IOGear is set to release their upgraded USB Travel Kit which includes USB mouse and four port hub. The biggest improvement IOGear made was the VCSEL technology to their optical mouse. The Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser enables the mouse to work on any surface – including glass. Heck I can’t get my mouse to work on white paper so there is definitely value there. With a maximum of 1600dpi this means increased accuracy and decreased hand movement.
The 4 port USB hub is slim on design as this is a “traveling USB kit” so that added ports help out for limited laptop USB connectivity. I’d like to see a re-charger interface somewhere before calling this an ultimate USB travel kit.
The GME226 IOGear USB Travel Kit will be available soon, but their older version GKC431 is currently available although without the VCSEL technology.
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Now here is a total waste of USB space, yet something which is totally cool…well…that is if you are 8.
SolidAlliance has yet out done themselves again with the pop-up pirate USB hub.
The iPhone may be Apple’s first “official” phone, but apparently they toyed with the idea 25 years ago. Way back in 1983, designer Hartmut Esslinger, the same guy who made the Apple IIc computer, came up with this phone/tablet prototype.
Writing an electronic check with the 1983 iPhone.
The 1983 version of the iPhone obviously never made it into production, but it’s still a cool concept. Although writing a physical electronic check seems a little silly now that we have online banking. The image is from fudder.de.
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Robert from USB Fever sent me a USB car adapter charger and I wanted to chime in with a quick review.
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As expected it’s literally plug-n-play. Works without a problem. What originally got my attention about this simple device was the two port connectivity. Easy to charge his and her cell phones, iPods or PDAs.
A nice glowing red LED shows the unit is working and charging. It would be nice to have a switching LED for when the battery is full. I did notice the USB car adapter charger has over-current protection. This means if your car outputs a spike in volts the charger will cut off power before your device gets fried.
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Everyone can use a virtual friend, and what better friend could one have than a USB buddy.
Okay, so you probably don’t need a virtual friend, but for those who work from the home office, extreme introverts or Harry Potter fantasy freaks (Disney too) you can get this USB virtual friend and pre-progam over 100 says to keep yourself entertained.
With embedded infrared motion sensors your virtual buddy will always know when you’ve arrived or when you’re leaving. The set of USB buddies will run about $30 or specific gender for $17.
Funny how things happen. I just got off a forum page reading up on how much folks hate Blue LED lights and here comes Brando with a product update email to include this “I Love You” LED laptop light.
I use a Compaq LED laptop light from time to time and it only has two white LEDs and I’ll tell you that one more would be nice. Just a little more light would be perfect and I’d probably use the USB gadget that much more.
So, although not a great fit for the Techie guy, maybe a good gift for the Techie girl. At just $9 it’s a good addition to your iTunes gift card to ‘that’ girl friend.
Apple’s iPhone has enjoyed favorable reviews since its recent debut, but it got some criticism on Capitol Hill in Washington this week.
The phones, which cost between $500 and $600—are usable only on AT&T Inc.’s wireless network and will remain that way until 2012. Even though the phones become expensive paperweights if customers quit AT&T’s wireless plan, the company will still charge a $175 early termination fee, said Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., chairman of a House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
Markey described the phone as a “Hotel California service. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave—you’re stuck with your iPhone and you can’t take it anywhere.”
Timothy Wu, a law professor at Columbia University and commentator on technology issues, described the cell phone industry as “spectrum- based oligopoly” where customers have given up their property rights.
“Imagine buying a television that stopped working if you decided to switch to satellite,” Wu said. “Or a toaster that died if you switched from Potomac Power to ConEd.”
AMD and ATi teamed up some time ago and now they are starting to crank out some products not even closely related to processors. The latest is the TV Wonder 600 USB HDTV tuner. Not at all Mac friendly the ATi TV Wonder features AMD’s Catalyst Media Center software which works seamlessly (so I read) with Vista Media Center and XP Media Center from Microsoft.
In addition to the ATi TV Wonder 600 USB tuner itself, you also get a slim credit card-sized IR remote and an A/V input adapter to grab video from a camcorder or VCR. Naturally, while it is being marketed more toward the notebook side of things, the TV Wonder 600 USB is perfectly suited for operation with a desktop computer as well.
Don’t reach for your car keys just yet, the TV Wonder 600 USB TV Tuner isn’t expected to ship for another couple months. No price points as of yet.
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USB Fever incorporated a Compact Flash and miniSD card reader into their rotating USB hub.
Rotating up to 90 degrees for the USB connectors make it a nice hub for your stack of USB junk. Actually, you can downsize the junk pile and throw away your card reader.
Well in my book it’s official. The iPhone is a cool product and concept but the majority of us don’t care. Sure the iPhone is leading edge for technology design and will most likely reshape how we interact with our communication device(s) but the masses will wait for the masses.
This poll was launched on June 29th, when the iPhone went on sale, and only yesterday did two voters admit to purchasing an iPhone. I thought there would be more.
During Independence Day I went to our local fireworks show and I saw six different buddies with the iPhone. Showing it off to their friends, neighbors, girl friends and wives. So, considering how many I saw that day, I thought more would have chimed in on the vote. Then again, I do live in the OC which is chalked full of “one uppers.”
GetUSB has a new poll up and those who enter have a chance to win a Laptop Sleeve (or case) from Proporta – our Poll Sponsor. Proporta is a leading design and manufacturing firm for PDA, cell phone and MP3 accessories.
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Thinking about making applications for the iPhone? Apple released an iPhone developer guide to offer guidelines for creating widgets and applications that will integrate with the device’s Safari browser, mail and mapping applications.
Apple’s iPhone has enjoyed favorable reviews since its recent debut, but it got some criticism on Capitol Hill in Washington this week.
The phones, which cost between $500 and $600—are usable only on AT&T Inc.’s wireless network and will remain that way until 2012. Even though the phones become expensive paperweights if customers quit AT&T’s wireless plan, the company will still charge a $175 early termination fee, said Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., chairman of a House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
Markey described the phone as a “Hotel California service. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave—you’re stuck with your iPhone and you can’t take it anywhere.”
