bar from the right side. "Traditionally, the edges of the screen are where touch sensitivity drops off, and it's a place that hardware manufacturers have traditionally not placed much emphasis on," they write. So on Windows 8 machines, those edges will be made more responsive without sacrificing space that the application can use when the bars are hidden.

Since Windows 7 machines had different design requirements, Microsoft had to do a workaround for screens that are not ideal. "In order to make edge swipe work consistently on Windows 7 PCs, we created a mode where there is a 20-pixel buffer to catch the edge swipe gesture. This allows a majority of PCs to reliably invoke the charms and use Windows 8 effectively," the blog says.

As it says, this may work on a majority of machines, but not flawlessly. On a brand new HP TouchSmart 520 PC tested by Network World, the preview edition sometimes responds the first time with a finger swipe from the left to open up the charm bar, but sometimes it takes two or three swipes. Sometimes it misinterprets the edge swipe for a slide-to-pan swipe which scrolls the screen side to side. So a swipe meant to summon charms can scroll the live-tile screen for the Windows Store, for example.

But Microsoft says it has straightened this out with hardware developers. "There were many challenges here," the blog says, "but we were able to deliver on the promise of Windows 8 PCs that have the ability to trigger the edge swipe without taking any pixels from applications, and with extremely good edge sensitivity using touch — a promise that benefits developers and users alike."

Other issues the blog acknowledges:

= Taps don't always work, especially when typing. This may be due to touch screen response rate and the number of touch points. Or it may be that the user is typing too fast, leaving more than two fingers on the screen at the same time.

= Trouble detecting swipe-to-select motions. This could be because some systems ignore the first few values of a touch, throwing off its interpretation of a swipe.

= Swipe-and-slide can be interpreted as a tap. Again, if the first values are ignored, the swipe is misinterpreted. Slower swiping and sliding can help.

= Swipe from edge doesn't always work. Similar causes to the previous two issues and the same solution: slower swiping.

In its Windows on Arm (WOA) devices, in which the hardware is wed to the software with tight restrictions, Microsoft is shooting for responsive touchscreens that will inevitably be compared to the performance of iPads, since many WOA devices will be tablets.

The bloggers list some of the machines on which Microsoft has been testing Windows 8: HP Elitebook 2760p convertible; ASUS EP121 tablet; Dell Inspiron Duo convertible; Lenovo x220t convertible; 3M M2256PW 22" display; Samsung Series 7 slate.

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