Archive for: 3.0
As much as “industry insiders” would love to actually know what the next iPhone will include, it’s so far looks like nothing more than common sense info is being “leaked”. Kind of like a trip to the psychic really. We’re not really learning anything we don’t already know. Bigger screen — given. Front facing camera — rumored since 2nd gen. Mutli-tasking — ditto. Hardly the kind of “breaking news” I would expect to follow the bolded and in many cases, italicized words. But if we must — iPhone 4.0: 960 x 640 or more display, front facing camera, at least 5-megapixel rear camera, multi-tasking support for 3rd party apps, yadda yadda yadda. Feel better? See, anyone can do it. Go ahead, give it a shot. Let’s hear what you’ve got.
- February 18, 2010 10:14 am
USB 3.0 hasn’t even reached mass popularity (or adoption) yet and already someone, somewhere is trying to steal it’s spotlight. 4.8Gbps may seem fast, and in truth, it really is. But there’s always something bigger and better, right? Right. NEC has gone on the record books claiming that the USB 3.0 spec can actually go faster.
How’s 16Gb/s sound? Such speeds will no doubt be part of future USB spec ratifications in USB 4.0 and beyond. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. The biggest problem with super speedy USB over longer distances is the signal interference and breakdown of the transmission. Countering such a problem involves sending a simple signal back down the line to confirm that it was sent correctly. But as you increase the transfer speeds, the speed of that “confirmation signal” has to increase as well. And such things can only go so fast.
NEC’s solution: delay the feedback/confirmation signal and dramatically increase the transfer speeds. In theory it’s simple, effective, and makes sense. The real world as we know it however, rarely works that way. Looks like USB 3.0 just became a little less cool huh? Ready for 16Gb/s USB?
Pocket-Lint
- February 16, 2010 2:09 pm
Want to expand your external storage but don’t necessarily like being confined to a “pre-made” external hard drive? You’re in luck for Sharknoon has just taken the wraps off of their new QuickPort Duo hard drive dock. Regardless of how big, or small your hard drive is, the QuickPort Duo has a slot just for you. And, as and added bonus, USB 3.0 is thrown in for good measure. It all comes wrapped in a nice little cube for $80. Considering you can slap a couple of 2TB drives into the dock and buy extras for hot-swapping goodness, 80$ for a “gate keeper” doesn’t seem too unreasonable now does it?
[Sharknoon]
Gizmodo
- February 15, 2010 8:11 am
How about some more USB 3.0 goodness? Fresh off of Buffalo’s 4-port USB 3.0 hub, another little USB 3.0 compatible piece of gadgetry you’ll want to add to your collection is the SIIG USB 3.0 to eSATA adatper. The gist of the adapter is pretty straight forward — it turns a USB 3.0 port into an eSATA port for that external USB 3.0 hard drive you don’t have yet. Hey, it never hurts to be ahead of the curve now does it?
For now, the adapter is Windows only, lacking support for both Linux and Mac. Though I expect the aforementioned OS’s to gain some support in due time. As an added bonus, this adapter is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and thanks to the increased power specs of USB 3.0, should power most external hard drives without a separate AC adpater. Super!
Pick yours up for $49.99 and prepare for the USB 3.0 onslaught that is set to begin later this year.
[Proudct Page: SIIG]
Everything USB
- February 15, 2010 8:02 am
While most “normal” computer users creep along with USB 2.0, the geeks in the world are intently fixated on USB 3.0. 2010 is the year that it will finally go mainstream. While pretty much all mobile electronics are still being released as USB 2.0 only, getting the necessary end user equipment ready for the big change is a task worth undertaking sooner rather than later to avoid heartache and slow speeds. To help you make the transition, Buffalo is here.
Labeled as “World’s First USB 3.0 4-port hub”, the BSH4A03U3 is your standard looking 4-port hub that will be available in either black or white and feature not only USB 3.0 support, but backwards compatibility for USB 2.0 and 1.1 as well. In case you needed a refresher as to why USB 3.0 matters, transfer speeds *theoretically* top out at 5Gbps — a far cry from USB 2.0′s (also theoretical) 480Mbps. If you do a lot of large file transfers, you need USB 3.0.
Look for this miniature beaut to hit Japan come March for $88 USD and the rest of the world sometime thereafter (US release not yet known).
CrunchGear
The latest news on the iPhone 4.0 front is pretty sparse. Software wise we don’t know a whole lot. Similarly, the hardware side of things is equally cloudy. Over the last month, we’ve heard rumblings of iPhone 4.0 being spied online via various analytics tracking software. With Apple’s latest iPhone 3.1.3 update, we can now see at least say we know something about the new iPhone hardware.
It’s code name is “N89″. How do we know? Well, we don’t. But judging by past internal naming structures — M68, N82, and N88 (iPhone, 3G, and 3GS respectively) — I’d say calling the N89 the iPhone 4.0 isn’t too far fetched.
Looking at the naming structure, assuming that the model number has at least some small correlation with differences in hardware, will the N89/iPhone 4.0 be that much different than the current iPhone 3GS? I mean, the N89 is but one small number higher than the 3GS’s code name. As you can see from the first gen iPhone’s “M68″ moniker to the iPhone 3G’s N82, there was a big jump in numbering (and lettering) from one model to the next. The subsequent jump from 3G to 3GS was smaller as the hardware wasn’t much different. So is it right to assume the iPhone 4.0 will be even less significant?
It’s hard to swallow that seeing how much the market has changed even since last year. The iPhone software is still one of, if not the best in terms of usability in the mobile OS sphere. Will all the talk and rumors of upgraded cameras, processors, RAM, graphics chips, etc., it’s almost impossible to think that Apple would do another minor update like they did with the 3GS.
Of course, there could be absolutely no correlation between code name and actual features whatsoever. In that case, this entire post is useless. Though I’m leaning m ore towards bigger changes, regardless of what th einternal number codes suggest. With 1GHz Snapdragon smartphones popping up left and right, Apple can’t really afford not to bring the heat this summer.
What do you think? Are there big changes coming with the iPhone 4.0 hardware or is it going to be one of those evolutionary tales instead of revolutionary yet again?
ElectricPig
- February 1, 2010 11:23 pm
With WiFi transforming more and more into the one stop shop for wireless transmissions/communications, Bluetooth it seemed was all but washed up. I mean, there isn’t any reason to support two wireless standards when only one is needed. But those behind Bluetooth press on.
The formal Bluetooth 3.0 spec was announced way back in April of 2009 — so very long ago. It wasn’t until…now…February 2010 that we are finally seeing the first Bluetooth 3.0 phone get a nod from the Bluetooth Special Interests Group. Besides having bragging rights to “world’s first Bluetooth 3.0 phone”, a 3.1″ OLED display and quad-band GPRS/EDGE radios round out the otherwise rather average feature set of the Samsung S8500.
Don’t get too excited/depressed just yet. The specs we know of so far were provided by Samsung and are preliminary. Also, the almighty electronic gatekeeper, the FCC, has yet to even get their hands on this new age hotness so any release is at least a month or two off.
Anyone’s vision getting blurred by that big 3.0?
PhoneScoop
[Image Source]
- December 28, 2009 9:42 am
Think that old, decrepit dying hard drive you tossed in some box never to look at again is still useless? Think again. With as cheap and plentiful as hard drives are becoming these days, trashing an old drive simply because it’s too small is all too common. But those precious bits you’ve tossed aside have so much more potential.
One possible idea is to slap it in an enclosure or hard drive dock to make an external hard drive out of it. But who needs another USB 2.0 external hard drive? (I have 6…) It is that very question that Unitek has answered. Brando and Unitek to be exact. Now before you get all nervous by hearing the word “Brando”, make a mental note that this gadget is far from a onetime use, novelty gadget. The Unitek USB 3.0 to SATA Adapter is pure ingeniousness.
As one can gather from the name, the device is a simple adapter that attaches directly to the back of that old SATA hard drive and gives it USB 3.0 superspeed abilities. Super! There are a couple other such devices already on the market. However, those other devices require a large dock to get the bits flowing at super speeds.
Now all you need is a computer with one or more USB 3.0 ports and the motherboard to support it and you’re golden. Who says old things can’t be fast…
[Product Page]
Engadget
- December 28, 2009 7:50 am
Getting the most of HD content on your computer means having a HD monitor — hard concept to grasp, I know. However, with all of those extra pixels often comes a fairly high pricetag. Not to mention, powering all of those pixels, especially those demanding top performance from their computer hardware know that the whole shebang can be quite costly. For now, going multi-monitor means spending excess sums of cash on grossly overpriced cables just to connect a monitor(s) to your computer. Their’s an easier way: DisplayLink.
DisplayLink is an evolving technology that allows you to pair up multiple monitors to your computer with via USB alone, drastically reducing the amount of money you spend on cords and adapters as well as giving your meager one display setup an instant and easy boost to 2 or more.
So far, some have voiced concerns over bandwidth limitations with USB 2.0 when driving HD and ultra HD monitors in higher numbers, saying that USB 2.0 can’t even keep up. Thankfully the advent of USB 3.0 — which should finally start seeing widespread adoption in 2010 — will make the move away from proprietary or more “closed” formats such as DVI, HDMI, etc. a thing of the past.
Coupled with the fact that USB 3.0 will gain some form of following in 2010 as well as DisplayLink enjoying equal opportunities, USB 3.0/DisplayLink displays can be expected *fingers crossed* to drop just in time for the 2010 holiday season. I for one can’t wait.
How many monitors will you tack on to your setup with DisplayLink?
TechChee > HotHardware
[Image Source]
