Got a storage problem? I know I do. That’s why when I first head about these new portable hard drives by Toshiba, I got a little excited. They come in four different flavors: 500GB, 640GB, 750GB, and 1TB, all for under $200. These are USB 2.0 drives, with no eSata or Firewire options. Right now the suggested list prices start at $119.99 for the 500, and move up to $199 for the 1TB, but Toshiba Direct has the 1TB now for $189, thanks to a $10 instant-savings deal. If black isn’t your thing, they also come in silver, blue, green and red, so you’ve got some options there as well.

This isn’t the cheapest drive on the market, though. Western Digital has a 1TB model up on NewEgg for $149, and it comes with a free case. They also have a Seagate FreeAgent model for $149 and it comes with a dock and a case. My theory is that once these things hit the streets that the Toshiba will come down in price, but that’s never a guarantee. Frankly, for the difference  you could step up to a bigger model instead, assuming you’re OK with a larger footprint for the device.

PR Newswire via Geek.com

The fact is, manufacturers have crammed so many intensive functions into today’s televisions that high-end processors are a must. Gone are the days of a CRT blindly pushing out a picture one line at a time ad infinitum. These days, every pixel can be controlled on-the-fly to ensure the best picture is produced on our favourite LCD or plasma set.

Now, Cell TV is designed for the high-end TV market, boasting some 143 times more processing power than available in current TV models. It fits with an improved display panel with a Direct LED backlighting system featuring 4,608 LEDs and 512 distinct dimming areas (in other words, more control over light and dark areas in an overall picture and hence a better contrast ratio).

OK, that’s a lot of rhetoric, but one of the interesting applications, which builds on Toshiba’s existing technology, is that of improving the quality of low-res video content.

Yes, TV is going high definition and we have Blu-ray and HD/near-HD downloads, but the fact is that low-quality video, particularly from online sources, is still a reality, and an increasingly popular source of entertainment.

Toshiba’s Resolution+ system reduces the compression artefacts commonly seen when lo-res video is put on a large screen.

Oh, and just to add to the 3DTV mix, the Cell TV processor is powerful enough to handle that, too. Toshiba’s system will also convert 2D video into 3D in near real time. Interesting — if it’s any good it would increase the range of 3D quality material available as consumers wouldn’t have to wait and hope for films and games to be shot in 3D in the first place.

Obviously, how good these systems are remains to be seen. Upscaling and improving SD content is never as good as HD, and pseudo-3D isn’t going to be as good as material shot in 3D in the first place, but it still opens up a wealth of possibilities.

Oh, and just to finish off, Toshiba has promised that LED backlighting will feature in all of its LCD TVs, even the more entry-level ones. That makes sense, given the enormous benefits of LED.

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is definitely bringing up some interesting new display technologies, including Samsung’s transparent AMOLED and more. I just hope these systems, if and when they make it to the general consumer market, can play well together. Toshiba’s Cell TV is expected to arrive towards the end of 2010.

Take a look at these Toshiba notebook PCs featuring exclusive custom designs from four male celebrities: Omar Epps, Joe Perry, Hines Ward and Rainn Wilson.

Hines Ward (Steel City) offers up the Toshiba Satellite P505 with 18.4-inch HD TruBrite widescreen display, featuring a black and gold illustration of himself. He’s raising money for the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation.

Rainn Wilson (actor, writer and film star) is seeking profit for the MONA Foundation with his Toshiba Satellite M505 laptop, with art courtesy of SoulPancake illustrator Mike Mitchell.

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry chooses the Toshiba Qosmio X505 kitted out with Harman Kardon speakers and 18.4-inch HD display. The casing features street art, and proceeds go to Project AWARE

Finally, actor, writer and producer Omar Epps brings the 16-inch display Toshiba Satellite A505 decorated with Brooklyn art, with money from the winning bid going to Mount Calvary AME Church.

Find out more and get links to the current eBay auctions here. You’ve got about 17 hours left, so be quick!

1. LaCie Starck Desktop/Mobile hard drives

Desgned by Philippe Starck, these cool hard drives (one for the desktop, one for mobile users) look amazing, are made from thick aluminium casing, have a touch sensitive surface for quick launch of applications, and come with auto-backup software.

Lacie UK

2. Buffalo SuperSpeed USB 3.0 hard drive

Not only does Buffalo’s hard drive use the cutting edge USB 3.0 high speed interface offering up to 125MB/s data transfer rates, but its black curvy body is well worth showing off as you transfer high definition movies back and forth in mere seconds.

3. Buffalo MiniStation

Attractive portable hard drives from Buffalo feature built-in security and direct USB connection without the need for an additional power supply.

4. Toshiba portable hard drive

This 400GB portable hard drive from Toshiba has some cool blue swishes on it and has NTI Shadow backup software built in.

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5. Seagate FreeAgent Pro

Like orange? Try this desktop hard drive from Seagate: the FreeAgent Pro, available in a range of capacities and connectable via FireWire, USB 2.0 or eSata.

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6. Suissa Shadow Wooden external hard drive

If you yearn for a wood effect on your gadgets, check out this hard drive from Suissa.

As you can see, this maplewood drive has plenty of connectivity so it’s also a USB hub.

Each unit is built to order.

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7. Seagate eSATA external hard drive

Sports one of the most up-to-date data connections and 500GB of storage.

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8. Iomega Camo Ego hard drive

Check out the camouflage on this hard drive, the Iomega Camo Ego. It’s not just pretty colours either, as it has Drop Guard protection built in to protect data, plus a Power Grip band that is supposed to provide stability and extra durability.

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9. GigaBank 1TB hard drive

One terabyte of storage as two 500GB drives in an array, with some interesting curves on the body and stand.

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10. Anaconda 1TB hard drive

Not much to say about this drive, except to note the cool blue light swish on the front panel.

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11. LaCie Rugged XL hard drive

Definitely one for orange lovers who need rugged protection for their hard drive.

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12. Fabrik SimpleTech [re]drive

Offering Turbo USB 2.0 for 25% faster performance and an enclosure made from sustainable bamboo.

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Yeah, the new high definition TVs, camcorders and sleek hard drives are all very well, but if you’re anything like me, it’s USB ports that disappear and have to be hot-swapped.

The Dynadock U10 is a self-powered USB video docking station that handles most of the cables you need, including video, Ethernet, microphone and digital audio, as well as having seven USB 2.0 connections (USB 3.0 is still a way off yet), connecting to your PC or laptop via a single USB connection.

The video part is that it can output high definition video content at full 32-bit, 1080p format. It’s also pretty small and sleek so should fit on your desk without problem.

In the UK, it’s out this month and will cost around £110. Not the cheapest peripheral around but it sounds like a real workhorse.

Well, here’s another gadget that will try to take a slice out of the iPhone’s consumer pie. Such is the fate, I think, of following through after a great product is released… the curse of being called “another gadget”. But from a consumer’s point of view, this is great because more options, more competition, more newer technology breaks WILL mean better inventions at a much better bottomline cost.

The Toshiba TG01 has recently been launched unveiled (edited Feb 6) in Japan and is due for distribution in the USA soon. I know, it really looks like an iPhone with a little tweak in design. But the general “first-glance” looks and tastes like an Apple design.

How “connected” is the TG01? The connectivity section of the Toshiba TG01 includes HSPA and Wi-Fi plus a GPS receiver with A-GPS functionality. The internal storage is “only” 512 MB but you get a microSDHC card slot with support for up to 32GB.

The TG01 also comes with support for DivX video, and finally, the Toshiba TG01 makes use of a built-in 3.2 megapixel camera.

The OS chosen to power the Toshiba TG01 is Windows Mobile 6.1 but as you will see from the following video Toshiba have added their own 3D thumb-optimized user interface on top of it