Archive for ◊ June, 2009 ◊

Belkin USB Auto Charger
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

belkin

A problem shared among auto chargers is that it’s sticking out of a car’s dashboard. Belkin’s Micro Auto USB Charger is here to fix that. The low-profile charger fits flush in your cigarette socket, and turns it into a single 1000mAh charging port for the latest generation of iPods as well as iPhone 3G and original. Belkin could be looking at selling at least two of these to every car owner: one for the kids’ iPod touch and another one for the iPhone.

If charger sticking out doesn’t annoy you, the Dual Auto Charger is capable of supplying 1A on the first USB port and 500mA on the other. This maybe what you need should you also have a portable GPS on your dashboard that also needs recharging. The Micro Auto USB Charger will hit retail in May for $15, and the bulkier Dual Auto Adapter goes for nearly $30.

Category: USB Products  | Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment
USB Flash Disk or Statue of Liberty
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

statue-of-liberty-flash-drive

Super Talent has come up with a very American USB flash drive that mimics a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty. The flash drive component is inside the robed goddess which sits on a foundation (or a dock in this case). The USB connector is revealed by separating the statue from the base.

Even though there’s no word on the scale of the model, souvenir shops will surely stock up a bunch of these for the visitors flocking to Big Apple as soon as economy picks up again. Milking on one of the most recognizable icons of United States is perhaps a better idea for a flash drive than paying a hefty sum for The Godfather license to put the name of the epic film on some ordinary looking flash drives.

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Canon EOS 450D
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

canon_eos_450d_usb

No need to call in the CSI guys, this isn’t the work of the Miniature Killer but it sure could qualify. What has to be one of the most detailed replica USB drives has arrived in the form (bidding has ended… sorry) of Canon EOS 450D. All the way down to the options on the LCD screen no detail is left out. The LCD is also back-lit when plugged in. Accurate down to every detail these are available on ebay now for between $90 to $150 depending on the competition for each one. Okay, they don’t really take pictures but it could make a great gift for the Canon fanboy on your list.

The only minor detail you’ll have to contend with is the odd shape of the drive. If it even fits directly into your USB ports it will likely block any nearby ports with its bulk. Worst case scenario it may not fit at all. Fortunately the seller includes a USB extension cord to help out. The model that’s currently for sale is only 2GB but previous versions were 4GB. Check them out for yourself. There may even be a few of the original 5D MarkII’s still available if that’s your favorite EOS.

Category: USB Products  | Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment
Bluetooth 3.0 is comming
Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

Bluetooth-3-0

Since UWB shelved itself and concurrently transferred its intellectual property to the Bluetooth SIG group, we’ve been waiting for the release of Bluetooth 3.0. the Bluetooth special interest group released the latest official update to the Bluetooth standard. The new standard promises a eightfold increase in data rate as well as various improvements to stability and power saving functionality. Unicast Connectionless Data increases speed and decreases power drains for longer battery life and better throughput. Enhanced Power Control will help adapt to changing signal quality conditions and reduce the annoyances associated with interference laden areas and changes in distance. The bandwidth increase of up to 24Mbps is accomplished by spilling over into 802.11 radio communications. Many phones are already shipping with wifi capabilities so this shouldn’t mean a price jump or major engineering hurdles.

Wifi and Ethernet titans, Atheros and Broadcom, are already shipping BT3.0 chips. Of course we were, albeit foolishly, hoping that BT 3.0 might be packing more of a UWB sized punch. Sadly though, it seems reality has let us down again. Bluetooth 3.0 does bring some improvements to the current Bluetooth offering, but they seem minor in comparison to the concept that was Wireless USB. Here’s hoping that the various adopting industries will roll out some exciting applications for this new release.

Category: USB News  | Tags:  | One Comment
DIGITUS USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter‏
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

USB Wireless Adapter

Draft 2.0 802.11n hardware is now making the rounds and is finally given many people reason to upgrade. As the new standard makes it onto more and more routers many people are seeing enough gain to upgrade their individual PCs with new wireless network cards. If you’re still suffering with the range and speed of an 802.11b wireless device and have been putting off upgrading because of high prices, Digitus may have something to help you take the leap.

Their new wireless LAN adapter has just been released and supports the draft 2.0 N standard. It also supports the very user friendly WPS security mode for quick push-button connectivity. While slightly larger than most USB WiFi adapters, 90% percent of its body is actually a 3dBi antenna. This is funny since Buffalo has a tiny 802.11n adapter whose USB connector makes up for large part of the dongle. Anyway, this integrated antenna should allow you to get the most out of wireless-N’s greatly improved range. The adapter also supports all of the new security standards like WEP, WPA, WPA2. it can be found for about $45 and should be hitting major retailers soon.

Category: USB Products  | Tags:  | One Comment
Kensington Notebook Keypad and Calculator
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

Kensington USB Keypad

Kensington may have finally given accountants a reason to rejoice. In what has to be the closest thing to a USB adding machine ever created, Kensington has unveiled a Keypad/Calculator which is sure to be quickly adopted by any and all number crunchers. This USB peripheral which comes in the form of a standalone numeric keypad also carries with it 19-key financial calculator functions. The display is a run of the mill single line LCD screen. While they’re actually quite a few calculator keypads out there this is the first we’ve seen that actually integrates the two functions by the use of a “send key” which could send calculator results to the PC.

The keypad also sports a two port USB hub that will allow you to daisy chain other devices through it. since it doesn’t include its own power supply he will likely run into power problems connecting devices like extremely large hard drives or web cams. Low-power devices like mice, keyboards and flash drives should be just fine. The keypad should be plug-and-play on both Windows and Apple computers and can be had $30 and is available now.

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Leyio File Sharing Gadget
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

Leyio File Sharing Gadget

The Leyio UWB file sharing device was released in London this week and the chaps over at eWeek Europe got a chance to give it a once-over. This long-awaited device has finally made it to distribution writing the first implementation of UWB technology to the consumer in a mobile format. The only other notable devices making use of ultra-wideband technology are high definition video signal transmitters. We’re happy to see the Leyio come and hope many more devices make use of the high-bandwidth UWB standard. This application however doesn’t have to do Certified Wireless USB, which lets peripherals to a PC wirelessly even though WUSB uses the same UWB radio platform.

The Leyio is designed to be a mobile data sharing device which can partner and transfer files with other Leyio owners. When the two of you meet up, you perform a kind of secret digital handshake involving the fingerprint scanner and accelerometer. Then whatever files you have chosen to share will start jumping across the airwaves at up to 80 Mbps. The Leyio holds up to 16GB of data and can be replenished by a 2GB USB drive that they call “The Shuttle” or via USB cable. now while you can move all manner of files the Leyio only has the ability to display images. It cannot display documents nor play music files at all. Hopefully later versions will at least have the ability to play MP3 files because at more than $200 it will have a hard time catching on otherwise.

Category: USB Products  | Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment
Windows 7 Stop Autorun for USB Flash Disk
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

Windows 7 Autorun Before

 Before

Windows Vista and XP’s Autorun have become a hotbed for virus & malware activity, notably the Conficker worm spreading primarily via USB flash drives. To put a halt to the spread, Microsoft said it’s making a change to the default way of how Windows 7 handles USB drives. The first release candidate version of Windows 7 that will soon be released will stop any AutoRun tasks from tricking unsuspecting users into launching the apps.

Windows 7 Autorun After

 After

CDs and DVDs as well as so-called “smart” drives (i.e. U3) that emulate a DVD drive will continue to use AutoRun. An old school way for all of us is perhaps to hold SHIFT key when plugging a drive or inserting an optical disc. Microsoft also intends to make this update available to Vista and XP users eventually.

Category: USB News  | Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment
Ennova OLED USB Drive
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

Oled USB Flash Drive news

Ennova Direct an IP company has been granted today a patent for an OLED lit fingerprint scanning thumbdrive. The flash Drive sports an OLED sensor screen capable of reading and storing fingerprints. Once the drive has been biometrically unlocked the OLED area can also be used as an interactive display. Consider it effectively an Optimus Micro if you will. The display will let you select which files you wish to unlock. The display to also be used to read out status information like remaining capacity or battery level. The clever flip cap hides and protects both the USB connector as well as the OLED screen.

Ennova Direct has been in business for five years now patenting device concepts. Their most recognizable patent is the retractable USB flash drive. Their concept picture looks strikingly similar to the Cruzer Contour flash drive. they also hold patents on Bluetooth audio devices, specifically for portable audio devices. Some other more pedestrian holdings aren’t as clever like their ‘flashlite’ flash drive plus rechargeable flash light, illuminated mouse pad and an illuminated mouse. I wonder how much money Brando has had to pay to these guys.

Category: USB Products  | Tags: ,  | One Comment
Data Backup Storage – Samsung Story
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Author: Arthur Matthew

Samsung Story

The Samsung Story is here looking more like a high-end home stereo component than a desktop peripheral. Don’t let its rigid looks fool you it’s actually meant to be a very user friendly 1.5TB backup device for all your favorite files. The machined aluminum casing houses a single 3.5″ SATA hard drive. Aluminum cases are notoriously good at dissipating heat which large fast drives generate in abundance. The Story is USB 2.0 enabled for fast transfers and speedy backups.

Samsung Story Station

Backups and Data Storage are what this monster is really about. The Story comes with three extra features to solve your data storage needs. not just data storage and protection is the main focus of the software packages provided with the drive. Samsung provides a timed backup software package which can optionally include the backup sets with a password key that you supply. they also provide their own version of a Truecrypt type functionality. This program attaches an encrypted virtual drive to the host computer and all files stored within it are automatically encrypted. It’s available in 500GB, 1TB and the mammoth 1.5TB version but there’s no word yet on price but it should be available in May.

Category: USB Products  | Tags: ,  | 2 Comments
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