USB

LaCie Hub plugs into style

By Emily Clark

18:36 November 25, 2007 PST

November 26, 2007 There are plenty of products out there that solve the problem of not having enough direct USB or FireWire ports on your computer, but few do it as effectively and with as much style as this Hub from LaCie. Read More

Water-Activated portable power products possible for 2008

By Darren Quick

15:38 November 21, 2007 PST

November 22, 2007 Millennium Cell Inc. and Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies are nearing completion of a beta version of a portable power generator that incorporates a unique water-activated cartridge system to provide 400 Watt hours of “instant power”. Read More

CEO IQ’s rCard now available

By Noel McKeegan

19:01 October 27, 2007 PDT

October 28, 2007 Gizmag first encountered the rCard – a device about the size of a business card with an interactive screen that displays text, graphics, photos, and slide shows – back in late 2005, and now this novel new technology that lends itself to countless business applications is hitting the market at a cost of around USD$40. Read More

TakeTV PC-to-video recording device

By Emily Clark

19:30 October 22, 2007 PDT

October 23, 2007 Most of us watch video content, movies and TV shows from the Internet via our PC or laptops screens but it’s not always the best avenue for viewing quality visuals. In response to this, SanDisk has released a new device that aims to simplify the process of taking videos from your PC and watching them on your TV. Read More

Gresso release luxury USB flash drive range

By Darren Quick

19:20 October 4, 2007 PDT

October 5, 2007 In another example of fashion meets function from the world of consumer electronics, manufacturer of luxury mobile phones and MP3 playersGresso has released an alternative to the dreary old plastic USB drive. The high-end collection of 1GB capacity drives called "Adam&Eve" are crafted from materials including African mahogany, blackwood, gold and white diamonds. Read More

USB key adds physical element to enhance data security

By Loz Blain

01:01 September 28, 2007 PDT

September 28, 2007 Where credit card and banking information is being processed, user authentication, accountability and data security are of paramount importance. The iKey 4000 is a USB device that authorized users carry with them at all times in order to gain access to secure systems. It adds an extra factor to the access control puzzle – you need to both have the physical key and know the correct password to get in, thus satisfying the highest Payment Card Industry security protocols. Read More

USB 3.0 on the horizon

By Kyle Sherer

18:37 September 22, 2007 PDT

September 23, 2007 Details of the proposed next generation of high-speed USB (Universal Serial Bus) connectors have been unveiled. The planned USB 3.0 system will target a transfer speed of 4.8 gigabits per second, ten times that of USB 2.0 models. Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP Semiconductors have formed the USB 3.0 Promoter Group to make the high-speed connection a reality, with final USB 3.0 specification scheduled to be released in the first half of 2008 and backward-compatible products hitting shelves as early as 2009. Read More

Philips and Swarovski unveil digital bling

By Mike Hanlon

04:13 September 2, 2007 PDT

September 2, 2007 Philips and Swarovski announced their intention to work together to fuse fashion and technology in April this year and the first fruit of the collaboration was shown today at IFA 2007 in Berlin. As digital technology becomes all pervasive, it is inevitable that there will be a market for luxury technology and the Active Crystals collection directly addresses this need, beginning with the release of four USB Memory Keys and four headphones. The only problem is … Read More

Sandisk doubles capacity of Cruzer Micro Flash drive

By Gizmag Team

05:29 August 29, 2007 PDT

August 29, 2007 Not so long ago we were using floppy disks with a 1.44mb capacity to save and transfer documents, even more recently a 500Mb thumb drive seemed like a revolution, but now it's all a matter of routine to be counting in gigabytes. SanDisk has introduced an 8 gigabyte model (that's the equivalent to 5555 floppy disks) of its Cruzer Micro USB Flash drive, double the largest capacity previously available in the Cruzer Micro line. Read More

Sandisk releases its Extreme Ducati Edition thumbdrive and memory cards

By Loz Blain

July 20, 2007 Sandisk evidently believes its time as a sponsor of the championship-leading Ducati Corse MotoGP team has taught it a thing or two about speed and style. The company just launched the Sandisk Extreme Ducati range, including its fastest-ever CompactFlash and SD cards, as well as a high-speed USB flash drive, all co-branded with Ducati Corse logos. While the cards will spend much of their time hidden in digital cameras and other devices, the USB key is dressed to impress, faired in Ducati red and black like the exotic Italian racebike. Ducati fans, much like the Ferrari fans of F1, have never been afraid to wear their passion on their sleeve - now they can wear it on their keyrings too. Read More

The DuelAdapter Cradle - ExpressCard to PCMCIA and CardBus Adapter

By Mike Hanlon

July 14, 2007 Duel Systems makes a range of really useful adapters and its latest could solve a few problems for some readers - the DuelAdapter Cradle is an ExpressCard to PCMCIA and CardBus adapter. The US$50 DuelAdapter Cradle enables users of computers that only have PCMCIA or CardBus slots to use a new ExpressCard device (for memory, audio, video, broadband, etc.) without upgrading their computer. Read More

myCharger USB power adapter for multiple devices

By Noel McKeegan

July 4, 2007 Mobile phones and MP3 players are incredibly useful travelling companions but inevitably you end up with an array of different charging set-ups cluttering the console of your car or getting tangled in your luggage. myCharger solves this by offering a USB power adapter and a range of different tips that enable multiple devices to be powered-up via a single charging unit. As well as being suitable for use with iPod and most flavors of mobile phone, add-on adapters are available for other 5V devices including Bluetooth headsets, digital cameras, PDAs and portable media players. Read More

1 terabyte portable storage solution

By Noel McKeegan

July 2, 2007 The advent of data hungry formats like digital video demand big, fast, practical storage solutions and this latest release from Newer Technology fits the bill. Designed for audio/video editing, digital photography, MP3 libraries and high-speed back up, the miniStack v3 is a quad interface storage device offering transfer rates of up to 150 Megabytes per second and a capacity of up to 1 terabyte (1000GB) – enough for 350,000 MP3 songs. Read More

Belkin Network USB Hub makes your USB devices wireless

By Tim Hanlon

May 18, 2007 Belkin have announced their Network USB Hub, which works in conjunction with an existing wireless router to provide wireless connectivity to five USB devices. While certain high-bandwidth devices like HD webcams are out of the question, the more common applications like printers, scanners and external hard drives are all compatible. Read More

The MobileLite 9-in-1 USB Card Reader

By Mike Hanlon

May 9, 2007 There are so many Flash memory card formats currently used by different digital devices that the US$9 Kingston MobileLite 9-in-1 USB card reader will be a welcome tool that simplifies managing digital content between one’s cell phone, digital camera, PC and MP3 player. With nine different card reading options, MobileLite makes moving and accessing music, video, image and data files between cards and devices quick and easy – via one convenient reader. The device works with microSD, miniSD, full-size Secure Digital, SDHC, MMCmicro, MMCmobile, RS-MMC, MMCplus and full-size MMC. Read More

Wisair to demonstrate wireless USB camera phone at 3GSM

By Mike Hanlon

February 9, 2007 Ultra Wideband (UWB) and Wireless USB chipset solutions provider, Wisair, has announced it will be demonstrating the use of Wireless USB in camera phones at the 3GSM World Congress next week. The demo, based on Certified Wireless USB, will use the Wisair 542 chip embedded into a Nokia Nseries camera phone to wirelessly send images and video to a laptop computer. Read More

USB-to-USB Transfer Device for iPod, Digital Cameras, and Other USB Devices

By Mike Hanlon

December 7, 2006 The US$100 Hitch is a unique USB sharing accessory that gives iPod users the ability to share their files on the go without a PC, Hitch can connect USB devices such as digital cameras, digital audio/video players, USB flash drives and is compatible with many brands of USB devices, such as Apple, Creative, iRiver, Samsung, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Casio, Olympus, Panasonic, etc. It’s well worth a look if you’re a professional who needs to carry lots of files around with them, a photographer, or have need to regularly transfer music, video, photos, documents, and more. Hitch will even charge all of these devices during use! Read More

Wireless USB hub promises new functionality

By Mike Hanlon

December 5, 2006 We suspect this new US$200 goodie from Belkin will rocket straight to the top of a lot of people's holiday wish lists. As the First UWB Product to hit the U.S. Market, the Belkin Cable-Free USB Hub enables instant wireless connectivity of USB devices and will be available for purchase in the U.S. in mid-December with launches in Asia, Europe, and Australia to follow at an indefinite date, pending respective country’s regulatory approvals. The US$200 Belkin Cable-Free USB Hub is the industry's first USB Hub that does not require a cable to connect to the computer. Utilizing Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology with the Wisair chipset, this hub will give desktop-computer users the freedom to place their USB devices anywhere in the room without running long cables and laptop users the ability to roam wirelessly with their laptops around the room while still maintaining access to their stationary USB devices so you can print, play music, scan, download photos, and burn CDs from anywhere in the room. Read More

The FMP3 watch, USB seat warmer and a bunch of other things you didn’t realise you needed

By Mike Hanlon

November 13, 2006 The impact of ubiquitous personal digital technology on the way we live is only starting to become evident, though it’s a safe bet that what we do and say is far more likely to be recorded (and published) than ever before given that most people in developed nations are now carrying an audio recording device (in their MP3 player or phone), a digital camera (in their phone) and perhaps even a digital video recording device in one of their toys too. That’s one of the aspects of RareMonoShop’s new FMP3 watch that we think makes it a killer app. The otherwise normal-looking watch can record up to a Gigabyte of conversation/negotiations and suddenly the worth of that verbal contract being the paper it’s written on (i.e. nada) increases substantially in value. Apart from service as a covert recording device, there are several other aspects of the FMP3 watch that make it a winner – it records audio direct from any source such as a CD player or radio, with or without a computer (USB2.0 and Windows or Mac), has an FM transmitter which means you can play it through your car audio system and sells with 1GB memory for JPY16,800 (US$143) and 500MB for JPY12,800.00 (US$109). A few examples of other new products to be sold from the new English-language website designed for international customers include a clever portable Aluminium lap-desk, a laptop holder for the car, a Silent Keyboard/Mouse and a bunch of USB-powered devices such as a bottle cooler and warmer, an Aroma Diffuser, Warmer Slippers/Gloves, Seat Warmer, Eye Warmer and a 9 port USB Hub that looks like a Gold Ingot. The new web site opens this week though we have the Japanese-language address if you want a sneak peak. Read More

Battery with built-in USB charger

By Mike Hanlon

September 22, 2006 Logical, inevitable, perhaps even overdue in retrospect, our ripper idea of the day (at least so far) is this rechargeable battery that can charge from any USB port without the need for any recharging devices, cradles or cables. Just pop the end to reveal a built in connector and charger, plug into any powered USB port on your desktop, laptop, keyboard, games console, monitor ad infinitum charge the battery. Currently available in the AA format, the USBCELL will shortly comprise a full range of standard formats, phone and camera batteries. Read More

Ultra-compact, 12GB USB drive for US$169

By Mike Hanlon

September 14, 2006 We’re not sure what Freud would say about our fascination with small things, but PNY Technologies new MaxFile Attache has really got us excited. Just how much data can you fit into something so small it'd be easy to lose? The tiny USB 2.0 hard drive offers 12GB of storage space and it’s so small that three of them will sit on a standard-sized business card and still only rise 1cm above the desk. That’s 2.4 x 1.25 x 0.4 inches or 6.1 x 3.1 x 1.00 cm and that really is small. Clearly designed to offer portability to all that must-have data at all times, the Attache includes backup and synchronization software so users can sync everything from their e-mail, documents, favorites and settings wherever they go. PNY's MaxFile Attache goes on sale tomorrow with an MSRP of US$169. Read More

World's coolest USB hubs

By Mike Hanlon

August 27, 2006 The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is no misnomer – whatever the hopes for its universality might have been when it came into existence a decade ago, they have almost certainly been exceeded. Indeed, the success of USB connectivity is evident on just about every desk as the daisy-chaining design has created a nest of wires, a gaggle of portable storage devices, and a bunch of digital devices which depend upon USB to give your host computer regular data transfusions such as the equally prolific MP3 player and digital camera and coming plague of Bluetooth devices. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that USB hubs have become commonplace too. Our prize for the coolest USB hub design we’ve seen goes to the Self Destruction Button - a four-port hub designed to look like the button that would launch a nuclear attack, complete with cover and key. Runners up in the coolest USB hub competition include the four-port Google USB Mouse Pad, the four-port Coffee Cup Hotplate and the Hanaro Plus, the world’s first integrated ubiquitous device (a EUR115 combination hub, microphone, camera, speaker, flash memory port and video conference system). Everything here via RedFerret Read More

Epson USB Plug in and Play projector

By Mike Hanlon

August 24, 2006 Epson has released an ultra portable wireless multimedia projector with the world’s first USB Plug in Play connection in a projector, making it the ideal portable partner for presentations. Weighing just 1.7 kg, the EMP-1715 is lighter than any other wireless projector in its class, and a mere 68mm high with a footprint of just 273 by 193 mm. With a superb 2700 ANSI lumen lamp brightness, the EMP-1715 is compatible with both PCs and Macs. With the EMP-1715 Epson has also introduced another world first with a multi screen display function allowing content from different applications to be displayed on up to four projectors from just one PC. Read More

TrekStor introduces 8GB USB Stick

By Mike Hanlon

August 18, 2006 German storage manufacturer TrekStor has introduced a USB stick with eight gigabytes of storage. Measuring about twice the width of current USB sticks, though thinner and shorter, the new TrekStor Model CS-D stick is available in six (US$140) and eight (US$180) gigabyte models. The CS-D is 1.25 inches wide, 0.375 inches thick, and 2.5 inches long including the cover but does NOT use flash memory, employing a miniature shock-mounted one-inch hard drive. The CS-D weighs less than an ounce and is intended for same daily use as flash-technology memory products. Read More

Bite-sized Micro Vault USB Drive

By Mike Hanlon

July 17, 2006 Personal storage devices continue to get smaller as can be seen from this picture of Sony’s "byte-sized" Micro Vault Tiny drive family. We’re fascinated by the continued evolution of the personal solid state drive in its many forms and wonder where it might lead given a few years. About the thickness of a quarter, Micro Vault Tiny differs from its peers on several fronts, the most obvious being its tiny size, and five color-coded capacities -- 256MB (orange), 512MB (violet), 1GB (blue), 2GB (green) and 4GB (purple). Measuring roughly 1/2 inch wide and just over one inch long, the unit comes packaged in a clip-on carry case that can be worn as an accessory, attaching to a cell phone case, purse strap, key chain, or clipped onto a notebook cover. Read More