FireWire 800 ExpressCard for MacBook Pro -- One of the common complaints about the 15-inch MacBook Pro was its lack of a FireWire 800 port, which is present on both the PowerBook G4 and the new 17-inch MacBook Pro. The saving grace was the MacBook Pro's ExpressCard slot, which, as Glenn Fleishman pointed out in the last issue of TidBITS (see "ExpressCard on the Horizon"), allows data transfer of 2 Gbps in each direction, making it possible to run FireWire 800 via an ExpressCard. Now, Akumen, Inc. has announced the first such adapter in its ExpressWay Series, the "2-Port NitroAV FireWire800/1394b Professional Express Card (34 mm) Interface Adapter (MacBook Pro)." (Yes, that appears to be the full name). The card sports two FireWire 800 slots with a maximum throughput of 800 Mbps and costs $90. [JLC]
<http://www.nitroav.com/product/444/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/08511>