You might have heard the next gen iPad will include a miniUSB port, but for those looking for an easier interface today, or want a standard USB interface for even the upcoming iPad, you should get the USB connector kit from USB Fever.
The kit has a SD and USB connector which talks with the iPad through the female Apple connector you use for synchronizing or connecting to your computer.The kit gives you an easier way to upload images, video and PDF documents. It also gives you an easier way to connect your iPhone or other digital camera or video recorder to your iPad. Hell, you could almost toss out the PC…oh way, you’ve still got to sync and update.
The USB port could also be used to connect your keyboard to the iPad for typing emails, etc. Sure you all love the keypad on the iPad, but it’s still not as easy to use as a traditional keyboard.
USBFever webpage [$35].
Continue Reading
Whether you are a serious musician or just like playing as a hobby to relax, chances are you have a guitar and a tuner. As with most musicians your budget is probably tight or with the casual player you don’t keep up on the up-keep of your gear, so when your guitar is out of tune, you go for the tuner. But most likely the battery is dead because A) you didn’t want to spend the cash or B) hadn’t played in so long, the batteries just went dead. This is why the solar powered guitar tuner makes perfect sense.
Tascam has done a great job with this tuner and thought about including a USB port just in case that tuner was stuffed in your guitar case for too long and you need a quick fix to get back in tune.
Released just in time for the holidays and priced right [under $20] with a range of hues to select from: black, pink, orange, green, blue, white.
Continue Reading
When Sony officially supports the USB 3.0 specification by supplying a dual USB 3.0 port on their new VAIO laptops, it’s safe to say the transition is picking up steam.
The Sony desktop-replacements are HD VAIO laptops coming with possibly everything you can hope for with the exception of 3D and SSD. The more expensive model ($2,970) will have Core i7-740QM, GeForce GT 425M 1GB graphics card while the lower end laptop ($2,140) will only carry a Core i5-460M and GeForce 310M 512MB. Both Sony VAIO models are stocked with 4GB RAM, the same Blu-ray optical reader, 500GB 2.5″ drive and a dual HDTV tuner as well as a 16.4″ full HD LCD.
In the connectivity department, both laptops will feature not one but two USB 3.0 ports – likely powered by
Continue Reading
Here is a 7 minute video on how to wire up any USB port and suck the power right out for that USB gadget you dreamed up at 3am. For DIY projects, USB hacking is one of the most popular forms of taking something ordinary and making something unique. So if you’ve never tried a hack or USB tutorial, this is a great building block for yourself. Enjoy!
Source: YouTube.
Continue Reading
With the fast pace of our multimedia lifestyles it’s getting more important to be able to transfer or save large files more quickly. With this future trend it’s nice to see the USB 3.0 products hitting the market in larger quantities with different product offerings. Lenovo is introducing their first portable USB 3.0 hard drive, the F360.
With the 3.0 getting integrated into more products, it’s nice to see a large industry leader like Lenovo getting on board.
The slim F360 USB hard drive is only 11 mm thick with a brushed metal surface treatment and unique etching process to give it a contemporary look. The no screw chassis is an additional feature, which I guess, is more common these days, but still looks great.The F360 will be a 7200RPM drive and includes a new calibration chip [no info on which one] which guarantees data transfer efficiency, error correction and security to insure your data is always safe, yet accessible.
Continue Reading
If rumors are to be true, Intel will be adding a USB 3.0 chipset to their winter 2010 lineup. The Intel Developer Forum is expected to showcase an Intel Cougar Point chipset for desktops.
For a bit, it was said Intel will forgo the the USB 3.0 chipset in favor of LightPeak technology, but maybe that technology has hit a bump in the road? Odd to have Intel flip-flop like this…or wait, maybe not.Currently integrators are turning to a third OEM for the USB 3.0 like NEC, but the Intel native would help reduce expense of motherboard manufacturers and speed the adoption of USB 3.0 technology into laptops, desktops and tablets.
Source:Â Electronista.com.
Continue Reading
Do you see something odd about this picture? Maybe the fact an LED is illuminating from a USB connector with no PC in site? Ya that’s it. Good job Sherlock.
So what we have here is a How To or USB Hack on running an LED from a Super-capacitor. If you are non-technical, then we basically mean a very short lived battery to run the LED. A super-capacitor has the ability to store energy for longer periods of time over traditional capacitors – yet still not long enough as with batteries.The concept of this tutorial is to wire a super-capacitor to a USB socket whereby your computer can charge up the capacitor and when disconnected you’ll get about 10 minutes of LED illumination.
Granted there isn’t much day-to-day use with this USB hack, but just a fun little project if you have the time.
Over on the Instructables website there is an updated USB tutorial which includes
Continue Reading
With netbooks gaining popularity, the fact that no optical drive is included with the product has become a bit of an issue. With out an optical drive, software manufacturers are forced to provide download links for the installation packages. With very large installation packages, a download option may not be available, so vendors need to switch to a solid state device like a USB thumb drive or SD card.
Today Hitachi is trying to tackle this problem and provide a solution where everyone wins. Their ODD Hybrid Drive is the solution. The ODD [Optical Disc Drive] is a combination of a solid state hard drive and optical disc drive. Together, the hybrid drive allows the smaller netbooks and soon tablet PCs the ability to have optical accessibility.Having optical is also critical for Windows restore procedures in the event the operating system needs to be restored or repaired.
The added feature of this type of hybrid drive is the speed. Check this out, Windows 7 boots in about 29 seconds. Starcraft 2 Battlenet loads in about 38 seconds. Of course these numbers will very depending on your hardware setup, but it gives you an idea of performance.
The report from Aving didn’t mention price, but did say the hybrid drive will become available mid Oct 2010.
Source:Â Aving.net.
Continue Reading
We’ve seen some talk about the HP Slate coming back. It was canned several months ago, but just recently we’ve started to hear about reviews and product spotted out in the wild. Most recently is a blog post from Engadget [source for these images]:
It’s well known the Slate was canceled back in March and I find it very unlikely the company would about-face yet again to re-launch the tablet PC.
My theory is the guy posting video on the web, is a guy who got his hands on a prototype unit while it was in development. The HP Slate most likely had hundreds if not thousands of prototypes made and clearly some of them have leaked into the public sector.
The HP Slate shown in the video on Engadget’s site does show so interesting tips. For example the processing time to switch between landscape and portrait. We also like the SD and USB connectivity along with nice dock station for the tablet PC. In our opinion, these to features alone, set it apart from the iPad product.
Of course, we’ll leave it up to you to decide.
Source: Engadget [including Video clip]
Continue Reading
Yes, we have a soft spot for USB steampunk of just about anything. Here is another design release from WWWorks aptly named “Imperial.”
Like the USB Scorpion steampunk, the Eagle wraps around the tail of the USB with the LED in the position of the beating heart. What beauty. What symbolism.Brass tubing protects the inner USB but is also very decorative for looks, the etched brass overlay holds the dark red garnet cabochon above the LED. The head and tail plugs which hold the USB inside the brass tube is made of scorched wood with “highly visible grain” to give it the old craftsman style look.
There was a tweet about Windows Phone 7 offering USB tethering. It first started with a claim the feature will be available, and it would be available withour the courier adding additional charges. Unfortunately, that claim has been retracted. However, there is still hope for USB tethering.
I think in all likelyhood, Windows Phone 7 will offer USB tethering so you can get to the internet through your phone, but it’ll be with a data plan surcharge.That’s OK by me for the moment because sometimes it’s critical to get your data while on-site or at a remote location where there just isn’t an option. In addition, this would give WP7 a nice edge on Apple products who don’t let you tether.
What do you think?Continue Reading
DisplayLink will be pushing a new graphics chipset they say will take a major step toward any device with any display connectivity. Well damn, that’ll make it easy.
The nut for DisplayLink is their ability to leverage the bi-directional throughput of USB 3.0 to offer an array of functions and features. This means multiple full HD videos, high res graphics, standard video imaging and networking data can be simultaneously running. To give you an idea, apply these products to your imagination:
USB or Ethernet bus powered monitors
Universal USB docking stations with graphics, networking, and audio
Affordable Ethernet and USB zero clients for shared resource computing
USB to HDMI adapters for PC to TV connectivity
USB to DVI, VGA or DisplayPort adapters for multi-display notebooks
Mobile device to display
Dual-Headed USB bus powered graphics adapters
The new technology by DisplayLink include items such as:
Continue Reading
