The LaCie Ora-Ito Hub – seriously useful desktop conversation starter

February 11, 2007 We’re not sure whether the LaCie hub by Ora-Ito should be primarily seen as a desktop conversation starter, a piece of modern art or an incredibly useful connectivity tool, but it gets our vote as one of the best hub designs we’ve ever seen. It is a USB & FireWire Hub, works on PC or MAC or Linux and the eight flexible cables give it a distinctive, modern look, particularly if paired with a suitably coloured Mac, thanks to the hub’s round shape, glossy white polycarbonate finish. It connects up to six devices simultaneously and includes four USB 2.0 and two FireWire 400 ports, a USB light, a USB fan, a USB extension cable and a FireWire 400 extension cable to instantly connect external storage devices, printers, media readers, keyboards, mice and more. Eight glowing LEDs (on the cables and on the round support!) indicate when a device is plugged in, with a different color for each port! And if that’s not enough, an additional hub can be daisy-chained via FireWire or USB for extra connectivity options.