Press Release – BURNABY, B.C. September 13, 2007 – Icron Technologies Corporation (TSX Venture: IT), the developers of ExtremeUSB® today announced that it has been issued a patent from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for enhancements to its ExtremeUSB technology for high-speed USB 2.0 implementations.
This patent, titled “Method and apparatus for extending the range of the universal serial bus protocolâ€, builds upon earlier patents covering USB 1.1 range extension. The invention described in the patent enables long-range or increased latency communication between high-speed (480 Mb/s) host controllers and full-speed (12 Mb/s) peripherals. It also provides support for the high-bandwidth peripherals that were introduced by the USB 2.0 specification. The issuance of this patent is the third of a series of applications filed through the Patent Corporation Treaty in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom patent was issued in December 2005 and the US patent was issued in January of 2007.
Icron’s ExtremeUSB 2.0 technology allows manufacturers of PC’s, peripherals, and consumer electronics to extend the range that USB 2.0 devices can operate over UTP cable, fiber optics, power line or any wireless media at any distance without making any changes to the USB ecosystem. This ensures that users will have a “plug and play†experience right out of the box, requiring no additional drivers, host controller changes, or user configurations. It supports all USB supported operating systems including Windows, MAC OS, Linux, Unix and Solaris.
“As Icron continues to evolve our ExtremeUSB technology and implement it over more and more platforms, we will continue to expand out patent portfolio to protect our intellectual property in the USB technology space.â€
commented Robert Eisses, President and CEO for Icron. USB 2.0 continues to be the most recognized and successful interface for device connectivity in the PC, CE and mobile device market. Icron continues its leadership in the USB 2.0 market with the receipt of this patent and expansion of its USB 2.0 extension product line including new long distance wired, USB over Power Line and wireless USB solutions.
About Icron Technologies Corporation
Icron Technologies Corporation’s patented ExtremeUSB® technology extends the range of USB in wired environments and enables wireless USB over any RF technology. ExtremeUSB is the only USB-IF compliant extension solution and is deployed globally in a wide range of applications including: industrial automation, medical device, aerospace, KVM and computer networking. ExtremeUSB technology is available in a variety of formats including technology licenses, OEM modules, developer kits, as well as branded and private-label products.
Icron is a publicly traded corporation and trades under the symbol “IT” on the TSX Venture Exchange. For more information on the company and its products, please visit www.icron.com.
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Contact Information
Icron Media Contact
Brigitta Shore Phone: +1 604-729-9479
brigitta.shore@icron.com Continue Reading
If you were watching any of the American football games this past Sunday, then you probably saw the new 3rd generation iPod Nano commercial. The ad features the upbeat and catchy song “1234” by Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist.
Here are the lyrics to “1234” used in the iPod Nano ad:
One Two Three Four
Tell me that you love me more
Sleepless long nights
That is what my youth was for
Old teenage hopes are alive at your door
Left you with nothing but they want some more
Oh, you’re changing your heart
Oh, You know who you are
Talk about awkward. The first time I played Guitar Hero I felt like a fool – well, for about 15 seconds, then I feel in love. If you haven’t tried it – play it – and oh how Guitar Hero has grown. One of the most popular video games on the market the Guitar Hero franchise is now stretching out to Rock Band. And if you haven’t heard of Rock Band, this will explain the Guitar Hero sporting a 4 port USB hub.
Rock Band is an unreleased music video game being developed by Harmonix Music, the creators of Guitar Hero. The idea is expanding the air guitar concept of Guitar Hero to a full rock band. Rock Band will offer players the ability to function in a virtual band by providing up to four players with the ability to utilize four different instruments (guitar, bass guitar, drum set and microphone).
The 4 port USB hub gives the ability for these players to sync together in the off-line, or same room, player setting. Although Rock Band will include an on-line sync capability.
The Guitar Hero controller sports the USB ready version for both PS3 and Xbox 360. The product isn’t available yet, but is due out in late October.
Source: KotakuContinue Reading
What do you get with a three chamber speaker system, three USB ports and small design? That’s right, an AudioHub from Logitech.
In the never ending quest of keeping a tidy workspace, Logitech now combines a speaker system with USB connectivity. Aimed at laptop users the AudioHub does make sense, although it would be nice to see a seven port hub rather than three for the AudioHub…after all, I’ve already got four on my laptop.
Logitech’s AudioHub offers Premium 2.1 digital audio with three chamber design and integrated sub-woofer. With a single connection send juice to the speakers and three USB devices via a single USB cable. Click the mute button to shut off the sound while keeping your USB gadgets powered. Telescoping speakers to accommodate any sized laptop and workspace.
At just $99 is this right for you? The Logitech AudioHub is available October of 2007.
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I wouldn’t suggest throwing away those classic cassette tapes just yet. Put aside the fact you wont listen to them, might as well convert them to MP3 before the final dump. It will at least relieve some guilt.
The PlusDeckEX cassette archiver allows direct connection via USB to the PC. Rip those cassettes to MP3 or better yet send your Grandmother an audio tape and record to the PlusDeckEX. You can still get cassettes at Amazon.
The PlusDeckEX this time offers (compared to previous model – PlusDeck2C) RCA I/O, 7.1 Support, a USB port, an LCD control panel, an AM/FM radio tuner and remotes. That for sure will breathe a little life into your old cassette tapes.
But, before you jump over to PlusDeck, might want to check out Ion Audio’s Cassette Archiver version.
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The Microsoft Memory Mouse 8000 is the latest peripheral release from Microsoft. Although I don’t think most seek out new technology for this peripheral, if the time is right, check this out.
The Microsoft Memory Mouse 8000 is a wireless unit with a USB dongle for communication and in the effort of saving space, Microsoft packed in 1GB of memory. You can freely take the dongle to other computers and use it as a regular USB mass storage device.
I’ve read a couple reviews and consensus is a solid unit, good design and works great with both Mac OS X, Vista and XP. So feel comfortable dropping the $99 for a 1GB USB mouse.Some other notable features include:
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Happy Halloween with the USB FeverUSB Halloween decoration kit. There is no better way to dress up the kids computer during the Halloween season. After all, it wont scare many adults.
If Bob Barker where promoting this, he’d say:
“…featuring over half-a-dozen Halloween lights, green leaf cable, party hat, festive mouse pad and lovely screen saver – all this for just $18.99…
No one claims to be a CSS wizard over here, but this new face lift isn’t half bad. Actually, navigation is easier. The layout is simple and casual colors for easy reading and browsing.
We are still working on the USB Forum but everything else seems to be loading just fine, like our USB Tutorials category, USB Gadgets and even our USB Resources page.
We hope you like it.
GetUSB.infoContinue Reading
More and more articles keep popping up about USB making it’s way into automobiles. Off the top of my head we have Fiat, Audi, Hyundai, and Ford – I’m sure there are many more.
What I didn’t know is such a large percentage of car owners who already have USB. At nearly 15% I was surprised to say the least, I thought the number would be down near 3-5%. It’s also promising (and impressive) to see that over 75% of our visitors would love to have some USB sync ability.
Not that GetUSB poll results matter all that much, I’m still going to hunt down some car manufacturer consultants and let them know our findings. I guess you could say – one for the team.
Next up…Continue Reading
Vastech is a small Silicon Valley firm who’s been selling USB hubs with a $3.50 rebate. Well, those rebates where found in the trash.
I’ve heard of getting denied from incorrect rebate paperwork – but to find rebates in the trash – WOW – talk about negligent behavior towards the consumer.
Although the rebate amount is small, for Vastech to disregard personal information placed on rebate forms such as; name, address, phone number, credit card receipts is not acceptable.
To correct this unbelievable act, Vastech is offering the rebate directly to the consumer – simply contact support@vastechinc.com and demand your money back. Although I’d expect a long, drawn out process if throwing away the original rebates are any indication of how they do business.
Fortunately, I didn’t buy a Vastech USB hub and never been burned by a rebate program – lets hope it stays that way.
Source: Yahoo Tech NewsContinue Reading
This week Apple announced new iPods and lowered the iPhone price by $200. But what if you were one of the millions of people who bought an iPhone 2 months ago? You’d probably be a little pissed off right? Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, got so many emails from angry customers that he wrote an open letter on the Apple website today. The letter says that every customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T will receive a $100 Apple store credit.
It’s a brilliant move by Apple. This rebate will placate the angry early iPhone adopters who are feeling cheated, still keep the money in Apple’s pocket and generate lots of press (like this article).Here’s the open letter from Jobs:
To all iPhone customers:
I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions.
First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to ‘go for it’ this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone ‘tent’. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.
Second, being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced.
Third, even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.
Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week. Stay tuned.
We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.
Steve Jobs
Apple CEO
Once again Apple has proven why they are so loved by their fan base. But, hey Steve, shouldn’t it be a $200 store credit?
BeSocial: digg story | methodshopContinue Reading
Press Release – BURNABY, B.C. September 13, 2007 – Icron Technologies Corporation (TSX Venture: IT), the developers of ExtremeUSB® today announced that it has been issued a patent from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for enhancements to its ExtremeUSB technology for high-speed USB 2.0 implementations.
This patent, titled “Method and apparatus for extending the range of the universal serial bus protocolâ€, builds upon earlier patents covering USB 1.1 range extension. The invention described in the patent enables long-range or increased latency communication between high-speed (480 Mb/s) host controllers and full-speed (12 Mb/s) peripherals. It also provides support for the high-bandwidth peripherals that were introduced by the USB 2.0 specification. The issuance of this patent is the third of a series of applications filed through the Patent Corporation Treaty in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom patent was issued in December 2005 and the US patent was issued in January of 2007.
Icron’s ExtremeUSB 2.0 technology allows manufacturers of PC’s, peripherals, and consumer electronics to extend the range that USB 2.0 devices can operate over UTP cable, fiber optics, power line or any wireless media at any distance without making any changes to the USB ecosystem. This ensures that users will have a “plug and play†experience right out of the box, requiring no additional drivers, host controller changes, or user configurations. It supports all USB supported operating systems including Windows, MAC OS, Linux, Unix and Solaris.
One Two Three Four
Tell me that you love me more
Sleepless long nights
That is what my youth was for
Old teenage hopes are alive at your door
Left you with nothing but they want some more
Oh, you’re changing your heart
Oh, You know who you are
