Okay, so that’s a cheezy headline, but here’s the deal - Vers Audio has this all natural cherry-veneered wooden speaker cabinet to add that classic look/feel to your office.  Personally, I think there’s nothing better than the sound coming from a wooden speaker box.  I still have some solid cherry-wood Bang&Olfsen speakers from 20 years ago - that sound absolutely awesome.

Although the Vers 2X isn’t Bang&Olfsen, the 3 inch full-range speakers backed with 20-watts per channel should livin up your space.  At just 11.5″ x 5.6″ x 5.6″ the Vers 2X wont take up much room either.

The Vers 2X supports the entire Apple i-stuff line (including iPhone) and comes with a brushed aluminum remote for the armchair music enthusiast. (more…)

So now ION has some competition and from who else, the monster retailer, Sony.  The PS-LX300USB is a vinyl playback turntable with USB output to easily convert those cherished records into MP3.

With a belt drive motor for reduced motor noise and rotational stability - the PS-LX300 USB turntable includes a static balance tone arm with a bonded diamond stylus for precise tracking and low record wear (ok that was straight of the Sony site). (more…)

BlueLounge introduced their SpaceStation docking station and USB hub. It’s the clever idea you’ve always had but never done anything about. BlueLounge put all your storage ideas to a true, marketable package, the SpaceSation.

Really a fancy design of a cover with a USB hub tucked inside, the SpaceStation does clean up your desktop quit nicely.

“Hovering just 5mm above the desk, cords are free to enter or exit the hub at any point – on the side to connect a scanner, the front for an iPod, the back for a laptop or camera. An internal 4-port USB hub will keep all peripherals connected. One USB plug exits the station right where needed to connect a laptop. Just tip the front of the SpaceStation up to access the hub and cords.”

The SpaceStation surface is a rubber pad so your iPhone and other gadgets have a soft, non-skid surface to rest. The SpaceStation also provides air circulation to (more…)

Fantom Drives are well known for high performance and high capacity storage abilities. Just recently Fantom introduced their G-Force series to include both eSATA and USB connectivity. The eSATA port is designed for maximum throughput (wait till USB 3.0 though) and USB 2.0 for universal compatibility. Keep in mind, my previous post about the SATA to USB adapter for chump change.

“The G-Force Megadisk eSATA+USB RAID features flexible and user configurable RAID operation modes or RAID 0 (disk striping) for maximum speed RAID 1 (Disk Mirroring) for maximum fault tolerance JBOD (Direct Mapping) for maximum flexibility or Spanning for simple large volume support at bus speeds of 300MB/Sec.”

The G-Force Fantom series includes NTI Shadow software for real-time continuous backup in addition to scheduled backup capabilities. What I like about the NTI software is the included ability to backup any attached storage devices like U3 flash drives. The NTI software includes support for Windows and Mac. (more…)

Okay, granted this isn’t the latest and greatest in USB technology posts, but it does hold value.  The SATA to USB adapter is a great adapter tool to have for any half/computer savvy user.  With the increased popularity of eSATA hard drives, it’s very likely you, or someone you know (and support) will upgrade their hard-drive via a new SATA drive.  To that end, many older computers don’t have SATA support - so what do you do?

Dig into your computer bag and pull out that SATA to USB adapter you read about on GetUSB … is what you do.  This handy adapter will convert any SATA to the #1 most popular connectivity method, USB.  So without buying a SATA controller card, installing the software and all that BS - just use the adapter.  The adapter is about as basic as you’d like - plug in the SATA cable, plug in the USB adapter - DONE!

Once more, if you have one in your bag, it’s easy enough to finish the job without an extra trip to the computer shop, or couple days via on-line ordering.

I’ve seen them as cheap as $20 bucks at Amazon.  Another item worth consideration - since we’re on the subject - is an eSATA extension cable.

This year the Chinese New Year starts on February 7, 2008 and is the year of the Rat.  Kingston has a Limited Edition, Chinese New Year Rat UFD available for the taking.

A little background:  The Lunar New Year dates back from 2600 BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Chinese zodiac.  Because of cyclical lunar dating, the first day of the year can fall anywhere between January and the middle of February. On the Chinese calendar, 2008 is Lunar Year 4705-4706.

On a typical Western calendar, the start of the New Year falls on (more…)

The biggest American reality show on TV has finally joined the iTunes platform. Fox Broadcasting, Fox Interactive Media and FremantleMedia signed an exclusive deal with Apple to bring American Idol audio and video performances to iTunes as single song-sized snippets available the day after they premiere on air.

Audio performances of the top 24 contenders run 99¢ per song, and videos of the top 12 finalists performances will be priced $1.99/each from March 11.

Apple will also become one of the show’s premiere sponsors and maintain a branded presence on AmericanIdol.com, where some free streaming performances can be seen.

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