The iPhone is out. Letting the big-boys do the iPhone coverage I thought to chime in with something a little less mainstream. Apple released a “Works With iPhone” badge, mark, logo, whatever you want to call it.
Viewing the accessories page Apple has the following USB related accessories for the iPhone:
USB Power Adapter
Apple Dock Connector to USB Cable
iPhone Bluetooth Travel Cable
Apple USB Power Adapter
iPhone Dual Dock
Other iPhone accessories include Bluetooth connectivity, headsets, AirPort Extreme support and fancy TTY adapter. Given you just dropped at least 4 bills on the iPhone I’d sport the little extra cash for certified accessories products, but that’s just me.
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I’ll give Sony one thing, their high priced products do have style. Take the new travel USB mouse from Sony. Not your average looking optical mouse and added design with cord wrap feature underneath. I also like the fact Sony kept the wire. 1) It gives me the ability to report on it as the connection is [obviously] USB and 2) I don’t like the battery-sucking wireless models.
Now this truly is a USB powered gadget. Earlier this week SolidAlliance introduced the USB engine hub. Based off a two liter motorcycle engine the USB hub houses 3 USB ports and takes up quite-a-bit of space.
Two things are crazy about this. One, the USB engine hub makes noise, a lot of noise. The non-soothing sounds begin with; starter, gear shift and rev-engine sounds. Two, the president of SolidAlliance predicts this novelty gadget will become their best selling product. Well, that isn’t much of a stretch considering SolidAlliance is best known for Sushi flash drives.
If you need a USB hub and need to be heard, get the USB engine for only $43 USD. SolidAlliance ships globally.
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The USB vertical mouse might alleviate that pain you have from obsessive mouse clicking. I’m a little skeptical with products like this but after reading the description, there is definitely merit here.
The shape supports you hand in a fully upright handshake position which reduces pain and strain from forearm twisting which comes from a normal, horizontal mouse.
Introduced earlier this year, the USB vertical mouse is used at UC Berkeley, where it was developed, by nearly all the staff. It was found to be comfortable, easily adapted to, and promote a neutral wrist and forearm posture.
When I first saw the vertical mouse I thought it useless because when you went to click, the mouse would slide sideways. After a moment of thought (and reading) you understand the thumb provides the balance as it naturally opposes the finger position.
Albeit not a traditional looking mouse it does look very useful. If anyone at UC Berkeley is reading this, shoot me an email about it’s performance. I’ll update this post.
FYI – The vertical mouse is a Windows only device, but Evoluent does provide a link to a third party Mac solution for mouse drivers to run on the OSX.
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Today Apple posted a page detailing the cost of the iPhone rate plans (US). And they aren’t as bad as most people had thought. All plans have unlimited data (nice!) – $60 for 450 minutes, $80 for 900 minutes and $100 for 1350 minutes. Existing AT&T customers can add unlimited data for $20 – $40 with a varying number of text messages.
All iPhone service plans include Visual Voicemail and unlimited data — Internet and email — so you only have to decide how many minutes and SMS text messages you need. You’ll select your plan when you activate your iPhone using iTunes on your computer.
If you’re already an AT&T customer and want to keep your current voice plan, you can just add an iPhone Data Plan with unlimited data (email and web) and Visual Voicemail for just $20 per month.
Update:Â USB Car Adapter Charger Review
We recently did a write up about the Brando 3-in-1 USB car adapter, but they had it all wrong. Three cigarette plugs and only one USB port. Today we found a USB adapter better suited for our needs.
The car adapter is small, light and provides two useful USB ports. Not much to report on specs – you get what you see. LEDs for port activity and power output is DC5.0V / 1000mA +/- 5%.
Roger of USB Fever put together a special deal for GetUSB.info readers, free shipping any where in the world (about 7 day transit time). At just $13.95 and free shipping, it’s an excellent deal.
Roger also has a universal charger that is a cut above the rest. Typically chargers only support three markets, the UK, US and EU. However, Roger’s charger includes support for Australia and China. ($16.99)
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With the iPhone coming out this Friday we figured to address the “more” in USB Powered Gadgets and more… this week for GetUSB. DLO introduced this lack-luster iPhone case. Available in black, silver, pink and blue.
A start-up firm in the French Alps put together one Pretty Hot And Tempting USB stick. This one only has 256MB of memory, but IS a full working computer.
Based off an Atmel processor this SoC (System-On-Chip) design has a 190MHz processor, 64MB RAM, 256MB of memory, USB connectivity and a 10/100 Ethernet port.
The company, Calao, didn’t give a price tag but did mention some useful applications like GPS and image processing.
I for one saw that lovely USB connector and immediately thought of the new Samsung USB monitors and wondered if this is our future of computing.
Not only is the Calao Linux computer PHAT it’s also fat. Measuring at 3.3 inches long and 1.4 inches wide it is much larger then your average UFD…but also clear there is nothing average about this concept.
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It’s a goocher. From the latest GetUSB poll, “How Many USB Ports Do You Need?” a whopping 40% said the standard 4 USB ports is good enough.
What is more interesting is that over 50% of the voters indicated even with 8 USB ports they could still use more. This means most users have at least two USB Hubs hanging from their system. What a mess. You may ask yourself, why don’t they make bigger USB hubs? One answer might be this:
Chip manufacturers make either a 4 port or 7 port USB hub chip. You run into power problems after 7 ports. Companies who build USB Hubs are limited by this chip design. Placing two hub chips inside a hub box doesn’t make much sense because your host computer already has several USB ports – they just figure you’ll buy two units if you need more (4 or 7) USB ports.
With these poll results I think it’s safe to say USB is the majority leader in peripheral connectivity.
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With the iPhone launch just days away – already the iPhone accessory crap begins. Here we have a cheezy leather case which hardly protects the iPhone while making it all the uglier. Are those feature buttons hidden at top?
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The New LookNuLOOQ from LogiTech is a beautifully designed spin wheel mouse. This type of design has been around for years, yet hasn’t taken off in popularity. Maybe it’s design – maybe it’s an odd device to use – either way LogiTech is making a crack at it.
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Press Release – Burnaby BC., June 19, 2007 – Icron Technologies Corporation (TSX Venture: IT), the developers of ExtremeUSB® announced that Gefen Inc, of Woodland Hills, California, has launched a wireless USB 2.0 extender based on Icron’s ExtremeUSB technology at this years InfoComm 07 show in Anaheim, CA from June 19th to the 21st.
The Gefen wireless USB extender supports the connection of hi-speed USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices up to 100 feet from the computer. It works with both Apple (OSX) and PC (Windows, Linux) systems using Icron Technologies’ ExtremeUSB based on 802.11g technology. The receiver is a four-port USB hub that can support multiple devices by adding additional hubs. Data can be delivered at high speeds, thanks to optimized circuitry.
“We believe this reliable and wireless method of USB extension will significantly enhance the way systems operate well into the future,” said Hagai Gefen, president and CEO. “Subsequent versions will also support multiple receiver hubs connected to one sender unit, allowing a same time distribution that delivers data real-time with no cables.”
Like most of Gefen’s extender solutions, the wireless USB 2.0 extender uses small sender and receiver units connected to the computer and to the extended USB devices. No cables are needed to link sender to the receiver, which allows connection to cameras, keyboards, printers, hard drives or any USB 2.0 devices at distances up to 100 feet away.
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Press Release – Burnaby BC., June 19, 2007 – Icron Technologies Corporation (TSX Venture: IT), the developers of ExtremeUSB® announced that Gefen Inc, of Woodland Hills, California, has launched a wireless USB 2.0 extender based on Icron’s ExtremeUSB technology at this years InfoComm 07 show in Anaheim, CA from June 19th to the 21st.
The Gefen wireless USB extender supports the connection of hi-speed USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices up to 100 feet from the computer. It works with both Apple (OSX) and PC (Windows, Linux) systems using Icron Technologies’ ExtremeUSB based on 802.11g technology. The receiver is a four-port USB hub that can support multiple devices by adding additional hubs. Data can be delivered at high speeds, thanks to optimized circuitry.
