Attention ladies, Singer now takes USB. WOW – this article is starting off to be rather sexist. Why should I assume only woman are interested in a Singer sewing machine with USB? Having USB, one can transmit embroidery designs and pattern selections directly from your PC or laptop.
Let me re-word. Attention metro sexual males – you may now use Singer Futura to sew your club logo’s or personalize your towels, handkerchiefs and dress shirts.
There are three models from Singer that offer USB connectivity. The Futura CE-350, Futura CD-250 and Futura CE-150.
Seriously, I would think those into sewing would appreciate the ease-of-use USB offers for a process like this.
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Apple is motivated to introduce an ultra portable laptop and according to their calculations one of the biggest limiting factors is the port connectors. With that in mind, Apple submitted a patent for a collapsible USB connector (and other connectors like FireWire and RJ-45) to aid in the ultra slim effort.
After reading a summary of the report here it’s clear Apple is looking to create a “highly tapered chassis shape.” (although the picture in that report does show it).
So how does this collapsing port work? Without to much detail the idea is this: When the ultra portable laptop is closed so are the ports. When the laptop is opened those ports expand and allow connectivity using traditional sized cables.
Seems to me this methodology is asking for trouble, unless the only thing being connected are low speed peripherals like mouse or scanner.
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Franklin Wireless is churning out their smallest EVDO USB Modem so you can be your own hotspot – whether you’re hot or not.
EVDO or Evolution Data Only/Evolution Data Optimized provides fast wireless broadband (3G) internet service directly to your [I’m assuming] laptop [or any computer really]. All this access is now portable and available via Franklin’s USB CDU680 modem. You can take the internet with you and surf the web in your car, on the train, in the airport, at your Starwars technology convention or in your Luv Bus RV.
Some exceptional features too. 64MB flash drive – okay maybe THAT’S not impressive, built-in GPS, antenna port for external signal boost, pre-configured for PC/ Mac and swivel base USB connector.
(read that headline again) Grundig is doing dictation digital style. The DigtaSonic xMic is all professional and hard to call a typical dictation gadget. None-the-less, it’s out there with elegance and style. The design has a “soft touch” texture for … wait for it … long lasting pleasure comfort.
Using USB connectivity the DigtaSonic takes control of any PC application via Grundig’s Track Point mouse technology. For custom integration (medical applications) the Grundig mic comes with SDK tools for 100% software compatibility.
Digital quality is claimed to be top shelf with integrated sound card and dynamic speaker for optimal recording and play-back.
Clearly not a dictation tool for the common office executive but would make a great item for that afternoon rant.
Shaped like a shampoo bottle and about as waterproof, this standalone juke box will let you get jiggy in the shower without harm to you or the system.
Now that we’ve found that waterproof Juke Tower speaker system you’ve always wanted; Step 2 – find that waterproof flash drive. The standalone system pulls music from your flash drive and includes basic volume, skip, stop, play, etc controls. What your shampoo bottle doesn’t have, but the Juke Tower does, is an illuminating clock display so you’ll never be late because of too much American Idol practice.
Hyundai Motors will place a USB port into their 2009 Elantra car for stereo connectivity and support of the Microsoft automotive initiative Blue&Me.
Given the fact you’d find yourself in a Hyundai it’s not clear on how you can actually use the USB port, although it’s obvious the USB port would give you access to sync GPS devices, access the stereo for flash based music libraries and display contact information from your PDA on the upgraded nav station.
A company called Suck UK is about to launch this UFD cleverly disguised as a cassette tape. Nothing more than some creative packaging. So why am I writing about this? Because the other products on their website are absolutely classic for a good laugh. Such as Suck UK’s Smoking Mittens, Razorblade Mirror, Cardboard Mini Arcade and the list wouldn’t be complete without the Emergency Money Box. More fun stuff, check them out.
As for the USB stick in a cassette box, it’s available end of September and sizes are yet to be announced. If by chance you have a library of cassette tapes needing to be digitized than check out our post from the other day on a USB Cassette Archiver.
So what exactly are we looking at? Mimobot USB characters have always been a little off in their design, but I guess that’s why their following is so strong. Or is it?
Nine new models came out last week and they are strange – must be based off the characters in the animated movie, Chicken Little. So lets do a quick run-down.
Row One:
PSY mimobot
Ptry mimobot
PupStar mimobot
RayD8 mimobot
How do they come up with these names?
Row Two:
Galacula mimobot (Okay that makes sense)
Gigglebyte mimobot
Fairybit mimobot
Owsley Owlbert mimobot
The straggler Swirl mimobot.
Each Mimobot is available from 512MB to 4GB size and range in price from $40 to $110. As with most Mimobots these fun little USB characters are manufactured in only 2,000 quantity so if one strikes-your-fancy; get it!
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Today I put together all the information needed to run a mobile Library from Apple iTunes on a USB stick or USB drive. This method will run the entire iTunes application from the storage device, making it easy to manage iTunes libraries from a single location. I believe this is how iTunes should have be developed – as having a library specific for each computer is a frustrating way to enjoy your music.
What pushed me over the edge is my wife wanting to purchase music from iTunes at work and sync them up with the iTunes computer at home. Typically this is done by purchasing the music and downloading directly to the iPod, but she’s a CPA and travels from location to location for audits and doesn’t even use the same computer all the time – yet she loves her music. The solution was to run iTunes from a USB flash drive to manage a single Library.
This tutorial includes installing iTunes on a flash drive, creating autorun files for auto-launching iTunes from the flash drive and how to set-up iTunes on different computers to run a music library from the single flash drive. Of course this method also works for larger storage hard drives – basically anything that appears as a Mass Storage Device on your system. If you are looking for a long term strategy for managing your iTunes music, I strongly recommend doing this process to an external hard drive that is, at least, 120GBs. So here we go:
Here is a quick summary so you know what we are getting into:
Nokia is leading the way in accepting the fact that USB is the end-all connectivity. The new Nokia 8600 Luna has only one external socket; a microUSB port. Since China set the standard for all charging to cell phones be via USB, this would be Nokia’s answer to the call.
So with Nokia on board for 100% USB charging and connectivity on this model, I would expect a quick adoption to other models.
You can see the microUSB port at the bottom of the picture; this micro port is our interface to the computer, charger and any audio devices. Amazing. The Nokia 8600 comes with microUSB adapter for audio connection as we haven’t seen audio devices with microUSB support as of yet.
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Virgin America planes are coming to the US. With it, comes purple hue cabins and high tech services. Every seat has a 110 volt port, Ethernet and USB for charging iPods, phones and other gadgets.
The Virgin line includes computer servers which hold 3000 MP3 songs and the ability to create your own play list which is available the next time you fly. Nice. The Virgin system, called “Red” includes in-house IM chat both public and private along with standard offerings of movies and TV channels. I can see it now: IM chat: “I farted, can anyone tell?”
We’ve seen iPod mixers before but none like this with over sized dials and clean layout design. The iBuddy and iSpin from Sergio are two devices that let you do your music your way. Both iPod DJ systems let you run iPods or MP3 players from the dock stations simultaneously.
The iBuddy center dial is used for flange and autophase between songs on the two iPods and the iSpin center dial is used for spinning between MP3 players with jog wheel for cross over fades. It would be nice if both features where in one – but they’re not.
The iBuddy and iSpin accept all iPod models and have a couple pre-program settings along with ability to route a mic through the effects, if you want.
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