Newer Technology Inc. (NewerTech), a developer of PC, Macintosh, iPod, and iPhone performance upgrades and accessories, announced last week its new miniStack v2.5 FireWire 400/USB 2.0 powered hub storage solution, a new addition to the NewerTech miniStack line of small footprint, high performance plug and play (PnP) external powered hub storage solutions.

NewerTech miniStack v2.5 is ideal for data intensive uses, such as audio/video editing, digital photography, MP3 music libraries, and high-speed back-up.

Built for performance, it employs the latest generation Oxford 934 bridge chipset; a 7200 RPM (revolutions-per-minute) Serial ATA (SATA) drive, offers up to 1.0 TB (terabytes) of storage capacity, and up to 32 MB (megabytes) of disk cache to store and retrieve up to 1 million JPEG photos, 350,000 MP3 songs, or 500 DVD quality movies.

NewerTech is a developer of performance upgrades for PowerBooks, desktop Macintosh computers, Intel Macs, iMacs, iPods, iPhones, and Mac OS compatibles. NewerTech is headquartered in Woodstock, Illinois.

miniStack v2.5 functions as a centralized desktop hub for connecting multiple digital devices, such as scanners, printers, memory card readers, digital cameras, and iPods, simultaneously and clutter-free.

miniStack v2.5 also features an ergonomic rear and side port configuration of three FireWire 400, one uplink and two additional, and four USB 2.0, one uplink and three additional ports.

With its interface flexibility and compact design, miniStack v2.5 is an ideal portable external hard drive storage solution to move among multiple Macintosh computers and laptops and virtually any Windows or Linux-based computer with a USB (universal serial bus) or FireWire port. The miniStack v2.5 is also ideal for booting the operating system (OS) on any system with FireWire 400 or USB 2.0 boot-support.

In addition, Mac users can add miniStack v2.5 to an Airport Extreme wireless network through USB to wirelessly share files, perform Time Machine backups, and share other devices, like printers. The miniStack v2.5 is also audio/video rated for high-performance home entertainment systems and sharing content with Apple TV.

The features of the miniStack v2.5 include up to 1.0 TB of bootable SATA hard drive capacity, up to 32 MB of data cache, Oxford 934 bridge chipset, compact, 6.5"x 6.5" x 1.5" size, three FireWire 400 ports, two rear/one side (one uplink, two additional), four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, three rear/one side (one uplink, three additional), and an external Auto Switching 100~240v 50/60Hz 3 amp UL listed power adapter. It also features auto-power on/off automatically with computer, thermal monitoring for minimal fan power consumption and whisper quiet operation, fully bootable via FireWire or USB with OS boot support, interface connecting cables included, and the Kensington security slot. It also includes the ProSoft Engineering Data Backup 3, NovaStor NovaBACKUP, and Intech SpeedTools Utilities software.

miniStack v2.5 is currently available in seven pre-configured models priced starting at US$ 104.99 from NewerTech's exclusive distributor, Other World Computing, as well as through the retail channel.