Everything USB... We Mean Everything!

All sorts of stuff is going to USB, even things we might not ever think would end up with USB connections built-in. Among the things that I never expected to see go USB are train tickets. Yet in some regions of France, that is exactly what it happening. The French National Railway Company (SNCF) is trialing RFID tickets that have USB connectors built in to allow for adding money to the tickets online via the PC. The contactless tickets are said to be 8mm thick and have 4GB of internal memory. Because of its use of USB interface, the Neo Wave - the company behind the nifty idea - is able to build some advanced security features into the dongle to deter people tampering with their tickets. The system called Weneo ID Smart is currently undergoing a 1000 person trial.

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When shopping for a portable speakers for on the go presentations for work or solitary entertainment in a hotel room, Creative N400 USB notebook speakers will have you covered. Compact bus-powered speakers give you the much needed convenience during transport while boosting enough power for most tasks. Granted, there's a bewildering array of choices already.

What makes the $83 N400 somewhat newsworthy is the integration with Creative X-Fi software that is also found on HS-1200 wireless headset. It seems obvious that X-Fi as well as EAX 4.0 Advanced HD and OpenAL support are host-based, not that it matters anyway with today's powerful multi-core CPU. Each of N400 satellite speakers is equipped with a dual 2-inch active driver, and boosts 1W RMS per channel for a total of 2W. (This is usually what you get out of USB.) Lastly, you'll find multimedia controls on top of the right speaker, a pouch and a two-year warranty card. We think the N400 would have been better if it has a headphone jack though.

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The 80's was a golden time for music (in some opinions) and for movies. One of my favorite 80's films from my childhood was Ghostbusters. The film was one of the last funny Bill Murray performances in my book. PNY announced a new Ghostbusters flash drive today with 2GB of storage that includes a full digital copy of the Ghostbusters film, provided by Sony Pictures.

Why Ghostbusters you ask? I have no idea, but as a child of the 80's it was one of the more popular films from the decade, it even spawned its own cartoon show. It's the first cartoon to come from a movie that I can remember. PNY says that this is the first time a flash drive will contain the full version of the movie (legally anyway). The 25th anniversary of the film is coming up in 2009. Pricing and availability information are unknown at this time.

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When it comes to keeping computers cool, most of us still rely on old-fashioned air-cooling. Even when a PC is liquid cooled, a fan is still typically involved in blowing on the radiator to extract more heat. The other use for a fan in the area of your computer is to keep you cool. The Arctic USB Fan is an example of a fan to keep you cool.

Antec (Japanese counterpart) has a new USB LED fan available that is very large at 250mm, and is powered by none other than the USB port of the computer. It's not exactly clear if this fan is to cool your computer or to cool you. From the images, it appears to have a stand, so I am betting it's to keep you cool. The fan features LED lights that change into different colors at random intervals. The fan is a limited edition item with only 300 units available. Pricing is unknown and with the press release being in Japanese, the fan may only be available in Japan.

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You certainly don't see many tape players these days. Back in the early days of my youth the cassette tape was once of the few options for getting music in the car or in your home. I'm not sure what happened to what had to be stockpiles of the old-fashioned cassette tapes bound to have been in warehouses around the world as the digital age of CDs and digital tracks came to be. I guess some of the cassette tapes ended up being turned into other devices, like the USB tape drive or this USB Tape Hub.

The USB Tape Hub looks like the cassette tape of yore complete with the window for viewing how much tape was left on the cassette. Rather than actual magnetic tape on the bottom of the cassette, the hub has four USB ports. The USB cable to the computer connects on the top of the cassette hub. The maker of the hub warns against putting them into your big yellow circa 1980's Walkman. The hub measures 97 x 61cm. You can get one for about $24.

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Everything USB (everythingusb.com) is looking for technical writers to provide content relating to computer peripherals and USB technologies (i.e. Wireless USB 1.0, USB 3.0). We are particularly interested in someone who can provide in-depth product reviews (check out some of our reviews here and here), and like to give priorities to people who are expert users of flash drives, MP3/MP4 players, input devices (e.g. mice, keyboards), video capture and/or USB TV tuners.

We expect:

• Comprehensive, well-researched reviews
• Able to use a good mix of multimedia content
• An excellent, natural English writing style

To be eligible, you must meet the following requirements:

• Extensive knowledge on a wide variety of peripherals
• Windows XP Media Center Edition and/or Windows Vista Home Premium / Ultimate
• A relatively high-end PC (dual core)
• Based in Canada

Payment:

• $125 to $175 USD per review, depending on the product type
• Monthly payment

How to apply?
If you are interested, please contact Ian Chiu at this address gimmeajob@everythingusb.com with samples of your previous work, your location, and reasons you would be a good fit at Everything USB. And please don't send in your resume.

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One thing that many gaming keyboards, like the Logitech G15, MS Reclusa, Razer Lycosa, Saitek Eclipse, have in common is backlighting. The LED lights make it very easy to see the keys in dark rooms, which is especially important if you are not a touch typist. Logitech has introduced a new non-gamer keyboard with backlighting called the Illuminated Keyboard.

The USB wired keyboard has laser etched keys that can last up to 10 million keystrokes. The profile is only 9.3mm thick and features a transparent frame. Despite of its minimalist design, the Logitech isn't never meant to be a portable keyboard measuring at 18" long. The keys themselves use Logitech's PerfectStroke system to give more travel than a typical keyboard. The palm rest is covered in soft-touch material, and the keyboard has one-touch multimedia keys just as you would find from other products of the same brand. The Illuminated Keyboard will be available later this month for $79.99.

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Everyone uses cell phones today from the innocent office worker to the nefarious drug dealer using the cell phone to make sales. Sometimes police and law enforcement officials need to get access to the data stored on a cell phone including calls placed and text messages sent and received. The CSI Stick allows law enforcement and anyone else to gather forensic grade information form a cell phone.

The device can make a logical copy of all available data on the phone including text and media files. It can be set to only copy text messages, call logs, and phone books. Only photos and movies can be copied with the phone and a physical copy of the memory on the phone can be made as well. The CSI stick can gather much more data than something like the USB SIM reader can. The CSI Stick includes the CSI Stick base unit, two Motorola tips, one Samsung tip, one remote charger, and a carry case. This spy tool is available to anyone with $199 to spare and with the urgency to extract someone's cellphone content.

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