2010 will be a fun year of USB reporting and blogging with USB 3.0 just starting to break with new products.  Today we have the first USB  3.0 WebCam from Point Grey.  The webcam has the bandwidth and capability to push a full 1080p video stream without compression.

Since USB host controllers are not yet available, Point Grey has teamed with Fresco Logic to include a USB 3.0 PCI interface card.

EverythingUSB brings up a good point with these new USB 3.0 devices, they will actually become cheaper than their slower, 2.0 predecessors.  The reason being:  less logic and hardware is required inside the device to do processing such as compression and decompression, USB 3.0 now simply push the data through the pipe.

The Point Grey Webcamera is slatted to display at the IDF 2009 conference in San Fransicso in a couple weeks.

Point Grey USB webcam product page [here].

I have mentioned other 35mm Slide Scanners, but today I found one which is 100% standalone, no PC required!

This standalone 35mm Slide Scanner allows even the most technologically challenged person easily scan old 35mm slides into digital archives.

In just seconds the scanner will turn your 35mm image into a .jpeg photo file.  You have some options to see the resolution of the digital image, with a maximum resolution of 3,600DPI [dots per inch].

The new jpeg image is instantly saved to the SD memory card sitting inside the 35mm slide scanner.

To insure the image is what you expect, the unit includes an

Here at GetUSB.info we are a fan of the USB key logger technology.  After all, what better way to find out what employees, girlfriends and such are doing with their spare time.  Especially with all the social network, it’s important to know what is, or is not, being said about you.

We have reported about USB key loggers before, but this one is especially nice with the old school PS/2 connector.  Great for the older machines.

The device comes with 2MB of internal memory, but check it often as that amount of space will be filled quickly.

Pricing is a bit different depending on the connection type you need.  $60-$75.

Here is the USB key logger product page.

Reminder from UberGizmo.

The Windows IceBox is an interesting little tool.  It’s a software program which runs from a USB stick that locks down partitions on your hard drive.  The concept is that you lock down partitions on your hard drive so that other users, like your kids, don’t get in there and start accidentally deleting important files, registry entries, uninstalling software,etc.

The USB Windows IceBox includes recovery software for your hard drive and has the ability to block virus software or malware programs from getting into your computer.

From my perspective, it’s a nice little tool, but if you have the smarts to partition up your hard drive, you probably have the smarts to create multiple users as well.  See the USB Windows IceBox will lock down your partitions when you walk away [certain amount of idle time] but you can do the same thing with User Login priveleges.  Just don’t give your kids

GetUSB has seen the Record to USB players from Ion Audio before and we’ve seen these filter into Costco, Wal-Mart and even Urban Outfitters, and now Thanko has joined the ranks with their new USB Record Player.

Granted, it’s not designed with the same conversion tools that Ion Audio has, but it does work with Windows Sound Record or Mac’s Garage Band, so conversion of vinyl to MP3 is totally possible.  In fact, many might prefer their standard apps to do the conversion rather than deal with a 3rd party software package.

Either way, the Thanko USB Record Player is a nice addition to that old-school sound for just $100 bucks.

Thanko hasn’t released a US version yet, but you can get one now from Japanese retailers here.

USB Tutorial:  How to create a bootable USB stick with the specific nt60 book sector required for Microsoft Vista.

Before we begin the USB tutorial on nt60 boot sector you’ll need to review the check list of items needed before you start.  Chances are, if you find yourself searching for this tutorial, you already have everything needed to make a USB bootable with nt60 boot sector.

• 4GB flash drive will do the trick
• Your Vista installation disk
• Set BIOS to boot from a USB device

When selecting your flash drive be sure there is nothing you need on the device as this process to create a nt60 boot sector will clean the drive of all data.

1. Put your Vista disk into the optical drive, if the autorun starts, close it all down and exit without performing any tasks.
2. Plug in your USB stick which you want to make bootable with nt60.
3. Open into the Command prompt.  [you will need Admin rights]
4. Type ‘diskpart‘ and press Enter
   
5. Now type ‘list disk‘ and press Enter  All the storage devices connected to your computer will be displayed, make sure the size of the Disk you plan to select is the USB flash drive you intend to use!
   
6. Now type ‘select disk [number here]‘  In this example I typed

The USBIF [Implementers Forum] has announced the certification program to get your gear certified for a Highspeed logo.  Granted, it’s not a simple process, but at least they’re putting together the documentation needed to make it happen.

As Gizmodo says, ” what shall I do with all that extra time I will have that will no longer be spent waiting for file transfers” [they write about as well as I do] The new 3.0 speed will be 10x times faster at 10Gpbs!  To learn a bit more about how our technology life will improve, here is the USBIFs sales pitch:

As technology innovation marches forward, new kinds of devices, media formats, and large inexpensive storage are converging. They require significantly more bus bandwidth to maintain the interactive experience users have come to expect. In addition, user applications demand a higher performance connection between the PC and these increasingly sophisticated peripherals. USB 3.0 addresses this need by adding an even higher transfer rate to match these new usage and devices.

USB continues to be the answer to conncectivity for PC, Consumer Electronics, and Mobile architectures, It is a fast, bidirectional, low-cost, dynamically attachable interface that is consistent with the requirements of the PC platforms of today and tomorrow.

SuperSpeed USB brings significant performance enhancements to the ubiquitous USB standard, while remaining compatible with the billions of USB enabled devices currently deployed in the market. SuperSpeed USB will deliver 10x the data transfer rate of Hi-Speed USB, as well as improved power efficiency.

• SuperSpeed USB has a 5 Gbps signaling rate offering 10x performance increase over Hi-Speed USB.
• SuperSpeed USB is a Sync-N-Go technology that minimizes user wait-time.
• SuperSpeed USB will provide Optimized Power Efficiency.No device polling and lower active and idle power requirements.
• SuperSpeed USB is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. Devices interoperate with USB 2.0 platforms. Hosts support USB 2.0 legacy devices.

Video after the jump: