Author Archive

Matt Laboff

Administator for GetUSB.info GetUSB.info started in 2004 with the concept of providing USB information for everything USB related. At the time, USB was gaining momentum and every day new products, articles and news became published. Today, the site is focused on bringing technical information, tricks and hacks to USB related products. The site does publish off topic information as well, to keep the variety up. Please visit the footer area of any page if you or your company is interested in article or product placement via purchased advertising.

iPod Touch Now Available at Amazon

Matt Laboff September 7, 2007 USB Hardware & Gadgets

I just received an email from Amazon showing a full line of new iPods. You can pre-order your 8GB iPod Touch for $299, or grab the bigger 16GB iPod Touch for $399.

The new and wider iPod Nano’s are also available in 4GB Nano and 8GB Nano models. Check it out. Continue Reading

iRing – Novel Concept Where Can I Get One?

Matt Laboff September 6, 2007 USB Hardware & Gadgets

I’m not going to bury the punch line – it’s just a concept…and what a shame. I think the iRing would be a hot hot seller. The iRing is a powerful symbol on how Apple enthusiasts have become married to their gadgets. The iRing is a stylish Bluetooth ring that allows complete control over your iPod, iPhone or other Apple media device (AppleTV).

The iRing features an OLED display with a touch sensitive strip that with a simple glide of the finger you control the volume, crimp your finger to unlock or lock the Apple device or tap the Apple icon to toggle play and pause or finally tap the left or right of the Apple icon to skip tracks.

Using the included cradle power up the iRing with the USB power docking station. The designer Victor Soto is definitely in touch with the needs of the iPod / iPhone enthusiast and I would fully expect this to hit the market in the next 6-9 months (although pure speculation). If not, what a damn shame. Source: TFTS Continue Reading

Company ID Badge Holder Is Incognito Card Reader

Matt Laboff August 31, 2007 USB Hardware & Gadgets

Technology can be a love / hate relationship. A couple days ago Brando released a product which I think is just brilliant…the company badge holder that doubles as a card reader.

For those working the corporate gig and require an ID badge, I would think this card reader fits the bill perfectly. What better way to tot around your GBs of ~~porn~~ personal pictures without the worry of knowing those pictures will leave your person. Or maybe run your iTunes from a flash card.

Compatible with an array of cards, SDHC (nice), MMC, miniSD, RS MMC and microSD (nice) along with extendable USB cable for connectivity to those pesky USB locations. At $14 it’s a drop in the bucket for you hi-powered, highly-paid executives.

ID Badge Card Reader product page.

Tired of USB Flash Drives – Here’s a Firewire Flash Drive

Matt Laboff August 31, 2007 Flash Storage & Memory

I don’t think anyone is tired of USB flash drives, but I’m sure there are a large group of flash memory enthusiasts that would appreciate a Firewire flash drive. Maybe MacFanBoy? Maybe someone who’s eaten up all their USB ports with silly USB gadgets.

Kanguru Solutions has a 6 pin Firewire flash drive ranging from 1GB to 8Gbs with prices ranges from $99 to $219 respectively. It’s plug-n-play with most operating systems (Win 98 will need drivers) and includes a USB cable for converter connectivity. I’d really like to see the performance between the Fire Flash and an equally sized USB drive. I’d expect the same transfer rates – or close enough only an Ubergeek wouldn’t notice a difference. Kanguru Fire Flash product page. Continue Reading

It’s Official: Blog Day

Matt Laboff August 31, 2007 USB News & Press Releases

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from around the globe. Today is that day; here are my highly recommended suggested sites: Digital Drops – Brazils leading technology blog (in my opinion) Nick does an excellent job of keeping everyone up-to-date with topics of interest at the moment. You wont feel left out if you visit DigitalDrops – you will be left out if you don’t! Techsfera – Is a little bit of everything with most articles about mobile phones and related technologies – if you are a gadget guy like me, it’s worth a bookmark. Easy navigation and frequent updates. Check em out! Trendy Gadget – Al runs this nugget of a technology site. Great updates on off-beat electronics and some of the main stream too. Based in Indonesia I don’t know how he gets a days worth of work done – it’s beautiful over there. Naqernet – Andrea is a 19 year old Italian who loves to blog. He hits the ground running each and every day with well written articles. His site, Naqernet has all sorts of fun and interesting information. To find out more about BlogDay; jump. After that jump again. Continue Reading

Sky Bound Rocket Houses USB Digital Camera

Matt Laboff August 30, 2007 USB Hardware & Gadgets

Is this for kids or adults – it’s a tough call. The latest hi-tech toys from Hammacher is a 500 foot flying rocket with USB digital camera. If you can’t make it into this seasons Super Bowl – it is a good alternative – albeit with some serious security issues.

The Estes rocket is designed to keep the digital camera always aimed towards the ground during flight. You can get up to 3 shots per flight or record 12 seconds of live video (640×480 res). The on board USB port and included cable make download of pictures or video quick and easy.

All this for just $60. Source: TFTS Continue Reading

Review: USB Cables from Tendon

Matt Laboff August 30, 2007 USB Hardware & Gadgets, USB Reviews

Computer cables are the most over looked piece of technology on any computer system. Too often a cheap cable or a poorly made socket is the cause of many late nights or critical problems at urgent moments. You should never short change yourself and save a few dollars between a cheap cable and higher end cable. Today GetUSB looks at Tendon USB cables. Tendon makes a full line of USB cables, DVI cables, HDMI cables and host of other cable products.

Today we are looking at the 15 foot USB-A to USB-A cable which is ideal for scanners, printers, external hard drives and USB hubs. Tendon also sent a variety of other USB cables, all of which are made using the same technique, materials and craftsmanship. Continue Reading

PStart – Your Custom Desktop Start Tray for USB Stuff

Matt Laboff August 29, 2007 Tutorials & How-To Guides

Is your UFD stuffed with portable applications? Do you find yourself constantly exploring the USB drive to launch your program? If so, forget about it. Use PStart. I while back I wrote an article about 55 Portable Applications to Make a Super Stick – well that list is nothing without the PStart tray tool. (PStart is apart of that list too).

Pstart is a simple tray tool to start user defined applications from their flash drive. Designed to run portable applications you can start anything without actually opening up and exploring your flash drive – do it right from your desktop tray. Of course Pstart is as portable as your applications and will work on any PC system. PStart has four useful tabs to help in your daily routine. Items, Search, Notes and Info. Here’s a break down: Continue Reading

New: Mimobot King and Queen; Why Is It Rated R?

Matt Laboff August 29, 2007 Flash Storage & Memory, USB Hardware & Gadgets, USB News & Press Releases

Patterned with all the royal shapes of diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades the USB King and USB Queen collection is another unique design from Mimoco. Included in the limited edition USB drive is a short animation, wallpapers and icons. What is odd about this release is Mimobot labeling the series as “R” and “Not For Kids” The response from Mimoco:

The content on the King and Queen units contains footage of artists using expletives, being extremely frank, etc…

As a foot note; Mimobot is running a 25% OFF back to school sale so if any of their characters where the right design, but the wrong price (like their Starwars Stormtropper or Chewbacca) – might be worth another revisit. Source: Mimoco Continue Reading

DIY: FlavioUSB Fan

Matt Laboff August 29, 2007 Tutorials & How-To Guides, USB Hardware & Gadgets

Even with the inexpensive USB fans available sometimes it’s just more fun to build one yourself. Here is a quick video tutorial whereby you need two CDs, a motor, some cable a lighter and a little time and you’ll be cool (although not looking) at the click of a USB connection.

Source: Click here if you can’t view the video: YouTube Continue Reading

Review: iPod FM Transmitter From Proporta

Matt Laboff August 28, 2007 USB Hardware & Gadgets, USB Reviews

I received the iPod FM Transmitter from Hannah over at Proporta and today had a chance to play around with it.

The iPod FM Transmitter is a compact, light and simple product to use. Using the iPod connector you click the FM transmitter into your iPod Nano (also supports iPod mini, Photo, 4 & 5GB pods and video iPod – but today tested with Nano) which is nice to have the direct connect because no extra cables or wires are needed to make your iPod work with a 3rd party radio.

Upon connection you get a confirmation the FM transmitter is sending a signal on FM frequency 88.8Mhz channel. This is the default setting, however, you have 9 memory channels to set the FM transmitter to. The Proporta FM transmitter has three buttons. A memory button to select one of nine preset channels, a scroll up button and scroll down button to navigate through the radio frequencies. It’s simple. It’s easy. Using the iPod FM transmitter I had mixed experience. Overall a good product – this is what I found: Using the iPod FM transmitter without a power connection I had decent reception. Using the iPod FM transmitter indoors gave much better reception to the radio than using the transmitter in the car. I can attribute the poor performance in the car due to many other electrical disturbances. The same results where found on different frequency settings. I did find the best reception was having the iPod close to the radio itself to boost signal strength over distance. Using the iPod FM transmitter with a power connection did yield slightly better performance. When the Proporta iPod FM transmitter is connected it’s best to set it and leave it. I found the connection between the two devices didn’t like being moved around and upon picking up and moving there would be static across the radio. This isn’t a big deal to me as I figure most users would set it and forget it. If you plan on walking around with your iPod forget the FM transmitter and use your headphones.

Bottom Line: For the $24 price tag it’s a good product for getting your tunes to a radio; however, we’d like to see some more signal strength to make the music clear in all situations. Continue Reading

EasyCAP USB 2.0 Video Adapter with Audio

Matt Laboff August 28, 2007 Flash Storage & Memory

Here is a small, portable USB video and audio capture device with some decent specifications. At 720 x 480 resolution you get DVD resolution from the EasyCAP although I would think you only obtain that using S-Video rather than Composite.

ShenZhen also ships the Ulead video editing software which is user friend and ideal for someone who’s looking to take a first stab and create home videos. NTSC format gets you 30 fps while PAL gets you 25fps, and get this; you only need 256MB of RAM to pull this off – although I would highly recommend at least 1GB of RAM when doing ANY type of video editing. If interested go ahead and make a request to Kassy (kassy.forward< @>gmail.com) for more info.Â Or visit his site. Continue Reading