Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes the bandwidth for wireless networks, many people always want more. More speed and more bandwidth are very important if you make heavy use of your wireless network for transferring large HD video files or streaming content locally. It’s surprisingly easy to use more bandwidth than is available if you have several computers or devices streaming high-definition video within the home or office leading to lots of buffering or stuttering playback.

A company called Edimax has an interesting new solution to providing you with more bandwidth for your wireless network called the AC1200 Router + AC 1200 USB 3.0 Adapter Dual Pack. This system comes with an 802.11ac wireless router and an USB 3.0 802.11ac USB 3.0 adapter for your computer. 802.11ac protocol wireless networking promises as much is three times the speed of 802.11n wireless networks.

Whereas the data throughput of 802.11n wireless network tops out at about 300 Mbps, the802.11ac wireless protocol allows for speeds of up to 867 Mbps, at least those speeds are available theoretically. The router and USB 3.0 adapter support dual concurrent bandwidths of 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz. The higher 5 GHz bandwidth is used for interference free streaming of video games and high-definition movies.

The 2.4 GHz connectivity is used for services that don’t require as much bandwidth such as chatting, surfing the web, or downloading small files. According to the manufacturer, using the USB 3.0 port for the wireless adapter is required to get the full bandwidth. Bandwidth on the USB 2.0 port tops out at 480 Mbps, whereas the USB 3.0 port is good for up to 5 Gbps. In real world use Edimax says that its router and adapter combo is good for speeds of up to 360 Mbps. The router and USB 3.0 adapter combination pack are available online for $149.99.

[via Edimax]

Edimax unveils new 802.11ac router and USB 3.0 network adapter combo is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week a touch and type combination notebook from Acer has appeared in the first product-toting teaser video spot for Star Trek Into Darkness that’s appeared in what’s set to be a several weeks-long dual-brand campaign. While from what we’ve been told Acer does not plan on having any products appear in the film itself, this cross-promotional teaser will benefit both Acer and the folks behind Star Trek. The film Star Trek Into Darkness is about to be released both in the United States and internationally, while the device appearing in the teaser is set to be revealed in full on May 3rd.

The setup for the release at hand has had its stage set by a series of three devices from Acer, each of them appearing in the home for this campaign: Explore Beyond Limits (dot com). This site has several wallpapers with a Star Trek theme and also shows the Acer Iconia W510, Aspire S7, and Aspire V5 Touch. With these three devices in mind, the trailer for Star Trek (with Acer device inside) should have you wondering what the future holds.

The notebook in the trailer above will once again be taking the touch-friendly interface created by Microsoft’s Windows 8 to an ever-so-slightly different place than Acer has gone before. From what we’re seeing here, this notebook will be coming with extended drag fins (or bumpers below the back of the bottom of the base), as well as a display that lifts up beyond the average limit of a notebook’s face.

It would appear that this machine’s touchscreen display and top hood lift up and turn back on a second hinge, allowing the entire notebook to become something that looks similar to the hero spaceship in the Star Trek movies and original Star Trek television show. This machine will have the capabilities of a tablet, a notebook, and some sort of in-between oddity, without a doubt.

This video also adds an interesting twist to the release schedule for Star Trek Into Darkness – let us know if you’re finding this particular push pleasing to your science fiction-loving mind, or if you prefer the regular plain-old trailer set instead?

Touch and type Acer notebook appears in Star Trek teaser is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I have a feeling I’m not the only one who’s ever needed to move information to or from the iPhone and felt like Apple played some sort of cruel joke on us. Without a memory card slot or some sort of data transfer application, you can’t just move files back and forth easily. This is one of the big benefits of most Android phones in that they have a built-in memory card slot so you can just copy files to and from that card as you need to.

A company called Apotop has unveiled a new accessory aimed specifically at iPhone users that should make it very easy to move your data around. The product is called the DW-09 Wi-Reader and it has a built-in USB port and SD memory card slot. The device is designed to allow you to plug in an SD, SDHC or SDXC memory card or a flash drive. When using the companion application that runs on your iPhone or iPad, you can transfer data to and from that memory card wirelessly.

Powered by an internal rechargeable battery, the device can also be used with external USB hard drives as long as the drives are externally powered. Another cool thing about the Wi-Reader is that it supports content streaming for up to three users at the same time, and you can also use the DW09 as a Wi-Fi hotspot to connect wireless networks when traveling.

Pricing and availability for the Apotop DW09 have yet to be announced.

If you have even just one important digital file, you owe it to yourself and that intangible bundle of electricity that you hold dear to sign up for a cloud file storage service. Many of them have entry level services that offer a few gigabytes of storage for free. Of course they’ll happily sell you more space if you need to back up more data. But a small startup called Space Monkey wants you to trust in other users instead.

Space Monkey is a backup service that will offer 1TB of both local and online storage for $10 (USD) per month. The local storage is straightforward – you will simply use a complementary app to back up your files to the Space Monkey computer (pictured above), as if you were using an external drive. The online storage is where Space Monkey gets eccentric. Instead of setting up expensive and complicated datacenters, all Space Monkey subscribers act as each other’s datacenters. Bits of your data are encrypted and scattered among the Space Monkey computers of other subscribers, and vice versa.

It’s like the reverse of Bittorrent. In theory, the more subscribers that join Space Monkey, the more collective storage you all have and the more secure your data will be. And because they don’t have to setup datacenters, that also means less expenses and maintenance on the part of Space Monkey. Clever eh?

Is it just me or does the name Space Monkey just not fit into the product? They should’ve called it Data Offcenter. A pledge of at least $119 on Kickstarter lets you sign up for a 1 year 1TB subscription with Space Monkey.

If you’re not that familiar with online storage I highly recommend you shop around first. I can see what Space Monkey is getting at but there are dependable and affordable cloud services out there like CrashPlan or Backblaze. Or as I said earlier, try a free service first like the ones offered by Dropbox and Google to see if it’s good enough for you.

We all know USB 3.0 ports are considerably faster when it comes to transferring data than older USB 2.0 ports. Typically, the USB 3.0 port is reserved specifically for storage products that need to be able to transfer data at higher rates. As time has gone by and computer systems have gained more and more USB 3.0 ports allowing more availability for other peripherals and accessories to take advantage of the faster connectivity.

Computer peripheral maker Gigabyte has now announced what it claims to be the world’s first USB 3.0 speakers. The speakers are called the Gigabyte GP-S3000. The speakers get the connectivity they need to play music and audio from your computer via USB 3.0 port, and they also get power from the USB port as well.

One of the biggest benefits to plugging a pair speakers into a USB 3.0 port compared to a USB 2.0 port is the amount of power available. The USB 3.0 port offers up to 900mA of power, which means speakers with bigger amplifiers for bigger sound can be connected and draw power from the USB 3.0 port. The speakers aren’t officially available yet, so Gigabyte is withholding some the specifications.

The speakers are expected to be high-end offerings and they do have all the controls needed on one speaker housing. The speakers will come with a black housing or white housing. Other key details we don’t know at this point are when the speakers will be released and how much they will cost.

[via EverythingUSB]

Gigabyte GP-S3000 computer speakers are the world’s first to use USB 3.0 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.