Gadgets and the size of those gadgets have always been inversely proportionate. We want the bigger and better technology features with a smaller physical size. Here I bring you a classic example: the USB digital voice recorder.
At the size of [about] a credit card – 6.5mm – this digital voice recorder can record up to 69 hours of audio. The USB digital voice recorder is a 1GB storage device with a flip-out USB connector and flush mounted controls for recording, pause, play, rewind etc.
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Not that domino’s has traditionally carried the “geeky” stereotype, but putting some flash memory and a USB connector on would definitely capture a Geek’s attention.
Although the USB domino is just a design, the creator wanted each domino dot to represent 1GB of memory. Not too far fetched for the lower end, but what about the box-car 12 USB domino? That’s over a TB of data.
The other question which comes to mind, is what kind of coin will you drop to get a full set to make the USB domino collection worth…shall I even say it?…playing with.
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Our good friends at GizmosForGeeks cruised through CES’08 this year and one of their highly recommend products was the Pinnacle Video Transfer unit from Pinnacle Systems. The point of this device is making the record, copy and transfer of your favorite video (TV, DVD etc) to your iPod [or other hand held device] quick and easy.
As seen here, USB is the answer for plug-n-play connection and the Video Transfer box gives three settings for video quality. Your setting choice will dictate the file size and resolution quality. The video input options include S-video or Composite video.
The Gizmo guys had a moment to demo the unit and reported the unit was easy to use, compact and simple in operation.
The Pinnacle Video Transfer box will be available later this month for just $129.
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ATP is a northern California memory manufacturer who’s just launched the most “green” USB drive you’ve ever seen. The EarthDrive is designed and built using the maximum amount of bio-recycled materials resulting in a fully recyclable product.
I’ve been meaning to do something about recycling USB drives as I purchased recycleusb.com domain a while back and intended to do something about recycling. I still plan on doing it, but ATP has sure come up with a great environmental plan for USB memory recycling.
ATP doesn’t stop with just a bio-recycled drive either, part of the purchase price of the EarthDrive includes a contribution to American Forests, a world leader in planting trees for environment restoration. ATP doesn’t disclose
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How good are bus powered USB devices? That’s a good question and the answer depends upon the device and the application. To start, let me summarize situations / products you could find problematic. From here we can determine what & when “bus power” is best.
Most problem situations are with USB devices which require a heavy load of power. Products such as USB disc [hard] drives, external USB CD or DVD burners etc. With these products you need a lot of power, if you don’t get it, you have problems. If the power running through the USB cable (the USB bus) to your device is not enough good chance the product will fail. Problems such as drive failures, burning CD coasters or repetitive USB disconnects during operation.
With the larger USB hard drives coming out this is where you need to pay attention. I would recommend against purchasing a “USB hard drive” where the drive itself runs from USB bus power.
But lets say you’ve covered your bases and purchased a USB hard drive with an external power adapter – now we must consider the connection to your computer? Many times I’ve heard users making the connection via their
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Not to anyone’s surprise…the USB 3.0 jacks and sockets look exactly the same. Go figure, as part of the specification is to be backward compatible. But taking a closer look, you do see some differences.
The folks from Register Hardware had a peak at the USB 3.0 connectors while at CES 2008 this year. As you can see from the image below, the USB 3.0 sockets have an additional row of connectors. The connectors located in front are to keep the backward compatibility to USB 1.1 and USB 2.0. The connectors placed behind this first row are for USB 3.0.
The new USB 3.0 specification is promising transfer speeds 10 times greater than current 2.0 standards – to that of 4.7Gb/s. There is also a fiber optics connector which hasn’t been made available yet.
As the USB 3.0 specification is expected to be finalized sometime in June of 2008 – we can expect to see product following by the end of this year. Although I am looking forward to the new, faster USB 3.0 spec, not everyone shares the same love. Here is what some are saying:
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Click – Hard drive locked and encrypted.
Click – Hard drive unlocked and ready for use.
Yup, that’s it for security when using the RFID USB hard drive enclosure. The enclosure is designed to hold any number of 2.5 inch hard drives and with the embedded RFID technology a simple RFID ringkey is all that holds your data safe and secure.
Upon connection to your system, the RFID key identifies the USB hard drive for setup and connection, from that point forward the USB enclosure needs the same RFID signal to lock and unlock the drive.Several LED light configurations provide status: Red for lock, Green for unlock and Blue for write process.
With all this high tech RFID security, you can still be a knucklehead
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Steve Jobs announced an update to the Apple TV at Macworld San Francisco this week as well as iTunes Movie Rentals, which were already rumored to be part of his Macworld keynote speech.
Jobs admitted that Apple’s online video plan had been a disappointment and that users didn’t take to watching online video the way Apple had expected. When Jobs first announced the Apple TV last January, Apple’s initial video plan was too complicated for many people. Getting a movie or TV show onto your Apple TV required customers to buy the video from the iTunes Store, download it to their computer, then sync/stream the file using an Apple TV.
Although Apple has already sold 7 million movies, Jobs said: “That’s more than everyone else put together, but it did not meet our expectations.”
Apple plans on overhauling their strategy by making 2 major changes:
Adding a new online movie rental service
Updating the Apple TV’s software so that viewers can stream movies direct from the internet sans (that’s Latin for without) computer.
Jobs thinks that viewers would prefer to rent movies, not buy them. As a result, the new Apple TV software will allow users to
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I hope you didn’t buy a new Apple laptop recently. Steve Jobs announced the MacBook Air at Macworld today.
The MacBook Air is the “World’s Thinnest Notebook” – even thinner than the Sony TZ, which is 0.8 to 1.2 inches thick. It’s so thin it fits in a manila envelope. Seriously. See the image below! Apple’s goal was to make a high performance 3 pound laptop, with a full size keyboard, and large display.
The MacBook Air is so thin, it only has 4 ports: USB 2.0, Micro-DVI, headphone jack and a MagSafe 45w power adapter plug.
So what did Apple leave out?
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Markus Bischof is a Germany craftsman who’s recently applied his skills to the creation of hand crafted USB drives.
Made from extremely old wood and veneers it’s hard to believe a single tree hasn’t been (recently) cut down for it’s creation. Rather, the materials used, come from old wood collections where the wood is as hard as stone and incredibly smooth to the touch. For example some USB drives where made from an old pipe organ built in 1839 and dismantled years ago.
It’s clear these materials aren’t collected from local trees but rather hand crafted and hold a historical past from the materials used.
The image above is a sample shot which the German Bundesumweltminister (Federal Environment Minister) ordered as a representative giveaway to the ministers of other countries.
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Not the best looking USB mouse, but it does hold one unique characteristic…it’s waterproof. Yep, you can now browse the web, underwater, safe and secure. Putting some traditional yellow to signify the waterproof feature would help the look, but not by much.
The redeeming quality for this USB gadget is the application in hospitals, weathered / outdoor applications or possibly chemical laboratories as the mouse is chemical resistant as well.
The USB waterproof mouse is sealed with high quality silicone making it possible to clean, disinfect and even wash under water without harm or damage.
So if you happen to be a pool bartender, restaurant owner of just a slob, you can pick up the waterproof mouse for $37.
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The last card reader gadget I reported on was the 52-in-1 card reader. At the time I figured this would support the most demanding needs of a flash memory junky. However, with the inclusion of SATA, Firewire and audio, USB Fever upped that number to 62.
For those trying not to spend your money twice on multiple card readers for all those devices the 62-in-1 will surely do the trick. As the most comprehensive card reader available, USB Fever didn’t stop there. Included is support for eSATA, 1934 Firewire and audio output for headphones along with audio input for microphones.
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How good are bus powered USB devices? That’s a good question and the answer depends upon the device and the application. To start, let me summarize situations / products you could find problematic. From here we can determine what & when “bus power” is best.
Most problem situations are with USB devices which require a heavy load of power. Products such as USB disc [hard] drives, external USB CD or DVD burners etc. With these products you need a lot of power, if you don’t get it, you have problems. If the power running through the USB cable (the USB bus) to your device is not enough good chance the product will fail. Problems such as drive failures, burning CD coasters or repetitive USB disconnects during operation.
With the larger USB hard drives coming out this is where you need to pay attention. I would recommend against purchasing a “USB hard drive” where the drive itself runs from USB bus power.
But lets say you’ve covered your bases and purchased a USB hard drive with an external power adapter – now we must consider the connection to your computer? Many times I’ve heard users making the connection via their
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