The Mimico Halo 3 Master Chief isn’t R rated, but is one cool collectors item if you’re into Halo. As with all Mimobot items, the Halo 3 is only available in limited quantity (5,000) and available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities.
The Master Chief comes with exclusive content such as Halo 3 artwork, episode of “This Spartan Life” and other digital content.
Halo fanatic? We’ve got the source.
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Do you have a UPS that went south on you? Don’t throw it away, turn it into the ultimate hard drive storage spot.
Our good friend Alan from Hacked Gadgets found this 77 second video on hacking your broken UPS to include a USB drive. Who would ever think to look in a UPS for your porn library secret files.
[Thanks Alan] link to video here.
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Japanese gaming company, Bandai is looking to make the world a safer place. Web surfing can offer a lot of unwanted information to children and expose them to content even the worst parent wouldn’t want them to see.
Bandai created a USB security key to safeguard children while surfing the net. The USB Key automatically logs on with a “kids mode” interface. This allows the kids to surf sites like Yahoo! where it logs only to the kids games section.
Additionally the Bandai key links to recommended or modified kid-friendly only sites. There is a “the toy box mode” as well. In this mode the children can experience playing games in a very different way. There is a message function that allows the children to communicate with their parents on the net.
Bandai did some market research and found about 70% of children internet users are between the 4th and 5th grade. Bandai should have done some more research to realize the kid friendly Mickey Mouse and Poo design is too young…should have gone with Transformers or Ninja Turtles (yes their making a come back!)
Source: New Launches.com
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Buffalo figured out a way to turbo boost USB 2.0 to claim increased transfer speed of up-to 60%.
So what’s the deal? Buffalo gives no detail to this increased performance and makes a broad statement about Windows and Mac compatibility for the two new USB Turbo products, the MiniStation and DriveStation.
I would figure Buffalo addressed power issues as many USB devices have poor power management which directly effects performance.
The Buffalo MiniStation with Turbo USB is a portable storage device designed to withstand durable environment such as bumps, drops and turbulence (what?) you’d experience in everyday life.
The Buffalo DriveStation with Turbo USB is a tower configuration ideal for home or office and includes a 7200 RPM SATA drive with Turbo USB enhancements.
The MiniStation has a price range of $99 to $250
The DriveStation has a price range of $130 to $500.
Buffalo Turbo USB information page
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I’m not a Mac guy, but I can spot a [good] nugget of info when I see it. The Keychain utility on a Mac is designed to safeguard your important passwords, credentials, log-in info, and all those financial records.
So how can you maximize your Keychain security – well at Nevali.net they marry up the Mac Keychain and USB drive for some good-ol-fashion USB security where even the most paranoid can sleep well at night.
If interested, make the jump.
Photo courtesy of Jaron Brass.
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WUSB or Wireless USB products just began to ship and WUSB 1.1 is ramping up. Although a mild ramp, as with current transfer rates of 40Mbits/second the 1.1 spec needs to hit at least 500Mbits/second otherwise it’ll never see the light of day.
The 1.1 spec will support band groups at 6 GHz and above, including the 3-4 GHz supported by wireless USB 1.0. It aims to lower power consumption by an undisclosed amount. It also will adopt the techniques of near-field communications for letting two devices identify themselves to each other with a simple contact.
As (source) Gizmodo said: “…realistic or not, we like the ambition.”
Currently the USB Implementers Forum has certified a handful of notebooks and hubs for the 1.0 spec. The WiMedia Alliance is expected to certify the first 1.0 products shortly.
ReplayTV is not the first to introduce a USB dongle for DVR use, however, they are the first to integrate a format easily playable on Apple hand-held devices like iPhone and iPod touch.
The Personal HD system bundles both digital ATSC and analog NTSC technology and play over-the-air HDTV signals or old school analog TV source. So now you TV junkies can overload on adictively pathetic reality TV shows (well, except Survivor).
The real joy of the USB tuner is the software. The Personal HD specifically supports transfer of video to a format playable on widescreen hand-held devices made by Apple. Not to leave anyone out in the cold, the software can preserve multiple shows at once and even support USB devices from rival companies, such as ATI (AMD) and Pinnacle.
The ReplayTV goodie bag for the Personal HD system include direct encoding in a 4:3 ratio, intelligent keyword filter system to find shows by cast member names, show IDs or genre. Although the reply system isn’t out just yet, it will be later this fall at the tune of $100.
Source: ElectronistaContinue ReadingNo Comments
Proporta is calling out a challenge. Try and lose your keys while clipped to their all new, world’s smallest GPS Keychain.
The Freedom Keychain GPS receiver is ideal for connecting to your…wait for it…keychain, notebook, PDA or mobile phone.
The Freedom GPS Keychain works will all popular mapping software such as Google maps and you can hone in via 20 satellite channel connection.
The tracking device is powered by Lithium Polymer batteries battery and working time is rated at 9 continuous hours.
USB charger cable and car charger are provided with the package. At $180 it’s a mighty expensive GPS keychain , but a priceless GPS tracker for your laptop.
Freedom GPS Keychain product page.
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The Who’s Who of technology got together and established USB 3.0. Backward compatibility is covered with the same wired connection and greater speeds, up to 10 times faster than 480Mbps, and will include fiber optics support.
“USB 3.0 is the next logical step for the PC’s most popular wired connectivity,” said Jeff Ravencraft, technology strategist with Intel and president of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). “The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life.
Intel, HP, Microsoft, NEC, NXP Semiconductors and Texas Instruments are the rat-pack for USB 3.0 while the USB-IF (USB Implementers Forum) will act as trade association for the USB 3.0 Specifications.
The full and complete USB 3.0 specifications are expected to be released sometime during the first half of 2008. The mission statement throughout this process is:
The USB 3.0 Promoter Group is committed to preserving the existing USB device class driver infrastructure and investment, look-and-feel and ease-of-use of USB while continuing to expand this great technology’s capabilities.
The well known ATP Petito USB drive is now available in a limited edition Pink Ribbon version marking the support for the fight against Breast Cancer.
ATP has joined hands with Susan G. Komen against the fight. A percentage of retail sales will be used to support the organization in funding research, supporting education, screening and treatment projects in communities around the world.
“As a leader in the technology marketplace, we were excited about taking the initiative in contributing to this important cause,” said Michael Plaksin, ATP Vice President of Sales. “The Pink Ribbon Special Edition of our Petito USB Drive presents an opportunity for our consumers to make a change in someone’s life and proudly display their support of this critically important cause. With this innovative device, they have the unique ability to keep the all the memories of their loved ones, who have been affected by the disease, close at all times.”
Kensington eases the pain of laptop life with their all new re-designed notebook USB docking station. The SD200V is a tower update to it’s predecessor, the SD100, a wedge shaped design.
The SD200V allows dual view of monitors with it’s beefed up “DualView” boost feature. Max support is 1280×1024 pixels. The notebook dock station connects to your laptop via a single USB port. From there, you can sync up a VGA monitor, keyboard and mouse along with connection for stereo-out and microphone-in port.
The Kensington dock station includes front USB port for easy connection (although we’d like to see more) and ability to hot swap USB devices and other peripherals without the need to reboot your notebook.
Price set at $139 and pre-orders are being taken at Kensington.
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