FireWire Depot has announced the release of its IceCube FireWire 800/USB 2.0 combo enclosure. The enclosure is designed to accommodate 3.5 inch hard disk drive mechanisms, and it’s the first FireWire 800 hard drive enclosures to be carried by FireWire Depot.
FireWire 800 was introduced this past January on Apple’s 17 inch PowerBook G4 model, and it’s the latest pro-level peripheral interface to make it into the Mac. It’s since made it into Apple’s newest Power Mac G4 configurations, too. FireWire 800, Apple’s nomenclature for the IEEE 1394b industry standard, provides twice the bandwidth of the “regular” FireWire built into most Macs. It also provides about twice the bandwidth of USB 2.0.
FireWire Depot’s new IceCube 800 enclosure sports a transparent polycarbonate exterior that’s complementary to the latest Macintosh designs. The enclosure measures 9 x 5 by 1.5 inches.
The IceCube 800 features two FireWire ports on its backplane along with a single USB 2.0 interface, a power switch, and an input for the power supply. Oxford Semiconductor’s 922 chipset is used to bridge the FireWire connection. a FireWire cable and power supply are included, and the device works with Mac OS 9.0 or higher, according to FireWire Depot.
The new drive is available immediately, according to the vendor, and costs US$195.