February 2005 USB News

Leadtek WinFast TV USB II Deluxe is one of the many Hi-Speed USB TV tuners out there except it has an international 181-channel TV tuner; picture-in-picture; stereo FM; 3-port powered USB 2.0 hub; and A/D converter fast enough for lag-free console-gaming. .

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Keyspan, creators of the Express Remote for AirTunes along with many USB to Serial adaptors, has revitalized their line of ZIP-LINQ retractable USB cables by creating versions specifically designed to comply with USB 2.0 specifications. Tugging both ends of the cord will extend the cord up to 48", and tugging the ends a second time will retract the cable back to 4". The new USB 2.0 models are available in three models of A-B, A-B Mini 4 Pin, and A-B Mini 5 Pin, at $15 each.

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Apple has made a few changes to its iPod lineup by slashing prices and bumping storage. For beginners, Apple has cut the price for its admittedly overpriced 60GB iPod Photo from $599 to $449.

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Turtle Beach has added a new member to its family of video capture devices, the Video Advantage USB. Able to fit in the center of your palm, the USB powered bridge can capture audio and video from RCA or S-Video, outputting it directly into high-quality DV format over USB 2.0 along with uncompressed AVI. With the bundled suite of AD Fullcap, PowerDirector DE, PowerProducer Express, and Audio Surgeon, capturing to compressed MPEG-1/2, WMV, and RealMedia is also possible via software encoding.

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When you think USB flash drives in the form of sushi and bugs are weird, TikiMac proves you wrong with its new 4" tall 'Big Tiki Drive' complete with hypnotic glowing eyes and a blinking "aura". The Tiki apparently cannot be directly hooked to a USB port so it comes with a 'Lava USB' illuminated cable for connection.

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Mobile video has always been one of those luxuries that can never seem to find its way into small MP3 players… until now. X-Micro has unleashed their Video MP3 pendant onto the market that boasts a color OLED display and processor capable of displaying video, photo slide shows, EQ visualization, as well as lyrics to a particular song.

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Analog and USB headsets have done wonders for teleconferencing with VoIP online for single users, and now Phoenix Audio has a solution for conference calls in a boardroom. Compatible with applications such as Skype, the $200 SOLO Conference Microphone is immune to the echo and feedback that plagues the traditional microphone and speaker setup. As expected, it also provides full-duplex communication like most high-end speakerphones so you can talk and listen at the same time.

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The USB Implementers Forum, one of the primary groups responsible for advancing and promoting the USB industry standard, has launched a TV advertising campaign promoting the use of logos. "If you buy peripherals without checking for the Certified USB logo, they might as well be pushing up daisies".

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The innovative USB flash drive / SD memory card hybrid concept is gaining momentum as SanDisk rolls out their Ultra II SD Plus. By folding the SD card in half, a slim USB connector is revealed for quick access to a computer, eliminating the need to buy a third-party card reader.

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If you spend eight hours a day slaving in front of a computer like we do, then your wrist probably sounds like a cement mixer by now. eTailer ComputerGeeks.com is selling a USB Powered Thermal Wrist protector that might just help your pain and offset that repetitive stress injury for a while.

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SimplyTouch has released a touch screen for the masses with their USB OpticalBar. Able to work with your existing CRT or LCD display, although you may want to invest in a screen protector first, the OpticalBar attaches to the top corner of your monitor to capture your finger’s movements and position. By touching the corresponding icon that appears in the corner of the screen, you can quickly access your favorite applications and documents, as well as custom predefined tasks.

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USB flash drives are quickly becoming a commodity, and manufacturers are doing any means necessary to distinguish their products from the competitions. Kingston, in this case, has chosen M-Systems' DiskOnKey 500 to boost their flash drive security, synchronization features and data durability for its new DataTraveler Elite..

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While flash cards have become less expensive over the years, hard drives still give you more megabytes per dollar, making them a more suitable solution for storing photos in the field without the use of a computer. As such, SmartDisk, creators of the portable FireFly hard drive, has introduced their own $249 image storage device, the FotoChute. Housing a 20GB hard drive, it can copy your photos from a camera and free up some room on your memory card via it’s USB On-The-Go support with the touch of a single button.

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Olympus has expanded on their computer-less Total Imaging Solution that they released last year with the introduction of a PictBridge compatible DVD recorder, hard drive, and cameras. To begin, the USB OTG S-DVD-100 burner and S-HD-100 hard disk can be connected to any PictBridge compatible camera with the use of a $30 adaptor, to offload photos without the use of a computer.

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Inspired by TechJapan: Sony has somewhat improved on the design of their Net Juke stereo system, by adding MP3 support to their NAS-A10. Able to playback from a variety of media, the Net Juke can play your tunes from its internal 40GB hard drive, CD-ROM drive, Memory Stick reader, or streamed across a LAN via 10/100 Ethernet.

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Canon is aggressively taking on its competitors with the release of their high-end multifunction printer, the PIXMA MP760. This printer can handle whatever you throw at it, with both dye-based and pigment-based black ink cartridges as well as two separate paper trays for quality photo and crisp document printing.

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German site MP3-Playre.de has leaked details of the latest MP3 player to come from Nike and Philips' joint venture, the PSA610. The drive features ShockLock technology, which effectively stores several of the songs in a large buffer in order for the 4GB hard drive to spin down more often, making the player feasible for active sports. The PSA610 comes with an armband for jogging, and can enhance your tunes with five equalizer presets and bass boost.

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Inspired by I4U: In the ongoing battle to conserve desk space, KeyScan has developed a keyboard with a built in 600 dpi color scanner. Available in two models, the KS810 is just your ordinary keyboard with 6 hotkeys, along with a 48-bit color scanner that can accept media up to 8.5” wide.

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Seeing as how shuffle is useless when you have several gigs of songs to flip through, Entempo has partnered with Predixis to deliver the $239 Rubato MP3 player that can group songs that group songs that sound similar in non-random shuffle lists. As soon as songs are loaded, it will utilize the power of SigmaTel’s STMP3550 chipset to process each song and find out what other songs have similar attributes in order to group them.

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Market analysis firm In-Stat has published a 46-page report documenting the growth and expansion of the USB platform throughout the years, with detailed statistics for each segment of the USB market such as MP3 players and hard drives. Not surprisingly, communications devices are expected to have the fastest growth on the platform according to In-Stat.

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Should you already run out of SATA connectors on your motherboard, Oxford Semiconductor's new OXU921S USB to SATA chip maybe able to help out. With this bridge, Serial ATA drives can be used externally over USB 2.0 in special enclosures, eliminating the need for buying a PCI expansion card. The 128-pin chip features onboard USB and SATA Physical Layer Interfaces (PHYs), as well as an ARM7 processor with 8KB of RAM means that OEM manufactures can develop unique applications for the drives, and can later enhance features through firmware updates..

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Sandisk has announced the latest in their OEM line of flash drives, the Waterproof USB Flash Drive. Available in capacities from 64MB to 1GB, the 11.5-gram flash drives are targeted at medical professionals to be used in a hospital setting.

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Just in time for PMA 2005, Epson has rolled out the $549 Stylus Photo R1800, a high-end photo printer capable of producing 13" wide prints. Currently the fastest of Epson’s printers, the R1800 can print out an 11" x 14" color photo in less than two minutes, with a maximum print size of 13" x 44" without borders, as well print directly onto special printable CDs and DVDs. Interesting fact, whatever you print will probably last longer than you will, according to Wilhelm Research, who rapidly aged the photos in dark storage under glass.

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California's own X2 has implemented a wireless twist into their latest MEGA MP3 player, the MEGA 522BT. With Bluetooth wireless, it can sync up with your cell phone to display Caller ID, answer the phone, and even record entire phone conversations through the player itself.

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Icron has declared their support for Intel's UWB Wireless USB technology, by implementing their own ExtremeUSB technology. Already being used to transmit USB signals over Cat 5 Ethernet and Fiber optic cabling, ExtremeUSB would be used to connect ordinary USB devices over a wireless medium using Icron’s LEX and REX dongles, providing error correction and encryption if required by the application. All three USB speeds are supported, with Low Speed 1.5Mbps in the 900MHz frequency band, Full Speed 12Mbps in the 2.4GHz band, and High Speed 480Mbps in the 3-10GHz band.

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Educational company Vernier has announced the latest in their Go! line of USB data collection devices, the $99 Go! Motion. The sensor can monitor movement anywhere from 15cm to 6m away, with three sensitivity settings for certain applications.

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Cypress Semiconductor, creators of 2.4Ghz short-range WirelessUSB has teamed up with Conexant to deliver a reference design for use in future portable TV tuners. The CX25840/1/2/3 can support both NTSC and PAL with a 10-bit comb filter, stereo audio, RCA input, and support for teletext and closed captioning.

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iRiver H10 5GB is one of the larger MP3 players on the market, at 4.75" tall, but the slim factor allows it slip into your pocket. With a 260k color display for photos, five gigabyte hard drive, FM recorder and the ability to play subscription music, the H10 outperforms every MP3 player in its class.

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Creative Zen Micro 5GB, virtually the size of a cellphone, holds key features over Apple iPod mini such as an FM tuner and voice recording, but after having been on the market for three months, the lack of accessories is a concern. On the positive side, the Zen Micro is fast, colorful, and has a wonderful interface that allows for quick access to all functions.

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Video conferencing has stepped up significantly from the days of twelve frames per second, and continues to improve with Logitech’s $250 ViewPort AV 100. Incorporating the face tracking ability of their QuickCam Orbit, it captures your movements across the room in full VGA resolution at 30fps.

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Targus has made news with the new $149 (MSRP) USB Port Replicator, which comes out as the first USB-based laptop docking station integrated with unique USB video output, USB sound card and high-powered USB ports. The use of USB bus to carry video and audio allows the monitor and speakers to remain connected to the station, freeing users from the hassle of disconnecting an array of connectors.

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Diamond Multimedia, encouraged by the success of their PCI based tuner has decided to extend the XtremeTV line of PVRs to the USB 2.0 platform for use in mobile computers or PCs without any available PCI slots. Their new $149 PVR600RC has hardware MPEG-2 encoding, which means high quality video can be transferred to your computer without stressing your CPU. The software package is made up of SnapStream's Beyond TV and Beyond Media, so you can playback all your media files and time-shift in a full screen interface with the included RF remote control from the couch.

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This may come in handy someday; Japan’s Sanwa is selling a USB powered portable flashlight. About the size of a flash drive, the miniature flashlight powers a single LED light for four continuous hours that can be controlled by an On / Off switch, with an even longer charging time of 4.5 hours. Strangely enough, in the Babel Fish translation of the site, it mentions “write”, and in the corresponding FAQ there is an item regarding use with Windows 98, leading us to believe that this doubles as a flash drive.

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SanDisk has increased the potential of the eBook by developing a new flash drive called the BookLocker. With a user-accessible partition for storing term papers, and a secure partition for copyrighted books, students can access the books on any PC, and then highlight, search and add notes to the text.

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Memsen apparently isn’t the only company looking to have flash drives communicate with each other, as Xmultiple’s FlashPoint bears the same concept of file sharing between drives, only with a different interface and selection method. Each drive has not only a male USB 2.0 connector, but also a female connector to connect to another FlashPoint drive.

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US Modular pushes the struggle between portable flash drives and 1" micro drives with its new Monstor Drives. Competitively priced at $99 for a 2GB drive, and $169 for a 4GB drive, the two spin at 4200rpm to sustain transfer rates up to 6.5 MB/s with a 10ms seek time. The drive itself plugs directly into the computer's USB 2.0 port without any cables to wrap around when traveling, while the entire unit is lightweight at 16 grams with dimensions of 42.8 x 36.4 x 5 mm.

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Tritton Technologies has pulled the curtains on the Sound Bite, a portable USB powered 2.1 speaker system. Targeted at Mac users, although it will work with Windows as well, the $40 Sound Bite comes in both silver, and is extremely portable at 28g with a miniature folding design and a hide-away USB 1.1 cable that snaps into the bottom of the unit. The left and right channels utilize 28mm aluminum drivers, which are complimented by a 52mm subwoofer.

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